Chapter 89: Venting Resentment
The familiar voice entered his ears, causing a trace of astonishment to flash across Zhao Weimin’s face.
That voice was cold, carrying a hint of anger, making one’s heart tighten instinctively.
In the small room, the basin of charcoal placed in the corner made a few cracking sounds.
Zhao Yiyi’s expression froze for a split second. When she turned abruptly to look, she saw that tall and imposing figure striding along the winter light, dragging a long shadow on the ground.
Dressed in black casual robes, his handsomeness was not diminished in the slightest.
In a trance, the person had already arrived at the door. Without stopping, he stepped straight in. First, he looked at Zhao Yiyi’s face. Seeing that she hadn’t suffered any grievances, he felt relieved. He then glanced at her clothes, took off his cloak, and draped it over her. “Why did you come out wearing so little?”
“I didn’t feel cold when I came out, and the carriage had charcoal fire.” Zhao Yiyi’s expression remained unchanged, but she loosened the collar of the cloak slightly, feeling the sense of confinement fade.
Gu Zhen reached out, his slender fingers straightening her messy clothes ties, and said softly, “The official prison is heavy with dampness; it’s colder and gloomier than other places.”
With the Emperor’s sudden arrival and intimate actions, Zhao Weimin hurriedly stood to the side, not daring to breathe loudly. His mind spun several times as he tentatively stole a glance at the Emperor.
Only to meet a pair of cold phoenix eyes.
He was so frightened that his heart stopped for a beat.
Gu Zhen lowered his brows and turned his head, his gaze landing on Zhao Weimin. He said indifferently, “What, does the Marquis of Huai’an intend to interfere in Zhen’s family affairs?”
Zhao Weimin’s heart skipped a beat. His face changed colors several times, finally soaked in uneasiness and fear. His face turned pale as he trembled, “Your Majesty, this subject… this subject has no such intention.”
Gu Zhen only gave him a cold look and sneered, “No? Then when speaking to the Empress, why did you presumptuously bring up Zhen?”
After struggling to calm down, Zhao Weimin finally sorted out his thoughts and said respectfully, “Your Majesty, this subject was merely worried that the Empress being so unfeeling and abandoning her kin would cause Your Majesty to dislike her. There was absolutely no other intent.”
They were all people of age and experience, not ignorant children; how could he not understand the intent to ostensibly protect but actually disparage in those words?
Zhao Yiyi let out a scoff. Her clear, beautiful face turned cold inch by inch. Looking at that respectful face, only one word flashed through her mind: Ridiculous.
For the sake of Mrs. Xu and her two children, he actually opened his mouth personally to smear his own daughter in front of the Emperor.
It could be said he took great pains.
Glancing at the person beside her, she turned with a cold face, intending to leave. But Gu Zhen was quick-eyed and deft-handed, grabbing that slender wrist. He said softly, “Zhen just arrived; why are you leaving so fast?”
Zhao Yiyi tried to pull her hand back but couldn’t move it. She couldn’t help but be slightly annoyed: “Your Majesty!”
Gu Zhen turned his wrist and gently pulled her back, bringing her in front of him. He lowered his eyes slightly: “Wait for Zhen a moment.”
Unable to break free, Zhao Yiyi had to stand there with a cold face.
Zhao Weimin’s heart pounded. He glanced upward, then tentatively said, “Your Majesty, this subject disregarded the law and knows he is guilty. I only wanted to ask the Empress to look after the family. Perhaps due to some old grudges, the Empress is unwilling, which is reasonable.”
“It is good that you know,” Gu Zhen’s expression was normal, he didn’t even sit down, looking as if he didn’t intend to stay long.
Zhao Weimin’s eyes widened in astonishment. He wanted to say something more, but was impatiently interrupted by Gu Zhen: “Did you not understand Zhen’s words? You are already in the official prison. Instead of thinking about how to reform yourself, you still delusionally attempt to guess Zhen’s mind?”
Zhao Weimin’s brow jumped fiercely.
Presumptuously guessing the Emperor’s will was a great taboo. Just now, in order to intimidate the Empress, he had spoken indiscreetly and was heard right by the Emperor.
Combined with his status as a guilty official, Zhao Weimin broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead. Panicked, he knelt down.
His upper body prostrate on the ground, forehead touching the floor.
“Your Majesty, forgive me!”
“This subject was only… only too anxious for a moment and spoke wrongly. I absolutely have no thoughts of privately guessing the Holy Will. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!”
As he kowtowed again and again, Gu Zhen suddenly found it somewhat laughable. His phoenix eyes were wrapped in a layer of frost as he asked indifferently, “Anxious about what?”
Zhao Weimin paused for a moment before scrambling to reply, “This subject is anxious about my wife and children at home, worried that they have suffered grievances with my imprisonment.” As he spoke, he still dared not look up, making his voice sound a bit muffled.
Gu Zhen turned his head and looked at Zhao Yiyi.
As expected, he saw the ridicule in her eyes.
A fine, dense pain rose in his chest. Looking at Zhao Weimin’s appearance again, he felt it was extremely laughable.
Zhao Weimin had so many children and many concubines in the back residence, yet he set his heart on the widow of an old friend outside, pampering her in the palm of his hand. Even at this stage, he couldn’t forget them, thinking of ways to protect them.
Yiyi was Zhao Weimin’s first daughter, six years older than Zhao Chen who came later. She should have been spoiled and loved, but in Zhao Weimin’s heart, Yiyi, the eldest daughter, couldn’t even compare to Zuo Lianzhi, brought by the mistress.
Not to mention the illegitimate son Zhao Shunnian born outside; the degree to which he was treasured probably exceeded all his other children combined.
“Wife and children?” Gu Zhen raised his voice slightly, the ending note curving upward. He said slowly and methodically, “Zhen remembers that Madam Xiahou passed away many years ago. There is no need for the Marquis of Huai’an to be anxious for her.”
Zhao Weimin’s lips trembled, and he didn’t make a sound for a long time.
“The dead are gone. What this subject worries about is my wife, Ah Xu.” It was unknown how much time passed before he whispered a sentence.
Zhao Yiyi glanced at him but didn’t make a sound.
Zhao Weimin had been imprisoned early and didn’t know that the Luoyang Governor was completely impartial. Even if he had left back-up plans to protect people, it was useless. Mrs. Xu had also been sentenced for the crime of consensual adultery.
Furthermore, with the Zuo family exerting force in the dark, she was imprisoned the very day the verdict came out.
As for Zuo Lianzhi, the day she left the Zuo family with Mrs. Xu, the Zuo family had already treated her as non-existent. Coupled with the Marquis of Hejian’s maneuvering later, the Zuo family removed Zuo Lianzhi from the registry. Now, although they held their noses and temporarily took her in, they had no intention of letting her live happily.
With years of accumulated resentment, and since Mrs. Xu and Zhao Weimin were imprisoned, the Zuo family couldn’t find a place to vent, so they could only direct it at her. Zuo Lianzhi no longer had a legitimate elder to protect her. Now, nominally a daughter of the Zuo clan, she was actually no different from a servant.
Calling Mrs. Xu a “mistress” just now was the harshest thing Zhao Yiyi had said in her life. It was also because she was too angry that she blurted it out. After saying it, she felt regret, feeling she had lowered her own status.
Zhao Yiyi didn’t want to tangle with Zhao Weimin anymore. She tugged at Gu Zhen’s sleeve, signaling him to go back.
But Gu Zhen suddenly held one of her slender, soft hands, gripping it extremely tight, before asking Zhao Weimin in a condensed voice: “Just a mistress kept outside. If you want to recognize her as your wife, fine, just recognize her. But do not say she is the Empress’s mother. When you begged the Empress for the sake of others, did you ever consider whether it would be difficult for the Empress? Did you ever consider that the Empress is your daughter?”
Zhao Yiyi’s almond eyes suddenly widened. She looked up at him abruptly, lips slightly parted, her expression stunned.
In the deep winter weather, Zhao Weimin was wrapped in cold sweat, almost collapsing.
Although he was already terrified inside, he forced himself to calm down and replied, “Your… Your Majesty sees clearly. The Empress is naturally this subject’s eldest daughter. How could… how could this subject not think of Her Highness?”
“As a father, aside from demanding things from the Empress, aside from seeking benefits for your stepdaughter and illegitimate son, when have you ever given her the slightest care! Even regarding the reduction of Buddhism and Daoism back then, when you sang a different tune from Zhen, dare you say it wasn’t because you relied on being Zhen’s father-in-law, thinking Zhen wouldn’t want to move against you right after ascending the throne?” Gu Zhen’s face became increasingly dark, and his gaze looking at him carried disgust. “You made a scene wanting to see the Empress. Zhen thought your conscience had discovered itself and you wanted to care for her. Now it seems Zhen overestimated you. A woman you had an affair with, the illegitimate son born of that illicit relation, and that woman’s daughter—in your mouth, they have actually become the Empress’s family.”
The room suddenly fell silent. Sensing the Emperor’s anger, everyone stood with heads bowed to the side, holding their breath, daring not make a sound. They only heard the Emperor finally drop two words lightly.
“Are they worthy?”
Zhao Weimin’s head was still knocking on the ground. This time it was solid, making crisp sounds that struck the ears one by one, while he chanted words like “Your Majesty sees clearly” and “Your Majesty please investigate.”
With the Empress still here, no one dared to look.
Zhao Chen’s brow jumped with the sound. Although he had personally designed to send Zhao Weimin in, witnessing his miserable state now, his heart still palpitated. He furrowed his brows, just standing there without speaking.
Whether it was the deception of his mother, the years of indifference and bias, or the time he wanted to give his quota for the Imperial College to Zhao Shunnian, all were thorns stuck in his heart.
Couldn’t pull them out, couldn’t push them in.
But if not removed, they would fester.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, you are this subject’s daughter. Naturally, this subject cares about you in his heart.” Zhao Weimin turned to beg Zhao Yiyi again.
The door wasn’t closed. A gust of cold wind drilled in. Blocked by the thick cloak, it didn’t feel too cold.
Zhao Yiyi only felt cold in her heart.
She finally couldn’t help but say, “Care? Perhaps there was some. But Father’s care for me probably wasn’t as much as for a pot of carefully cultivated orchids.” Recalling the blunt thoughts of her childhood, she smiled abruptly. “When I was young, Father always said that Lianzhi didn’t have a father, so you had to take care of her more. When I was young, I always thought, how good it would be if I didn’t have a father. That way, someone would take care of me and love me too.”
The Late Emperor had many children, but Gu Zhen was raised personally by the Late Emperor. Even if there was favoritism, it was biased toward him alone.
Fingertips touching something cold, Gu Zhen’s brow was dyed with anger, which he immediately suppressed. However, his face sank terrifyingly. “If you saw the Empress only for such trivial matters, there is no need to see her in the future.”
The sound of the wind outside grew louder. Gu Zhen turned around, leading Zhao Yiyi to walk out.
Hearing those footsteps, Zhao Weimin looked up from the ground, only to see a pair of receding leather boots.
His mind buzzed, echoing only two words: It’s over.
Everything was over.
Exactly where did it go wrong?
Was it that he hadn’t described Yiyi’s faults severely enough, or was the Emperor… Before he could figure it out, he heard the Emperor say to the jailer: “The Marquis of Huai’an has been stripped of his title for a long time. It is inappropriate for him to stay in the official prison. Find a time to move him out.”
Zhao Weimin propped his elbows on the ground, looking over in disbelief, the expression on his face nearing distortion.
Zhao Chen hadn’t left yet. Looking at his current state, he sighed inwardly. A trace of unbearableness flashed across his heart as he said indifferently, “Father, look out for yourself in the future. Since Father misses Miss Zuo and Third Brother, Chen will tell them and have them come to visit Father.”
“Ah Chen, you… go tell your Elder Sister…” Zhao Weimin wanted to speak to him, but saw his second son leave without mercy, not even looking back at him after hearing his voice.
At the same time, the people brought by the Emperor and Empress also dispersed one by one.
Zhao Weimin collapsed on the ground, muttering a few words about having no conscience, his eyes staring blankly at the roof beams covered in cobwebs.
After coming out of that room, it became Zhao Yiyi who was pulling the person along in front.
She walked briskly with her head down all the way out of the official prison. Only then did she feel her body relax. She bent over, holding onto a corridor pillar, and gasped for breath with her body hunched.
Gu Zhen gently stroked her thin back, smoothing her breath for her. He lowered his eyes slightly, looking at a speck of crystal that had fallen from some flower branch onto the tip of her hair.
Although winter was cold, that crystal seemed to have a tendency to melt. Gu Zhen reached out a finger to gently wipe it away, then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, which was already a bit red from the cold.
After a long while, Zhao Yiyi finally caught her breath. Supporting herself on the pillar, she turned to look at him: “Those words Your Majesty said today are what this concubine has always wanted to say.”
She had wanted to say them for a long time.
In the past, she couldn’t say them due to her status. Later, when she became the Crown Princess and then the Empress, and had the qualification to lecture her father, she felt tired and disdained to say it.
She no longer needed a father, but that didn’t mean she didn’t mind the past.
It was, after all, a past grievance she needed to get off her chest.
Gu Zhen just reached out and smoothed Zhao Yiyi’s slightly messy hair bun, his voice very soft: “I know.”
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