When Fu Zhiyu goes out now, it is very different from when he first came to Jiangnan. Almost everyone in Luanzhou knows him, and many people give him fruits and delicious treats. It is not an exaggeration to say that every time he goes out, his car is filled with fruits.
Not only did people in Jiangnan know him, but people outside Jiangnan also knew his title as the King of Jiangnan. When they mentioned him, they praised him as if he were a god from heaven who had descended to earth.
Some people among the people wrote books for him, and some even built temples for him. Yuan Jiangxing was worried that the emperor might be suspicious, but Fu Yanran took the initiative to send a letter to comfort Fu Zhiyu, telling him not to think too much and just take it easy.
"If you do well, you can be praised. The hearts of the people are as clear as a mirror. My royal brother, don't think too much. If I don't have this kind of mind, I am not worthy of being an emperor. If I think about this every day, I don't need to do anything."
However, despite saying this, Fu Zhiyu has gradually become less busy over the years.
He has already met his requirements in most things, so leave the rest to others.
Once, he took Mingdao and his mother out to play in the City of Tears, not far from Jiangnan. The moat meandered around the city, shaped like a teardrop, and the canal also connected here. When Fu Zhiyu went to see it at night, he saw that the willow trees by the river were hung with lanterns, which was very beautiful.
Lei City is a small city. Fu Zhiyu took Yuan Wanyun shopping to look at the shops and stalls on the roadside. There was a largest jewelry store on the road. She liked it very much and selected several small accessories. She also bought a jade pendant for Fu Zhiyu and hung it around his waist.
When I was checking out, the shopkeeper just came out. She was a woman who looked to be in her thirties. However, she did not comb her hair like a woman. She just used the simplest hairpin to tie her hair up, which made her look casual and pretty.
Fu Zhi just took a casual glance, but was stunned for a long time.
That's Qiu Rong.
It’s just that Qiu Rong in front of him didn’t recognize him. When their eyes met, she was obviously surprised for a moment, but she didn’t come forward. She just lowered her head and smiled, then continued to busy herself with the things at hand.
She was not as young as he remembered. Qiu Rong, who wore her hair in two buns and was always so happy, might only live in his memory. The person in front of him was skilled and graceful.
Fu Zhiyu is older now, but his appearance has basically not changed compared to ten years ago. It seems like he will never change. If you stare at someone, he will be even more attractive.
When paying the bill, there was a lot less money on the other side. The accountant laughed and said, "Our shopkeeper saw that you are good-looking and this jewelry is especially suitable for you, so he gave you less money on purpose. Please come often in the future."
Fu Zhiyu: “…Okay.”
Perhaps he was the only one who remembered the story between him and Qiu Rong. Ming Dao was no longer around at that time, and Xie Ke had only met her once, but he probably couldn't remember such a young maid.
He later took the time to inquire about Qiu Rong and found out that her real name was Lian Wan, and she must have changed her name when she entered the palace.
She is also very famous in the City of Tears, probably because her business is good and many people know her background.
Lian Wan's father died early, and her mother and she had been bullied for a long time by their uncles and brothers. They were on the verge of extinction, and all the money in the family was taken away. They almost took Lian Wan away and sold her as a slave. Fortunately, at that time, the Qian family's textile factory expanded and moved to outside Jiangnan to find an embroiderer. When her mother heard the news, she took her away overnight and went to work in the Qian family's weaving factory. In this way, she avoided her cannibalistic uncles and the fate of being sold as a slave.
Her mother worked in the Qian family's textile factory for many years. Lian Wan followed her and learned to read and write in the Qian family's school. She also became an apprentice to a master there and learned how to make hairpins. When she returned, she opened a shop like this.
After Lian Wan came back, she brought seven or eight thugs with her. Her uncles and aunts no longer dared to cause trouble. She took her mother and became self-sufficient. She also saved up a small fortune for herself. I don't know how many people envied her for living such a comfortable and carefree life.
Fu Zhiyu had looked for Qiu Rong before, but he didn't keep much record of her information at that time, so he couldn't find out where she was from. Every time a new maid came into the palace, he asked Fu Yanran to help look after her, but she was not among them.
Meeting here now, maybe it's fate.
There is no Fu Zhiyu in Lian Wan's life, but if you look closely, he is everywhere. It can be said that they met by chance, but in fact, it is the inevitability of all chance encounters.
In this situation, seeing that she was living well, he didn't need to disturb her anymore. But after thinking about it, he asked his men to send some money over there.
"The hairpin is very well made and my mother likes it very much," Fu Zhiyu said, "I also hope that the shopkeeper will do better and better in the future."
After leaving the City of Tears, Fu Zhiyu rested for a long time.
He no longer held the position of Luanzhou prefect and handed it over to other young people. His elder uncle and younger uncle retired one after another and handed over the responsibilities to their sons-in-law and sons, and finally lived out their lives in peace.
Ming Dao later stopped cooperating with Yuan Lu. He became independent and opened an escort agency. His business was always good. After Fu Zhiyu gradually became obscure, he became even more famous. No one regarded him simply as the guard of King Jiangnan anymore, even though Ming Dao himself accepted this identity more.
The entire continent was not merged into one country like in the original book. Although Ji Lin is the most powerful now, Fu Yanran's behavior in this regard is conservative. He did not send troops to invade other countries. The countries have lived in harmony for many days. Even Southern Xinjiang has become more and more outgoing. Although there are occasional frictions between countries, they are all resolved quickly.
Fu Zhiyu ignored the matter between his mother and Lin Yan, but after a while, he could see that his mother was still a little shaken.
On the Chinese Valentine's Day that year, my mother went out with Lin Yan without saying a word.
Fu Zhiyu ate a bowl of hot noodle soup alone in the mansion, took a plate of osmanthus candy, and watched the moon in the pavilion.
Butler Zhou is too old. He retired some time ago. Now there is a new butler, who was also introduced by Butler Zhou. He is very similar to him and is very thoughtful in everything.
But perhaps it was because Butler Zhou was old and his memory was not very good, and there were too many things to be explained, so he forgot to tell the new butler many things.
For example, you cannot buy anything from the dim sum shop that seems to be doing good business not far from the gate of the mansion, even if the master really likes the osmanthus candy there.
It was nothing before, but on the Qixi Festival, people in Jiangnan were in fashion to eat sweet-scented osmanthus cakes and sweet-scented osmanthus candies. After the housekeeper bought some, he told Fu Zhiyu about it: "The shop said that King Zhao never needs to pay for things when he buys from here. I forced it on him, but he refused to take it."
The housekeeper did not find this matter difficult to understand. King Zhao had a very high reputation in the Jiangnan area. If Fu Zhiyu went to buy things by himself, not to mention paying, there would be many people who would give him change.
Fu Zhiyu: "... OK, I understand."
Beyond that, he said nothing more about it.
There is actually nothing good to see about the moon on Chinese Valentine's Day. It hasn't changed at all after all these years. Fu Zhiyu soon felt bored after watching it. It was already this late, but it was still very lively outside. He thought for a while, found a clean purse, poured the osmanthus candy into it, then walked and bit the candy as he went outside to join in the fun.
When he went out at this time, he was still very popular. Young girls giggled and handed him peach branches, but Fu Zhiyu did not dare to take them and politely avoided them.
If you accept it, you will marry her.
Fu Zhiyu had no choice but to avoid the crowd and strolled to the riverside. Many people were releasing river lanterns there, so he asked for one, took a pen and thought about it, but he couldn't think of any other wishes that had not been fulfilled.
He looked around and saw that everyone was happy.
In the end, nothing was written on his river lantern. He just placed it in the water and it floated away with the current.
He walked around a few more times by himself. It was getting darker and darker and almost everyone had gone home. Finally, he returned to the place where he had released the river lanterns. He saw a river lantern slowly floating by. It was empty, with no wishes written on it.
Now there were only two people on the river bank. Fu Zhiyu looked in the direction where the lantern came from and saw Xie Ke slowly standing up.
His movements were so slow that when Fu Zhiyu saw his face, she felt it was unreal.
Fu Zhiyu has hardly changed in the past few years, but Xie Ke has changed a lot. His hair is already half white and his face looks much older. He is obviously only a few years older than Fu Zhiyu, but the two look like two different generations.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Fu Zhiyu couldn't help but ask him.
"It's okay," Xie Ke said, "This body will age, and I'm already this age."
Fu Zhiyu said "Oh" softly, indicating that he understood. The two fell silent, and Xie Ke came up instead.
"Would you like to take a walk together?" he said. "I have never seen this section of the canal in Jiangnan."
Fu Zhiyu thought about it, did not refuse, and nodded.
Xie Ke was holding a lantern in his hand, and the two of them were walking slowly along the river. There were not many people on the road. Xie Ke remained silent, but Fu Zhiyu spoke first.
"I was thinking, if it weren't for you, this river wouldn't be so easy to repair."
Xie Ke shook his head and said, "I just helped a little, mainly Fu Yanran and you."
If Fu Zhiyu hadn't been there, Xie Ke would naturally not care about the river or not, but he actually didn't understand what Fu Zhiyu meant.
Fu Zhiyu recalled that if Xie Ke had not taken action to deal with the Deng and Qian families at that time, even if he had a way to deal with them, it would certainly take a very long time, and there would be a lot of intrigue involved.
He was angry at that time and was willing to spend time doing this, but if he spent most of his time on this, he might not have so much time to read the Jiangnan files. After teaching these two families a lesson, he would probably feel that intrigue was really boring and retreat into that kind of life.
As for the rest, he wouldn't have had so much time to notice.
Fu Zhiyu felt that the transformation of his emotions was both accidental and inevitable. Xie Ke did appear at that time, which was a good coincidence and could not be denied.
This section of the river is not long. When you reach the corner, there is a wall blocking the way. You need to go back and make a big turn to connect to the road ahead.
"That's all for today," Fu Zhiyu said, "If you want to see it again in the future, go and see it yourself."
Xie Ke lowered his head and responded.
Fu Zhiyu walked back alone, and Xie Ke followed behind him, the lantern in his hand swaying, lighting the way for him.
Fu Zhiyu arrived home in a short while. He stood in front of the door and saw Xie Ke standing there staring at him blankly.
"You go back." he said.
Xie Ke didn't leave. He put the lantern aside, took a few steps forward, and hugged him gently.
Fu Zhiyu was stunned, and for a moment she reached out but did not push him away.
"Zhiyu," he heard Xie Ke say to him in his ear, in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "I love you."
Fu Zhiyu did not answer.
Xie Ke didn't hold her for long. He let go of her hand and stared at Fu Zhiyu again. There was something unclear in his eyes. Fu Zhiyu thought he was going to say something else, but he just kept repeating: "... I love you."
Fu Zhiyu lowered his head, hummed softly, and then said, "I understand."
This probably doesn't count as a response.
"Thank you."
Fu Zhiyu added, other than that, he didn't know what else to say to him.
Xie Ke let go of his hand. He seemed to have figured something out because of these words. He smiled at him, then watched Fu Zhiyu walk into the mansion and stand in front of the door for a long time before leaving.
Fu Zhiyu never saw him again after that.
He never received any news from the Lord God again. Sometimes when he thought about those things, he would have some indescribable feelings.
Fu Zhiyu stayed in this world for a shorter time than he thought. Sometimes when he looked in the mirror, he couldn't tell how old he was, let alone any signs of aging on his body. He thought he would live forever like a monster, but in fact that was not the case.
Until he saw all the people he cherished leave, his desire to stay in this world was no longer so strong.
But the time of separation was still unexpected. One morning, he felt tired, and when he turned around, he felt different.
He felt that he was gradually floating upwards, and there was a dazzling white light in front of his eyes. When the white light faded away, he heard a sound before he could see clearly.
It is the sound from the main god space. This is where the main brain is located. There are often "beep beep" prompt sounds, as well as low mechanical roars.
"You are finally back," Fu Zhiyu heard the Lord God's voice again, "Zhiyu, I have been waiting for you for a long time."