Da Ming: I told you to die for your cause, why are you actually going to die?

Chapter 49 Zhang Biao: Am I a really good person? [Seeking monthly votes]

"Mother! Just one step away, just one step away!!"

Zhu Yunwen's cries still echoed in the warm pavilion, like the mournful cry of his sensitive and fragile heart collapsing under a tremendous blow.

Looking at her son, Madam Lü felt as if her heart was being torn apart. Although she did not say a word, a huge storm was raging in her chest.

What a piece of trash! That old piece of trash, Liu Sanwu!
Mei Yin is a useless thing too!

And this Huang Zicheng!
Things haven't even settled down yet, and you're already offering such grand congratulations?! You're courting death!
You have ruined my son's life! You have ruined my important affairs!!

If it weren't for the composure and resilience cultivated through long-term forbearance, Lady Lü would probably have suffered a near-collapse of her public image, just like Zhu Yunwen.

Huang Zicheng seemed to have been pierced by Lu's murderous gaze, his soul almost leaving his body.

He disregarded his strict teacher persona, crawling on all fours to Zhu Yunwen's side and kowtowing repeatedly to the wailing Zhu Yunwen: "Your Highness, please calm down! Every word I have said is true! His Majesty does indeed intend to make you the Crown Prince! It's all that couple, it's all that Zhang Biao!"

He seemed to have grasped at a straw and began to shirk responsibility:
"That Zhang Biao is a despicable scoundrel who doesn't know his place and is no better than a beggar! It was him! He ruined His Highness's important plans with such vile means!"

"Zhang Biao?!"

Upon hearing this name, Zhu Yunwen's sobs abruptly ceased, and he raised his tear-streaked face, which was filled with resentment:

"It's him? It's him again? The last time he remonstrated with his life in the Fengtian Hall, he imprisoned Lü Ping, Qi Tai, and Zhao Qian. Later, he even demanded back pay from the Emperor in the Fengtian Hall, causing chaos in the entire court and leaving the Emperor helpless. That despicable censor!"

"That's right! It was him! Your Highness! He instigated those low-ranking officials in the capital to disrupt the Emperor's ceremony for establishing his heir! He deserves to die! He deserves to die, Your Highness!"

"Damn it! That damned Zhang Biao!!"

An unprecedented hatred almost consumed Zhu Yunwen.

Looking at her son's broken and distorted appearance, then at Huang Zicheng who was kowtowing repeatedly and trying his best to shirk responsibility, and then thinking of the chaos in Fengtian Hall and the crazy Zhang Biao.

She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her churning blood, and said coldly, "Enough!"

"Now that things have come to this, what's the use of crying and cursing? Mr. Huang, please go and find out immediately how the Emperor is doing, and where Zhang Biao is now!"

She interrupted Huang Zicheng's sobs and Zhu Yunwen's curses, her tone carrying an undeniable command and a hint of deliberate soothing:

"Yunwen! Wipe away your tears! You are the eldest grandson of the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty! A member of the imperial family! What kind of behavior is this? Go back to your palace! You are not to come out without my permission!"

"mother"

Zhu Yunwen was jolted by Empress Lü's cold command and the title of "eldest grandson of the emperor." A great sense of humiliation welled up in his heart, but his long-standing awe of his mother and his current vulnerability and helplessness overwhelmed everything.

He bit his lip, forcing back the surging tears and the sob in his throat. With the help of a palace maid, he staggered to his feet and walked out dejectedly, his back view filled with resentment and a fragile pretense.

After watching her son and Huang Zicheng leave, Madam Lü slowly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes were filled with unfathomable coldness and calculation.

She stroked the cold, intertwined lotus pattern on her cuff, as if she were touching a cold, icy authority.

One step away? Hmph, as long as Zhu Yunwen remains a useless piece of trash, the Emperor will have no other choice!

Meanwhile, at the small table in front of Wang Mazi's meat shop.

The little beggar had just put Zhang Biao's cold braised pig's trotter into his mouth when he stared at Zhang Biao in shock, even forgetting to chew.

He had tasted countless delicacies, but never had he experienced such a domineering and exhilarating flavor.

"Is it tasty?"

Zhang Biao proudly raised his chin and popped another piece into his mouth. The little beggar nodded vigorously, his little mouth began to chew rapidly, and he said indistinctly, "So delicious! Big brother, your braised pig's trotters are really delicious!"

Zhang Biao found his ravenous look amusing: "Eat as much as you like! There's plenty!"

He pushed the oil paper package forward again.

"No, thank you, brother!"

"Why aren't you eating? There's still plenty left. Don't be so polite with me, eat more!"

He thought the little beggar was shy.

The little beggar twisted the tattered hem of his clothes with his fingers, his voice trembling with a barely perceptible sob, and said, "I...I want to take some to see my parents."

"You still have parents?" Zhang Biao blurted out, then realized his words sounded odd and quickly corrected himself, "No, what I meant was..."

"It's alright, brother, I understand!"

Before Zhang Biao could explain, the little beggar quickly said understandingly, "My parents are no longer here."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Biao instantly realized what was happening, and immediately dropped his nonchalant smile, his eyes showing a rare, rough sympathy: "Excuse my intrusion, but please accept my condolences!"

The little beggar stared blankly at the stranger in front of him, who offered him a delicious treat he had never tasted before and told him to take care of himself.
A mix of absurdity and inexplicable warmth welled up inside him, making his nose tingle. He whispered, "Brother, you're so kind!"

"Ha!" Zhang Biao chuckled, his roguish air returning: "You little brat, are you giving me the 'friend zone' card?"

He sighed and quickly stuffed the remaining pieces of pig's trotters, along with the oil paper wrapping, into the little beggar's arms without saying a word: "Alright! Stop fussing! Take all of this! Go see your parents and have something to eat on the way."

The heavy, fragrant oil paper package fell into his arms, and the little beggar instinctively hugged it tightly; the warm touch and rich aroma felt so real.

Looking at Zhang Biao's smiling face, he finally couldn't hold back his tears and they rolled down his cheeks in large drops. It wasn't because of sadness, but because of this unexpected warmth from a stranger, carrying the aroma of pig's trotters.

He choked up and said sincerely, "Thank you, brother! You are such a good person!"
Zhang Biao felt a little uncomfortable with his crying and waved his hand, "Alright, alright, go on! Stop crying!"

He watched as the little beggar, clutching the oil paper package, ran away, turning back every few steps, until his small, frail figure disappeared at the alley entrance.

"Good guy?"

Zhang Biao stood there, smacked his lips, savoring the taste of the cold pig's trotters, and chuckled self-deprecatingly: "I'm going to drive Old Zhu crazy."

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the towering palace walls, his eyes sharpening and becoming complex, carrying a subtle hint of heaviness and irony:
"Old Zhu, Old Zhu! Look at the mess you've made! This child is so young and has lost both parents! Have you forgotten where you came from? Back in Huangjue Temple, you were starving, and you survived only because of a meal given to you by kind people."

He glanced one last time in the direction the little beggar had disappeared, shook his head helplessly, then turned and strolled around near Chengtian Gate, humming a tune that had become a bit lower: "Pig's trotters warm the heart, Old Zhu was blind, I really am a good man~~"

the other side.

After the little beggar disappeared at the alley entrance, he walked out again, secretly glancing at Zhang Biao's departing figure, and then at the majestic palace. With just one glance, he hurriedly looked away in panic.

It was as if a shameful scene was unfolding there, where he was pinned to the spot by a cold gaze, eating and drinking to his heart's content.

The look in my grandfather's eyes last night wasn't just disappointment, it was utter disgust!

It's like looking at a pile of cold, useless trash!
He didn't even utter a single rebuke!

What have I done?! I deserve to die!!

(End of this chapter)