Chapter 50: Old Zhu! I’ve Come To Die Again! Seeking Monthly Tickets
“Yunteng! Yunteng!”
Just as the little beggar felt like a discarded doll, two anxious and choked female voices suddenly came, accompanied by hurried footsteps.
The arrivals were two young girls in plain white mourning clothes.
The older one was about seventeen or eighteen, with an oval face and gentle eyebrows; she was Zhu Yunteng’s eldest sister, Princess Jiangdu, Zhu Mingyue.
The younger one was fifteen or sixteen, with a round face and almond-shaped eyes, possessing a spirited demeanor; she was Princess Yilun, Zhu Mingyu.
At a glance, they saw their younger brother, Zhu Yunteng, looking disheveled like a beggar and utterly lost.
That’s right, the little beggar was Zhu Yunteng.
The blow dealt by Old Zhu last night was undeniably great, making him desperately want to escape the Imperial Palace.
Seeing his state, Zhu Mingyue’s eyes instantly reddened: “Yunteng! What are you doing here? Come back with us quickly!”
Zhu Mingyu’s eyebrows shot up, her gaze sweeping over her brother’s greasy and unkempt appearance, full of urgency and anger: “Yunteng! How did you get into this state?! Do you know Imperial Grandfather fainted!?”
“Imperial Grandfather”
Hearing these words, Zhu Yunteng shuddered as if touched by a branding iron. He abruptly retreated, like a startled hedgehog, his voice hoarse and broken: “Don’t, don’t come near! Don’t look at me! I… I’m too ashamed to be seen!”
“Yunteng! What nonsense are you saying! We are your sisters!”
Zhu Mingyue and Zhu Mingyu looked at their brother’s heartbroken demeanor, their hearts aching.
“Yunteng…” Zhu Mingyue said softly, tears streaming down her face, “Don’t be like this, things will get better. Imperial Grandfather is just angry for a moment.”
Zhu Mingyu looked at her brother’s lifeless appearance, filled with urgency and anger: “Yunteng! Pull yourself together! So what if Imperial Grandfather dislikes you? It’s not a big deal! When Father King was here…”
“Father King.”
Zhu Yunteng suddenly looked up, with a frantic and obsessive intensity like a drowning person grasping for a lifeline: “Sister! Eldest Sister! Second Sister!”
He abruptly grabbed Zhu Mingyue’s hand with terrifying strength, his voice hoarse and urgent:
“I want to see Father King! I want to go to the Eastern Mausoleum! I want to talk to Father King! I want to kneel before Father King’s tomb and tell him… your son was wrong! Your son disappointed him! Your son wants to guard his tomb!”
Hearing her brother say he wanted to guard the tomb, Zhu Mingyue felt her heart shatter.
“Yunteng! Calm down! Imperial Grandfather just visited Father King and has already issued a ban; no one is allowed near!”
“Then what should I do?! What should I do?!”
Zhu Yunteng roared in despair, his voice filled with unexpressed pain and confusion:
“What’s the point of me being alive?! I’m just a waste! Only capable of embarrassing Father King! Annoying Imperial Grandfather! Disappointing Imperial Consort! Shaming my sisters! A waste!”
His roar echoed in the narrow alley, carrying a suffocating despair.
Zhu Mingyue quickly stepped forward, hugging her brother, sobbing uncontrollably: “Yunteng, it’s okay, we are here, we will always be with you!”
“No, you don’t understand…”
Zhu Yunteng forcefully broke free from his sister’s embrace, staggering backward as if trying to burrow into the wall:
“It’s not just that I disappointed Father King… I was born a sinner! A… a bastard who killed his own mother!”
“Yunteng!!”
Zhu Mingyue and Zhu Mingyu simultaneously cried out in shock, their faces instantly turning as pale as paper.
They knew their brother had always carried a burden, but they never imagined it would be so heavy, so twisted.
“You don’t know! You don’t know anything!”
Zhu Yunteng seemed to recall something terrible, squatting on the ground, clutching his head tightly with both hands:
“Since I was little… since I was little, those palace servants, those nannies, their looks… the gossip behind my back…”
His voice trembled, filled with bone-deep fear and humiliation, as if he were reliving that dark childhood corner filled with whispers:
【 It was because of Consort Chang that… alas, poor thing.】
【 Difficult labor… severe bleeding. Heard she was in labor for a day and a night.】
【 Tough fate, cursed her mother.】
【 Shh, speak softly. Don’t let Your Highness hear.】
“I heard it! I heard it all!”
“They all said… it was me, I killed my mother! I killed my mother the moment I was born!”
“It was me! It was me, this wicked child! I took my mother’s life! I made Father King lose his wife! I made Eldest Sister and Second Sister lose their mother at such a young age…”
“Bang—!”
Just as the tragic atmosphere reached its peak, a clean, sharp, and not too heavy kick landed squarely on Zhu Yunteng’s backside.
“Ouch!”
Zhu Yunteng was caught off guard and fell face-first in a most ungraceful manner.
Not only was Zhu Yunteng stunned, but the two Princesses, Mingyue and Mingyu, were also bewildered, thinking, “Who is it?!”
Then, a cold voice said, “I originally intended to come back to see if you were being bullied by other beggars or if your pig’s trotters were stolen, but I didn’t expect to witness this scene!”
“Big Brother?”
Zhu Yunteng looked up blankly, staring at Zhang Biao who descended like a heavenly deity.
“Waste!”
Zhang Biao, looking down from above, spat out two words without politeness. Then, ignoring the surprised and angry expressions of the two Princesses, he picked up Zhu Yunteng as if he were a small chick and said:
“Listen carefully!”
“I, Zhang Biao! Lost both my parents at a young age and had nothing but poverty! I had no choice but to succeed!”
“And you?”
“Besides having a stunningly built, gentle, and lovely elder sister, and a fiery but fair-skinned and long-legged second sister, plus an Emperor grandfather who founded the dynasty! What else do you have!?”
“What… are… you!?”
“Big Brother, I…”
Zhu Yunteng, dizzy from being shaken, tried to speak.
“Shut up!”
Zhang Biao threw him to the ground with a look of disdain and said gravely, “If you look down on yourself, don’t expect others to look up to you!”
“As the saying goes, fortune turns, and the humble can rise. Do not mock a poor youth!”
“Remember! Do not let your sorrow become the sorrow of the Great Ming!”
With that, he turned and walked resolutely out of the alley, not glancing at the two beautiful young princesses from beginning to end. But he firmly believed that his dashing and cool demeanor was enough to captivate countless young girls.
However, his coolness lasted less than three seconds.
The moment he was about to exit the alley, seven or eight Imperial Guards rushed out with a ‘swish’.
The leader was Jiang Huan, whom he recognized.
“Censor Zhang! The Emperor has an edict! He wants us to arrest you and bring you to the palace!”
“Ah?” Zhang Biao was momentarily surprised, then his face filled with disappointment: “Just arrest me? Why not an immediate execution?!”
Jiang Huan: “…”
Zhu Yunteng and his sisters: “…”
The other Imperial Guards: “…”
“Less nonsense! Hurry up and come with us!”
Jiang Huan suppressed the urge to behead Zhang Biao on the spot and gritted his teeth, gesturing to those behind him.
Seven or eight Imperial Guards immediately pounced on him like wolves and tigers, quickly apprehending him.
“Ouch, be gentle! Be gentle! I’m not resisting, don’t do that…”
Zhang Biao cried out, baring his teeth in pain, then suddenly remembered something and called out to Zhu Yunteng and his sisters:
“Hey, little beggar, two Princesses! There are still five pig’s trotters at Wang Mazi’s house that haven’t been collected! Please help me take them to my house! If I die! then let Censor Shen and the brothers have a good meal tonight! Consider it a celebration for me!!”
Jiang Huan: “…”
Zhu Yunteng and his sisters: “…”
The other Imperial Guards: “…”
Does this person have a serious illness or something?!
Seeking monthly tickets, seeking monthly tickets, seeking monthly tickets!!
