readytorunbook Chapter 284 Dispute over assignment
Chapter 284 Dispute over assignment
The emperor is so hypocritical. He clearly intended to use Zhao Fangyu's identity to humiliate him, but now that Zhao Fangyu's identity has changed, he feels that he has taken a huge advantage.
They want to humiliate him and drive him around, and when he finally gets something sweet, they want him to be grateful...
You can't be like this.
Zhou Qinghe knelt beside Concubine Li. Concubine Li was confused, her eyes full of tears. She had no idea what was going on. She even wanted to get closer to the emperor again, but she was scared by being pushed away just now. She didn't dare to do so. So she held the hand of the palace maid and called the emperor's former name in a low and mournful voice.
The emperor's thoughts were exposed by Zhou Qinghe. Few people dared to disobey him so many times!
So he slapped him again, and at this moment, an apricot-pink figure suddenly rushed out and hugged Zhou Qinghe...
Not really. Concubine Li rushed over and hugged the emperor's hand.
Concubine Li didn't understand, and even spoke incoherently: "He is a good boy, I won't beat him..."
When had the emperor ever been stopped from beating someone? The Concubine Li in front of him was no longer the young and tender girl she once was. She was skinny, stupid and boring. She couldn't understand what people said and couldn't speak. How dare such a woman rush over to stop him?
The emperor grabbed Concubine Li's wrist tightly and threw her into the arms of a palace maid. Concubine Li was thin and weak, so how could she compare to the emperor? In a rage, she was almost thrown out. The emperor shouted angrily: "Bitch! Why didn't you die outside the palace!"
The love he had in his youth had long since faded away. The emperor hated why Concubine Li did not die outside, but instead wanted to return to the palace and give birth to Zhou Qinghe, a rebellious son. However, he completely forgot that it was he who issued the order to search the whole world for Concubine Li's whereabouts.
Concubine Li burst into tears, her eyes red, and she obviously didn't know what she had done wrong. But she didn't dare to get close to the emperor at this time, so she could only lie in the arms of the familiar palace maid, trembling helplessly with fear.
Zhou Qinghe seemed to have returned to the scene that had been repeated countless times in the past, and the familiar bitterness gradually overwhelmed him.
"Mother, you have been looking forward to seeing your father every day for these years. I often want to ask, if your mother is in a clear mind, would she be sad to see how much your father hates her? And does your father still remember when he was in love with you and didn't want you to leave him even for a moment?"
The emperor and Concubine Li really had a passionate love affair in the past, which was even more so than Meng Yan's love today. All the other beauties in the harem pale in comparison, and he was the only one favored by the emperor.
He was so favored that everyone in the entire harem was secretly planning how to bring down his mother.
How much I loved you in the beginning, how much I hate you now.
The emperor suspected that his mother had lost her chastity while living away from home during her pregnancy. He wished she was dead, but he didn't want her to really die.
He wanted to see her living in a daze, waiting foolishly in the palace all day for a husband who would never come.
The emperor stood in place, his eyes moving around the deserted palace. The poverty of Suyun Palace was visibly evident to the naked eye, and its only advantage over the cold palace was that it was clean.
Zhou Qinghe and Concubine Li lived in such a place for more than ten years.
But it's not enough.
The emperor was angry at the third prince for not fighting back, and he hated Zhou Qinghe for being alive.
He did not want Zhou Qinghe to die. He wanted him to live and be humiliated, unable to resist, like a pig or a dog, controlled by him in everything and without any control over his own behavior.
When the Emperor pushed Concubine Li, veins bulged on Zhou Qinghe's forehead. His fingertips, which clearly had no nails, still poked the soft flesh of his palms, causing blood to flow.
In his mind, every word was what Zhao Fangyu had said. It was not my fault...
It’s not my fault…
"If your Majesty really dislikes me, please let me go."
Even being a country bumpkin is better than being controlled, strangled, and the target of anger.
Zhou Qinghe was not heartbroken, but he felt that this palace was just like the Third Prince, rotten to the core.
The third prince is already hopelessly rotten. What’s the point of the emperor asking him to take the blame for the third prince now?
The civil and military officials in the court are not fools, and the people are not fools either.
Water can carry a boat but can also capsize it. If the people can no longer survive, there will always be people who rise up in rebellion.
In this world, you don't have to have the surname Zhou.
The emperor made a bad move for no apparent reason. It was so bad that Zhou Qinghe wanted to laugh.
Such a foolish monarch and a future crown prince who disregards human life are simply a sign of the country's demise!
The emperor looked coldly at Zhou Qinghe, who was still kneeling upright in front of him and refusing to compromise. In his heart, there was an unknown flame, burning his heart all the time.
The emperor originally wanted to ask the third prince and others to serve as military supervisors on the Qian-Gan border. Who would have thought that such a thing would happen before the third prince set out.
In just half a month, Cui Zimin discovered the third prince's fatal mistake.
Cui Zimin was too focused on the Third Prince. The Third Prince himself was so rotten that he was beyond redemption. He had no chance of taking the throne and would be infamous for eternity!
The emperor was disappointed and angry, but he was thinking, he had many sons, if the third son was not good enough, there was still the fifth son, if the fifth son was not good enough, there were still the eighth, ninth and tenth sons. He had so many children, there would always be one who would be successful!
He let Zhou Qinghe take the blame just to make the third brother appear innocent in the history books so as to avoid being reviled by future generations.
But Zhou Qinghe's disobedience really made him angry.
Why did Zhou Qinghe, this rebellious son, contradict him?
"If you want your mother to be safe, you know what to do."
Zhou Qinghe had heard these cold words so many times that he actually didn't care.
The emperor has used this trick too many times.
He kowtowed to the emperor and said, "If your Majesty insists on doing this, I will have no choice but to risk the wrath of the world and go to see our ancestors with my mother to plead our case."
Zhou Qinghe himself didn't care how he would live in the future, whether eating coarse food or going to prison, as long as he could get rid of the emperor and the world would be at peace, it would be good anyway.
There is some truth to the saying that those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes.
He also wanted to compromise, but the emperor would not sympathize with him. The emperor would only take advantage of him and squeeze out all his value bit by bit.
Even if he died, he could no longer satisfy the emperor's wishes.
Nothing useful can be squeezed out of him. Over time, those who subconsciously want to take the blame and the troubles will not come to him.
He used to be a playboy, with no ambition and just lived a life of idleness and waiting to die.
Now that he has Zhao Fangyu, even if he has a plan, it is a pity that the time is short and the foundation is not deep.
But at least she can still walk.
Zhou Qinghe was thinking of Zhao Fangyu in his heart, his eyes dim, looking at the cracks between the bricks on the ground, he couldn't help feeling relieved.
Fortunately, we never consummated the marriage, so everything was planned out.
The emperor was so angry when he saw Zhou Qinghe's desperate look that his heart sank!
"You don't want your mother, nor do you want Zhao?"
The emperor remembered that Zhou Qinghe cared extremely about Zhao Fangyu.
This is normal. Few men would not love a beauty like Zhao Fangyu. This is when Zhao is at her best. It doesn't make sense for Zhou Qinghe to go to great lengths to fight for Zhao's attack, even killing his wife and mother, and to contradict her this time.
His crime does not warrant the death penalty, but his reputation is already ruined, so he might as well make it even more ruinous.
The emperor's true intentions were revealed, but it seemed that he really didn't have many tricks left to use against his son.
The worst that could happen was death, but Zhou Qinghe was not afraid of death and even viewed death as a journey home.
The news that Zhou Qinghe and his mother died in the palace could not be concealed. If he did not care about his reputation as a wise ruler, he could have issued an edict saying that Zhou Qinghe and his mother committed suicide out of fear of punishment. However, the Zongzheng Temple would not believe it, the Cui family would not believe it, and the officials would not believe it.
Cui Zimin may not have other evidence in his hands.
Zhou Qinghe is like a hot potato, he can't die, nor can he be kept alive.
What's more, Zhou Qinghe is now tied to the Li family. If he dies in the palace, Zhao Fangyu will definitely seek justice for him.
If the Li family takes advantage of the situation, the world will be unstable.
No one knew better than him how shaky the beam was.
Zhou Qing looked at the emperor's shoes. There were exquisite dragon patterns embroidered on the boots. The golden five-clawed dragon was flying in the clouds, looking down on the world, and it seemed to be looking down on him.
"Since our marriage, my son and I have never been a real couple."
"On the day of the wedding, we signed the divorce agreement."
"My son's future is uncertain, and I cannot drag others into the quagmire."
The emperor was so angry that he left in anger.
Not a single word was left.
He is always like this, Zhou Qinghe thought, and slowly got up.
His father was a selfish and biased man. He wanted his son to live and hated his son to die.
I don't have the skills and character of the greatest emperor of all time, but I use his standards to measure myself.
He is mean and inadequate, and is not lenient to others. His kindness is false, and his hypocrisy is real.
All day long he thinks about how to gain fame and satisfy his own selfish desires, but he is incompetent.
Zhou Qinghe walked out of the palace little by little. On the way, he was still thinking that he might as well stay at the Fourth Prince's house for two days to avoid Zhao Fangyu from seeing the scars on his face and feeling sad. Then he heard a little eunuch behind him repeatedly asking His Royal Highness the Crane King to stay.
Zhou Qinghe stopped walking when he heard the voice, and Xiao Quanzi hurried over to catch up with him: "His Majesty has ordered Your Highness to go to the Qian-Gan border from today to serve as a clerk in the account book."
Zhou Qinghe sneered in his heart, with no expression of joy or anger on his face. After receiving the order, he was about to go home.
I have to go back now. I have to let Zhao Fangyu know about this. Also, it helps to comfort her and myself.
Every time after meeting the emperor, he couldn't wait to see Zhao Fangyu. Even just watching her taking a nap in the corridor was enough to make him feel relaxed and peaceful.
Unexpectedly, before he had taken two steps, Xiao Quanzi stopped Zhou Qinghe and said with a smile on his face:
"Your Majesty, this is an extremely urgent matter and cannot be delayed. The carriage is ready. Please go ahead."
Xiao Quanzi chased all the way over, panting with exhaustion. It was Qian Jiangping who should have come at this time, but Qian Jiangping was afraid that his speed was not fast enough. Besides, the imperial edict had to leave the palace to inform Zhao Fangyu, so Xiao Quanzi rushed to take over the matter.
They were talking about sending Zhou Qinghe to the carriage, but when the two saw the carriage, they couldn't help but fall silent for a moment.
The carriage was simple, with only two guards standing beside it.
It was clearly a job to torture people. Zhou Qinghe took off a jade pendant from his waist without changing his expression and put it into Xiao Quanzi's palm:
"Please tell the princess not to worry."
Xiao Quanzi happily took it, and when he saw Zhou Qinghe getting in the car, he immediately took his men to the Crane Palace to announce the decree.
·
Zhao Fangyu was calculating the approximate budget for building the underground palace in the study. Xingzhi came up quickly and stood in front of Zhao Fangyu. The two of them put away the things on the table, walked out of Zhou Qinghe's study, and slipped into the main house.
Everything was laid out on the Luohan bed, as if he had just woken up from a nap with some snacks. There were also things prepared for Xiao Quanzi and others in the front yard.
"Keep an eye on Chunshao, don't let her out."
After Zhao Fangyu gave some instructions, Xingzhi immediately arranged for someone to take care of Chunshao in the greenhouse. After tidying up her appearance a little, she went to the front yard to receive the order.
As soon as Xiao Quanzi saw Zhao Fangyu, he laughed and followed the procedure to receive the order.
Zhao Fangyu realized something was wrong when he heard this, as clerkship was not an important position, and a truly important official position would not be assigned to someone like Zhou Qinghe who had only been on the battlefield a few times.
The sons of military officials who went to the frontier to gild themselves were mostly clerks, and the next best were grain escorts, writing some unimportant letters, such as soldiers' letters to their families and public articles. There was no danger in doing so, and if the war was won they would get credit, but if not, it had nothing to do with their clerkship.
It can be said that it can attack when advancing and defend when retreating.
But before the reunion, the emperor ordered the third prince and others to serve as military supervisors on the Qian-Gan border. As for Zhou Qinghe, he was just a clerk, so the gap became apparent.
Zhao Fangyu exchanged a few polite words with Xiao Quanzi, and Xiao Quanzi returned to the palace contentedly with the big purse given by Zhao Fangyu.
After returning to the palace, he also gave Qian Jiangping a lot of gifts.
"Sister Runyi is feeling much better now. Her complexion looks much rosier than when she was in the palace."
Qian Jiangping glanced at Xiao Quanzi and silently took the purse.
"Stay away from her."
Xiao Quanzi was Qian Jiangping's favorite disciple, so he naturally knew that when Zhao Fangyu was in the palace, Xiao Quanzi had the best relationship with her.
"You have to weigh the difference between your brain and friendship."
No matter how good Zhao Fangyu is, Qian Jiangping, who serves in the imperial court, naturally knows that no matter who it is, if they stick with Zhou Qinghe, it will be a dead end.
Xiao Quanzi chuckled twice, stuffed the purse into his arms and said okay.
·
Zhao Fangyu guessed that in such a rush, Zhou Qinghe would definitely not be prepared, and the emperor would not consider him. He had no money on him, so he would probably not have an easy life.
He immediately ordered Xuanbi to take the silver and most of the soldiers to follow.
Now that Shen Wan and the boxer are at home, it is relatively safe.
The departure was so sudden that Zhao Fangyu sent people to the market to buy fresh meat and baked it into dried meat, which was a good snack to eat for a long time. In addition, there were cloaks, capes, inner and outer clothes, armor, and medicine for wounds...
Two or three trucks carrying all kinds of stuff followed Zhou Qinghe all the way to the Guizhou-Gansu border.
In addition, the iron-shell carriage in the house was also sent out by Zhao Fangyu.
The journey might not be peaceful. Zhao Fangyu had a hunch that something was wrong as Zhou Qinghe was assigned to Qiangan immediately after entering the palace today. Fearing that another assassination might happen, he immediately wrote to the Li family's old house and asked Qilang to borrow some veterans from the battlefield to escort Zhou Qinghe.
Zhao Fangyu was busy until dark, and only then did he have the time to sit down and carefully think about today's imperial edict.
Something happened to the Third Prince, Zhou Qinghe entered the palace, and Zhou Qinghe was sent to the border of Guizhou and Gansu...
Zhou Qinghe was sent to the Guizhou-Gansu border without even showing his face...
Zhao Fangyu wanted to go into the palace at this time to ask Meng Yanzhen how much he knew, but it was a bit inappropriate to enter the palace these days, so he had to wait patiently for two days.
As a result, after just a few days, I received the news that Meng Yanzhen had given birth to a daughter.