"Han Zhang, you go down first!" Zhu Tingzuo let his son out, obviously there were some things he didn't want him to know.

Zhu Hanzhang smiled bitterly: "Dad, this ......"

This is not their own mansion, where does Zhu Hanzhang know where to go, crying and laughing and looking at his father. Zhu Tingzuo looked at Zhao Gou from beginning to end, as if he didn't take his son to heart, and in the end, Zhao Gou ordered someone to take Zhu Hanzhang down to rest.

"There are no outsiders now, please tell the truth!" When Zhao Gou saw that he had opened Zhu Hanzhang, he guessed that Zhu Tingzuo was going to tell what had happened, so he went straight to the point and expressed the doubts in his heart.

Zhu Tingzuo sighed: "Since returning to my hometown, I haven't come to the capital for several years. Coming back here today may be fate, or it may be difficult to escape. Since the king of the county wants to know something, then he must tell the truth and never hide it. ”

Zhao Gou said in a deep voice: "Do you know why Ling Zun resigned and returned to his hometown?" ”

Zhu Tingzuo nodded and said, "Because I know some unknown secrets, I have to leave Beijing and return to my hometown." If you don't leave, you may not be alive soon! It's just that my father resigned, and he still didn't escape the palm of their hands! Since the king wants to know the cause and effect, then I will no longer hide it. ”

So, Zhu Tingzuo told Zhao Gou something about his father, but he didn't say why, the only thing he was sure of was that his father seemed to know some secrets. And, Zhu Tingzuo told Zhao Gou about his doubts.

At the beginning, when Zhu Tingzuo's father was dying, he advised: "Tingzuo, you have to remember that after my death, the children of the family will never be allowed to enter the court as officials, and it will not be too late to wait for that matter to be dealt with." As for your talent, my father knows it, but you also have to remember that you are not allowed to participate in the imperial examination, nor are you allowed to participate in Hanzhang, otherwise it will be a great unfilial piety. ”

Zhu Tingzuo's eyes were red, and he choked up: "Dad, why don't we enter the court as officials, and we are not allowed to participate in the imperial examination?" What the hell is this, and why haven't you told me yet? I'm your son! ”

Zhu Minzhong struggled to open his cloudy eyes, old tears were in his eyes, and said bitterly: "There are some things that you should not know, you just need to remember one thing, after I die, I declared that I died of illness, and you are not allowed to display your talents, you can farm, you can do business, you are never allowed to participate in the imperial examination, and you are not allowed to be an official." ”

"If someone investigates the cause of my death in the future, and when there are some things, you must remember that people who are not upright should not tell me, and they would rather die than tell the real reason. If that person is upright and investigates some things, and you take out the things I left in the box and entrust them to him, you must recognize who it is, and you must not fall into the hands of traitors, otherwise the Zhu family will definitely suffer, you must remember! ”

Zhu Tingzuo said: "Dad, why haven't you told me the reason for leaving the capital, isn't there something big that can't be done?" ”

Zhu Minzhong sighed and said: "You don't have to ask about this matter, you will naturally know when the time comes, remember to be your father, you must keep the box, even if it is Han Zhang except you, you are not allowed to inform, and you are not allowed to open it without permission, otherwise it will be difficult to look at it even if your father dies, you have to promise me!" ”

"Daddy, the child should obey!" Zhu Tingzuo saw the helplessness on his father's face, and there was some dodging in his expression, so he guessed that his father's matter was not simple, but he didn't ask more, he could only follow his father's orders, and what he promised was bound to be done.

After listening to this, Zhao Gou also felt that Zhu Minzhong's dying was a little strange, presumably someone secretly harmed him before he died early. After Zhu Minzhong's death, the family members, slaves and others were strictly ordered to keep their mouths shut and not to reveal any information about the master, so that outsiders could not know, only Zhu Tingzuo knew.

"Presumably Ling Zun really has something unspeakable!" Zhao Gou sighed, frowned, and said suspiciously: "In my guess, Ling Zun's death is a bit strange, could it be that someone deliberately harmed him?" ”

Zhu Tingzuo said bitterly: "When my father passed away, I guessed that something was wrong, but there was no evidence. My father's health has always been very strong, and his health has deteriorated within a few months of returning to his hometown, even if he is a famous doctor, he is helpless. Finally, under my questioning, the doctors told me that my father had been poisoned by a chronic poison, which had penetrated his lungs and had no way to recover. ”

"Chronic poison?" Zhao Gou was taken aback and said, "Don't Ling Zun know?" ”

Zhu Tingzuo said: "My father knew, but it was too late, presumably some people did it on purpose." My father wanted to exchange his life for the life of the entire Zhu family, and I expected that my father knew something that he shouldn't know, but he had no choice but to do so! ”

Zhao said: "Do you know about that? ”

Zhu Tingzuo shook his head and said, "Back to the prince, the grass people don't know!" ”

Zhao Gou nodded, he understood why Zhu Minzhong didn't let his heirs know the truth of the matter, just because that matter was very important, and if more and more people knew, he was afraid that it would not necessarily be a good thing for the Zhu family, and only one person could carry it alone.

To put it simply, this is Zhu Minzhong's means of protecting them, using his own death to tell those people that he has secretly followed him into the coffin, and no one else knows. If Zhu Tingzuo knew the truth of the matter, he was afraid that it would be difficult to suppress the anger in his heart, which would lead to a greater crisis, and only by not knowing anything could Zhu Minzhong and those people feel at ease.

When Zhao Gou heard this, he had to admire Zhu Minzhong's open-mindedness, but he also left a back hand, and this back hand was only known to Zhu Tingzuo, and the others did not know, even Zhu Hanzhang did not know the cause and effect of the matter. But this way, it is even easier.

"Did you bring the box?" Zhao Gou asked directly.

Zhu Tingzuo shook his head bitterly, and said: "How can that box follow me all the time, it has already been buried, and I don't know that it was hijacked this time for this matter, and I thought it was for money and murder, and it was impossible to take it with me." ”

Zhao Gou nodded yes and sighed: "If that's the case, I have to send someone to Min County to get it, I'm afraid it will be delayed for a lot of time!" ”

Zhu Tingzuo replied: "Lord Wang, in fact, the box is not in Min County, but in the capital!" ”

"What? That box is in the capital? Zhao Gou exclaimed.

"My father once said that the most dangerous place is also the safest, and the soldiers have to do it as a last resort!" Zhu Tingzuo said, "At the beginning, in the first few months after my father's death, people broke into the mansion at night, especially in the study in front of my father to look for something, and the grass people were worried that the box was not safe to stay in the mansion, so they secretly took it out, and then returned to the capital with the caravan, and secretly returned to Shangshu Mansion. ”

"Although Shangshu has changed, Shangshufu used to be the place where I lived there, so there are some places that I am more familiar with, and I am worried that there will be big changes, so I hid the box under the flowers under the corner of the wall outside the backyard of Shangshufu, but all these years have passed, and I haven't been back for a long time, and I don't know if the box is still there!"

Zhu Tingzuo's face was full of guilt, and he also felt that there was some lack of consideration in making such a decision in the first place, but for safety reasons, he could only place it in the Hubu Shangshu Mansion in the capital, and only in this way could he do it. However, he ignored the importance of the box and was embarrassed.

Zhao Gou was also depressed by his behavior, and actually hid the important box in the flowers in the backyard of the Hubu Shangshu Mansion, and a few years have passed, even the box should be almost all decayed, and the evidence inside has long been destroyed, so it is equivalent to working in vain, and the bitterness in his heart is indescribable.