Chapter 373 - 373 Tenderness
373 Tenderness
Be it the Flower Festival at the Marquis of Changxing’s Residence or King Ping’s entry into the capital, all of this seemed to have nothing to do with her cousin, but her cousin’s undisguised and understanding att.i.tude made her inexplicably tremble in fear.
Ye Yuanhan had fled far from Youzhou to the capital, and he was not afraid of death. He had been punished with 30 strokes of the cane and beaten the drum. The 10 crimes of the Marquis of Changxing could not be faked.
King You had not colluded with the enemy to commit treason. He had been framed.
It was also true that the heir, Yin Huaixi, had been shot dead on the battlefield.
It was definitely true that Consort You and the princess had been forced to die.
It was even more impossible for him to fake his military contributions and ask the Imperial Court for credit.
Just these four crimes were already a heinous crime. Before this, the Marquis of Changxing had just received a reward from the Imperial Court. It was probably not an exaggeration for the Cao family to exterminate his entire clan.
As a result, it was inevitable that the entire court would be in turmoil.
It was inevitable that the world would be unstable.
It was inevitable that the Marquis of Weining’s Residence would be implicated, and the power in the court would be reshuffled. In order to fight for power, the royal court would inevitably be ruthless.
The court was in chaos.
How could a va.s.sal king behave himself?
It was time for chaos in the world.
She had guessed that all of this might be her cousin’s doing, but she had not guessed that all of this was actually done by her cousin alone. The reason he had done this was actually because…
He was the heir of King You, Yin Huaixi!
Zhou Linghuai’s gaze landed on the lake full of green lotuses. “My father, Yin Lixing, the King of the North in Youzhou, is known as King You. My mother was the previous Chancellor of the Hanlin Academy and the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. She was the Grand Secretary of the East Pavilion and the daughter of Elder Wen, the second-in-charge of the cabinet, Wen Ruqin. Back then, my mother was known as the number one beauty and talent in the capital. My father was very happy and did everything he could to marry her. He knew that the Youzhou area was special and had always been a problem for the emperor. He did not hesitate to invite himself to the bitterly cold place in Youzhou to guard it. Later, Elder Wen retired due to his old age, so the emperor agreed to this marriage.”
Yu Youyao was completely stunned.
Therefore, her cousin was really the heir of King You, Yin Huaixi!
A gust of wind blew over, wrinkling the lake green. The lake water rippled, and the lotus leaves rolled with thin waves.
Zhou Linghuai’s expression was indifferent. He was neither sad nor happy. “On the third day after his marriage, Father brought his delicate wife to Youzhou. At this moment, my father was still just a pampered playboy in the capital. His only dream in life was probably to bring his wife to live a good life. Before this, he hadn’t even read many books on the art of war. He didn’t know the difficult situation he would face on this trip to Youzhou and the responsibility on his shoulders.”
Later on, every time his father mentioned this, his would look regretful—
d.a.m.n it, his head must have been clipped by a door back then. Life in the capital wasn’t easy, so why did he have to bring his mother to this lousy place to eat dirt?
It didn’t matter to a man.
However, his heart ached for his mother!
When he heard this, he mocked, “You’re not brainless!”
Every time, his father would take off his shoes and chase after him.
Yu Youyao pursed her lips and said nothing.
Zhou Linghuai chuckled. “In the first year, the Di people invaded Youzhou City, and many people died in the city. My father was a man, and even his legs went limp from fear. It wasn’t until the Di people broke into King You’s Residence and almost harmed my mother’s life that he truly realized the principle of being brave as a husband. He recruited scholars in Youzhou and learned the art of war. Every day, he trained in the army not to be loyal to the country, but to the delicate wife behind him.”
Whatever he said about being a hero for a lifetime was nonsense. The sentence that his father often said was, “Whether others live or die has nothing to do with me. I only care about my own wife!”
“My father is a person with no ambition. He said that my mother has given up on wealth in the capital and accompanied him to Youzhou to suffer. Then, he should take on the responsibility of a man and a husband to fight for her and create a peaceful and prosperous world.”
Yu Youyao’s heart ached. She opened her mouth, but she did not know what to say.
“Father would be so frightened by his subordinates that he would kneel on the washboard for the entire night. When my mother called him up, he refused to get up. He even said that if he didn’t kneel until the time was right, what if Mother quarreled with him in the future and used this matter to settle old scores? At that time, it would be really unfair. When he went out, even if he saw flowers by the roadside that bloomed beautifully, he had to pick a few and give them to my mother. Sometimes, when he saw a pa.s.sing stone, he had to pick it up and give it to my mother…”
Yu Youyao also admired King You. She did not expect the King You in the eyes of the world to be such a person. She opened her mouth, wanting to comfort her cousin.
However, when the words were about to come out of her mouth, she realized how weak those so-called comforting words were.
Her cousin had gone from being the high-spirited heir of King You, Yin Huaixi, to a rebel. He had hidden his ident.i.ty and moved into the Yu Residence. He was in h.e.l.l, and his body was in bad shape. How could outsiders know about the despair, hardship, and struggle?
But what right did she have to comfort her cousin?
“Everyone in the world knows that my father has been a hero for a lifetime and has won many battles. In fact, he used his gentleness and became a steel rope. His heart was very small, so small that it can only accommodate his wife. Even my sister and I seem to have become unnecessary. In this case, he can calmly deal with the Di army, even if the enemies were pressing down on him. After resolving the problem of the supplies, he instantly turned the situation around. He said that my mother was still waiting for him at home. He can’t take a step back, let alone lose.”
Yu Youyao immediately burst into tears, but she lowered her head. She pursed her lips tightly, not daring to make a sound, let alone let her cousin know.
Zhou Linghuai did not notice her abnormality either. The smile on his lips was mocking. “When such a strong-looking man with a heart like a child heard about the fire in King You’s Residence in the capital and Consort You and the princess died, he did not even bother to say anything to defend himself. This was because the people who supported him to press forward without fear of death had broken. The person who was waiting for him to go home and tidy his clothes and hair. This person would against his chest. She was gentle and comforting him. Now, she was no longer around, so what was there to fear in death?”
Yu Youyao suddenly cried, her heart filled with sorrow.
The story that her grandmother had told her when she was young still seemed to echo in her ears.
Her voice was hoa.r.s.e. “Your true ident.i.ty is Yin Huaixi, the heir of King You. There have been rumors outside that you died on the battlefield without a corpse!”
She suddenly thought of her cousin’s leg and her chest tightened.
Her cousin had said that his leg had been broken by a horse after he fell from a horse. It turned out that on the battlefield, the Marquis of Changxing had ambushed him and shot an arrow at him before he was stepped on by a horse.
It was difficult for her to imagine that a twelve-year-old young man stood with his father and killed many enemies. He was guarding the back and resolved the problem of the You army’s supplies with lightning speed. Then, he fought side by side with King You.
It was really a case of father and son fighting together.
How admirable was he?