That year.

Of the four people named after the Divine Beasts of the Four Directions, except for Suzaku, who was an adult man of twenty-two or three years old, the unsmiling Qinglong was not as old as the weak crown, and was only eighteen years old.

The seemingly cynical White Tiger and Zhu Zimo are the same age, only fourteen or fifteen years old.

As for Xuanwu, she was the only woman among the four, only eight years old, and she was still a little girl with a double bun and pink carvings, three years younger than Lin Zhiwu's younger brother Lin Zhisheng.

Lin Zhiwu was surprised that Zhu Zimo, who was only fourteen years old, could have such four subordinates who were far apart in age, and what surprised him even more was that all four of them had good martial arts, especially light skills.

Although he was surprised, Lin Zhiwu wisely didn't ask more, just quietly listened to Zhu Zimo's understatement to introduce the identities of the four of them:

Qinglong, the city lord of Qinglong City in Qinshan Mountain, which is still under construction.

White Tiger, the owner of the White Tiger Villa established three years ago in Mituo Mountain, Fengming Kingdom.

Suzaku, the behind-the-scenes boss of Zhu's rice store in Pingyang, Daliang.

These are not the most surprising to Lin Zhiwu, the most surprising thing is that the little girl Xuanwu, who is only eight years old, is actually the boss of the assassination organization "Cangdie" established by an unknown country out of thin air two years ago, at that time, she was only six years old!!

Such four well-known figures are actually Zhu Zimo's subordinates!!

That night, Lin Zhiwu was so shocked by what he knew that he couldn't sleep all night.

After that night, Zhu Zimo began to arrange for Lin Zhiwu to contact the four of them, the Blue Dragon and the White Tiger, the Xuanwu Vermilion Bird, and gradually handled some things instead of Zhu Zimo.

Four years later, Zhu Zimo was 18 years old.

That year, in the season when the scorching peach blossoms were in full bloom, Zhu Zimo fell in love with the daughter of a commoner on East Street in the West District of Xuanping, the woman, named Cheng Xiao.

Although Lin Zhiwu has never experienced love, he can see that Zhu Zimo really likes it, no, it should be said that he loves the girl named Cheng Xiao very much.

One day, Zhu Zimo said to Lin Zhiwu that Cheng Xiao's gambling mother looked down on Zhu Zimo, the identity of the Zhu family's concubine, and was reluctant to marry her daughter to him.

Lin Zhiwu has always wondered why Zhu Zimo has so much wealth but has always been unwilling to let outsiders know, and Zhu Zimo doesn't even let him tell his own brother Lin Zhisheng what he knows. Moreover, Zhu Zimo has such a strong martial arts, why should he let the eldest lady Chen Rou and the eldest young master Zhu Ziyao bully them?

Lin Zhiwu didn't understand, he hadn't figured it out since the night he knew Zhu Zimo's details.

However, Lin Zhiwu knew one thing, since Zhu Zimo ordered it, he just had to do what Zhu Zimo told him.

However, no one would have thought that two years later, in that late autumn, the flower-like girl would fall to the ground like the leaves of the maple trees planted on the shore of the lotus lake in Zhufu at that time, and then disappear forever in this world.

At that time, Lin Zhiwu was standing less than two meters behind Zhu Zimo, and the conversation between Zhu Zimo and Cheng Xiao, Lin Zhiwu listened to it word for word.

Later, when Cheng Xiao said half of the word "good", Lin Zhiwu saw Cheng Xiao's right hand that had been on Zhu Zimo's neck sliding down Zhu Zimo's back and falling to the ground.

Cheng Xiao committed suicide because she was forced to marry by her mother-in-law, Xu, and died in Zhu Zimo's arms.

On the night of that year, Cheng Xiao asked Zhu Zimo to go to the suburbs of Beijing to see the stars, but the location was a peach blossom forest with dense peach trees that was not suitable for stargazing. This point was recalled by Lin Zhiwu a long time later, and Lin Zhiwu did not make much conjecture at that time.

Later, Cheng Xiao said that she was very cold, so Zhu Zimo went to the carriage outside the peach blossom forest to get a cloak for Cheng Xiao......

For Cheng Xiao's death, Lin Zhiwu has always blamed himself, if he hadn't listened to Cheng Xiao's words that day to help Cheng Xiao pick any wild fruits, if he could have noticed that something was wrong with Cheng Xiao, if he had listened to Zhu Zimo's words and guarded Cheng Xiao inch by inch, maybe Cheng Xiao would not have committed suicide! At least he wouldn't let her commit suicide!

However, it was too late to say anything, when Lin Zhiwu came back from picking the red wild fruits in the night, what he saw was under the peach blossom tree, Zhu Zimo was squatting on the ground with Cheng Xiao in his arms, and at Zhu Zimo's feet was a large pool of dark blood.

At that moment, Lin Zhiwu's head went blank in an instant, and the wild fruit he was carrying in his clothes fell to the ground without realizing it.

That night, Zhu Zimo sat all night in the peach blossom forest where they first met.

Lin Zhiwu didn't know if Zhu Zimo cried that day, because Zhu Zimo asked Lin Zhiwu to go back to Zhu's mansion first, but Lin Zhiwu was sure that Zhu Zimo was very sad that day.

After Cheng Xiao's death, Zhu Zimo was depressed for nearly a year.

Although Zhu Zimo was not drunk at that time, and he ate, drank and rested as usual on the surface, he handed over everything to Lin Zhiwu to do, and he didn't care about everything around him.

The one thing Lin Zhiwu regretted the most in his life was Cheng Xiao's suicide, which was also one thing that Lin Zhiwu couldn't let go of until he died.

Even if Zhu Zimo didn't say anything about Cheng Xiao's death, Lin Zhiwu was always depressed. Just because Cheng Xiao was the first woman Zhu Zimo fell in love with, but because of his negligence, he buried Zhu Zimo's beloved.

Because of guilt and remorse, since Cheng Xiao's death, Lin Zhiwu swore that he would never do anything to be sorry for Zhu Zimo or disobey Zhu Zimo in his life, and he would strictly follow Zhu Zimo's instructions.

Therefore, during the period when Zhu Zimo was depressed, Lin Zhiwu was extremely cautious no matter what he did, and he did it properly everywhere, no worse than Zhu Zimo personally handling it.

A year later, that is, three years ago, when the second aunt Liu Ruyun suddenly fell ill and the medicine stone was in vain, Zhu Zimo could be regarded as resurrected.

On the first day of Lin Zhiwu's official work in Zhufu, he saw the second aunt who was too weak to speak.

In Lin Zhiwu's memory, in addition to his mother, the second aunt was the best and gentlest woman he had ever seen.

It's a pity that such a gentle person is pale all day long, as weak as the crumbling dead leaves of that winter, as if he will disappear in this world in the blink of an eye.

Later, when I heard Master Zhu mention Lin Zhiwu, I realized that the reason why Liu Ruyun's body was so weak was that he was weak, and the other was because of dystocia when he gave birth to Zhu Zimo.

At that time, although the mother and son saved their lives, Liu Ruyun's already not very good body became even worse, and he failed to adjust his body well during confinement, Liu Ruyun's body can be said to be worse day by day.

Originally, Dr. Xuan said that it should be no problem to live to be in his fifties with Liu Ruyun's body, but three years ago, Liu Ruyun was sick like a mountain......

Three years ago, if Liu Ruyun hadn't been ill, I was afraid that Zhu Zimo would continue to be depressed.

In the past three years, Lin Zhiwu has followed Zhu Zimo to the north and south, and when there are no outsiders only Lin Zhiwu and Zhu Zimo, Zhu Zimo will always talk to Lin Zhiwu about some current affairs between the nine countries, and from time to time he will ask Lin Zhiwu what he thinks about those current affairs.

When outsiders, including Lin Zhiwu's younger brother Lin Zhisheng, were there, Zhu Zimo turned back into the gentle and polite and even a little cowardly second young master of Zhu Mansion.

And Lin Zhiwu has been accompanying Zhu Zimo to act in front of people day after day, and this acting is ten years.

In a blink of an eye, fifteen years of time passed like this.

Lin Zhiwu has grown from the child who took his younger brother to beg along the street and finally fainted in front of the Zhu Mansion to the current deputy steward of the Zhu Mansion, and the ups and downs that Zhu Zimo has experienced in the past fifteen years can only be seen most clearly by his nearest Lin Zhiwu.

Lin Zhiwu feels that in fact, there is no fairness or unfairness in this world, and there is no right or wrong, because it is all said by people.

Whether a person's actions are right or wrong is known only to him, because everyone's purpose is different, so the meaning of right and wrong is also different.

Many years later, Lin Zhiwu once recalled the aunt who abandoned him and his younger brother Lin Zhisheng to be isolated in the wind and snow, who can say that she did something wrong at the beginning?

If it were someone else, who would want to adopt a pair of brothers whose parents have died and who have no family background and no support?

In this world, there are really very few people like Master Zhu, and it can only be said that the two brothers were so fortunate that they met a good person like Master Zhu so that they would not starve to death on the streets.

Now, Zhu Zimo finally doesn't have to work hard to disguise himself in front of people, but why did Lin Zhiwu see it from Zhu Zimo's back...... Lonely and his master, he swore to be loyal to his master for the rest of his life...... After all, I still have a little affection for the eldest lady and the eldest young master!

Lin Zhiwu has always known Zhu Zimo's true character: he is ruthless to the outside, but as long as he cares about someone, he absolutely values affection and righteousness.

Even though the eldest lady Chen Rou has been trying her best to frame Zhu Zimo for more than 20 years, because the eldest lady has never made any moves to hurt the second aunt, although Zhu Zimo dislikes the eldest lady, in the bottom of her heart, Zhu Zimo still thinks that the eldest lady is a relative!

As for Zhu Ziyao, the brother who grew up with Zhu Zimo since childhood, Zhu Zimo also treats him as a relative, after all, the love of growing up together for so many years is not fake.

With Zhu Zimo as Lin Zhiwu knows, if Zhu Zimo didn't treat Zhu Ziyao as a relative, the dagger that Zhu Ziyao pounced on and stabbed just now was not sent into Zhu Ziyao's heart by Zhu Zimo with "pushing the boat down the river", but - throat.

In that way, Zhu Ziyao would have died after clearly feeling his blood flowing out of his body little by little, and the pain of helplessness and could only wait for death in silence, instead of dying so comfortably as he did now.

Although Lin Zhiwu was not present at the time, from the words he heard from those maids, Lin Zhiwu could probably guess what disrespectful words Zhu Ziyao said to insult the second aunt, otherwise with Zhu Zimo's usual calmness, how could he do it recklessly?