It was nearly midnight.

Thousands of lights gradually faded into the thick night.

The rooster cries and the dog barks almost none.

The huge Frustrated Sun City seemed to have completely melted into darkness from this moment on.

However, what was even quieter than the night was the "family banquet" in the Zhu family's ancestral house, which was nearing the end.

In the south of Fuyang City, the Zhu family's ancestral house is brightly lit and bright as day.

Zhu Zongting, the young head of the family, who was dressed in brocade clothes but holding a teapot like a servant, stood in a corner of the edge of Dexing Hall.

With a solemn face, he looked at the big round mahogany dining table that gathered the elders and elders of the Zhu family.

In the past, if you stomp your feet, you can make the entire Shanggu County tremble, and the elders of the Zhu family and the elders of the Su family are all sitting at the big round mahogany table with solemn faces at this time.

A sense of oppression that is so rich that it is suffocating, but it cannot be seen or touched deeply surrounds the hearts of everyone in Dexing Hall.

This "family banquet", which was supposed to be held on Chinese New Year's Eve, was far more than just ten days in advance.

I don't know how long it took.

Zhu Huaimin, the old man who had always sat upright on the main seat but had been silent, slowly stood up with a glass of liquor in his hand.

"Raise your glass."

Zhu Huaimin held the wine cup in his hand, slowly swept every figure on the mahogany table with an expressionless face, and then slowly spoke.

The voice was slow, but it was full of unmistakable color.

The voice fell.

The elders and elders of the Zhu family's real power clan and the elders beside the mahogany round table, whose faces were so solemn that they were almost sad, all got up quickly with wine cups in their hands.

Zhu Huaimin's expressionless face slowly swept over every clan elder and elder present again.

However, in the huge Dexing Hall, no old people and old people dare to look at it.

Look around a week later.

Zhu Huaimin slowly spoke, "The matter of standing in line with King Yan is a decision made by the entire Zhu family!"

"At the beginning of the decision, the old man has already informed you of all the pros and cons of this move."

"All those present at that time nodded their heads, burned incense, and made an oath before their fathers and fathers!"

"Now it's just that the price is coming faster and more violently than expected."

"Why are you so sad?"

"Why?!"

Zhu Huaiming asked in a deep voice, which made all the elders of the Zhu family bow their heads.

No one dared to look at him, let alone argue with him.

The huge Dexing Hall also followed this rhetorical question, and fell into a dead silence like the sound of a falling needle.

As early as when Xu Yifang was crowned king and had not yet set foot on the road to the domain.

The elders of the Zhu family who are powerful have done everything possible to collect all the information about Xu Yi that can be collected.

After that, after a long period of deliberation.

The elders of the Zhu family with real power nodded unanimously and agreed to stand in line with Xu Yi's move.

And for this reason, they went to the ancestral hall, burned incense to their ancestors, and made an oath in front of their ancestors.

Before burning incense to tell their ancestors, the elders of the Zhu family listed the price that the Zhu family was very likely to pay for this in this Dexing Hall.

Merely.

The elders of the Zhu family did not expect that the price that the Zhu family had to pay for this would come so quickly and so violently.

And the concubine document that Xu Yi sent to the capital was the fuse of all this today.

I don't know how long it took.

Maybe a quarter of an hour.

Maybe it's more than 100 breaths.

Zhu Huaimin slowly withdrew his gaze and looked at the elders.

Then he slowly spoke again, "More than three hundred years ago, the ancestors of my Zhu clan struggled to make a living by selling ducks."

"For more than 300 years!"

"Generations of our ancestors have been studying the Bible day and night! For what?!"

"Generations of ancestors have tied their heads to their belts! Day and night on that battlefield

Bloody Fight! And for what?!"

"Generations of ancestors are still running between the south and the north in the cold winter, and they can't go back to their homes! What are they for?!"

"If there were no generations of ancestors who gave up their small self to become a big self!"

"How can my Zhu family go from a duck farmer's family without food and clothing to the first family that has been standing in Yandi for three hundred years without falling?"

"If it weren't for the generations of ancestors who fought day and night."

"How can my Zhu clan have this 872-room Zhu ancestral mansion in the south of Fuyang City?!"

"For more than 300 years since the Zhu family stood in Yandi, how many ups and downs have been experienced, no one here knows! Who doesn't know?!"

"The ancestors of my Zhu clan have been frustrated! Can it be because of the trough! And self-defeating?!"

"In the past, those big and small families who could crush my Zhu clan without much effort! Where is it now?"

"Now!"

"It's just a contraction in business."

"It's just a loss of office."

"What's the big deal?"

"What is this compared to the tribulations that our ancestors went through?"

The words fell.

Zhu Huaimin slowly picked up the wine cup in his hand, and slowly turned around to look around.

When I saw the elders of the Zhu family, the gloom on their faces gradually disappeared.

Zhu Huaimin said in a deep voice again, "Do you still remember my Zhu family's ancestral teachings?"

As soon as these words came out, all the elders and elders of the Zhu family in Dexing Hall slowly raised their heads and looked deeply at Zhu Huaimin, who had already raised the wine cup in his hand.

Zhu Huaimin slowly raised the wine cup in his hand.

Wait until it is level with the center of the eyebrows.

Zhu Huaimin slowly opened his mouth and said in a deep voice: "Mo Yu often says contentment, everything is always empty in the end!"

"There is a line between ideal and reality, and there is no distraction and steadfastness."

Zhu Huaimin's voice has not yet landed.

In Dexing Hall, all the elders and elders of the Zhu family's real power clan slowly raised the wine cup to the center of their eyebrows.

Even Zhu Zongting, who was located in the corner of the edge of Dexing Hall, slowly raised the wine jug in his hand to the center of his eyebrows with a solemn face.

In the Dexing Hall, as Zhu Huaimin slowly opened his mouth again.

In the entire Dexing Hall, all the people of the Zhu family held the wine cup high to the center of their eyebrows, and they joined in unison with Zhu Huaimin!

"Who does not have a storm!"

"Keep the clouds open and see the moon!"

"The flowers bloom and disappear!"

"Don't let the remnants stay in this life!"

The voice of everyone was reluctant to disperse for a long time in the huge Dexing Hall.

There is quite a vision of lingering for three days.

Wait for the chorus to fade away.

Zhu Huaimin held the wine cup in his hand and said loudly, "Drink together!"

The words fell.

Zhu Huaimin raised his head and raised his glass, and drank the full light of liquor in his hand.

When he slowly lowered the wine cup in his hand.

The white-haired clan elders and elders on the mahogany round table all looked down and looked at Zhu Huaimin with a smile.

The cloud of sorrow that shrouded everyone's hearts for an unknown period of time completely disappeared with the dissipation of the voice of the Taoist ancestors.

"I'm so old, why are you still so noisy."

Zhu Huaimin slowly put down the wine cup in his hand and scolded helplessly.

"It's not because big brother you always run away from drinking."

"The younger brother still remembers that the eldest brother always liked to bring a handkerchief when he drank when he was young, and if the younger sister hadn't followed, we don't know when we would have found out that the eldest brother always secretly spit wine into that handkerchief."

"What are you, I still remember the eve of my eldest brother's wedding, and I was very nervous, and dragged me and my fifth brother to the restaurant to get drunk."

"As a result, halfway through the drink, the eldest brother secretly went to find out the reason and replaced his share of the drink with well water!"

「

If it weren't for Xiao Er's confusion, I'm afraid Fifth Brother and I would never know."

"Also, the eldest brother lost money in business that time, and I was afraid that my father would scold me......

Seeing that the old brothers were almost about to poke out all his old bottoms.

Zhu Huaimin hurriedly coughed lightly, and then said quickly: "Okay, okay, it's not too early, let's go back and rest when you're old!"

"Guangli! Hirohito! Why don't you send your uncle yet?"

"And the Imperial Court! What time is it, why don't you help me go back to rest this old bone."

Zhu Guangli and Zhu Guangren looked at each other and smiled when they heard this, then quickly got up, obeyed their father's orders, and sent their uncle.

The haze that had shrouded the hearts of the two of them for several days also quietly dissipated at this moment.

And Zhu Zongting, who had always been standing on the side, grinned after hearing this, and then slowly stepped forward with some unfinished thoughts.

……

……

A moment later.

There is no one else in the huge Dexing Hall except for a few maidservants.

A quiet path leading from Dexingtang to Yiyangyuan.

Zhu Zongting held a lantern in one hand and supported Zhu Huaimin in the other, and slowly walked towards Yiyang Courtyard.

Along the way, Zhu Zongting opened his mouth several times with curiosity, but for some reason, whenever the words came to his mouth, he would always hold back in his stomach.

After repeating this several times.

It's not yet.

Zhu Huaimin frowned first.

"Whatever you want, just ask."

"He hesitated, and he wanted to say what he looked like."

Zhu Huaimin didn't stop and reprimanded softly.

When Zhu Zongting heard this, he did not have the slightest consciousness of being reprimanded.

Instead, he grinned and said, "Grandpa, you asked your grandson to ask, and after your grandson asked, you can't deliberately keep it silent."

"You kid." Zhu Huaimin laughed and scolded when he heard this, and then slowly said, "Ask, even if you don't ask, I will let you know after dawn."

Zhu Zongting's face turned straight when he heard this, and then he slowly asked, "Grandpa, is my father's official position really not kept?"

"There's no chance of survival." Zhu Huaimin nodded slightly, sighed lightly, and then slowly said, "Not only will your father's official position not be kept, but all the descendants of the Zhu family who serve in other places will lose their positions this time."

Zhu Zongting already had a guess in his heart.

But after being confirmed by Zhu Huaimin personally.

There was still an inevitable chill in his heart.

Dozens of breaths later.

Zhu Zongting forcibly stabilized his mind, and then slowly looked up at Zhu Huaimin, who was unconsciously old again.

"Is it because of the prince?"

Zhu Zongting asked slowly.

Zhu Huaimin's footsteps paused slightly, and then he slowly turned to look at Zhu Zongting beside him.

"This day will come sooner or later."

"It's just a little bit ahead of schedule."

"The lord who sits firmly in the east can accommodate a small royal family."

"But it can't accommodate our Zhu family no matter what."

"What's more, it's not just the Lord who sits firmly in the East this time."

Zhu Huaimin slowly raised his head and looked at the direction where Yunzhong County was located, and said in a low voice.

Zhu Zongting turned around slightly and looked at Zhu Huaimin's gaze.

At this moment, Zhu Zongting no longer had the slightest doubt in his heart.

The lord in Zhu Huaimin's mouth who sits firmly in the east can guess his name without thinking about it.

That person was none other than Xu Yong, the master of the East Palace and the current crown prince.

As Zhu Huaimin said, Xu Yong can tolerate a powerless Wang family.

But it can't tolerate the Zhu family, who is the head of a county family.

Even if there is no such thing as Xu Yi marrying Zhu Wanning.

As the cooperation between the Zhu family and the Yan Wangfu became closer and closer, between the two

The relationship is getting closer and closer.

It's still happening today, just a little later.

And Zhu Huaimin is another promoter in his mouth.

It was Xu Cheng, the king of Zhao who was located in Yunzhong County.

The county guard and the vassal king were incompatible with each other, at least on the surface.

Just ask.

Against this background, there are a few people who can tolerate the people who are in charge of the people's livelihood and military power in a county, and they are his king's in-laws.

Don't say that the two are not in harmony.

Even if the two are like brothers, they will also have a dislike.

And under the joint offensive of a prince and a feudal king.

Even if the people of the Zhu family do their best, I am afraid that it will be difficult to ensure that they do not lose their official positions.

That's what I think about.

Zhu Zongting couldn't help but feel a deep sense of worry in his heart.

"Grandpa, my father, can they get out of it all right?"

Zhu Zongting slowly turned his head with worry in his eyes and looked at Zhu Huaimin, who was staring at the direction of Yunzhong County with a melancholy look on his face.

When Zhu Huaimin heard this, the melancholy look on his face disappeared in an instant.

"Although those two are powerful, how can the one behind our Zhu family be easy?"

"Don't forget Zheng Guogong, who lost his life some time ago."

"In the end, this matter is nothing more than a loss of office."

"Blessings and misfortunes depend on them, and blessings and misfortunes depend on them."

"This matter is not necessarily a bad thing for our Zhu clan."

Zhu Huaimin slowly turned his head to look at the east of Fuyang City, and his palm, which was covered with old age spots, gently patted Zhu Zongting's arm.

I couldn't help but smile with an incomprehensible smile on my face.

First heard of this.

Zhu Zongting couldn't help but be stunned in his heart.

After savoring it, most of the worries in my heart instantly subsided.

In its place, there is a deep sense of doubt and incomprehension.

Zhu Huaimin's words in the first half are nothing more than reminding Zhu Zongting that Xu Yi is far from being as simple as the world imagines.

It is above the court, and it is not without power.

If it is really as the world imagines, it has no strength above the court.

So how to explain the death of Zheng Guogong Ji Kai some time ago?

A vassal king more than 2,000 miles away from Beijing, with a piece of impeachment, some incriminating evidence, witnesses.

Can you effortlessly bring down a hereditary prince?

And in just one or two months, the matter was turned into an iron case.

Eradicate the hereditary prince of the country?

Above the court, even the smallest little thing, the complexity behind it is far beyond the imagination of the world.

What's more, this matter involves the prince who has the hereditary right to replace.

Nothing else will be mentioned for the time being.

In the case of Zheng Guogong, if someone deliberately delays, he can at least find a thousand ways to delay.

However, the case was completely closed in just one or two months.

What does this mean, the wise know themselves.

For Zhu Zongting, the more powerful Xu Yi is, the more beneficial and harmless it is to the Zhu family.

Correct.

The second half of Zhu Huaimin's words really made Zhu Zongting difficult.

"Where do blessings and misfortunes depend, and what do blessings and misfortunes depend on?"

"Isn't losing office a bad thing?"

Zhu Zongting muttered a few words in a low voice, and then quickly caught up with Zhu Huaimin, who was gradually moving away.

"My grandson is stupid, and I hope that my grandfather will solve my doubts."

Zhu Zongting walked quickly to Zhu Huaimin's side, bowed deeply and asked for advice.

"No need to bother, always self-reliant."

Zhu Huaimin didn't stop walking, chuckled and waved his hand.

The words fell.

Zhu Huaimin walked slowly to the Yiyang courtyard.

After the silence outside the hospital.

Zhu Huaimin stood in the Yiyang courtyard and quietly looked at the direction of Zhu Zongting's departure.

He muttered silently, "Grandpa, I'm afraid I won't see the day when the family will become the Jingshi Zhu family, but you can."

"As the saying goes, contentment, everything is always empty in the end!"

"There is a line between ideal and reality, and there is no distraction and steadfastness."

"Who does not have a storm and a strong storm, and keeps the clouds open and sees the moon!"

"The flowers bloom and disappear, and the regrets don't leave this life!"

The words fell.

Zhu Huaimin slowly turned around with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

After more than 100 breaths.

His figure finally disappeared into the night.

The huge Frustrated Yang City has completely melted into the vast darkness from this moment on.

Correct.

It's midnight.

How far is the dawn away?