Chapter 919: Chapter 732: I Will Take You Back
As soon as Zhou Zongbao finished speaking, Xiao Leizi, who was kneeling in front of Gu Changsheng, burst into a loud wail.
The sheer volume of it was completely at odds with the usually soft-spoken Xiao Leizi!
The people around were startled by Xiao Leizi’s sudden outburst of a lion’s roar.
“Mistress, don’t make me leave, I won’t go! I won’t go! I want to follow mistress, follow mistress for a lifetime. Didn’t mistress promise me? That only when you find me a good husband will you let me go? Didn’t mistress say you wouldn’t enjoy eating if I were gone? How can mistress bear to drive Xiao Leizi away?” Xiao Leizi cried with a face like a pear blossom in the rain, clutching Gu Changsheng’s robe and refusing to let go.
“Xiao Leizi, that was in the past, when your background was unknown. Now that your lineage is clear, how can I keep you by my side?” At this point, Gu Changsheng felt a deep sense of resentment; Xiao Leizi was dear to her heart, like her liver and stomach!
Back when she left the impoverished Liuzhou City, she picked up this little sprout along the way south and had painstakingly raised her into a plump, good-looking young woman, teaching her various cooking skills. Now, just as everything comes to light, she was to lose her head chef!
How was she supposed to live afterwards? Was she really going to have to personally cook and prepare meals herself?
Worry! The thought was wrenching! Such intense bitterness and deep-seated hatred!
“Then just pretend you don’t know about this! Mistress, I’m still just the daughter of an ordinary cook in Liuzhou City, my mother was that mother who never stepped out of the main door, and she’s already passed away, who can prove she was the Grand Princess now? Can you pretend not to know, so I can stay by your side? I don’t ask for anything, nor do I wish to recognize my heritage! Mistress! Xiao Leizi begs you!” Xiao Leizi said, continuously kowtowing on the ground.
“Xiao Leizi…” Gu Changsheng looked at such a Xiao Leizi, helpless and heartbroken.
She was one of the first to follow her, treating her like family, truly not wanting to part with her…
Zhou Mu, upon seeing her like this, raised a hand to embrace her shoulder, patting it soothingly, and cast his gaze towards Zhou Zongbao.
Zhou Zongbao, seeing Xiao Leizi in such a state, immediately furrowed his brows in anger, pointed angrily at Xiao Leizi and spoke, “Xiao Leizi, how can you be so selfish! Your mother faked her death to leave the palace back then, the Imperial Brother was furious, postponing the arranged marriage was one thing, but most importantly, Jinyang was his Legitimate Grand Princess. He may be an Emperor, but he is still human, and he cherished his daughter. The news of Jinyang’s death caused him much regret, lamenting that he had torn apart a perfect couple and led to his daughter’s demise. But the rules of the Imperial Clan are the rules, no one marrying a princess is allowed to wield real power, this is ancestral law and cannot be defied!”
As Zhou Zongbao spoke, he became increasingly agitated, even though he looked down on his unreliable Imperial Brother, yet upon closer scrutiny, every action he took was for the sake of the Great Zhou Empire. When he was young, he abdicated and ceded the Imperial Throne, and everything Zhoulin has endured today was on his behalf!
“Jinyang’s faked death left your father, Du Mingli, prematurely aged overnight. Even after that, he was heavily favored, perhaps due to the Imperial Brother’s longing for his deceased beloved daughter. Jinyang disregarded the imperial wishes, escaping an arranged marriage by faking her death as the Grand Princess of the Great Zhou. The Imperial Brother, unaware of the truth, was angry but still granted her the honor of a posthumous burial at the Qianling mausoleum. Xiao Leizi, you are Jinyang’s daughter, shouldn’t you do something in response to her reckless actions back then? The remorse and regret of your grandfather, the pain of lost love of your father, can you just ignore them?” Zhou Zongbao said, pulling Xiao Leizi on the ground to her feet, “You come back with me, you have to repay the karma your mother caused that day! Our Zhou Imperial Clan has never owed anyone anything, returning a daughter to that Du Mingli today, we owe him nothing more. Come back with me and recognize your heritage, or else see if I won’t beat you to death!”
“You you you…” Xiao Leizi, held by Zhou Zongbao, felt rather embarrassed, instinctively reaching for the kitchen knife at her waist, muttering, “You can’t even beat me, and yet… ”
Boasting!
Xiao Leizi didn’t finish her sentence but suddenly didn’t feel so sad anymore.
For a moment, the people around were somewhat stunned. Those familiar with Zhou Zongbao evidently didn’t expect such harshness from him; he’d always been known as the most idle of rakes, who would have thought he’d spout such a grand philosophy today.