Chapter 008: The Good Mermaid Beats the Bad Panda
It turned out that he was not the only one who was keeping an eye on his good third brother. The noble families also joined in the fun and arranged a number of people in King Jing's fiefdom.
The general whose property was confiscated defected from his command to a noble family. The real purpose of the several letters found was probably to one day unite with King Jing and push him off the throne.
Rather than a troublesome emperor like him, the aristocratic families preferred an obedient puppet.
If he had not found the letter and had not sent people to King Jing's fiefdom to look for evidence, he would not have discovered their conspiracy.
In order to consolidate his throne, Zong Zhengxiao knew that he should take the opportunity to kill King Jing, but as long as he was about to kill, he would unconsciously think of his younger sister.
When he and his two brothers were fighting for the throne, the one who felt the saddest and suffered the most was his youngest sister. Her brothers, who had loved her so much in the past, were now fighting each other to the death, and she could do nothing but watch.
When the second oldest died, the younger sister cried until her eyes were swollen, and she murmured hoarsely: "We are brothers, why did it become like this..."
The word "power" is the most harmful and misleading thing.
When Zong Zhengxiao ascended the throne, his younger sister became the first princess of Dasheng, and was given the title of Ningping, enjoying the highest level of fiefdom.
However, she refused to live in the capital, and instead took her husband back to their hometown of Yingzhou. She would send letters and some special products to him, her eldest brother, and her third brother during every New Year.
No matter what happened before, the younger sister treated her brothers equally. If she knew that her two brothers were fighting for the throne again, I wonder how sad she would be.
That's why Zong Zhengxiao couldn't bear to kill King Jing.
What's more, King Jing was his biological brother, and they had lived together for more than twenty years. How could he not know whether his brother was suitable to be emperor?
His third brother could be a king who maintained the prosperity of the country, but he could not bear the burden of being the founding emperor.
If he is successfully used by the aristocratic family, then their Zong Zheng family will be finished.
The only way to save King Jing's life while making him lose the qualification to sit on the throne is to let him repeat his elder brother's old path.
In the secret letter, Zong Zhengxiao told King Jing that it would be better for him to do it himself, otherwise if he sent his people to do it, it would be more than just crippling.
He has done his best for his third brother.
Thinking back to the warmth and liveliness of family reunions in the past, and then looking at his lonely life now, Zong Zheng Xiao couldn't help but lower his eyes and sigh.
After all, things in this world are unpredictable.
During the time when Zong Zhengxiao was away, Rong Yin was more interested in painting. After a short while, he completed the work he wanted and admired it with great joy.
He was so immersed in his own superb skills that he didn't notice Zong Zheng Xiao coming back until the painting in his hand was suddenly snatched away by a hand.
Zong Zhengxiao observed the two little figures on the white paper, then looked at Rong Yin who had just come to his senses: "Is this what you spent two hours drawing?"
"Ah!" Rong Yin stretched out his hand anxiously, trying to grab it back, but Zong Zheng Xiao didn't give him the chance at all.
Zong Zhengxiao held Rong Yin's head with one hand to prevent him from getting up, and with the other hand he held up a piece of drawing paper to examine it carefully. There were four frames of drawings on the paper, all of which showed a fish beating up a bear-shaped creature with black circles under its eyes.
Although Zong Zhengxiao didn't know what the bear with dark circles under its eyes was called, the similarities between the two animals were too obvious.
He thought the little mermaid had learned her lesson these days, but it turned out that she was still being petty with him in private.
Zong Zhengxiao squatted down, brought the drawing paper to Rong Yin, and asked him, "What do these drawings mean?"
Rong Yin turned his eyes away guiltily, thinking: What else could it mean, the good mermaid beats up the bad panda emperor and gets rid of this evil for the people!
Zong Zhengxiao understood. The panda that the little mermaid had mentioned before actually looked like this. It must be said that it really fits his image.
Zong Zhengxiao smiled in his heart, but his face was serious, "It seems that I have been too nice to you recently, making you forget what propriety is."
His tone was cold, as if he was really angry, and Rong Yin immediately looked over nervously.
"If you make a mistake, you have to be punished."
Rong Yin panicked. Is the evil emperor serious?
Just as Rong Yin's heart was beating faster and he was trying hard to think about how to calm Zong Zheng Xiao down, Zong Zheng Xiao had already dragged the whole fish to the desk and pressed his hand on the desk.
Rong Yin: !!!
Rong Yin: No, it’s not serious enough to require amputation!
The next second, an ink stick was stuffed into Rong Yin's hand, followed by Zong Zheng Xiao's order: "I punish you to grind it for me."
Rong Yin, who was so frightened that his heart almost jumped out of his throat, said: "..."
He looked at Zong Zheng Xiao sadly.
Rong Yin: Just grind it, why make it so horrible?
After a few seconds, Rong Yin reacted: The bad emperor is trying to scare me on purpose!
The look he gave Zong Zheng Xiao suddenly became more ferocious. Having successfully teased Rong Yin again, Zong Zheng Xiao was in a good mood and couldn't help rubbing his head.
This little mermaid is still so stupid.
Zong Zhengxiao held Rong Yin's hand and rubbed it on the inkstone for a few times with the ink stick. Seeing that he had found the right state, he walked to the side and spread out the paper. He was ready to practice calligraphy.
Practicing calligraphy can calm one's mind. After meeting Jiang Xun, Zong Zhengxiao recalled many things that happened several years ago and felt a little confused.
When Zong Zhengxiao started to write, Rong Yin quietly became lazy, slowed down the grinding speed, and looked away.
Through observation over the past few days, Rong Yin discovered that the characters in this world are also Chinese characters, but they are all traditional characters. Rong Yin may not even recognize some characters if he looks at them individually, let alone write them.
Zong Zhengxiao is worthy of being an emperor. He is excellent in all aspects and his handwriting is beautiful.
He wrote in running script, which was neither as upright and rigorous as regular script nor as unrestrained and uninhibited as cursive script. It was flexible and varied yet measured, just like his personality.
No wonder they say handwriting reflects one's character.
Rong Yin's handwriting with a fountain pen is acceptable, but her calligraphy is not so good. She practiced it for a period of time, but achieved little results, so she gave up eventually.
Zong Zhengxiao put the written paper aside. Rong Yin took a look at it and he recognized these four words - peaceful seas and clear rivers.
Only when you have something in mind will you write. Is this the ideal of a bad emperor?
Rong Yin stared at the paper for a long time and discovered a problem: How come the paper used by the king of a country would have such obvious ink bleeding?
Rong Yin had seen this situation when she was painting just now, but she thought that the paper she was holding was not good enough, and her calligraphy skills were not good enough. The mermaid's hands were not suitable for holding a brush, so it was normal for the ink to spread.
But Zong Zhengxiao is an expert in calligraphy, and the quality of the ink is also good, so the only problem left is paper.
After hearing Rong Yin's thoughts, Zong Zhengxiao paused for a moment, then continued writing as if nothing had happened, but his attention was shifted to Rong Yin.
Rong Yin was still muttering: "The fibers of this paper are also very coarse. How can it be used for practicing calligraphy? Is the evil emperor so frugal? He is reluctant to use good paper for practicing calligraphy."
In modern times, when we can easily get good quality paper, these rough papers seem to have problems everywhere.
In fact, Zong Zhengxiao wanted to say that this was already top-notch paper on the market. It was only released two months ago, and the papermaking family claimed that it was the best paper. The price of one sheet was not cheap.
Rong Yin didn't know what Zong Zhengxiao was thinking, but he realized it after a while. It might be that the current papermaking technology was not perfect enough. After all, everything needs a process of development.
Rong Yin thought: I was curious before and searched about the papermaking process, but I wonder if it is possible to make better paper than this?
With a light "pop" sound, the tip of the pen dipped in ink was pressed directly on the white paper. Zong Zhengxiao lowered his head, his eyes full of shock.
The mermaid can make paper!