Chapter 17: Everyone Dotes on Zhu Wuhuan! Brothers, Younger Brothers, and Nephews Alike

Listening to Madam Zhu’s words, Zhu Wuhuan’s eyes grew slightly moist.

This was the first time she had ever felt such earnest instruction from a kind mother.

And that line—“even if it feels suffocating, you must endure it”—could actually be put even more bluntly.

Back then, when the Empress Zhu was to enter the palace, everyone in the Zhu family opposed it. None of them would allow her to go into the palace and suffer indignities; they only wanted her to marry a scion of a great clan and live an ordinary life.

It was she who had been bewitched by Prince Jin, who lost her head and insisted on entering the palace as his inside agent, even threatening hunger strike and death to force the family to agree. Only then did the Zhu family have no choice but to nod.

So the humiliations the Empress suffered in the palace could not be blamed on the Zhu family—they were her own choices.

Of course, the one who suffered was the former Empress Zhu!

Now that she had taken her place, who knew, as time went on, who would be the one to feel suffocated between her and the Emperor?

“Mother, don’t worry about me—I understand.”

Zhu Wuhuan looked up at Madam Zhu and smiled. “It’s only because we’re in our own home now, with no outsiders to see, and because you and Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law are here to soothe me, that I’m letting myself relax a little.”

Seeing her radiant smile, Madam Zhu finally felt at ease.

She gently patted Zhu Wuhuan’s back. “All right, I’ll soothe you. Be good and rest in Mother’s arms—Mother will soothe you.”

Little brother Zhu Chengying had been standing on tiptoe, leaning against the nearby table and quietly watching his mother and third sister. Hearing this, he stretched out his small hands and hugged his third sister from behind.

He said, distressed, “Third Sister, don’t be sad. Wait for me to grow up! I’ll become a great general even more formidable than Father, so the Emperor won’t dare bully you again!”

Looking back at this little fellow who could only bury his head against his sister and stew in anger, hearing his bold declaration, Zhu Wuhuan couldn’t help laughing.

“Good. Third Sister will wait for our Chengying to grow up—wait for you to protect me.”

“Mm!” Zhu Chengying nodded emphatically.

All the while, Zhu Jun’an, who had been sitting obediently in Zhu Wuhuan’s lap, blinked his big eyes and gazed around in confusion.

He didn’t understand anything so complicated; he only caught a few key words.

Aunt is upset; she needs to be soothed!

He burrowed his head into his aunt’s chest, his little hands hugging her neck tightly. “Auntie, Jun’an will soothe you too! Don’t be sad! Jun’an will soothe Auntie!”

Zhu Wuhuan burst into laughter. “You little rascal—do you even know how to soothe someone?”

Zhu Jun’an answered with great seriousness, “I do!”

After replying in his clear little voice, he cupped his aunt’s face and planted a smacking kiss on her cheek. “Kiss Auntie! Soothe Auntie! Auntie, smile!”

Zhu Wuhuan laughed heartily at his antics.

Not far away, Zhu Xuanyuan and his wife watched their treasured son getting along so well with his aunt and could not help smiling with satisfaction.

For a child to be close with his own aunt was a joy.

Especially when that aunt was the Empress, second only to the Son of Heaven—if their son could win her favor, his future road would surely be smoother, steadier, and happier…

At the side, Zhu Longyuan scratched his head and looked at his six-month-old son in the little cradle, his face full of chagrin.

“Sigh, when will my silly boy grow up—when will he be able to coax Auntie and make her happy!”

Fourth Brother Zhu Chunjun, who had come over to look at the decree, heard this and turned to laugh at Second Brother.

“Second Brother, since the little nephew can’t soothe her yet, you can! Back when Third Sister wasn’t married, whenever she was unhappy, you would sneak up behind her and, while she wasn’t looking, scoop her up and lift her high—she loved it!”

Zhu Longyuan rapped him lightly on the head.

“Your third sister is the Empress now. How could I toss her around like before?”

He said that, but since he adored his sister, he still came over to ask, “Little Sister, do you want Second Brother to lift you up high?”

Zhu Wuhuan turned to look at her powerfully built second brother, amused. “Second Brother, do you think I’m still a sixteen-year-old girl? I’m already twenty-three.”

His broad, gentle palm patted her head lightly. He smiled with simple warmth. “So what if you’re twenty-three? Even if you were eighty-three, as long as your brother still has the strength, I can hoist you onto my shoulder and run you around the whole training ground!”

Meeting her second brother’s eyes, Zhu Wuhuan felt another swell of emotion.

Back in the palace, the Zhu family had been nothing more than stiff passages in history to her. Even though this body was a daughter of the Zhu clan, she’d felt little toward them.

But now, having come to the General’s Estate and personally felt the family’s gentleness and love, the images of these people finally came alive in her heart.

From a few lines of text, they had become flesh-and-blood people.

From strangers, they had become the mother, brothers, younger brother, and nephews who cherished and doted on her…

With this change of heart, when Zhu Wuhuan again thought of their tragic fate recorded in the histories, a stabbing pain enveloped her.

Because these dear people before her, these vivid faces, would all be frozen three days hence.

All at once, heads would fall; red blood would stain the ground.

At the thought of that heroic, tragic scene, Zhu Wuhuan’s anger toward the tyrant surged anew.

Dog of a tyrant!

Serves him right to have his tomb dug up, his bones ground to dust, his skull made into a wine cup!

He butchered so many—only he deserves such an end!

…

At that very moment, Feng Changye—the “dog tyrant” Zhu Wuhuan was cursing—was at Grand Academician Chen’s residence next door.

Because he was some distance from Zhu Wuhuan, he was fortunate enough not to hear his empress cursing him again.

He had come to the Chen residence because there was a viewing pavilion built atop a seven- or eight-zhang-high artificial mountain. Sitting in that pavilion, one could take in the entire rear garden of the General’s Estate next door.

Though he had left the palace ostensibly to keep an eye on Prince Jin, he suspected the prince had people watching the General’s Estate constantly. If he went there himself, he would surely startle the snake.

So he quietly escorted the Empress Dowager to the Chen residence and waited in silence to watch Prince Jin’s fine performance.

“Emperor, why have you brought the Aijia here?”

The regal, magnificent Empress Dowager cast a glance at the General’s Estate next door, her eyes brimming with fury. “Do you still harbor soft feelings for the family of that old cur, Zhu Huaining, and intend to spare them?”

She set her teacup down hard on the stone table.

“The Aijia will not permit you to forgive the Zhu clan! The blood of the Xiyuan savages runs in their veins. They betrayed the trust the Aijia and the late Emperor placed in them for so many years. They all deserve death!”

Feng Changye lifted his eyes to his enraged mother.

The reason he had flown into such a rage at court and ordered the Zhu family executed was that, after the news of Zhu Huaining’s treason arrived, the Empress Dowager had stormed in to confront him.

He could still remember her words—

“That old cur Zhu Huaining! Has he forgotten who rescued him and his mother from the slaughter of the Xiyuan tribe back then?”

“Has he forgotten how he swore a blood oath that he would wash away the blood of the Xiyuan within him and henceforth be loyal to Great Ning?”

“Faithless ingrate!”

“He has cast aside all those vows of the past and betrayed Great Ning, which nurtured him for so many years. The Aijia will have him torn to pieces!”