Chapter 155 - This Is Such a Waste!
Zuo Shaoqing did not return to Zuo Family after he moved out of the Liu Steel Manor. Instead, he went to live with his second uncle.
Zuo Shaoqing only said one sentence: “Father, I heard that brother is not feeling well. Since elder sister will be marrying in May, I'm afraid that the family will be busy right? My son will not go and cause trouble.”
That day, Zuo Shaoyan still failed to enter the palace. Zuo Shaoqing didn't ask about what happened, he only heard Luo Xiaoliu say that he stood outside the palace door for an entire day without eating or drinking, and his eyes lost all focus. Finally, he fainted outside the palace door.
After being carried home, Zuo Shaoyan was completely muddle-headed and he was locked in his room by himself without seeing anyone.
If Zuo Shaoyan was disappointed that he missed the Conference Test the first time, then this time it was completely despair. It was not because he did not have the chance to take the examination, but because this kind of repeated failures had completely destroyed his confidence.
However, Zhu Chenggui did not know what happened to Zuo Shaoyan, and even his mother and son were taken away midway. There was not a single piece of evidence at all, making Zuo Yunwen angry at Zuo Shuhui for the first time, blaming her for not doing anything, otherwise how could he provoke such a disaster?
Zuo Shuhui knew she was in the wrong and confessed for a long time outside Zuo Shaoyan's room. Unfortunately, Zuo Shaoyan was indifferent and the door was still tightly shut. She swore over and over again that she would definitely avenge her brother.
She was a concubine to a second-grade imperial teacher, and a concubine that could be ranked in the family tree. Even if she was weaker than official wife by a head, she might be able to surpass her in the future.
Mrs. Xue fainted when she found out that Zuo Shaoyan didn't make it to the Hall Competition. When Zuo Shaoyan was carried back, both of her eyes became swollen from crying. She was like a defeated rooster, completely devoid of her former spirit.
Mrs. Xue still had to muster up her spirit to prepare a dowry for her daughter. Worried that her daughter would be bullied after marrying into her family, Mrs. Xue thought of ways to stuff good things into her dowry and did her best to find a few honest and reliable rooms for her. Naturally, she had no energy nor money to arrange the marriage for Zuo Shaoqing.
Furthermore, even if Zuo Shaoqing was married to Duke Zhen, it wouldn't change the fact that he was a man. There were people talking about him outside, and this made Mrs. Xue lose face.
Zuo Yunwen was actually feeling both happy and sad. One of his direct descendants failed in the imperial examinations while the other became a concubine, both of which were shameful matters. His only son, on the other hand, continued to shine, not only winning the top scholar, but also getting married under the imperial edict.
However, Zuo Yunwen wasn't happy when the topic of marriage was brought up. A good son didn't marry a wife but married out of wedlock, moreover, this son was just a high school top scholar and had become someone else's son before even lighting up the gate. How could he take this lying down?
With a dark expression, he scolded his son and brother, leaving behind two thousand taels of silver. He only said it was for Zuo Shaoqing to get married, but he couldn't say what he was going to say to give Zuo Shaoqing as a dowry.
After he left, Zuo Shaoqing looked at the two thousand gold. This was his father, if he could have even a little bit of sincerity towards him, Zuo Shaoqing would never let Zuo Family fall into a desperate situation.
Unfortunately, Zuo Yunwen's actions only made him more and more disappointed. He pushed the two thousand taels to Zuo Yunyang, “Second Uncle, just treat it as nephew's expenditure these days.”
Zuo Yunyang took the money casually. He knew that Zuo Shaoqing didn't like this amount of money anyways, even the amount of makeup he gave Zuo Shaoqing was more than this. He really didn't know how that good brother of his took it out.
Furthermore, he had put Wife of Duke Zhen's marriage aside and focused all of his energy on his daughter, who was about to be married off as his concubine. If this wasn't the end of it, then what was?
“Shao Qing, don't be sad. From now on, just treat Second Uncle as your home.” Zuo Yunyang had watched Zuo Shaoqing grow up, and because his relationship with him had gone a step further, he had come to admire this nephew of his for a long time.
Zuo Shaoqing didn't care about it and smiled. He held his teacup and slowly blew on it. Suddenly, he asked, “Second Uncle, do you want to become Patriarch Mrs. Zuo?”
“Clang!” The teacup in Zuo Yunyang's hand fell to the ground, but he was completely stunned.
“Nephew feels that Mrs. Zuo is too difficult to develop in father's hands, so why not let second uncle manage it and prevent those people that are out of tune from disgracing themselves all the time.”
“This… But second uncle is born into a concubine…” How could a normal family allow their son to control the clan when they had a son as their direct descendant?
The current patriarch of Mrs. Zuo was Zuo Yunwen. Even if he died, the successor would only be Zuo Shaoyan. No one would ever think about the Second Branch.
“Who said that a concubine cannot be the boss?” If it wasn't because he was going to get married, Zuo Shaoqing definitely wouldn't have let the chance to get Mrs. Zuo out of his hands.
“The clan elders will not agree.” Zuo Yunyang said with his eyes shining.
Actually, there weren't that many benefits from being the Patriarch of Mrs. Zuo Clan. The Mrs. Zuo Clan was already in pieces, and most of the other branches had already left, but there were still some assets in the Youuxi Town.
With Zuo Yunyang's current family background, of course he wouldn't care about that small amount of property. However, the clan head was a symbol of status, if he could become the family head, then who in the clan would think that he was just a lowly merchant?
“Shao Qing, not only is second uncle a bastard, he's also a merchant. I'm afraid…”
“There's nothing bad about being a merchant. The clan all eats old roots. Whoever can give them a better life is naturally willing to support them. Moreover…” Zuo Shaoqing poured another cup of tea for Zuo Yunyang. “Besides, aren't merchants extraordinary as well?”
Zuo Yunyang's eyes lit up, “You mean… Royal merchants?”
Zuo Shaoqing nodded, “Nephew learned of some news. Soon, the imperial government will have a monopoly over certain commodities overseas. When that happens, there will definitely be someone who can help the imperial government with this business.”
This was what came to mind when they saw Ke Youliang shipping back gold. When the imperial government discovered that overseas they could actually get back gold and silver at a low cost, they knew that they should take back this right. Otherwise, if a large amount of gold filled the market, the consequences would be unimaginable.
It is not just gold and silver mines, including iron ore and salt, that are on the trade ban list.
Zuo Yunyang took it for granted that he had received the news from Duke Zhen. With a radiant face, he grabbed Zuo Shaoqing's hand and said, “Shao Qing, if only I could become an imperial merchant, Second Uncle would have achieved perfection in his life.”
“Haha…” Second Uncle shouldn't say that, don't tell me you don't want to see your Eldest Cousin Sister get married and see Shao Jin's name on the Golden Rankings?
Zuo Yunyang only felt that the road before him was a golden path, and the one who laid it for him was naturally Zuo Shaoqing. He looked at Zuo Shaoqing excitedly and choked with sobs, “Shao Qing, in the future, Second Uncle's entire family will listen to you.”
“Don't say that, Second Uncle is an elder.” Zuo Shaoqing nodded in satisfaction. He wasn't a saint and couldn't help Zuo Yunyang unconditionally, but he didn't really want to get much benefits from Zuo Yunyang. He just hoped that he could have another family he could rely on.
Just as Zuo Shaoqing was thinking about how to pull down the Zuo Family Room from the position of Patriarch, Lu Zheng also entered the palace once again.
“You really don't want to come here for no reason at all. What do you want to beg for this time?” Zhan Yuanfeng raised his eyebrows and joked.
He was still unable to digest the fact that Lu Zheng was going to marry a man after so many days.
“Your Majesty has misunderstood. This subject has come to deliver something to you.” Lu Zheng clapped his hands and seven things covered with white cloth were carried in.
In a split-second, a terrible stench emanated from the imperial study that was originally smoking the incense burner. Zhan Yuanfeng covered his nose with his sleeve and asked with a frown: “What is it?”
“You'll know when you see it.” Lu Zheng took a step back, waiting to see a good show.
Zhan Yuanfeng naturally saw what was under the white cloth at a glance. It was just that he wasn't stupid enough to look at it since it already gave off such a nauseating smell.
He waved for the chambermaid to check it out and pretended to enjoy the antique paperweight in his hand.
The attendant pinched his nose and carefully lifted the white cloth to take a look, almost uncontrollably vomiting on the spot. However, it was impossible for him to defy the sacred order. He could only examine the corpses one by one.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, these… It's Fifth Princess's imperial bodyguard.”
Zhan Yuanfeng waved his hand and had his men quickly carry out the source of the stench. He waited for the maids to clean the imperial study and sprinkled the perfume on it again before saying: “Are you sure you didn't see wrong?”
The attendant bent his legs and kneeled on the ground. “Reporting to Your Majesty, although… Even though the corpse is a little rotten, this servant has indeed recognized that it's the guard bestowed by the late emperor to Fifth Princess.”
“Alright, you can leave now.” Zhan Yuanfeng chased him left and right, then waited for the door of the imperial study to be tightly shut before he asked: “Tell me, what kind of result do you want?”
Lu Zheng walked to the side and sat down, flicking his sleeves, replying without changing his expression, “This subject heard that the Emperor wants to marry Fifth Princess to First Prince Beidi, so as to make the best of things?”
Zhan Yuanfeng did not hide anything and nodded: “We have that plan!”
“Since Emissary Beidi has already entered the capital, I think this matter should be decided by this official.”
Zhan Yuanfeng stared at him suspiciously. How could Lu Zheng be so kind? However, if Lu Zheng, Beidi's nemesis, were to say “marriage”, the other party would probably be scared to death, right?
“My love, Great Yang is the time to recuperate, it is not appropriate to go all out.” Zhan Yuanfeng said worriedly.
Lu Zheng slanted his eyes at him and snorted disdainfully at Zhan Yuanfeng's messy thoughts. “Your majesty is overthinking it. This subject will definitely handle this matter well.”
With that, he got up and left. The wedding was in front of him, and he did not want his former enemies to join his wedding.
Zhan Yuanfeng still had an unreal feeling. He thought that even if Lu Zheng didn't want Zhan Yunxiang's life, he would still send his away.
Before he left, Lu Zheng turned around and explained with a kind heart, “This subject feels that the Third Prince Beidi is even more outstanding than the First Prince and is compatible with Fifth Princess!”
As his figure disappeared into the distance, Zhan Yuanfeng started chuckling. The Third Prince of Beidi was notorious throughout the world. Not only did he have a violent temperament, but he was also very lustful. It was said that the women who came to his hands had never lived for more than a month.
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