With the cannon fodder script in hand, it is easy for the king to change his fate

Chapter 1034 The Heir Takes the Empire as Dowry 46
At this moment, the Zhou family was in a state of utter despair.

Even if they tried their best, they couldn't turn the situation around.

Especially upon learning that Wenling Mountain had been cleaved into flat land, Zhou Hanyi knew that the Zhou family's fate had run out.

He had long known that the old ancestor must have used something, and now that he had been struck by lightning, one could imagine how serious the crime he had committed.

Not daring to make a sound, the Zhou family could only slink away from everyone's sight.

However, the Zhou family has offended quite a few people, and they have a lot of trouble ahead of them.

To make matters worse, lightning would strike Zhou's house from time to time, and they were completely helpless against it.

When the people of the capital saw this, they all felt that Zhou was guilty of heinous crimes and that even Heaven would punish them, making Zhou's life even more difficult.

A-Zhu often heard a certain Heavenly Dao muttering curses as he chopped.

Those who witnessed it all sighed with sorrow, for a family with thousands of years of history had collapsed just like that. Most importantly, with Wenling Mountain cleaved in two, there was no way to reverse the situation.

The Zhou clan members' lives are not threatened, but they are now living in extreme unease, and poverty is only a matter of time.

But before that, someone who escaped from the Zhou family revealed a secret concerning the fire at Chunhua Tower.

When the news came out, everyone was shocked.

It turns out that this incident also involves Chen Fangjin, the top scholar of this year's imperial examination. The fire at Chunhua Tower was a scheme to frame Chen Fangjin. But somehow, Zhou Huo ended up getting himself caught in the crossfire.

Chen Fangjin is now not only a court official, but also the consort of Princess Ningping, so the matter must be dealt with seriously.

The person who escaped from the Zhou family was one of Zhou Huo's confidants, which is why he knew so much.

The fact that he was able to give so much information was naturally arranged by Azhen.

The Zhou family's fate is sealed; they're no longer a force to be reckoned with. But she still intends to settle scores about what happened back then. For someone like Zhou Huo, even being impoverished is too lenient. You have to remember how miserable Xie Ping and Chen Fangjin were in the client's previous life, all because of the other party's scheming.

“This was not only ordered by Zhou Huo, but Zhou Hanyi also knew about it. To prevent the matter from being exposed, Zhou Hanyi also dealt with the person who did it. If I weren’t a confidant of Zhou Huo, and if my family wasn’t controlled by the Zhou family and I didn’t dare to have any thoughts of betrayal, I would probably have been dealt with as well.” Zhou Huo’s former confidant said, putting on a miserable look of being discarded after the fact.

"All of this was to prevent Chen Fangjin and Princess Ningping from getting together. Because the Zhou family's reputation had been damaged at the time, they were afraid that the Qingzhou Chen family would gain the support of the current emperor because of Princess Ningping, which would threaten the Zhou family's position. Another point is that Chen Fangjin had just arrived in the capital and refused the Zhou family's offer of recruitment. He was too outstanding. At least for now, the Zhou family could not find a clansman who could surpass him, which made them feel threatened."

"They want to match Princess Ningping with Ji Zixing. After all, Ji Zixing has some connection with the Zhou family."

Ji Zixing never expected that this matter would involve him.

In fact, the other onlookers hadn't expected this either, and were just wondering if Ji Zixing had been involved in the matter.

When Ji Zixing arrived, he was still in shock. After everyone came to their senses, they realized that Ji Zixing was probably unaware of the situation.

It was later proven that Kiko Yuki was indeed not involved in these matters; he was kept completely in the dark. Regardless of his inner thoughts, he outwardly appeared to have no involvement whatsoever.

"If I had known my cousin was thinking this way, I would have tried to persuade him otherwise," Ji Zixing said, standing outside the cell, his voice filled with anguish. Deep down, he was incredibly grateful that he had acted so well; otherwise, after a year in the Zhou family, he certainly wouldn't have escaped either.

“Cousin, no matter what, we are cousins. I’ll come see you again tomorrow. What would you like to eat? I’ll bring it to you then,” Ji Zixing said.

Zhou Huo, however, had little appetite. Looking at Ji Zixing's gentlemanly demeanor, he sighed and said, "No need, cousin. Take good care of yourself from now on. The officialdom is like a battlefield, and your personality is really not suitable for it. If you feel uncomfortable one day, you should resign."

"His Majesty is a wise ruler now, and he should not stand idly by while his ministers suffer injustice. I just need to do my job well," Ji Zixing said.

Zhou Huo shook his head and said nothing more; his cousin was really naive.

Even if the ruler above is a wise and benevolent one, in such a vast country as Zhao, countless things happen every day, and it is impossible for him to be involved in everything.

Never mind, my cousin will understand when he suffers the consequences.

His framing of Chen Fangjin, while not punishable by death, would certainly result in exile. After all, Chen Fangjin was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations at the time, but now he was the top scholar, a court official, and the prince consort. Furthermore, with the Zhou family's downfall, he had no one to back him up.

He might die on the way to exile. The Zhou family is down on their luck, and there are many people who want to harm them. He has offended quite a few people in the past. How could they let go of such a good opportunity?

Stepping out of the cell, Noriko Yuki let out a long sigh of relief.

His actions this time should prevent him from being implicated by the Zhou family; in fact, he might even be praised for his loyalty and righteousness. Outsiders are always more forgiving of virtuous people. A virtuous person who is kind will not be criticized.

If a gentleman is too heartless, he will be the subject of gossip.

He never imagined that the Zhou family would end up like this.

Wenling Mountain was razed to the ground. Before, he would never have believed that such a bizarre thing could happen.

Furthermore, the Zhou family mansion was frequently struck by lightning, something he witnessed firsthand.

"I only knew that someone must have plotted against me that day, but I never expected the truth to be like this." Chen Fangjin explained the incident to Xie Ping. "I thought that since I was under the emperor's nose and had the status of a scholar at the time, and hadn't had any conflicts with anyone, I shouldn't be in danger. So I had a page with me, and I almost got into trouble. Fortunately, a mysterious person helped me, but I still don't know who that mysterious person is. Now it seems that they didn't have any ill intentions, but they probably don't like the Zhou family very much."

When he first arrived in the capital, his family hired bodyguards to escort him, and he even traveled with a merchant caravan. However, he only had a pageboy to take care of him personally, as he lived a simple life and was not one to care about pomp and circumstance. It was only when he arrived in the bustling yet safe capital that he temporarily lowered his guard.

Xie Ping pondered, realizing that even those who had a grudge against the Zhou family might not necessarily get involved in such a matter. And even if they did, they wouldn't do it for nothing, expecting nothing in return.

She guessed at someone else, and besides that person, she didn't know who else would pay attention to Chen Fangjin.

To verify this conjecture, Xie Ping decided to go to the palace, but did not tell Chen Fangjin about it before confirming it.

When Xie Ping came to see Azhen, she asked directly whether it was her arrangement to help Chen Fangjin before.

"How did you guess it was me?" A-Zhou asked.

Xie Ping is actually intelligent; someone who is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting is definitely not a fool.