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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 53 (Part 2)

Xue Wangjing couldn’t help but applaud Zhao Zhizhou. This is really ingenious, but it can be regarded as a false hit. He probably wanted to impress His Highness with the example of His Majesty’s love for his son, so that His Highness could empathize with him, and then appreciate his fatherly heart, laying the groundwork for his subsequent transfer. But because of his behavior of refusing to let You Shu suffer, he has already won His Highness’s great fav0r.

Sure enough, the Ninth Prince personally poured the wine for him, and said firmly, “Master Zhao really did a good job this time, this king believes you can definitely get a ‘top grade’.”

“Your Highness praises me too much!” Zhao Zhizhou laughed dizzily.

The Ninth Prince picked up a lot of food for the young man, watched him eat slowly, and said, “Master Zhao seems to be busy with the matter of transporting salt to the Huai River these days?”

Zhao Zhizhou gave a jolt, sobered up for a moment, not knowing whether to nod or shake his head. The Ninth Prince did not wait for his response, and continued, “It is indeed a good job to transport salt from the two Huai Rivers, but it is also very risky. Counting the previous salt channels, there are only a few who achieved a good end, and there are many who have lost their heads. This is because they are closely watched from both above and below.

Zhao Zhizhou’s face was pale, and his hands and feet trembled slightly. Although His Highness talked to him in a heart-to-heart tone, he always felt chills on his back and his knees felt weak, and he wanted to kneel down on the spot.

The Ninth Prince appeased the young man who had stopped eating, and patted Zhao Zhizhou on the shoulder, “Master Zhao, you are very proficient in common affairs, especially in business management. Wouldn’t it be too much of a waste to be a mere salt administrator? You come to the ministry of household, and be this king’s money bag.”

This sentence was not an inquiry, but a final conclusion, as if the imperial edict will be issued tomorrow. If he heard it from the other princes, Zhao Zhizhou would definitely have doubts, but the words of the Ninth Prince are sometimes more effective than imperial edicts. One should know that this master is a genius who could handle complex government affairs at the age of six. Many of the decisions made by His Majesty have his shadow behind them.

Zhao Zhizhou was overwhelmed by the favour, and hurriedly got up to thank him, but was pushed back by the Ninth Prince, telling him not to be formal.

After the meal, both the guests and the host were satisfied, and when it was time to leave, the Ninth Prince got up to say goodbye, and when he walked to the door, he told him softly, “I will send someone to fetch you into the palace tomorrow morning.”

“Ah? Why would I go to the palace?” You Shu looked at him with a puzzled face

“Didn’t you agree to come with me and be my reading companion.” The Ninth Prince smiled casually, his eyebrows raised.

The drunken Zhao Zhizhou was startled and woke up immediately, and said anxiously, “Your Highness already has two companions, why add another one? To tell you the truth, this son of Wei Chen is really not good at all. He only knows how to play around since he was a child. This humble minister has spoiled him, and his temper is very arrogant, and I’m afraid he won’t be able to get into the eyes of His Highness.”

“Why can’t he get in my eyes?” The Ninth Prince understood what Zhao Zhizhou was worried about, and said cautiously as if taking an oath, “Master Zhao, please rest assured, this king will definitely treat You Shu well, and will never let him suffer any grievances.” Without waiting for someone to respond, he dragged the boy into the carriage and left in a hurry.

After the carriage drove far away, You Shu poked his head out and shouted, “Father, I’ll see off His Highness, and I’ll be back soon.”

Zhao Zhizhou stood stiffly for a long time before wiping his face, showing a strange and worried expression. How could His Highness’s words seem more and more wrong as I think about them? It’s like a son-in-law dealing with his father-in-law. He really drank too much.

You Shu sent his master to the gate of the palace. Seeing that it was still a quarter of an hour before the gate would be locked, he tugged at the hem of his clothes and talked for a while, showing a feeling of attachment that he didn’t even realise.  The Ninth Prince enjoyed it very much, trapped him in his arms, stared at him with a smile, and said goodbye, “I am worried about you going back alone, why don’t I see you off.”

As soon as the words were said, You Shu’s eyes lit up, he was about to nod, but was interrupted by Xue Wangjing who couldn’t bear it anymore, “Your Highness, His Majesty has already sent someone to remind you, you should go in. You Shu sent you back, and you sent him back. In the end, he was worried and sent you back again. Do you want to send him back too? Why don’t you just sleep on the carriage going back and forth tonight? Unlike Daming, our Xia Qi has curfew.”

Not to mention, with the energy of the two of them lingering in the alley today, it is really possible for them to do such foolish things.

You Shu’s ears were hot by the words, and the Ninth Prince glared at his companion angrily, and finally entered the palace gate step by step, and repeatedly said that they would meet each other tomorrow. It wasn’t until the palace gate was completely closed and the figure of the man could no longer be seen, that You Shu put away his blushing face and climbed into the carriage expressionlessly.

Xue Wangjing, who was entrusted to send someone home, looked at the frosty young man, and sighed at the perfect match of pot and lid. These two are actually masters of changing faces. One is clearly a cute and shy dumpling next to His Highness, while in front of him, he was an ice statue who refused people from thousands of miles away.

However, because of this, the impression of the boy became better in his heart. He doesn’t pretend in front of others, but only shows his heart to His Highness alone, regardless of whether he is sincere or not, only this way can one make His Highness feel safe, and thus maintain a calm and happy state of mind. His Highness doesn’t like people who know everything from right to left.

When You Shu came home, he saw many people standing at the corner door, but when he looked closely, it was the second uncle, the second aunt, and Zhao Yusong, surrounded by a eunuch, talking about something. The eunuch was very impatient, and when he wanted to leave several times, the second aunt stopped him and stuffed the bank note into his sleeve.

You Shu had a hunch that he would run into trouble, so he took a long detour and entered the mansion through the corner gate on the west. As soon as he stepped through the vertical flower gate, he saw Mrs.Wang sitting under the grape arbour with his fourth and fifth aunts, talking and laughing, with a mysterious expression on her face. Before he could ask, Mrs.Wang came up to him and whispered, “Son, have you heard? Zhao Yusong was impeached by the imperial censor for writing an article criticising Emperor Zongsheng! Just now, the Emperor has issued a decree to deprive him of his exam qualification for the next five years. Wasn’t he going to take the exam in two months? It’s over now!”

The fourth aunt also gloated, “Isn’t that right! Back then, the second sister-in-law swore that he could win the top spot in the exam, but what happened?”

“As a result, his face was slapped!” Fifth Aunt put down the melon seeds and patted her face a few times.

It is said that three women can hold a flock of ducks, which is indeed true. Seeing the three laughing and laughing together, You Shu’s temples twitched. Fortunately, Mrs. Wang knew that her son didn’t like to hear these things, and didn’t care about his fame, so she waved him to wash up, but suddenly stopped him as if thinking of something, “By the way, your father is looking for you, change your clothes and go to his study.”

You Shu obediently agreed, and knocked on the door after two quarters of an hour, and saw Zhao Zhizhou sighing while holding his forehead.

“Dad, what’s the matter with you?” He poured a cup of hot tea and put it on the corner of the table.

“It’s your father who hurt you!” Zhao Zhizhou became more and more distressed, and he pulled his son to talk carefully, “If father hadn’t asked you to curry favour with His Highness the Ninth Prince, you wouldn’t have suffered from such bad luck.”

“What bad luck?” You Shu didn’t know what happened.

“You have to serve as a reading companion to His Highness the Ninth Prince! It was your father who caused you trouble. I always thought that you would grow up by yourself when you were old, so I refused to tell you about the bad things outside. You don’t know but the Ninth Prince is sick.” Zhao  Zhizhou pointed to his head.

You Shu’s heart was beating wildly, and he hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong with His Highness? Is it serious?”

“With this disease, he won’t die, but others around him will die.” Zhao Zhizhou sighed, “His Royal Highness has often dreamed about his past life since he was three years old, so he can’t sleep at night. Think about it, a person from the age of three to the age of seventeen has not slept a full night for fifteen consecutive years. How much pain he must have been suffering from? When he is in pain, his temper becomes very violent. If anyone accidentally provokes him, he will cut him down with a sword. Don’t think that dad is scaring you. I don’t know what miraculous medicine he took today, that he was quite normal, but he’s not like this usually. One year he cut off half of the sixth prince’s arm, and the sixth prince’s mother came to him crying, and he almost cut off her neck. Another year, in summer, he thought the cicadas were so loud that he couldn’t sleep, so he asked the palace maids and eunuchs to catch all the cicadas. As a result, some of them were not caught, and when he heard them, he killed half of the servants in the Eastern Palace. That scene was really scary, and the blood was flowing like a river! Later, the court officials impeached him too many times, and Emperor Zhongkang came to him to inquire and found out that because he was afraid of nightmares, he hadn’t closed his eyes for seventeen or eighteen days. Think about it for seventeen or eighteen days. If you change it to someone with a weak mind, I’m afraid he would have gone crazy long ago.”

Recalling the past, Zhao Zhizhou still felt palpitating, and said in a trembling voice, “He is so violent and unpredictable, he has already been criticised a lot, and the court officials are also quite dissatisfied with him. If it weren’t for his talent and his legendary background, perhaps he would have been abandoned a long time ago. Son, father is not like your second uncle, who knows that it is a fire pit and forces his child to jump into it. If you don’t want to, father will go to the old man and let him think of a way. You may not know, but Zhao Yusong had been his reading companion for more than ten years, and he gave up on him without a second thought, without showing any mercy. What would you do…..”

Without waiting for Zhao Zhizhou to finish speaking, You Shu couldn’t help but burst into tears. He originally thought that his master lived happily in his previous life, with only a little regret, but he didn’t expect that he was hurt so deeply that he was reincarnated, leaving indelible wounds in his soul. The reason why the Ninth Prince couldn’t sleep at night and his temper was irritable was because he was too restless, and this unease stemmed from his leaving without saying goodbye.

He couldn’t imagine how he struggled to wake up from those helpless and desperate dreams, and how he welcomed the next tomorrow with fear. Has he ever had a peaceful day from the age of three to seventeen? He looked aloof and mighty, but it turned out that he had been trapped in pain.

The more You Shu thought about it, the sadder he became, and the more he blamed himself while crying out of breath.

Zhao Zhizhou saw his son shaking his head, as if he was going to faint from crying, he quickly hugged him and patted him, even saying that his father was wrong, he shouldn’t have scared him, and he would go to the old man right away, and asked him to postpone his reading companion job.

“Don’t postpone it, I want to be His Highness’s companion.” You Shu stopped crying immediately, and tightly grabbed Zhao Zhizhou’s arm. For the rest of his life, he will follow his master every step of the way, and never run away again, even if he beats him, scolds him, or despises him, he will never run away again.

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