Capítulo 904: Chapter 720: Clash of Grandfather and Grandson
Zhou Mu and Gu Changsheng entered the Capital City several days ago, yet Emperor Zhoulin only met them once at the city gate. Can you believe it?
Although hard to believe, this is the truth.
As the Southern Emperor, Gu Changsheng not attending the welcoming banquet or engaging in state affairs between the two nations is due to his lofty status, leaving others speechless. However, Zhou Mu, as the Crown Prince of Great Zhou, not attending court or meeting the Emperor, is quite unreasonable. Moreover, Emperor Zhoulin summoned him several times, yet Zhou Mu treated it as if he hadn’t heard, ignoring the calls…
Thus, today was essentially the first meaningful encounter between the grandfather and grandson after the Eastern Palace incident.
Emperor Zhoulin knew that even if Zhou Mu accepted the position of Crown Prince of Great Zhou, he would never live in the previous Crown Prince’s Palace. Hence, a new Crown Prince’s Palace was prepared for him within the Imperial Palace, beside Zhengyang Gate.
Tonight, the worried Emperor Zhoulin stopped Zhou Mu in his tracks.
Wearing a dragon-imprinted Imperial Robe, he stood on the hall of the Crown Prince’s Palace, looking at the majestic purple-gold figure walking in. His aged body couldn’t help but tremble slightly, and his hand hidden under the Dragon Robe clenched nervously.
As soon as Zhou Mu stepped into the hall, he saw the two standing atop it.
Emperor Zhoulin and Han Shan, just the two of them, without any extra eunuchs or Imperial Forest Army.
One was the Imperial Grandfather, the other the Grandson, one the current Emperor, the other the newly appointed Crown Prince. Yet now, Emperor Zhoulin stood there nervously, while Zhou Mu’s brows furrowed, his expression slightly darkened.
The atmosphere was somewhat heavy and stagnant. For a moment, the grandfather and grandson, meeting privately again after more than a decade, felt an awkward tension in not knowing how to interact. Of course, it was Emperor Zhoulin who was nervous. One might find it hard to believe, but it was true. Emperor Zhoulin, who had spent half his life fighting for the throne and the other half as the Emperor, was never as nervous as he was now. Facing his own grandson, he was indeed nervous.
Nervousness, a long-unvisited emotion for Emperor Zhoulin, descended suddenly, leaving him momentarily at a loss and unsure how to break the silence.
His grandson, whom he spared no expense to send away from Great Zhou to learn martial and scholarly arts, whom he mercilessly educated after siding against his own child, was undoubtedly the finest descendant of the Zhou Imperial Clan. His victories were unparalleled, and his presence unmatched. Yet, he had once fallen due to the Eastern Palace affair, self-exiling to Liuzhou Region, not returning to Capital City for over ten years…
If not for the arranged marriage with Gu Changsheng, to whom he promised glory, this grandson might never have seen him again for the rest of his life?
Emperor Zhoulin thought somewhat bitterly, the atmosphere growing even more awkward…
Han Shan, standing behind Emperor Zhoulin, and Yuan Bao behind Zhou Mu, both watched. They exchanged glances, unsure how to break the silence.
Yuan Bao signaled Han Shan to do it.
Han Shan gently shook his head, refusing the task. Emperor Zhoulin had unjustly killed his entire Han family; he felt guilty towards the Han Clan. Han Shan was a half-friend, half-servant to Emperor Zhoulin, but not the same in front of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mu. Han Shan believed he didn’t have the status to act rashly before Crown Prince Mu!
Seeing Han Shan refuse, Yuan Bao’s round, jewel-like body shivered with frustration. Damn, isn’t he the Steward Great Eunuch beside the Emperor? How can he be so gutless? So skilled at dodging responsibility? If I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have let them into the Crown Prince’s Palace. I’d have left the two old men to stand outside, like those Watch Grandson Stones! Hmph!
Reluctant at heart, Yuan Bao still forced his baby-fat round face into a smile towards his master, “Hehe… look at this servant’s mind, Master, the Emperor longs for you dearly. He’s come to see you. Yuan Bao saw him standing pitifully outside the Palace Gate, so I let them in…”
Hearing the first part, Emperor Zhoulin felt that Yuan Bao, who used to know nothing but eating, had grown perceptive after staying with his Imperial Grandson. Indeed, he missed his grandson; not seeing someone for over ten years, who wouldn’t miss them?
However, upon hearing the latter part, Emperor Zhoulin’s old face immediately showed a trace of embarrassment. The way this was phrased, why did it sound like he was here desperately pleading for a meeting? Wasn’t he the Emperor of Great Zhou, who hadn’t abdicated yet?
But he couldn’t say a word.
And Zhou Mu, hearing Yuan Bao’s words, his already composed expression darkened further. His sharply defined lips pressed even tighter.
“Sir, for the sake of His Majesty who is tirelessly working for your marriage to your wife, at least show a decent face. As the saying goes, a smiling person shall not be struck, and after all His Majesty is…” Yuan Bao, sensing the increasingly awkward atmosphere in the hall, closed his eyes and continued persuasively with a demeanor of burning his boats.
The estrangement between our lord and His Majesty is unknown to others, but he, Yuan Bao, understands it all too clearly!
Back then, the great fire in the Eastern Palace burned for three days before being extinguished. He risked his life to drag his lord, who was determined to perish alongside the former Crown Prince, out of the fire. But as the fire was extinguished, so too was the heart of his lord, quenching forever the ties of kinship, imperial power, and schemes. After that incident, everything in his lord’s heart evaporated and disappeared…
“You should know that of all things, I most loathe to see you.” Before Yuan Bao could finish speaking, a cold, aloof voice devoid of emotion sounded above him.
Zhou Mu’s voice was, as always, deep, yet at this moment it carried a hint of hoarseness.
“I… I…” Emperor Zhoulin felt a sudden pang in his heart, staggered forward a step, his face pale, his mouth opened but words failed him.
“‘Exile to the Liuzhou Region, never to meet alive or dead,’ these were your words to me back then, Imperial Grandfather…” Zhou Mu looked at the elderly man ahead, whose temples had grayed, no longer bearing the radiant visage of ruling the world. Time, indeed, ages a person. Zhou Mu deeply inhaled, suppressing the displeasure in his heart.
“Little Wood…” Emperor Zhoulin opened his mouth, but could only utter the childhood name of Zhou Mu.
“Shut up! I ultimately did not become the Little Wood you hoped for, but rather the Little Wood in Zongbao’s heart. Imperial Grandfather, I cannot achieve the heartlessness of an emperor, nor your ability to be moved yet firm, denying all kin. I ultimately deviated from your expectation; you are angry at my lack of ambition. Now I have self-exiled to Liuzhou for over ten years, yet still have not forsaken my original intent, unchanged in my non-striving as before, ultimately disappointing you…” Zhou Mu shook his head, managing to hold steady his emotions, suppress the anger in his heart, facing the main culprit of the Eastern Palace incident directly.
“But you are already the Crown Prince of Great Zhou, are you not? You are the Crown Prince of Great Zhou!” Hearing this, Emperor Zhoulin stepped forward anxiously, grasping Zhou Mu’s sleeve, “Little Wood, you are my Imperial Grandson, my most cherished Imperial Grandson, the hope of Great Zhou, the future of Great Zhou. I never believed I was wrong, even if you hate me, even if your aunt hates me. Yet, you have achieved such greatness today, haven’t you? Peerless, unmatched, the undisputable Crown Prince of Great Zhou!”
“Haha…” Upon hearing this, Zhou Mu bowed his head and laughed, the laughter exceedingly desolate, “Indeed, I hate you, my maternal grandmother hates you. You deliberately provoked my Father King time and again, knowing full well his narrow-mindedness, even exposing your intentions to change the heir, forcing him to a dead end, wishing to put me to death…”
“The great fire in the Eastern Palace, I Zhou Mu committed the crime of patricide, a grave sin intolerable by the world. How can I, with what face, become the Crown Prince of Great Zhou? How can I, with what face, govern Great Zhou?”
As Zhou Mu spoke, his voice unknowingly grew louder, the heaving chest and trembling corners of his mouth revealing his agitation at this moment.
“No, no, no! It’s not like that! Little Wood, listen to your Imperial Grandfather, it wasn’t like that, it wasn’t your fault! Heartless Imperial Family, to be a qualified emperor, you must be heartless; it was my fault, it was my mistake of killing my own son, it was my mistake, I have no regrets, but the fault is not yours! Rest assured, besides a few individuals, absolutely no one knows the truth of those days, the great fire in the Eastern Palace was an accident, merely a trial in your journey to become an emperor, you must not be resentful, must not…” Hearing this, Emperor Zhoulin’s face grew ever paler, explaining anxiously.
“Imperial Grandfather, Imperial Grandfather…” Zhou Mu lowered his head, allowing Emperor Zhoulin to shake him, his expression woeful, “Wrong is wrong, guilty is guilty. Capital City’s internal strife forced me to take on the position of Crown Prince before the troops, truly out of necessity, but I will not succeed as emperor.”
“Little Wood!” Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhoulin widened his eyes in disbelief.
Will not succeed as emperor? What does that mean?
“Even though I don’t want to admit it, yet I am your grandson after all. You permitted me to marry Changsheng grandly, I guarantee Great Zhou stability for a century. Once you preside over my wedding to Changsheng, I will leave with her, wherever she wishes to go, whether to the Southern Country or travel the world, I shall follow her. But except for one thing, I will never this life sit upon your throne!” Zhou Mu calmed his emotions and pronounced resolutely and convincingly.
“Zhou Mu!” Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhoulin was immediately stirred with rage, even before clarifying his intentions, he was startled by Zhou Mu’s declaration.
He won’t take the throne? How will Great Zhou continue after his century is over?
Will the thousand-year foundation of Great Zhou truly be severed in his hands? To leave with the Southern Emperor, how can this be? Absolutely cannot!
“Little Wood, you cannot do this! How can you? Born in the Imperial Family, this is your mission and responsibility, how can you forsake everything and disregard it all, only wishing to be with a woman?” Emperor Zhoulin was very anxious.
“Burdened with grave sins, unworthy to ask for the throne, my life, half spent on the battlefields fulfilling my duties as a Zhou descendant—expanding territories, safeguarding the peace of the realm—my only wish for my latter half is to have one person of one mind, never to part till old age.” As Zhou Mu spoke, he gave a deep bow to Emperor Zhoulin, “Asking Imperial Grandfather’s permission.”