“I am the royal commandant and I am here under the emperor’s order.Please pardon our visit!” The middle aged man cupped his hands and greetedCheng Biyuan politely.
Cheng Biyuan hurried to greet him back, after all, the other party washere under the emperor’s order, “You are too polite. May I ask what is yourpurpose of visit, Mr. Commandant?”
“Master Cheng, have you forgotten me already?” said the middle-agedman with a smiile.
Cheng XiaoXiao was quite surprised upon hearing that. What did her father have to do witha royal commandant? She was familiar with the t.i.tle royal commandant. It wasthe equivalent of an imperial guard, they were very close to the emperor. Onecould say it’s the emperor’s most trusted troop.
Nonetheless,Cheng Biyuan smiled bitterly, “Brother Zhou! Pardon me, brother Zhou!”
“No, threeyears ago you left without bidding me farewell. I felt for sure you havealready forgotten all about me!” Zhou Jinjiang seemed a little bit displeased andhis tone a little bit stiff.1
“I am sorry,brother Zhou, back then….”
“Hrm, if Iwasn’t so busy with my missions, I would have looked for you way before now.Well, I didn’t think you guys would have caused such a ruckus. That hadcertainly saved me the ha.s.sle of seeking you out!”
ZhouJinjiang casted him a look then turned and looked at the Cheng’s brother andsister and said, “Xiao Xiao, Zheng Yuan, you two didn’t forget about your UncleZhou in the last three years now, did you?”
“UncleZhou?” said Cheng Xiao Xiao. She truly didn’t remember him. She wasn’t theoriginal owner after all.
Cheng ZhengYuan obediently called him, “How have you been, Uncle Zhou?”
“Good, good.Zheng Bin and Lan Lan have all grown up too!” Zhou Jinjiang smiled at the twochildren in front of him.
Cheng ZhengBin seemed to recall a little bit about him and called out, “Uncle Zhou, ZhengBin remembers you. You’ve bought me a wooden sword as a gift!”
“Ho ho, ZhengBin has such good memory!” smiled Zhou Jinjiang happily.
He was theclosest brother that Cheng Biyuan had in his circle of friends as they wereboth from Emperor City and have known each other for the longest. Even thoughthey have only seen each other a few times, they were brothers that never letthe fact that Cheng Biyuan was banished got in between them.
As he hadsaid earlier, the major events that happened to Cheng Biyuan leading to hisbanishment, he certainly left without bidding farewell. And they have had nocontacts in the last three years.
Until theyhave just met each other again, Cheng Biyuan was, indeed, a little uncertain.After all, they didn’t knew each other through their positions. Cheng Biyuanwas aware that Zhou Jinjiang worked for the royals, but he was taken aback byhis sudden appearance in full official garb along with a troop of guards, whichwas why he didn’t greet him right away.
At thistime, Mrs. Cheng also approached them and bowed at Zhou Jinjiang, “Cheng Yuqingreets Uncle Zhou. It’s been a while, Uncle Zhou!”
“Littlesister, I never thought I’d run into you guys here!” said Zhou Jinjiang with alight sigh.
Mrs. Cheng’seyes reddened and she nodded, “Thank you, Uncle Zhou for coming to visit us!”
“You guys… “Zhou Jinjiang had an idea of what had transpired with the Cheng’s. But as anoutsider, it was difficult for him to meddle in their business. But he hasalways known that life had been rough for the family of this brother that hewas fond of. He had wanted to help back in the days, it just that Cheng Biyuandidn’t want to accept his help.
This timewhen he heard caught wind about the Cheng’s family, he specifically obtainedthe permission from the emperor to be the lead person of this mission so he hasa legit reason to leave Emperor City to come look for them.2
“Okay, nowthat there are no more outsiders around, I would like to ask about the realsituation about your family!” asked Zhou Jinjian with a solemn look. “All therumors that I have been hearing outside, are they all true?”
“BrotherZhou, you mean the royal family has…..”
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Randomtranslator notes:
1. Oh, what a crock of *. Three yearshe didn’t go looking for them and HE was the one offended? C’mon!
2. And brought it to the royal family’sattention??
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