The head of the Zhou family had no idea that his precious daughter had actually accomplished something earth-shattering, going hundreds of miles into the territory of the rebels and bringing back the Imperial Master woman. Therefore, he has always placed all the responsibility on himself for his daughter's running away from home. Ever since the father-daughter talk that night, he has felt deeply guilty and painful.
Now, he hurriedly crossed the big threshold and went straight to the east wing where his daughter lived. The servants of the mansion quickly followed him and whispered in his ear: "Master, the lady is not in her room." But he turned a deaf ear and walked forward in a daze as if possessed by a demon.
It wasn't until the old steward heard the sound that he hurriedly ran out of the main room and dragged his old leg with all his strength. Then he barely stopped the master who was walking so fast, and said with a cup of his hands: "Master, Madam just fainted from crying. I just woke up now, and the lady is accompanying me."
The head of the Zhou family finally listened this time, and without saying anything, he immediately twisted his body and strode to the main room.
On the bed in the room, the girl was being hugged tightly by a woman, and she was a little out of breath.
"Mom, just strangle your daughter to death."
When the mistress Zhang heard this, she tightened her arms and buried her face deeply in the girl's chest. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she said sadly: "Xiao Ruirui, you really want your mother to live a short life." . You and your father ran away from home in anger, at least tell your mother. Your father doesn’t care about the family, the rebels are coming again, and your mother has saved nothing in her life, only you. You said you If something goes wrong outside, how can you let my mother live? Why are you so disobedient? You really want your mother to die."
The girl obediently and quietly stroked her back, clearly seeing the white hair that was gradually growing on her mother's head. Who do these gray hairs grow for? Of course she knows. Because on the morning before leaving home, she helped her mother comb her hair, and she had never seen so many white hairs growing wildly.
Mistress Zhang started crying right after she woke up. By now she had been crying for more than an hour, and the girl's whole body was wet from crying. But now, she is still crying, and the girl can still feel the wet warmth on her chest.
"Rui Rui! Rui Rui!"
Before anyone arrived, panicked voices sounded from outside the house.
Then the sound of hurried footsteps got closer and closer, and the tall man hurriedly walked in. The girl turned her head with difficulty and looked at him with pitiful eyes.
When you see your daughter being kneaded into such a haggard state, you know how torturous your wife is.
He was so talkative that his temper was almost worn out, and he coaxed his wife from beginning to end. Only then did his mistress Zhang finally "untie" her daughter.
The girl patted her chest and finally took a full breath. In a blink of an eye, she saw her father standing next to her, his head lowered like a child who had done something wrong, his eyes red, and he was about to cry.
The girl was a little scared, "Dad, are you going to cry on me for an hour?"
The head of the Zhou family tried his best to suppress his trembling cries, "Daughter, tell dad honestly, do you hate dad?"
The girl tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, "No, how could Ruirui hate daddy?"
"Don't hate? How can you not hate?" The head of the Zhou family burst into tears, "You are right, dad only cares about official business and not family. Dad is the most selfish person in the world. When the court decided to move the capital that day, you guys My mother-in-law and I will follow whatever you say. Ruirui, you also said that you can abandon your family no matter what. I am really touched to see that you and your mother-in-law did not abandon me. After moving to Yicheng, I was thinking, if the powerful ministers and their families all Will sacrificing one's life for the country become a good story in the history books? So I work hard to share the worries of His Majesty the Emperor, just for the eternal glory of the monarch and his ministers! Before death, I want to be a great minister, and after death, I want to be famous forever. This is my selfish intention Now! You didn’t abandon me, but I abandoned you!”
"Madam, daughter, I was wrong, I was wrong, I was really wrong."
The room was quiet. He covered his face with his hands and cried so hard that he couldn't stand up straight.
Suddenly, a warm voice sounded from behind: "Right and wrong, success and failure are all in vain. Why bother fighting for your reputation before and after your life? Spending more time with your family is better than anything else."
The head of the Zhou family suddenly turned around, and the first thing he saw was not the most distinguished man in front of him, but a large group of Zhou family servants kneeling outside the house.
All the words that were disobeying the rule of the emperor and his ministers just now were heard. With a bang, he felt his brain explode and went blank, and his body fell to his knees involuntarily.
A hand was put on his shoulder, and he sighed, "My dear, why bother lying to me?"
"If you want to have a good conversation that is suitable for both the king and his ministers, isn't it just a matter of saying a word to me? The worst I can do is leave a suicide note and praise you in every possible way. I asked you before, now that the situation is over, you are still working hard until late at night, at home. Will people be dissatisfied? Do you still remember how you answered me?"
The head of the Zhou family knelt down and kowtowed, and said sadly: "I am deeply honored to be able to share the worries of your majesty's state affairs with my family!"
The emperor closed his eyes and murmured softly: "Okay, you Zhou Xu, I trust you in every possible way, but for the sake of fame, you almost put me in an unkind and unjust place."
Zhou Xu knocked his head heavily on the ground and said in a deep voice: "I know your guilt!"
The mother and daughter, Madam Gaoming and the apple of Zhou's eye, were the only two people inside and outside the house who were not kneeling.
It may seem treasonous, but if you kneel down to the man in front of you, that would be truly treasonous.
Because this Zhang family member of the Zhou family, who was praised by the late emperor as the "Second Lady", was the biological sister of the late emperor's empress who died early!
The old emperor felt guilty all his life for the married couple, so he took great care of his queen's surviving sister. In order to prevent her from becoming a victim of power struggles and fearing that she would not have enough food, clothing and wealth, she chose the Zhou family, the most inconspicuous among the four powerful families, for her. So she set up traps again and again, so that she, who was alluring at the time, met Zhou Xu, the son of the Zhou family. The two gradually fell in love, and naturally got married and gave birth to a daughter, who is now the apple of the Zhou family's eye, Zhou Zerui.
The late emperor told the prince about this before he died, and told him in a strong and decisive tone that he must take good care of the mother and daughter.
So when the imperial court finalized the decision to move the capital that day, in other words, when it was ready to fight to the death without surrender, the emperor who had just succeeded wanted to send the mother and daughter to flee, to the Dajing Dynasty, to a small border country, as long as they stayed away from the war. Anywhere will do.
But the queen sister got angry and confronted the most noble man in the world alone. Just one word left him speechless.
"Why does my sister pass away so early? Why does the late emperor feel guilty all his life? Doesn't your Majesty know?"
How could he not know? As the abandoned baby boy, how could he not know?
That year there was a war, and a man took advantage of the dark night to sneak two babies away by waterway. Even after the Kyushu became unified and the world became stable, and he became the king of a country, he still could not get her forgiveness.
Dependent origination is home, and emptiness of nature is also home. There is always only one home. Once it is lost, it is lost and can never be found again.
So ever since he abandoned his flesh and blood behind her back, he and she were no longer family members.
So even though the late emperor gave many orders not to let the mother and daughter get involved in bloody intrigues, he still acquiesced.
But this Zhou Xu, for the sake of his reputation before and after his death, actually abandoned his family who did not abandon him!
If the late emperor had a spirit in heaven and saw this scene, would Long Yan be furious? !
Will he be angry at his disobedient son? Will he be angry with Zhou Xu, who is obsessed with profit?
Will do! Most definitely!
The emperor sneered ferociously: "Zhou Xu, I ask you, do you want to be famous forever or do you want your family?"
Mrs. Zhang stood up and shouted angrily, "Does your Majesty want to punish him?!"
"I violated the late emperor's long-cherished wish to reunite your family, but what did you Zhou Xu do? Bullying the emperor or disobeying the emperor, which one is not a crime of beheading?! The emperor is the minister, and I want to punish the crime, why not!"
Zhang was furious, "How outrageous! What you did today is to make the late emperor die in peace! If you dare to punish me today, I will die in front of you!"
The room fell silent for a moment, no one said a word.
Suddenly, a woman with a sword appeared outside the door and said calmly: "You are not a child, so don't be arrogant."
Smelling the slight smell of blood, the emperor turned to face her and frowned: "Where is the emperor's master?"
"In Yicheng, rats are rampant. Let me help you clear them out."
Zhou Xu, who was kneeling on the ground, raised his head and said in disbelief: "Yicheng never produces or stores food, how can it be that rats are rampant?"
The woman sneered: "He is worthy of the late emperor's evaluation of his wooden head."
Only after Zhou Xu was mocked like this did he realize that the rat problem she was talking about was not a real rat problem, but the restless rats crossing the street.
The emperor said solemnly: "Is the situation urgent?"
"One thing." The woman subconsciously rubbed the hilt of the sword, "Someone poisoned the water canal outside the city. I killed the poisoner and cut off the water canal. Although the wells in the city were not polluted, they were dried up and bottomed out. , within two days, if we cannot find a new water source and build ditches, this Yicheng may be in chaos."
"Can you please ask the emperor to find another source of clean water?" The emperor's face was gloomy.
"I can't, I don't have that kind of perception. But the prince who loves the water can do it. And since he is a spring official, to a certain extent, he is a saint who talks about the constitution of heaven. Therefore, finding water transportation is extremely simple for him. .”
The emperor said coldly: "Next time, please just answer me 'can' or 'can'. No need to talk nonsense. If not, I will send someone to find water immediately."
The woman raised her eyebrows slightly, "Your father doesn't even dare to speak in this tone. You are very brave."
The emperor looked directly into her eyes and said: "If the emperor had not been in seclusion for thirty years, how could Dafeng be in the situation he is today?"
This time, the girls' eyes widened slightly.
Some things must never be forgotten, but they must never be said on the table. They are only suitable for hiding in the heart. You know I know, but I just don’t say it. Maybe there is room for mediation and mutual benefit, but if we completely break up, then we can only go our separate ways. Maybe if we accidentally bump into each other on the road, they will say "enemies are on the same road." .
She originally thought that the imperial master would break up with the angry emperor, but she never expected that she just nodded, which was considered a gracious admission.
"Indeed, it is precisely because I feel guilty that I came here. Otherwise, fighting, life and death, what does it have to do with me, a monk of the Immortal Family?"
"Besides, what I just said was not nonsense."
After the words fell, a man in white stepped on the threshold without any warning. He did not wear a spring official jade medal, but he gave people a sense of solemnity.
After being pardoned and becoming a spring official, he seemed to have really become a banished immortal.
He chuckled outside the room: "Hey, isn't this the boss of the bodyguard? Why is he dressed in such a golden outfit? Where is your sword?"
In the room, since he became emperor, he has always paid attention to his words and deeds, and is gentle and elegant. At this moment, he laughed loudly like a vulgar warrior, "Little chick, where did your white hair go?"
Then, he made another toasting gesture.
Others present did not understand, but Geiliu understood it.
When they were parting in Greenbelt City, a bearded swordsman, facing the back of a white-haired man, said: "I'll toast you, if you can come back alive."
At that time, one ran away from home and the other was homeless. Life was very miserable.
And now, one has become a Taoist Chunguan, and the other has become an orthodox emperor.
Although...a man has lost his most beloved woman, and a man has lost most of his country, life is still not good.
However, it is already good to be able to meet each other. It would be best if we could meet again like this.
