Chapter 75: How come I didn’t realize you were so venomous before the assassination?
The old affairs of the Duke Cheng’s Mansion have not yet been resolved, and a new loss has been added.
Zhou Chang's mourning hall was set up in another place in the mansion. Because he was worried that there would not be enough space, it was not close to Wu's place. But even though it was far away, the two sides could still hear each other's weeping and other sounds.
Zhou Linjin went to the palace immediately after Zhou Chang's death and did not return until nightfall. The altar had already been set up. He changed into mourning clothes and knelt before Zhou Chang's coffin, never getting up again.
Originally, Chen Lianxiu could have avoided Wu's matter and just gone to burn incense for a while, but as for Zhou Chang, although Yang and Zhou Yishao did not force her to do anything, Yang could no longer bear it. Zhou Linjin was not at home at the beginning, and she could not bear to see Zhou Yishao handle it alone, so she stayed to help.
After learning of Zhou Chang's death, several branches of the family that were closer to the capital immediately came to express their condolences, but no one from the second branch of the family, which was still in the Duke's Mansion, showed up. Only Xiao Wu sent people to ask twice if they needed anyone to help.
It's unclear whether Xiao Wu did it intentionally or not, but Zhou Yishao was furious. "The Duke's Mansion is still my home. Does she really need to send people?"
Chen Lianxiu couldn't add fuel to the fire, so she could only persuade Zhou Yishao from the side.
After midnight, the number of people in the mourning hall gradually decreased. Zhou Yishao was worried about Yang and wanted to go over to check on her. Zhou Linjin told her to rest for a while and not to rush back.
Chen Lianxiu had not left yet. She had been taking care of the two children for the past few days, and it was even more so now. She planned to take a stack of paper money and burn it. It would not be too late to leave later.
Walking to Zhou Linjin's side, she slowly threw paper money into the fire, but she was not in a hurry and acted as if she was in a hurry to leave.
When the paper money was half burned, Zhou Linjin said, "Will you stay with me for a while?"
Chen Lianxiu lowered his eyes and continued to throw a piece of paper money in. He responded softly, not knowing whether Zhou Linjin heard it or not.
She waited for Zhou Linjin to say something to her, and also guessed what Zhou Linjin would say to her, but Zhou Linjin did not move.
Until she had burned the thick stack of paper money in her hand, she wanted to get up and get new ones. She just moved slightly, and Zhou Linjin suddenly grabbed her wrist.
"Don't go." His voice was even hoarser than before.
Shen Lianxiu had no choice but to say, "Okay, I won't leave."
It was only early autumn, but she felt that Zhou Linjin's hands were terribly cold. She didn't know when it started to rain. It was not as heavy as last night, but it was a drizzle. The misty raindrops fell on her heart like tears, and the wet and cold rain went straight into her bones.
After a few rains, it suddenly felt like autumn.
Chen Lianxiu asked someone to fetch the cloak and handed it to Zhou Linjin, but he did not take it.
"It will get even colder soon, and it will rain. You won't be able to bear it if you stay here all night," Shen Lian advised in a low voice.
As she spoke, she no longer forced Zhou Linjin to take it and put it on, but instead put it on him herself. This time, Zhou Linjin did not resist.
Just as Shen Lianxiu was about to withdraw her hand, she suddenly heard Zhou Linjin say, "I'm really useless."
Hearing this, Chen Lianxiu opened her mouth, but before she could think of what to say, Zhou Linjin started talking again, "You clearly knew it was their conspiracy, and you clearly expected that something might happen to my father. Why, why did you just watch all this happen, without any way to stop it? Why did it turn out like this? Why did I watch him kill my grandmother and then my father?"
Chen Lianxiu waited quietly for Zhou Linjin to finish venting his anger. After some thought, he said, "Duke Cheng also knew that something bad would happen if he came back, so why did he come back?"
Zhou Linjin was stunned by Shen Lianxiu's question, then immediately added, "The Emperor didn't issue an order forbidding Father from returning to mourn. Besides, that's Father's biological mother, how could he not come back? If he doesn't even return for his mother's funeral, wouldn't the Emperor suspect him of scheming to rebel?"
"So," Chen Lianxiu paused, his tone becoming serious, "there are some things we are half powerless to do, and half we do things knowing they are impossible."
Zhou Linjin lowered his head and said nothing more.
After a long while, he finally said, "I just hate myself. If I had listened to my father when I was young, followed him closely, inherited his legacy, and followed him to the border, then wouldn't what happened today have happened? I would have returned with my father, and he wouldn't have..."
"How do you know it won't happen?" Chen Lianxiu interrupted him mercilessly. "You should know your own worth very well. You are simply not cut out for it. Forcing yourself to go down this path won't change your mediocre talent. Besides, you won't realize that the old lady was killed by Zhou Linyu, and you won't be on guard when you return. The most likely scenario is that you and your son will die together on the road, leaving the lady to see her son off in old age, which is even more tragic. You may not even have a son, and the Duke's Mansion will either be gone, or it will fall directly into Zhou Linyu's hands."
Zhou Linjin gave a bitter smile: "Why didn't I realize you were so venomous before?"
Chen Lianxiu said, "I just feel that at this point, I shouldn't dwell on these useless things and only add to my sadness."
"So you're thinking about the future? What future is there?" Zhou Linjin's smile grew even more bitter. "When I entered the palace to see His Majesty, the battle report from the border had just arrived. Upon hearing the news of my father's death, His Majesty was already too late to regret. Right now, he's in a state of panic. All he can do is send reinforcements to the border. It's not a sound decision, but what else can he do? Prince Hui is no longer in the capital. It's too late."
Chen Lianxiu sighed: "Then we can only live like this."
He suppressed the bitter smile on his face and nodded: "It seems that this is the only way."
The incense in the incense burner was almost burnt out, so Zhou Linjin stood up to relight the incense. When he came back, he took out a stack of paper money, gave half to Chen Lianxiu, and they burned it together.
"When I was little, my father was very patient with me at first. He was willing to teach me and even kept me by his side for a while. But I wasn't interested in what he taught me. I pretended I couldn't even lift a knife, which always made my father very angry. After a few times, he felt that I was embarrassing him in the barracks and said I was more delicate than my elder sister, so he sent me home again," Zhou Linjin said as if muttering to himself while throwing paper money into the brazier. "Now that I think about it, even if I wasn't interested, there's no harm in learning. At most, I wouldn't learn well. Why did I have to go against my father? No wonder he always disliked me. I wonder if he would still dislike me in the underworld."
This time it was Shen Lianxiu's turn to smile. She said, "No."
"How do you know not?"
"Duke Cheng said he wanted revenge before he died. He couldn't possibly have asked your mother and elder sister, or Zhu'er and An'an, to take revenge. He must have asked you to avenge him. If he still despised you, he wouldn't have said that to you. Otherwise, if he thought you couldn't do it, why would he have gone to such lengths?"
Zhou Linjin was silent for a long time before he said, "You are right, but you are wrong about one thing."
Chen Lianxiu turned her head and blinked, watching Zhou Linjin's expression become even more severe in the flickering light of the fire: "What did I say wrong?"
Zhou Linjin noticed she was looking at him, so he turned around and looked at her as well, the same fire reflected in their eyes. "Father didn't ask me to avenge him, but to avenge the soldiers and civilians who were innocently implicated by King Hui's rebellion."
Shen Lianxiu nodded: "So, he really doesn't dislike you anymore."
A gust of cold wind blew over, and Shen Lianxiu couldn't help but shiver. Seeing this, Zhou Linjin didn't care about anything else. He just reached out and tightened her clothes. He accidentally touched her warm cheek, and felt a different feeling in his heart.
He rubbed his fingers slowly in secret, then said: "You go back first, An An and Zhu Er still need you to take care of them."
Chen Lianxiu did not refuse. Zhou Linjin got up first, then helped her up and sent her outside.
Before reaching the gate, Shen Lianxiu stopped and said, "No need to send me off. I can go there by myself."
Zhou Linjin nodded, and while tucking her cloak closer, he said, "Be careful on the road, and sleep a little later tomorrow."
Before he could finish his words, there was another gust of wind. Zhou Linjin let go of the hand that was on Shen Lianxiu's cloak, and then pushed her to the side, immediately standing in front of her.
The opponent seemed to have anticipated that Zhou Linjin would take action, and his attack became more and more fierce, pressing forward step by step.
Chen Lianxiu was still in shock. Before she could see clearly who the person was, she was dazzled by the flash of the knife. She saw the tip of the knife going straight towards Zhou Linjin's neck.
However, the next moment, Zhou Linjin did not try to dodge, but raised his hand and chopped at the man's wrist. The tip of the knife stopped just beside his neck and then fell down.
"Ah--" the man cried out in pain and hurriedly took a few steps back. With the dim candlelight in the mourning hall, Zhou Linjin and Shen Lianxiu could see his face clearly. It was Zhou Linyu.
He knew that if he tried to assassinate Zhou Linjin, he would not have much chance of success, so he planned to start with Chen Lianxiu who was beside Zhou Linjin. Zhou Linjin would be panicked when he went to protect her, and he could kill him when he was in a hurry and had to protect Chen Lianxiu.
But unexpectedly, it still failed.
Zhou Linyu missed the first attack and tried to move forward again with gritted teeth, but Zhou Linjin would not give him any chance and knocked him to the ground in just two or three moves.
Although Zhou Linjin was often teased for his fancy moves, compared to Zhou Linyu's body which had long been hollowed out by alcohol and sex, his moves could be considered ruthless and he could subdue him without any effort.
At this time, the people who were still staying in the mourning hall saw that something had happened here and rushed over. Zhou Linyu struggled to stand up quickly from the ground. While everyone was still not reacting, he snatched the lantern from one of the people's hands, then took out a can of something from his arms, poured it on the ground, tore the lantern into pieces and threw the candle down. The flames suddenly exploded, and everyone was frightened and retreated far away. Zhou Linyu also took the opportunity to escape.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Someone didn't understand, but vaguely recognized that it was Zhou Linyu, so he hurriedly asked Zhou Linjin what had happened just now.
This statement would inevitably involve a lot of things, so Zhou Linjin naturally couldn't elaborate. He just exchanged a glance with Shen Lianxiu and said, "It's okay, big brother is drunk."
But Zhou Linyu's last actions showed that he was well prepared and there was no way he was drunk. Everyone was surprised, but then they thought that it might just be a private matter between the two families. Since Zhou Linjin was unwilling to say it, they didn't dare to continue asking, so they all dispersed again.
The servants quickly put out the fire, leaving behind a black ground that was burned by the fire. The fine rain made it muddy and dirty.
Zhou Linjin turned around and said to Shen Lianxiu, "Let me take you back."
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The author has something to say: Today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow should be able to update twice a day. Today I will temporarily update one chapter, and there will be more in the evening. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow will still update at 9 am and 9 pm [dog head holding a rose] Today the comment area will still randomly give out red envelopes [dog head holding a rose]
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