On the way back to Daming, Zong Zixiao neither looked at Zong Ziheng nor said a word, as if he had sealed himself in an invisible barrier, and his whole body exuded anger and resistance.
Zong Ziheng looked at his swollen half face, angry and distressed. His anger had almost dissipated along the way. After calming down, he reflected on whether he had made any mistakes in the process of cultivating his younger brother. He was still young, so he still had to focus on teaching and supplemented by punishment.
Zong Ziheng took the initiative to walk over, and lightly broke his chin: "Let big brother see..."
Zong Zixiao turned his face away decisively, and walked straight forward.
Zong Ziheng sighed lightly.
In the depths of winter, the daimyo had just had a heavy snowfall. From a distance, the city-state known as the hub of Kyushu was covered with snow, and the houses at different levels were like thousands of chess pieces on a chessboard, listing the various states of the world.
Back in the Wuji Palace, Zong Ziheng didn't stop to rest, but went directly to Ninghua Emperor to plead guilty. Huang Hong Huang Wu's letter will arrive at the daimyo earlier than them.
When he rushed to the inner hall, he met Zong Minghe and Li Xiangtong coming out one after another.
The eldest son Heng went up to meet him, and knelt down on the ground: "I pay respects to my father and my mother."
Li Xiangtong looked down at his eldest son Heng from a high position, and said coldly: "Did Heng'er get something out of this trip?"
"After returning to my mother, my son captured the notorious alchemy thief Chen Xingyong."
"Oh, then you must have found out who ordered you and Xiao'er to attack you and Xiao'er in Chudi three years ago?"
"...not yet."
"'Not yet'? Then what's the use of you arresting him?" Li Xiangtong's voice became sharper, "For three years, there have been some despicable rumors circulating inside and outside the palace, saying that if something happened to you and Zixiao, it would be wrong for you. The second brother is the most beneficial, isn't it?"
Zong Ziheng's complexion changed suddenly: "I have never heard of this kind of nonsense, it's extremely absurd, it should... be self-defeating."
"If you don't attack yourself?" Li Xiangtong sneered, "How to break it? Your second brother and I expected you to dispel the rumors and clear up our grievances, but you were lucky. After completing the task, as the eldest son of the Zong family, where did you turn your elbow?"
"My son, my son is still investigating. According to the clues given by Chen Xingyong, I..."
"Shut up!" Zong Minghe said angrily: "You go out of the palace and take your younger brother to take risks, but if you catch Chen Xingyong and can't find out the real culprit who attacked you, Gong Shuji, who should have been brought back, is also It was returned by you. Every single thing, it’s not enough to succeed, but more to fail!”
Zong Ziheng felt as if he was being scorched on a fire, his head humbled against the biting ice and snow, and whispered: "Father, please make amends."
"Three years ago you missed the Flood Dragon Club, and three years later you missed the Gongshu Moment. As the eldest brother, what example have you set for your younger siblings?!"
Zong Ziheng bit his lip: "My son... I know my mistake."
Zong Minghe's eyes fell on Zong Ziheng's sword, and his brows furrowed: "Xu Zhinan gives you a sword, and you can ignore my orders. What if someone promises you greater benefits?"
Zong Ziheng suddenly raised his head, his eyes were red, he said in panic: "Father, you misunderstood me, my son's sword is broken, so..."
"Are you accusing me of not giving you a sword?"
"no no."
"The sword that I promised you at the Flood Dragon Meeting, have you come yet? Who can you blame?"
"Yes, it's my son's fault, but my son never intentionally disobeyed my father's orders, it's just that the father lost his way, and my son thought that it would be immoral to snatch his magic weapon, and it would also damage the prestige of our clan."
"Gongshuji is a magic weapon, when did it become the property of the Cangyu Sect?" Li Xiangtong mocked, "The eldest prince of the famous Zong clan actually bullied the superior with a sword. ridicule."
Li Xiangtong's incitement made Zong Minghe's face even more ugly. He kicked Zongzi Heng to the ground, and said sharply, "Nizi, just kneel here and reflect on yourself."
All the people left in a mighty way, leaving him kneeling in the snow alone.
Zong Ziheng's eyes were blurred, tears hovered in his eye sockets, and he was about to fall. Suddenly, a biting cold wind blew by, and the hot tears were frozen into ice balls, sealing all his emotions.
He closed his eyes and straightened his back.
After nightfall, heavy snow fell again in Daming City, accompanied by the raging north wind, gouging out Zong Ziheng's flesh like a knife.
He knelt motionless, the snow on his body was getting thicker and thicker, his pure white body gradually merged with the sky and the earth, the whistling wind was the silent mourning in his chest——
After kneeling like this for a day and a night, the snow stopped, the sun came out, and the snow melted, but Zong Ziheng didn't seem to feel anything.
There were footsteps approaching behind him, and his sluggish brain had a slight reaction.
A man knelt down beside him.
Zong Ziheng slowly turned his stiff neck, seeing Zong Zixiao's pink face, he stared stubbornly at the front, but the tight jawline and slightly pursed lips all spoke of his anxiety.
"Xiao Jiu... what are you... doing..." Zong Ziheng opened his mouth, his voice was terribly hoarse, and every word trembled uncontrollably.
Zong Zixiao finally couldn't help turning his head to look at him, and said with red eyes: "Father's task is for the two of us, since we haven't completed it, we must punish them together."
"Brother...you don't need to do this, go back."
Zong Zixiao looked at Zong Ziheng's pale complexion, cloudy eyes, and chapped lips, almost crying out of distress: "You idiot, why do you have to do this?"
"How can you take something that is not your own?"
"Gong Shu Mo doesn't belong to Xu Zhinan either, he has been holding it all the time, and it's not because he wants to keep it for himself!"
"Brother Xu has other reasons."
Zong Zixiao was full of jealousy: "Why do you trust him so much, just rely on him to give you a sword? I will give you better ones in the future, I can give you anything, why can't you listen to me."
Zong Ziheng closed his eyes and sighed: "Xiao Jiu, you are still young, and you still don't understand many things."
"I will grow up soon." Zong Zixiao bit his lip, "When I grow up, no one can bully you, not even... not even my father."
Zong Ziheng tried his best to hold the corner of his mouth: "Get up quickly, don't do stupid things."
Zong Zixiao held Zong Ziheng's ice-like hand: "I will be punished with you."
"You should be freezing."
"Then let it freeze to death." Zong Zixiao wrapped his hands around his elder brother's and rubbed them vigorously, "If father doesn't forgive you, I'll kneel down with you and freeze to death together."
"Xiao Jiu, you are becoming more and more disobedient." Zong Ziheng has lost too much energy, and he has no energy to teach his younger brother.
"Can I be disobedient?"
"… Um?"
"If I am disobedient occasionally, you won't ignore me, just leave me alone."
"No." Zong Ziheng said softly, "Brother shouldn't hit you, it's my fault."
Zong Zixiao said reluctantly, "I shouldn't be trying to rob the public."
"Um."
Zong Zixiao sniffed: "I just don't want my father to punish you, and I don't want to make you sad."
Zong Ziheng said bitterly: "This is not something you should consider. Brother only hopes that you will be an upright person."
"What's the benefit of being an upright person, and being wronged everywhere like elder brother?"
Zong Ziheng was momentarily speechless.
Zong Zixiao looked at his elder brother: "It's okay, I hope that my elder brother will be what I want to be. When I grow up, I will never let my elder brother suffer any more grievances."
Zong Ziheng shook Zong Zixiao's hand with his frozen hands: "Xiao Jiu, big brother is waiting for you to grow up."—
When Zong Ziheng was pardoned, he almost lost consciousness. He was carried back to Qinghui Pavilion, and he heard his mother's cries coming from far and near to his ears, heat sources suddenly appeared around him, the heat approached his frozen body, like countless needles piercing the skin at the same time, The great pain reawakened his body and soul.
He eventually passed out.
When he woke up again, three days had passed, his limbs were frostbitten, and the gauze was wrapped layer after layer. When he woke up, the pain also revived. The pain was so painful that he didn't dare to move more.
"Heng'er." Shen Shiyao who was guarding the bed looked at him worriedly, "Are you awake?"
"Mother." Zong Ziheng looked at his mother's haggard face and said guiltily, "I made you worry again."
Shen Shiyao said sadly: "Do you really care if I'm worried? If you care, why do you let your father down and me down again and again?"
Zong Ziheng said sadly: "I didn't do it on purpose, I didn't want to disappoint you, but..." But he didn't know why he was always doing what he thought was right, and in the end everyone said he was wrong, and those close to him all said that he was wrong. disappointed in him.
Is he really wrong? Even he couldn't help doubting himself.
Shen Shiyao caressed his arm and said sadly: "What's the use of talking about it now, mother just hopes you get better soon."
Zong Ziheng held his mother's hand, but he didn't know how to comfort her.
"Get well soon, and you will meet Hua Qianjin at the Jiaolong Meeting in spring tomorrow."
Zong Ziheng froze for a moment.
"I don't expect you to please the emperor anymore. As long as that poisonous woman Li Xiangtong is around, she will try her best to make our mother and child feel better, but we haven't lost yet." Shen Shiyao said softly, "Li Xiangtong just relied on The Wuliang faction supports you, but if you become the son-in-law of the Huaying faction, the emperor will definitely look at you differently, and she will never dare to ride on our heads again."
Zong Ziheng hesitated and said: "Mother, I can't force Hua Qianjin to like me, it depends on fate."
"You two are destined to be together, and it was that poisonous woman who insisted on interfering. Don't worry, Hua Qianjin won't fall in love with Zong Zimo's trash." Shen Shiyao caressed Zong Ziheng's face, and there was a burning fire in her eyes, "My son must He will become the Jackie Chan son-in-law of the Hua family, and will be the head of the Huaying faction in the future."
Zong Ziheng noticed that Shen Shiyao's desire for him to stand out had become a deep obsession. He felt sorry for his mother, but this obsession made him terrified. He could only say: "I, I hope to make my mother... come true."
Shen Shiyao put her face against the back of Zongzi Heng's hand, and murmured: "Mother is all dependent on you, I have lived a miserable life all my life, but fortunately I have a good son, you will definitely be proud of my mother, right? "
"..."
"It's also for you, mother, it's all for you to have an open and frank journey to immortality."
"Mother, if..." Zong Ziheng whispered, "If you are tired of all this, my son is willing to take you out of here, we will stay away from these right and wrong, and live a free life, in fact..."
"What are you talking about?" Shen Shiyao widened her beautiful eyes, "Don't be stupid, I am the concubine of Emperor Zong, and you are the eldest prince of Emperor Zong, how can you be content with mediocrity? If one day I really leave here, I will Go to the Huaying faction to join my son. You are born noble, talented, and destined to be a venerable above tens of thousands of people, how can you come up with such a useless idea?!"
"...I'm just, say whatever."