Chapter 57 The World is at Peace
Empress Renzhao spent half her time traveling. After Emperor Zhongzong captured Zhengzhou, Princess Zhaoping saw her for the first time.
Therefore, her impression of Injo was still based on the year Jungjong had just married. Injo, who was only a teenager at the time, had a very gentle personality—of course, that was a misconception, since she was also a master of pretense; although it wasn't obvious, she was actually full of wicked schemes.
However, it must be said that this misunderstanding was deeply etched in Zhaoping's heart, so as soon as Renzhao returned home, she began to keep an eye on him.
When Tianmu suddenly mentioned Gu Xunhui, Zhou She was momentarily dazed.
In fact, Gu Xunhui already knew about his departure before he left the capital. She did not come to see him off in person, but sent him gold and silver, probably because she still remembered Tianmu's story about him "living in poverty" in the northern frontier.
He accepted them all without hesitation.
But at this moment, the image of Gu Xunhui in his mind was still that of a calm and gentle person he had met last time outside the city.
And Gu Xunhui on the sky...
She was dressed in men's clothing, without any adornment or makeup, and strode into the gate.
Two women dressed similarly followed behind her. The three of them were discussing something, and one of them was holding a charcoal pencil, nodding frequently and writing furiously.
“…Do it this way, go and do it.” Gu Xunhui made the decision and told the two to do it.
As the three of them walked up the steps, Gu Xunhui turned his head to talk to the person next to him, when he caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye.
She paused, then glanced at the exquisite embroidery on the other person's clothes and immediately realized who it was, her feelings becoming somewhat complicated.
Gu Xunhui looked up, his smile flawless: "Mother."
The two female officials: "..." Is it too late to leave now?
Gu Xunhui waved to the two women, signaling them to go first, while he led Princess Zhaoping into the inner hall.
Princess Zhaoping was a clever woman. She didn't mention Tuesday's events at the beginning, but only talked about her recent situation, making it seem as if she was just there for a casual chat.
But Gu Xunhui knew her mother-in-law very well. She listened with a smile, nodding occasionally, but in her heart she was wondering when she would finally get to the point.
"Xingyuan has been too busy lately, so I'll tell you some things." Princess Zhaoping took a sip of tea.
Gu Xunhui perked up: Here they come!
“There seems to be some misunderstanding between Xingyuan, Erlang, and me.” Princess Zhaoping, who had a very serious appearance, frowned slightly as she slowly said, “I know that Erlang did something to wrong him. But the two of them are brothers after all. If outsiders find out, what will they think of him? You are his first wife. You should advise him not to act impulsively in this matter.”
Gu Xunhui immediately recalled Young Master Zhou.
Her impression of this person was limited to him being the mastermind behind everything; she knew he wasn't exactly a peacemaker.
She had already guessed this situation long before she returned to her residence.
Gu Xunhui naturally supported her husband's decision, but her refusal was extremely gentle: "My lord is out in the world, how can I interfere with his decisions? Mother also knows that Erlang has indeed gone too far in some things."
Zhong Zhun: "Just lock him up, why make it to the point of bloodshed?"
"I'm afraid Erlang will cause trouble again." Gu Xunhui's eyes curved into a smile as he said kindly, "I've seen it all too well that Mother favors Erlang."
A simple, unassuming sentence delivered a devastating blow. Zhong Zhun wasn't so enraged as to be twisted; she remained composed, only her brows furrowed slightly, revealing a hint of displeasure.
"...You think I'm wrong?"
"I wouldn't dare, I will mention this to my husband."
Zhong Zhun breathed a sigh of relief: "You'll have to put in a lot of effort for these things. Speaking of which, Zhou Yi and Zhou Xin seem to have grown up quite a bit; I haven't seen them much yet."
She had only met Zhou Yi. The year Zhou Xin was born, Gu Xunhui had already gone to the northern frontier, and they never met again.
Gu Xunhui smiled and said, "I'll have them come and meet Grandmother later."
If you really think Gu Xunhui would advise Emperor Zhongzong, you're sorely mistaken. She did mention the matter to Emperor Zhongzong that night, but her advice was clearly completely different from what her mother-in-law had envisioned.
In general, their discussion revolved around: when to kill, how to kill, and if killing is to be done, whether to act quickly.
The next morning, the two went together to visit their younger brother, who had been arrested, and had a deep and friendly exchange.
Everyone was amused by Tianmu's mention of "visiting".
Zhong Zhun's expression was subtle. His gaze swept over Zhou Ze, who was silent and had his eyes closed, and he recalled the few times he had seen Gu Xunhui before.
Although the sky had given a warning, and she was mentally prepared when she saw her persuading her husband to rebel last time, it still made her very uncomfortable.
As expected of a married couple, their deception is exactly the same. She had thought she was a gentle and refined lady from a respectable family.
With that thought in mind, Zhong Zhun composed himself and continued reading.
The prison was quiet, without a sound, except for the sound of footsteps breaking the silence.
The three of them—Emperor Jungjong, his wife, and their daughter who had just turned fifteen—were visiting Zhengzhou for the first time since the city was taken control.
His younger brother sat expressionlessly on the straw mat, his clothes already somewhat dirty, but he didn't seem to care, and smiled at his older brother: "You still came."
King Jungjong did not speak, but moved aside to give his daughter a better view.
Zhou Yi indeed stepped forward.
"You came to humiliate me, wasn't that enough? Now you have to send your daughter to humiliate me too?" Zhou Ze was stunned for a moment, then recognized the face that bore an eight-tenths resemblance to his brother. Anger and shame surged to his head simultaneously, and he instantly flew into a rage, "You really are a scoundrel!!"
After he finished venting his anger, Emperor Zhongzong said, "And what are you anyway?"
Enraged, Zhou Ze's anger overwhelmed his reason. He lunged forward, desperately reaching his hands through the gap to grab Zhongzong's clothes: "You think you're so great just because you can beat me?! Your parents don't care about you at all! And no one will respect you in the future!!"
For so many years, he tossed and turned at night, and every time he closed his eyes, he would hear about his brother's victory in the northern frontier.
His father actually praised him and even sent him money and food.
On what grounds?!
Back in the capital, his parents clearly didn't bother to discipline him and had already given up on him!
The more I think about it, the more fearful, angry, and jealous I become.
In the end, only one sentence remained in his mind: Kill him!
However, these dark thoughts were not to be shared with outsiders, and he would never utter them.
King Jungjong stared at his distorted face, then turned to his daughter and said, “Look, he’s blinded by lust for power and has lost all reason. That’s what people who are controlled by their emotions are like. Don’t learn from him.”
Zhou Yi: "..." She nodded, indicating that she remembered, but she still felt that it was a bit strange to teach here.
After King Jungjong finished speaking, he smiled at his younger brother and said, "I've changed my mind now."
Zhou Ze felt a chill run down his spine from the laughter. Before he could say anything, several jailers rushed in and pinned him to the ground. His face was pressed against the dirty floor, one eye was tightly closed, while the other stared at Zhongzong's back.
It's as if I want to remember him forever, even until the underworld.
Whether King Jungjong initially truly intended to kill his brother remains a mystery that has persisted for millennia. As for why he spared his brother, there are many explanations. The most authoritative account, of course, comes from his own diary.
I won't post the original text here, but I'll summarize the general meaning for you. First paragraph: Zhou Lao Er, a mediocre man. A useless good-for-nothing; others release tigers back into the mountains, he releases dogs back into the mountains, posing no threat whatsoever.
Second paragraph: You look down on me? Wouldn't it be more fun to let you live and watch me? Death seems like a quick fix, but prolonged torment is real torture... Hmm, this is purely his twisted sense of humor, which I sometimes can't understand.
The third paragraph: Even trash can be reused, so using it to teach kids should be perfect. Human teaching materials, and the effect is fantastic—later, Emperor Cheng did indeed take drastic measures, seemingly achieving her father's teaching goals indirectly…
Yu Suisheng thought about it and found it hard to decide whether it was a good thing or a bad thing for Zhou Erlang.
It was a good thing, but in the end, he still couldn't escape death. It was a bad thing, after all, he lived so much longer.
But... looking at the figure in front of him, he found it really hard to match the same person in the sky with the person in the background.
The Lord Zhou standing before him, at this moment, did not possess the same level of wickedness as he would in the future.
[Therefore, King Jungjong announced that he would exile Zhou Lao Er to Vietnam. In reality, this was also his later place of exile, which almost became a cradle of civil officials—a life without exile was incomplete, and those who could enter were all big shots!]
Zhou She finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Tilanqiao?"
Yu Suisheng asked with some confusion, "Where is this?"
"...the Ministry of Revenue Minister's professional university."
However, the Empress Dowager was unaware of this; she only knew that her son would not die, so the relationship between mother and son eased slightly. She only learned that her second son had been exiled to a remote, desolate land thousands of miles away after Emperor Jungjong ascended the throne—the origin of Jungjong's famous phrase, "without father, without mother, without ancestors."
Shen Mingzhe, remaining steadfast at his post and listening attentively, strongly disagreed upon hearing this: "This is still too much—"
He stopped talking about what was too much.
Ren Heng nearly jumped up: "Your Highness... um!"
Ren Duan covered his father's mouth again and said politely, "Father, do not speak ill of His Highness."
How could he not know what his father was going to say? In any case, it was definitely not something the princess would want to hear.
The people had different opinions on this: "Although the younger brother is not very good, he has to give face to the mother. I think this is pretty good."
"Bah! What's the use of keeping him alive? He's just wasting food!"
"vulgar!"
"Foolish!"
The two sides started arguing noisily, but it had no effect on the sky.
Half a month later, the person Zhongzong was waiting for finally arrived. It was also his relative, the renowned metaphysical master, the Sixth Prince. The Sixth Prince was obsessed with metaphysics. He had just finished refining a batch of useless pills and emerged from seclusion when he heard that Zhongzong had swept across the world. He couldn't help but think about another problem: he was about to become useless. How would he survive?
Of course, at this point, he had another thing to do first: abdicate. Although Zhao Shuming had declared himself emperor, his prestige was far from sufficient, and his self-determination even caused a minor uproar, with some officials fleeing overnight.
If the same thing happened, it wouldn't be a big problem for Emperor Zhongzong, but he would still find it annoying. Besides, many of the officials who came to him in the first place did so because he raised the banner of upholding the Ning Dynasty's rule, and he didn't mind giving them emotional support and going through the 'normal' process.
He then pulled out an expired imperial edict from ten years ago, along with the sixth prince's abdication notice.
Emperor Hong'an held his breath, as if he wanted to hear every single word of the last sentence.
Four years after the death of Emperor Hong'an, peace returned to the land. Emperor Zhongzong was appointed to lead the empire in a time of crisis, saving it from collapse. With the country at peace and the people united in their hearts, the great cause was finally accomplished.
On the day of his ascension to the throne, he offered sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, changed his surname to Yi, and adopted the reign title Jinghua.
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