Jinghong Tower

Chapter 302 Did it bring shame to Taizu? (Two chapters in one)

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He Ran faced Zhong Yi directly, watching the changes in Zhong Yi's eyes, and suddenly wanted to laugh.

She was looking at Zhong Yi, and Zhong Yi was also looking at her. The flash of smile in her eyes also did not escape Zhong Yi's eyes.

He Ran was laughing at him?

No, He Ran was not laughing at him, but Zhou Chi!

Well, Zhong Yi felt even more uncomfortable this time.

He Ran was still just a teenage girl. She had never met Zhou Chi, nor had she experienced the turbulent years back then.

She was raised by that person, and all her likes, dislikes, and ridicules towards Zhou Chi came from that person.

Zhong Yi felt as if countless thorns had been stuffed into his heart, which was blocking and pricking his heart.

Seeing that he didn't speak for a long time, He Ran reminded: "Mr. Zhong?"

Zhong Yi said expressionlessly: "Yeah."

He Ran: "Mr. Zhong, please check carefully to find out why Zhou Ying appears at this juncture."

Zhong Yi: "Isn't it a coincidence?"

He Ran: "The tavern was going to be sold, but the first thing to be sold was the vats used for brewing, and these vats happened to be bought by Jinghong Tower. When Zuo Xiaoai went there, he saw Yue Ying.

Yue Ying has lived in Zhending for twenty years, and her traces have not been discovered by Jinghong Tower for twenty years, but now, she bumps into Jinghong Tower, and the person she directly sees is Zuo Xiaoai.

Even if I went to Heitu or Baiyun that day, I wouldn't know who she was.

A coincidence is a coincidence, and a bunch of coincidences come together. Ambassador Zhong, do you think this is still a coincidence? "

Zhong Yi hummed again, drank the wine in the glass, stood up and left.

He Ran watched him leave and picked up the wine glass.

Zhong Yi walked out of the office, without riding a horse, and walked alone on the street in the night.

The attendant led the horse and followed far behind.

Zhong Yi thought of many things, and also thought of the woman from many years ago.

Before that, Zhou Chi had never met Zhou Ying, but when Zhou Chi saw the woman, he had an intuition that it was Zhou Ying.

Mrs. Di and several other female members of the family unanimously said that the woman was not Zhou Ying and that she was a liar.

But Zhou Chi saw the shadow of his little aunt on the woman's face.

My aunt is my father's sister and she died before they got married.

Although my little aunt only lived for more than ten years, as the eldest sister-in-law, Mrs. Di and the female family members of the Zhou family must have seen her and remembered her appearance. Zhou Chi could tell that the woman resembled her little aunt, and Mrs. Di and the others must have seen her and remembered her appearance. It's impossible not to see it.

The matter of my niece Xiaogu has always happened.

This woman was also the only one among the many "Zhou Ying" at that time who looked exactly like the Zhou family.

However, everyone said that she was not Zhou Ying, including Zhou Chi himself.

Zhong Yi raised his head and found that he was already standing at the entrance of the alley where the tavern was.

He laughed to himself.

Suddenly he remembered the sarcasm in He Ran's eyes.

Unexpectedly, that person actually told He Ran about this matter. In the eyes of their master and disciple, the aloof Emperor Taizu was just a dirty scumbag who even dared not recognize his own sister.

So, has that person been disappointed in him since then?
The moonlight was like water, and Zhong Yi slowly squatted down at the entrance of the deserted alley.

No one knew that the great Emperor Taizu suddenly found that he was truly alone after the woman who was both his teacher and sister left.

The severance of friendship between her and him was caused by many, many things, and Min Lanen's revenge only made matters worse. In the end, it finally broke out over the survival of the He family army, and she completely disbanded the He family army.

She said that from now on there would be no more He Jiajun in the world.

She never looked back and left without any regrets.

Tears dripped on the boots, and then rolled from the boots onto the bluestone, and the invisible water disappeared in an instant.

Zhong Yi seemed to see little Zhou Chi practicing boxing under the scorching sun, with sweat spilling on the bluestone. The sun, sweat, the child's smiling face, and the girl's eyes were all so dazzling.

The girl said it was called Military Body Boxing, and she said she started practicing it when she was five or six years old. She said that when she was his age, she had already beaten all the invincible opponents in the compound.

She said: "Xiao Chizi, you have no talent in martial arts and your bones are average. Forget it, just practice for fun and just keep in shape."

Zhong Yi buried his face in his arms.

That person didn't know that the reason why Xiaochizi worked hard to practice martial arts was just because Xiaochizi wanted to protect her.

Zhong Yi smiled bitterly. Fortunately, the man didn't know, otherwise he would have laughed at him even more.

Because Xiaochizi had never protected her in his entire life, not even once.

Zhong Yi stood up, and the moonlight stretched his shadow, making him look even more lonely.

Zhong Yi stretched out his hand and waved, and a guard in golden clothes came out of the darkness and ran to him.

"Send someone to surround this place," Zhong Yi said.

The next day, He Ran heard that Zhong Yi had arrested someone.

Zuo Xiaoai came again, this time empty-handed, and was mercilessly despised by Xiaoba as soon as he entered.

"Let Mr. Ba take a look. Which poor relative of this family is here to beat the autumn breeze?"

Zuo Xiaoai rolled her eyes at it: "Yes, we are really poor relatives. We are so poor that we have to catch the bird and throw it into the pot."

Xiaoba exclaimed: "Inhumane, despicable and shameless!"

Far away, He Ran heard Xiao Ba's exaggerated cry. When Zuo Xiaoai came in, He Ran asked, "Have you received the news?"

Zuo Xiaoai looked solemn: "Is there any news that Jinghong Tower can't receive? I just wonder why Zhong Yi needs to be involved. That Zhong Yi has a dead face, as if he came out of a grave. Yes, no matter whether that person is her or not, it’s not easy after so many years. That Zhongyi, well, I heard, is very cruel.”

Obviously, Zuo Xiaoai was worried that Zhong Yi would be tortured and the old lady Yue Ying would not be able to bear it.

He Ran smiled: "Zhong Yi is measured."

In this regard, He Ran still has confidence in Zhong Yi.

And Zhong Yi did not disappoint He Ran. He did not execute Yue Ying.

Zhong Yi asked someone to take Yue Ying to Jin Yiwei's temporary government office in Zhending.

He didn't interrogate him, he just asked someone to bring a piano.

"Play a song. You once said that you are very talented in piano art."

Yue Ying looked at him in shock. After a long time, she raised her hand and touched the strings with her fingers, making a thud sound.

Yue Ying smiled bitterly: "I haven't touched the piano in more than fifty years. I'm unfamiliar with it. Don't blame me, sir."

The sound of the piano slowly flowed out from under her fingers. Zhong Yi closed her eyes. Yue Ying did not lie. She was indeed unfamiliar, but she was not incompetent. She had learned the piano before and practiced it carefully.

After playing the song, the room became silent. After a long while, Yue Ying said: "More than fifty years ago, I met the great-grandmother in Jinghong Tower, when she was still little Ai.

I remember her deeply because of envy.

She and I are the same age, we were both fifteen at the time.

I was beaten to the point of dying, but she invited Master He to save my life.

I am grateful to her and even more envious of her.

I envy her being protected, envy her simple life experience, and envy her ability to express all her joy, anger, sorrow and joy.

In fact, I gave up at that moment.

That place and identity do not belong to me. Even if I am recognized, I cannot live like Miss Ai. The experiences I had in the flower house will always follow me, like a big mountain, and will eventually crush me to death. "

Zhong Yi looked at him, his eyes as sharp as arrows.

"So you choose to ask for money?"

Yue Ying smiled: "I chose to exchange money and use Zhou Ying's identity to exchange money."

Zhong Yi: "You know you will succeed?"

Yue Ying: "Yes, I know. In fact, I succeeded. Taizu agreed and was generous. The money is enough for me to last three lifetimes."

There was another moment of silence. Outside the window, it started to rain at some point. Zhong Yi stretched out his hand and found that there were still snow particles in the rain.

"I heard that you are going back to Wanchun County? Why not wait until next spring?"

Yue Ying smiled: "I'm about to die, and I want to see the people I miss before I die."

"Who is it?" Zhong Yi asked.

Yue Ying's eyes filled with water: "My daughter."

Zhong Yi had already checked and found that Yue Ying's daughter had married far away twenty years ago. When neighbors asked, she had said that she had married in Wanchun County, and that the marriage had been arranged since she was a child.

This makes sense.

The road from Zhending to Wanchun was open to traffic only three months ago. Before that, there were many checkpoints on the road. Ordinary people could not cross the border without passes. Such passes were issued by the army and the local government had no authority to issue them.

After years of war, the people are cautious. Therefore, although He Ran ordered three months ago to cancel passes in many places and restore smooth travel, the people only started to try to visit relatives and do business in other places not long ago. .

Therefore, it makes sense for Yue Ying to say this.

Zhong Yi nodded: "It's a long journey from Zhending to Wanchun. I'll send someone to see you off."

Yue Ying stood up and saluted Zhong Yi solemnly: "A commoner woman thanks you, sir."

There was no emotion or anger on Zhong Yi's face. He asked coldly: "What's your husband's surname? Where is his surname? How do you know each other?"

Yue Ying was slightly startled, took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then said: "I don't have a husband, and I have never been married."

"Then your daughter?" Zhong Yi has already thought of two possibilities, one is an adopted daughter, the other is...
He didn't want to think deeply, but Yue Ying had already said it himself.

"I was insulted, and the person who insulted me was none other than the guards sent by Taizu to escort me and protect me.

Mr. Zhong knows my past, isn't he curious about where those guards went? "

Zhong Yi really didn't think about those guards. In his opinion, those guards were loyal to Zhou Chi. They would follow Zhou Chi's instructions and follow Zhou Ying to protect her until her death.

Yue Ying laughed loudly, as if he was crazy: "I used my identity as Zhou Ying to exchange for a lot of money. That money is enough for me to use for three lifetimes. Unfortunately, people's hearts are unpredictable. In just three years, only the ten guards are left. Five people!
No, they are not humans, they are beasts!
They bullied me, robbed me of my money, and sold me to the mines. I became a mine slave, a female slave!

My lord, do you know what the female slaves in the mines do?
You thought about it, right?

Hahaha, I am, I am!
I worked hard in the mines for two whole years, and I got pregnant!

There is a small boss in the mine. He can become a small boss only because of his father-in-law and uncle. However, his wife is infertile. He really wants to have a son, but because of his father-in-law and uncle, he dare not.

So I lied to him and said that I was pregnant with his child.

Hahaha, not only am I bad, but I’m also cheap!

In fact, I have no idea who the child is, I don’t know!

But he believed it, he really believed it.

He quietly escorted me out of the mine.

Relying on the ten taels of silver he gave me, I trekked all the way. When I was about to reach Wanchun, I was rescued by a beggar.

He didn't dislike me and arranged a place for me to live. Later, when I gave birth to my daughter, he begged for food to support us. "

Zhong Yi is like falling into an ice cave!

He never dreamed that things would develop like this.

He stared blankly at Yue Ying, who was crying and laughing, and it took him a while to calm down: "That beggar."

Yue Ying looked at him, as if he had seen the depths of his heart.

"What? Are you worried that my marriage to a beggar will bring shame to Taizu after his death? Don't worry, I want to marry, but he doesn't marry me. In order to thank him, I wanted to give him a child, but he didn't agree.

He is a great benefactor, a benefactor to our mother and daughter, and a great hero! "

Zhong Yi's face heated up at being told that. He really didn't think so, but maybe Zhou Chi did.
"What happened next?" Zhong Yi asked in a deep voice.

Yue Ying wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes: "He left when my daughter was one year old. From then on, I never saw him again, but every year he would send me twenty taels of silver. Later, I could support my daughter by doing embroidery. "

Zhong Yi asked: "Then why did you come to Zhending? And what's going on with your daughter's marriage?"

Yue Ying sighed: "It's all my fault. In those years, I didn't dare to show up in public, or even go out. I was afraid that those bastards would recognize me and take me back, so I usually never go anywhere.

I asked my neighbor’s sister-in-law to help me buy groceries and gave her a little more money every time, so I didn’t feel any inconvenience in my life.

There is an embroidery shop very close to my home, only one street away. When my daughter was six years old, she would help me send her embroidery work to the embroidery shop and get the wages back.

I want to use the money I earn from embroidery work to save a dowry for my daughter. I look forward to the day when I can watch my daughter get married and not have to live a miserable life like me.

But I never imagined that when my daughter was eight years old, she would go out and never come back.

I searched all over Wanchun County, but couldn't find her. I reported it to the government, and the government asked me to go home and wait for news. But I waited for seven days, and still no news at all.

In desperation, I asked someone to send a letter to the kind man, asking him to help find my daughter.

But the search lasted ten years. Suddenly one day, a good man sent someone to look for me, saying that my daughter had been found.

But we can’t stay in Shanxi, and we can’t stay in Wanchun County either.

I didn't think much about it. As long as I could find my daughter, I could go anywhere.

A kind person sent me to Zhending. I was taken to a ruined temple halfway to see my daughter. My daughter had grown up, but she had a big belly, eight months old.

The daughter gave birth to a girl in a dilapidated temple. She was less than a month old, dark and thin.

I asked her what happened over the years, and she told me that after she was abducted, she was first sold to a family as a child bride, but later the son of that family died. When she was fifteen years old, that family got into a lawsuit. In urgent need of money, he married her off as an adopted daughter in exchange for a betrothal gift. "

Zhou Ying’s story is quite important. You’ll find out later.