"For the past ten years or so, I've been squatting in the Eastern Palace like a quail, not daring to make the slightest mistake. Who have I been doing all this for?! Huh? That year, Qingzhou suffered a severe drought. I was so afraid that the court officials would find fault with me that I wore coarse cloth and ate chaff and wild vegetables for half a year with your sister-in-law! I wanted to establish virtue, to make merit, to secure this position, and to endure until the day I ascended the throne. Who have I been doing all this for?!"
Several streaks of blood slowly flowed down the broken porcelain shards.
“You are my own brother. I did all this... to save you... It's nothing. I brought this on myself, and I don't feel wronged. But your sister-in-law... your sister-in-law suffered with me to help me... At that time, she was pregnant with Wenqi. In the dead of winter, the palace didn't even dare to burn a pot of good charcoal, for fear that those officials would use their words to slander the emperor!”
At this point, Zhao Changheng became furious and took two steps forward, raising his leg to kick him.
He gestured with his foot in mid-air, about to kick the shoulder, but then put it down.
He turned around, walked behind him, and kicked him in the butt.
Zhao Changqing fell to the side from the force of his kick.
Then he slowly got up and knelt down properly again.
Several streaks of blood were already flowing from the spot on his forehead where he had hit the shards of porcelain.
The bright red color, hanging on half of his face, was quite shocking.
Zhao Changheng felt a pang of unease, but hardened his heart and continued his tirade.
"Your nephew Wenqi was born this way because he wasn't properly cared for in the womb... a wild monkey who jumps around and doesn't know what's good for him! They're born of the same mother, but look at Wenyi, he's intelligent and upright, everyone who sees him praises him for having the style of the founding emperor."
Zhao Changqing: ...
"What did you say back then? When you were crammed into the carriage and sent out of the capital, I followed behind the carriage, crying and chasing after you all the way... At that time... you leaned out of the carriage window and shouted at me: Brother, I don't want to go, you must save me, we'll be together forever, never separated... I did it, I did it! I defied the late emperor's decree, bore the stigma of disloyalty and filial impiety, and endured the accusations of those old fogies to bring you back! But what about you?! You went back on your word? Huh?"
Upon hearing his words, Zhao Changqing's eyes immediately welled up with tears.
Even without seeing it with his own eyes, he could imagine it.
How much pressure did my elder brother face to defy the late emperor's decree?
"Brother, I'm sorry..."
"A slanted imperial edict! That was the first time this dynasty had used such an edict! All official appointments had to go through the Grand Secretaries of the Council of State Affairs—that was a rule established by our ancestors! But as soon as I ascended the throne, I broke that rule. I couldn't bring you back to the palace directly, nor could I directly bestow a title upon you. To cover my tracks, I had to send you out first. I bypassed the Council of State Affairs and directly appointed you to an official post on the frontier, giving you a chance to return to the capital after achieving merit. Those Grand Secretaries and remonstrating officials blocked my palace gates every day, cursing me for violating ancestral rules. They cursed me for a whole month, but I didn't back down an inch! Not only did I not back down, I even pushed my luck. Taking advantage of your merit in defeating the Wuhuan and establishing the peace treaty, I forced them to relent, to compromise, and to agree to bestow a title upon you. And you...and you... Heh...I never expected that you would actually say you didn't want to come back..."
Zhao Changqing was speechless after hearing what he said.
He understands.
He understands everything.
He acknowledged, understood, and was grateful for everything his elder brother had done.
For more than a decade, he has longed for an early return to the capital, to be with his familiar family, and to return to the place he knows so well.
but……
He didn't expect to encounter such a variable.
A variable that made him waver.
"Brother, I..."
"You are not allowed to utter a single word!" Zhao Changheng said fiercely. "I don't want to hear anything from you right now! Go back to your palace and reflect on your actions. You are not allowed to come out for half a month! After half a month, bring your title and roll over here. I have already written the edict of your investiture and left it here. When the time comes, you can fill in whichever title you want! Now get out!"
After saying this, Zhao Changheng turned around with his hands behind his back, not wanting to look at him anymore.
Zhao Changqing stared blankly at his elder brother's back, then bent down and kowtowed three times, a genuine and unembellished gesture.
"Your subject takes his leave."
After saying those four words, he silently stood up, stepped back, and left the Imperial Study.
When the eunuchs outside the door saw him come out, they all bowed their heads and respectfully saw him off.
He was preoccupied with his thoughts and walked straight towards his own palace.
He was young when he left, without a title or the ability to establish his own residence outside the palace.
After becoming the Grand Commander of the Army, he did not look for a residence in the capital because he had no family.
What's more, as soon as he returned to the capital, his elder brother, the emperor, pulled him aside to reminisce about the past and wouldn't let him leave the palace at all.
Therefore, whenever he returned to the capital, he stayed in the imperial city.
The palace he lives in is the same one where he and his brother lived when they were children.
Every brick, every stone, every blade of grass, every tree evoked memories of him and his elder brother.
The sapling he planted with his elder brother is still there, and it has grown as tall as the roof.
When the left guard saw him return, he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "My lord, what happened to the wound on your forehead? I'll have the imperial physician bandage it for you now."
“It’s alright.” He raised his hand slightly to stop Zuo Ming’s steps. “This injury is nothing, I can handle it myself. You…you can deliver a letter for me now.”
"Yes! Where does the message need to be delivered, sir?"
"...Go to Jizhou."
Jizhou, He Residence.
He Youyou stared blankly at the medicine in the medicine box.
That bottle of white medicine has been refreshed...
Zhao Changqing is injured?
She personally used half a bottle of this medicine for him when they were at the border last time, and put the remaining half bottle in his personal pouch.
But now, her medicine cabinet is completely full of fresh bottles.
In the afternoon, there was a sudden knock on the gate of the He residence.
Someone rushed over to report to He Youyou.
"Mistress, someone has come to deliver something."
"For me? I'll go down and see."
He Youyou went down from the corner tower and into the courtyard, where she saw that the courtyard was already full of things.
All sorts of things, you name it.
There was another person standing behind the things.
"Xiao Wu?"
The person who arrived was Xiao Wu, one of Zhao Changqing's close followers.
"Madam Han." Xiao Wu bowed respectfully.
He Youyou pointed to the things on the ground and asked in surprise, "What's going on with all this stuff?"
Xiao Wu replied respectfully, "Madam, this is what the master brought for you and the young master. It contains specialties from all over the country."
"Oh..." He Youyou understood, but not entirely. "Specialty products... but why? Why send these all of a sudden?"
Xiao Wu rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, Master has been getting along well with the princes in the capital lately. These things were all brought from their own fiefdoms and given to Master. But Master doesn't need all of them, so he asked me to bring them to you."
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