Chapter 24 Flattering Words
Gong continued, "After your father passes away, if the court does not decree, the people who will be buried with your father should be the boys who serve your father in the room now. They should know that they are the ones who will be buried with your father. They have become more and more arrogant and negligent in recent days. This is the behavior of a dying man who becomes rebellious. You should find an opportunity to raise them up, and select some more careful ones from the outer courtyard to serve your father. These new ones will not have to be buried with your father."

Burying alive with the emperor was not limited to concubines and wives without children. In order to ensure that his descendants would have someone to serve them in the underworld, Emperor Taizu would also execute the servants who usually served his masters and bury them with him.

For example, Gong Shi and others who died with the dead still had their names, but the servants who were buried with the dead were just like objects, with only a note on the gift list, such as a few vases, a few slaves...

Gong was also frightened and had no intention of thinking about these things.

But the King of Zhou wrote to the emperor again and again to ask for grace and exemption from burial alive for them, so she began to worry about the people around her.

Her life and death are in the hands of the people above her, and she can do nothing about it, but she can still control the life and death of those around her.

So she began to release her people in a planned manner.

She had no say over the servants that King Zhou wanted to bury with him.

Because she herself is a dying person, and the name and number of people to be buried with her will be decided by the next King of Zhou.

She didn't think she could give Zhu Youjue any advice.

And now, King Zhou has finally officially acknowledged Zhu Zijin's status as the adopted son and is determined to make it a reality. Even if there are unexpected successions to the title, Zhu Zijin, as the adopted son, will have a certain say in the list of people to be buried with King Zhou.

Zhu Zijin missed more than ten years of education, especially after he was demoted to a commoner at the age of fourteen. He hardly ever touched a book. He nervously wrote down what the princess taught him, and confirmed it twice before agreeing.

Watching him leave, the princess sighed.

Nanny Qin poured her another cup of tea and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Princess. There is still a lot of time. I will teach the eldest young master later."

The princess was worried. "I'm afraid things won't go well, Xin Niang. If I still have to accompany the prince in the end, you should move out of the house with him. Don't worry about anything. Just help him raise the children."

Nanny Qin was heartbroken. She knelt before the princess and said, "Since the emperor has agreed to release the eldest son, it means he still wants the prince to have a son to live out his days. Isn't it his duty to re-enter the imperial canon? Since it's on the imperial canon, the prince will live out his days, and the title should be inherited by the eldest son."

Princess: "The bad thing is that he has a father like Zhu Youjie. Prince Xiangfu has a will. Even if he doesn't dare to take action against Zhao Yuansong, he will stop it in the court."

Nanny Qin was filled with resentment. "The Prince is too overbearing. Looking at his actions over the past six months, all his previous statements about not wanting to give up his son were lies. I'm afraid he is reluctant to give up his princely title, and has long been planning to pass it on to his younger brother."

Princess Zhou said nothing, but looked outside with a deep gaze.

After Zhu Youjue twice rejected their proposal to adopt a child, she knew his intention, and the prince also understood.

Because of the previous example of Zhu Youji, the King of Zhou was unwilling to force his brothers to adopt their sons and nephews.

Since you don't want to, then just let it go. But she...

Gong lowered her eyes and looked at her hands. She did not hate King Zhou, nor was she unwilling to accompany the prince to death, but she was unwilling to do so.

There was a feeling of depression in her chest, which made her full of anger and she always wanted to destroy something.

She was willing to die for King Zhou, but the prerequisite was that it was her voluntary choice. She could choose to die or not.

Instead of being forced to die.

Is it her fault that she has no children?

The eight women of King Zhou were unable to give birth to children, and some could not even get pregnant. It was easy to guess whose problem it was.

Why should they die for having no children?
But the King of Zhou was so good that she couldn't even hate him.

So she could only hate this system, hate the imperial court, hate her ancestors, and hate people like Zhu Youjue who were plotting to become the King of Zhou.

The atmosphere at Princess Zhou's place was not very good, but the atmosphere at King Zhou's place was not bad.

Perhaps it was Pan Yun's affirmation that gave King Zhou more confidence and relieved a lot of his worries. In addition, after drinking the second bowl of medicine prescribed by Tao Ji, he actually felt much more relaxed.

His mouth tasted bitter, so he wanted to eat something sweet.

So the old and the young gathered together to eat the sweet treasure porridge, which was actually made of various colored rice boiled into flowers with a little sugar.

The chief attendant was very happy. The prince had not been able to eat much recently. No matter how the eldest son coaxed him, he could only eat a few spoonfuls.

Seeing that he had a good appetite, the attendant's expression towards Pan Yun became much better. After serving the porridge, he tactfully stepped aside.

While eating slowly, King Zhou said to Pan Yun, "I have several children in my house. Zihou is a simple and kind person, but he likes to keep things to himself. I once mentioned to the fourth son about adopting him, but the fourth son was reluctant to let him go."

Pan Jun nodded, "After all, he is the eldest son, so it is normal for him to be reluctant to let go."

King Zhou nodded. "Later, I thought about adopting Zizhen. Zizhen is intelligent, gentle and strong. He is also interested in medicine like my father, so he can inherit my father's legacy. So I like him more than Zihou. Unfortunately, the fourth son did not agree."

Pan Yun figured it out and said, "He wants to be the King of Zhou himself."

King Zhou smiled and said, "Among all my brothers, he is indeed the most suitable one. Although he is a concubine's son, he has always had a good relationship with me.

Although I have no biological children, I have raised adopted children. When Zijin was taken away, I was heartbroken. I guess other fathers would feel the same way as I did. "

So he understood Zhu Youjue's refusal to adopt the child, and he also sincerely believed that he could not bear to part with the child.

It was not until he called Zhu Zijin back to his side that Zhu Youjue began to get anxious.

Zhu Zijin had only been in Kaifeng for five days when his child was lost because he went out to play. Rumors were spreading everywhere. He suspected that someone had done it on purpose, but he was also afraid that the rumors were true.

But because of Zhu Zijin's filial piety, he also felt sorry for the child, so he couldn't bear to send him away again.

Zhu Youjue might have panicked, and one day he accidentally mentioned that he wanted to adopt his eldest son Zhu Zihou.

But he soon regretted it, saying that he was drunk and talking nonsense, and he still felt reluctant... At that moment, King Zhou knew that the brotherhood he thought was deep was not that deep.

He sighed, drank a spoonful of porridge, and looked at Pan Yun, "My friend, how come you became a nun at such a young age?"

Pan Yun is not a Taoist priest yet, but that does not prevent her from becoming a Taoist priest.

She said: "My mother passed away when I was six years old. My father and brother worked too hard to take care of me. I had a natural talent for cultivating Taoism, so I became a Taoist priest."

She gilded herself, "Don't look at my young age, my lord. I have been practicing for eight years."

King Zhou couldn't help but laugh, "Are you eight years old?"

Pan Yun: "I was born knowing this, and I have been practicing since I was born."

Although King Zhou was superstitious, he was not a fool. He still had basic judgment and was full of doubts about what she said.

"You don't believe it~~" Pan Yun used her finger as a pen to write talismans in the air. King Zhou saw with his own eyes the white light condensed on her fingertips, and the light became a talisman and did not dissipate.

King Zhou stared blankly at the talisman floating in the air. Pan Jun smiled at him and pushed his hand. The talisman instantly flew towards King Zhou and was drawn into his chest in a flash.

King Zhou felt refreshed, and the depression in his chest dissipated a lot.

He looked at Pan Yun in surprise.

Pan Yun said proudly: "Although I don't have the ability of alchemy like my senior brother, I can still use talismans to pray for good luck and wish people good health."

In fact, it is to inject the talisman into the human body, allowing the spiritual energy to slowly nourish the recipient's body and dissipate the disease.

Those with mild symptoms may be cured now. For a serious case like King Zhou's, the solution is to make him feel better, clear up his meridians, and slightly harmonize his qi.

For example, if his stomach is better, he can eat more, digest better, and replenish more energy.

This kind of talisman is usually used together with medicine, which will help the patient recover faster and is an auxiliary talisman.

This was also due to the fact that King Zhou had just taken the medicine not long ago, and his body was now digesting the medicinal effects.

Once this talisman was inserted, the medicinal power could flow more smoothly throughout the limbs and bones, and King Zhou could intuitively feel the changes in his body.

His eyes sparkled, and he grabbed Pan Yun's hand, "So you're a little genius, you're really amazing, really amazing."

Pan Yun said complacently: "Not only can I draw talismans, I can also tell fortunes. Your Majesty, would you like me to tell your fortune?"

King Zhou smiled and said, "Haven't you calculated everything?"

Pan Yun shook his head. "That's just face reading. The information obtained is limited. It's not as much and accurate as what you can get from a person's birth date."

So many things have been calculated, is there still a limit?

King Zhou was so excited that he told her his birth date.

Pan Yun took a pen and wrote and drew on the side, arranging his nine-square diagram.

The King of Zhou could understand some of it, after all, he was a superstitious person and had studied it, but what could he understand?

Pan Yun counted again and again with his fingers, frowned slightly, and asked about the birth dates of Zhu Zijin, Zhu Zihou and Zhu Ziqi.

The three children were raised by him since they were young. King Zhou knew them better than their biological father and naturally knew their birth dates.

Pan Jun calculated again and couldn't help frowning.

King Zhou began to doubt her abilities and intentions again.

There's no way. He's been like this lately. He trusts everyone at one moment and doubts them at another.

"Why, is there someone who can defeat me?"

"That's not the case," Pan Yun said, "These three people are all beneficial to you, there is no conflict between them."

When King Zhou heard this, he smiled and trusted her again.

"But it's strange. Zhu Zijin is obviously your adopted son, but he was separated from you in the middle. How can he have such a deep father-son relationship with you? Looking at your birth dates, he should be your biological son."

Pan Yun said: "It seems that he was born to be your son, but was just born into another family."

King Zhou was stunned.

He didn't quite come to his senses until Pan Jun left.

When the attendant came in, he was looking at the four pieces of paper.

The attendant could not help but say, "Your Highness, I think the Taoist priest is right. The eldest son should be your son. He looks more like you than the second prince."

That doesn't mean he looks like him, but like his father. They both look like the former king of Zhou.

Can……

How come they are the two who look most like their father? Isn’t the second child also his child? He doesn’t look like him. It just so happens that Zi Jin doesn’t look like him either.

Could it be that what this child said was not just flattering words, but the truth?

　The ten lucky numbers for this chapter are numbers ending in 1. Take a screenshot to prove it. Find Mo Yan
　　
　
(End of this chapter)