After sending Angel and the others away, Zhu Haocheng couldn't wait to go to his father and ask, "Dad, what does this imperial edict mean? What did you do?"
Zhu Bowen glanced at him and asked, "Are you questioning your father?"
"My son doesn't dare. He is just too anxious." Zhu Haocheng didn't dare to anger his father again no matter how anxious he was. As the eldest son, he knew better than his other brothers and sisters what kind of relationship his father and Uncle Hua had. Even if other families were old friends, there would be interests involved in their interactions, but not these two.
I remember that one year my father displeased the emperor and was almost demoted. It was Uncle Hua who went through so much trouble to uncover the truth. Later, my father was unable to get promoted for several years, and it was Uncle Hua who helped him in both overt and covert ways to get a smooth path forward. He could understand that his father was protecting the Hua family, but on the premise that the Zhu family would not be implicated.
"Dad, please think about Ziwen and the future of the other children in the family. I know you value your feelings and cannot let go of the Hua family, but only when we are well can we better protect the Hua family. If the Zhu family is also dragged into the quagmire, who can we count on?"
Zhu Bowen was silent for a moment, sighed deeply, and turned to look at his second son, "Haodong, what do you say?"
"Of course I don't want anything to happen to the Zhu family, but I can see what kind of person Zhi'er is after this year. She will never get involved in anything she shouldn't. For example, in the business she did this year, she didn't do anything except food, right? But we still have the soap recipe she gave us. I think she knows the importance of it. Even if others are jealous of her food, she won't affect the interests of too many people. Even so, she didn't eat alone, but found a protective umbrella for each business. She knows that this is the only way to stay safe. I don't believe she will cause any big trouble. Even if there is trouble, it is not her initiative to find it."
Zhu Haocheng didn't dare to speak loudly in front of his father, but he had no scruples in front of his brother. He sneered and asked, "That sounds good, but then explain to me what this decree means."
"Just ask Zhi'er and you'll know." Zhu Haodong couldn't stand his brother's attitude of avoiding him before he even knew what was going on. Why was he so happy when he said he wanted to marry Zhu Shan to the Hua family
Zhu Bowen glanced at his second son. He didn't know what went wrong in these families. It seemed that the younger son in every family was better than the eldest son. He thought his own was pretty good before, but now it seems that it is just so-so.
It's difficult to support a single tree, and the same is true in the court, so there will be factions. He seems to rely on no one, but he has always been tied to the Hua family, not only because they are relatives, but also because the only one he trusts is Hua Yizheng, and even Sun Qi has to take a back seat.
With his hands behind his back, Zhu Bowen looked at his worried wife and said, "It's nothing serious. Send someone to the Hua family and ask Zhi'er and Mr. Lu to come over."
It was already dark and they still asked people to come over. It was not as if nothing had happened. The old lady felt nervous but did not ask any more questions. "Go, Zhi Niang. Try to be quick."
"yes."
"Okay, let's set the table."
After the old man's reminder, everyone remembered that they had been busy for so long but had not eaten yet, and they suddenly felt hungry.
After a quick meal, the men of the Zhu family, including Zhu Ziwen, went into the study. Zhu Bowen told the housekeeper, "If Zhier comes, bring her over."
"yes."
As soon as he sat down, Zhu Haocheng was about to ask questions in a panic, but when he raised his head and met his father's indifferent gaze, he swallowed back all the words that were on his lips. He lowered his head, not daring to twirl his tiger's whiskers anymore.
Zhu Bowen was disappointed, but he couldn't teach his grandson any lesson. He could only shake his head and say, "Zhi'er came to talk to me today. The emperor is impressed by her business skills."
Zhu Haodong was delighted. "This is a good thing. If Zhi'er can help the emperor make more money, maybe the emperor will be happy and let the Hua family come back."
"Dream on." Zhu Haocheng snorted, "If the emperor is really happy, he won't have such an attitude."
Zhu Bowen ignored his two sons and looked at his eldest grandson who seemed to be thinking about something. "Ziwen, what did you think of?"
"There is a rumor in Beijing. I wonder if you have heard it, Grandfather. It is said that my cousin has the ability to turn stones into gold." Zhu Ziwen frowned, "I wonder if someone may have done it on purpose."
"I have heard colleagues joke about it. Is the rumor widespread?"
"Yes, almost everyone in the city knows about it."
Zhu Bowen thought about it and shook his head. "It's hard to say. If someone did it on purpose, no one knew that the emperor wanted to dig a canal. I don't know how they calculated this. But I don't believe that there was no one behind the scenes. There must be someone with bad intentions who can't bear to see the Hua family prosper."
But now the attention of several people was no longer on this rumor. They all thought they had heard it wrong. Zhu Haocheng asked, "Build a canal? Where? Why was there no news before? And now the treasury is empty, and taxes were exempted this year due to natural disasters. There is no income, only expenditure. What can we use to build a new canal?"
"So the emperor wants to use Zhier."
"If the emperor wants to use Zhi'er, why is his attitude like this?" Zhu Haocheng didn't believe that the matter was that simple. "That decree doesn't look good to me, and why did the emperor say that he should stay with the Hua family? Is it because our Zhu family has been supporting the Hua family that the emperor is displeased?"
"If you didn't like it, you would have done it long ago. Why wait until now?" Zhu Haodong blocked his words again. Just as he was about to say a few more words to his elder brother, he heard the housekeeper's voice from outside, "Old Master, the eldest girl is here."
"Come in quickly."
But Hua Zhi was not the only one who came. Gu Yanxi also came. They met Zhi Niang just after their meal.
Knowing that her grandfather had received the imperial edict and hearing the contents of the imperial edict from Zhi Niang, Hua Zhi couldn't help feeling guilty. Ever since the incident in the Hua family, what she was most worried about was that the Zhu family would be implicated because of her. She didn't expect that she couldn't avoid it.
As soon as she entered the room, Hua Zhi knelt down and apologized, "It was Zhi'er who caused you trouble."
"Even without you, the Zhu family can't get out of this vortex." Motioning his second son to help his granddaughter up, Zhu Bowen sighed and said, "Except for a few border guards, the Hua family has never had to take sides. Others can only choose who to support but have no right to not choose. I have done my best to drag it out until now. Since the Hua family and the Sixth Prince are tied together, the Zhu family will naturally not choose anyone else."
"Dad!" Zhu Haocheng was shocked. He held back his words of objection because there were outsiders around. But he couldn't hide the anxiety in his eyes. How could he choose the Sixth Prince? Even if he really had to choose, he should choose the Fourth Prince, whose mother had a higher status!
Zhu Bowen ignored him, "Ziwen, stay, you brothers go out."
"Dad..."
"go out."
Zhu Haocheng gritted his teeth, turned around and strode away, while Zhu Haodong gave his niece a reassuring smile before leaving. It was obvious who was closer.