Chapter 341: Make a vow in your life and plead for the people!

Hou Ruoan's eyebrows were drooping, his face was tense, and his fists were clenched tightly, as if he was struggling with himself in his heart. As for what he was struggling with, no one knew, and he was not willing to explain too much.

After a long time, he unclenched his fist, looked at the incense burner, and said calmly, "This is my private matter."

"I just caused the girl to hallucinate. It was my fault. I apologize."

"sorry."

Hou Ruo'an didn't care that the person in front of him was a little girl, a little girl who could be his granddaughter. He bowed his head and apologized, his attitude was very sincere.

Seeing this, Jiujiu wanted to continue asking something. She had a vague feeling that the matter of the incense burner was not that simple, but she was stopped by Zhou Wenchuan.

Zhou Wenchuan said before her: "Uncle Hou, please come and sit down. We can talk slowly if we have something to say."

Hou Ruoan did not sit down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then tactfully reminded Jiujiu and Zhou Wenchuan that they could leave as he had something else to do.

As for the help I just mentioned, it seemed that he was unwilling to help because his secret had been discovered.

Jiujiu was of course reluctant to leave. How could she leave when she hadn't even told him about the thousand-year-old Jade Rong Root?

However, when Hou Ruoan saw that she was not leaving, he decided to leave by himself.

“…”

All right!

Jiujiu could only leave with Zhou Wenchuan first.

Jiujiu wanted to wait until Hou Ruoan calmed down a little before going to him to ask for medicine.

Little did they know that as soon as Jiujiu and Zhou Wenchuan left, Hou Ruoan locked the door inward, then added incense to the incense burner, lit it, and lay down on the rattan chair, immersed in the incense.

The fragrance is unusually strong.

The hallucinogenic effect is also unprecedentedly strong.

The thing that Hou Ruoan desired most in his heart was now infinitely magnified before his eyes.

He saw the emperor he had always thought about, the court, his official uniform, official boots, official hat, and tablet...

"Long live His Majesty."

As Hou Ruoan spoke, he stood up and knelt on the ground to greet the emperor.

He also reported government affairs to the emperor in his eyes in his own words.

Although he was dismissed from office, he always remembered his original intention when he entered the court as an official at a young age, which was to plead for the people.

Therefore, at this moment, the government affairs he described were all feasible strategies he proposed based on the current situation of the people.

He narrated a lot, and he did not finish until the incense in the carved incense burner burned out and the fragrance dissipated.

He was just about to say, "Your Majesty, please grant my permission," when a breeze blew on his face, clearing his mind.

After waking up from a beautiful dream, he was once again in this simple, empty thatched hut where he was the only one, unable to do anything.

He looked around, knelt on the ground in frustration, and said with a sob: "Your Majesty, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong."

"I shouldn't have stubbornly believed that the new ruler of our Southern Kingdom could only be the eldest son..."

"Over the years, you have governed the Southern Kingdom very well, much better than the deposed crown prince."

"You are the most suitable person to become the ruler of the Southern Kingdom."

"I understand."

"I really want to go back, to continue to be loyal to the Southern Kingdom, to continue to plead for the people, and to do things for the people, but there is no chance now."

Having said this, Hou Ruoan prostrated himself on the ground, crying inconsolably.

Back then, because of his prejudice against the eldest son being the heir, he supported Crown Prince Di Chaoyang and repeatedly opposed Di Jiang, so he was dismissed from office and exiled here.

He always thought that he was right, that only the eldest son could shoulder the heavy responsibility of being the new ruler of the Southern Kingdom. But over the years, as he watched the Southern Kingdom prosper, and heard rumors that the ruler was so focused on government affairs that he didn't even have a woman at the age of 20, he suddenly realized that he was wrong.

Di Chaoyang was not like this back then.

Emperor Chaoyang focused on eating, drinking, and having fun, enjoying the imperial power and wealth, and kept a bunch of women. He did nothing practical, which was completely different from the new emperor's style.

He was too paranoid. He actually thought that after Di Chaoyang became the emperor, he would shoulder the heavy burden and no one else could do it.

The facts slapped him in the face and woke him up.

He wanted to admit his mistake, wanted to go back and continue to serve as an official and plead for the people.

But--

"I know that this is all just my fantasy. I will never be able to leave this village in my lifetime."

"No one will help me get out of this village and see your majesty. If I want to continue to speak and work for the people, I can only rely on these incense sticks."

Hou Ruoan's turbid tears kept falling to the ground, and soon the ground in front of him was wet.

He cried until he had no strength left and fell to the ground. He lay there for a long time, then lit some incense and repeated the scene of going to court and meeting His Majesty.

This time, he ordered three times as much spice as before. He was really crazy and wanted to die, so he did this.

He had strong hallucinations again, but this time, it was accompanied by headaches, dizziness, numbness in his limbs, and a breakdown in consciousness.

He felt like his life was hanging by a thread, his body couldn't hold on any longer and he was about to die.

But it's okay this way.

He no longer had to continue living this day-to-day life, a life he didn't want to live at all.

He can finally be free.

Thinking of this, Hou Ruoan knelt on the ground, waved at the illusory figures, then closed his eyes and fell to the ground due to exhaustion.

He had been unconscious for a long time, but no one knew.

.

Outside the thatched hut.

After Jiujiu and Zhou Wenchuan went out, they did not leave. They waited under the locust tree not far outside the fence.

They wanted to wait until Hou Ruoan calmed down before going to see him.

For this reason, they didn't even have lunch and waited for most of the day.

However, he never waited until Hou Ruoan's mood returned to normal and then opened the tightly closed door.

"There's no smoke in the chimney." Jiujiu said, "Does Lord Hou not even cook?"

Zhou Wenchuan said: "I don't know, maybe he ate some steamed bread or something."

"Uncle Hou only cares about tea. As for the rest, he doesn't care about anything else."

"He eats whatever he wants for three meals a day, as long as he can fill his stomach. Sometimes, he can just pick a few cucumbers from the fields to have a meal. He doesn't care about the clothes he wears, he wears the same two pieces over and over again."

"We bought him a new one, but he didn't want it."

"After he was dismissed from office, he had a lot of money, but he didn't use it. In the past two years, he donated all the money to build private schools in various places."

"I don't know what he wants. What does he want to do?"

Zhou Wenchuan sighed deeply as he spoke, feeling somewhat distressed for Hou Ruowen.

He could have lived a good life, even if he was alone, he could have lived a good life, respected and admired by others, but he chose not to do that.

He chose a narrow path that many people could not see or understand.

"How about we go back and eat something first? Then come back after we finish eating?" Zhou Wenchuan suggested, "Let's go to my house to eat, okay?"

"No." Jiujiu refused.

But Zhou Wenchuan did not give up. He looked at Jiujiu affectionately and said enthusiastically, "Miss Yanyue, my grandparents really want you to come to my house for dinner."