12

"… Shuang 'er from a seventh-ranked official's residence, isn't it too unfair for my beloved subject, hm?"

The Emperor smiled and snapped the imperial brush in his hand.

Gou Liang silently moved to the side and said with a stiff face, "This official has already refused."

He had the deputy leader of the Night Owls by his side, so such a big matter could not be hidden from the Emperor. Of course, the Emperor also knew that Gou Liang had immediately rejected Madam Chu. He was waiting for Gou Liang to confess to him, but he did not expect that after waiting for three days, he would only receive news that Madam Chu had secretly met a few Shuang 'er families behind Gou Liang's back. Only then did he casually bring up this topic when Gou Liang was unprepared.

Gou Liang was questioned about the details, and the Emperor, who had just said, "My beloved subject, there is no harm in saying it, zhen will forgive you." Now, he was staring at him with a fake smile.

The Emperor coldly snorted and said, "Marriage is decided by the parents. I don't think your father will listen to your advice."

Gou Liang stared blankly for a moment before frowning.

He also knew that Madam Chu had not given up, so he stubbornly said, "In any case, I will not marry anyone."

The Emperor also knew that he was in a difficult position. Seeing this, he hugged him and said, "What, you want zhen to guard you without any status?"

Gou Liang stared blankly, then his face turned red, "Your Majesty, don't speak nonsense."

"Zhen's words are like gold and jade, and I never boast. One day, zhen will definitely …" He didn't finish his sentence, and instead asked, "This time, zhen suffered such a big grievance, have you thought about how to compensate zhen?"

Gou Liang squinted his eyes and laughed silently, as if he was racking his brain for a moment, and said, "Spicy chicken?"

The Emperor was so angry that he laughed.

Ever since their first night, Gou Liang revealed his true nature in front of the Emperor.

In private, the Emperor would not suspect that he was not his real self, and he especially liked to see the contrast between the two in front of him and behind him, as well as the uniqueness that was only shown to him.

Seeing that he was not satisfied, Gou Liang quickly said, "Boiled meat slices? Steamed fish head with diced hot red peppers? Spicy squid? Fried tofu? Fragrant and spicy — mmm! "

The Emperor covered his mouth expressionlessly and said cruelly, "Don't even think about it. The doctor said that you can't eat anything too oily or spicy."

"Ugh …"

Looking at his teary eyes, the Emperor wavered between three days of abstinence and satisfying his cravings. Without much sincerity, he kissed his forehead and said, "Be good, listen to the doctor."

Gou Liang turned his head away angrily.

Imperial Physician Zheng wrote Shuang 'er's care manual to the emperor, no matter how big or small, the emperor memorized every detail.

The imperial physician had said that the staple food after intercourse should be light, otherwise it would harm the body.

How could Gou Liang tolerate this?

After being on a diet for a month, he had long gone crazy. Moreover, it was always the things that were not allowed to be eaten that attracted people's attention.

He jested and joked, avoiding the topic. The Emperor also took advantage of this opportunity to change the topic. In any case, even if Gou Liang could not bear the pressure of filial piety, he would not let Madam Chu make waves.

Looking at the way his eyes were darting around, the Emperor knew that he must be planning to secretly give him special treatment when he returned home. He knocked his forehead with his finger and warned, "If I find out that you are outwardly complying, I will punish you."

Gou Liang was not afraid of him. The Emperor was happy to see his arrogant appearance. With a smile that was not a smile, he said, "If you are not obedient, I will bestow a beauty to the country's protector general. How about it?"

The country's protector general was old but vigorous. Wasn't Madam Chu always afraid that he would be seduced by a fox spirit outside?

The Emperor was eager to find something for him to do so that he would not have to worry about Gou Liang's marriage.

Gou Liang was shocked by his shamelessness. He fell listlessly on the Emperor's shoulder and weakly said, "This … subject … obeys … the … emperor …"

The Emperor laughed.

Although he said this, seeing that he was not happy, he specially had someone make a medium spicy boiled beef for dinner that night.

This made Gou Liang very happy. Although he was only allowed to eat two bites, he still praised the Emperor and kissed him a few times. That night, when the Emperor pestered him to change embarrassing positions, he did not struggle.

However, they all underestimated Madam Chu's ability.

Gou Liang wanted to talk to him again, but he did not expect that in less than a day, Madam Chu would release the news that Gou Liang was going to marry a wife with great fanfare.

The nobles in the capital suddenly had lively thoughts. The people who wanted to marry Gou Liang the most were not the nobles who admired his sect and talent, but the nobles who had been neglected by the Emperor for many years.

The country's protector general's household was one of the rare noble families that the Emperor placed in an important position. Marrying them was also a way to surrender to the Emperor. It could be said that it could help the younger generation in the family find a way to be promoted.

Furthermore, who did not know that Gou Liang was extremely favored by the Emperor and had a boundless future?

As a result, the country's protector general's household was almost broken by matchmakers in just a few days.

At this time, Madam Chu brought Shuang 'er with her in a high-profile manner. It was Shuang' er, the seventh-ranked official registrar that Madam Chu liked.

He had spent a lot of effort to find this person. He was gentle and virtuous, and was good at internal affairs. More importantly, he suffered from night blindness. If he accompanied his son, not only did he not have to be afraid of exposing his secret, but when his son inherited the title of Marquis in the future, he would have the ability to help him deal with internal and external affairs. Furthermore, with his family background, even if he found out the truth one day, he would not dare to say anything.

Madam Chu only told the public that this Shuang 'er had saved her when she was burning incense and was very grateful to him. However, everyone could see his intentions from his intimate actions.

Because of this, the nobles in the capital wrung their hands.

Zhou Xun even used the excuse of visiting Shuang 'er's two older cousins to muster up the courage to confess to Gou Liang in person.

However, he did not have the opportunity to see Gou Liang. The latter rushed to the main courtyard as soon as he returned to the fu. Without waiting for Madam Chu to dismiss her servants, he said, "Father, didn't I say that I will never marry? What are you doing!"

Madam Chu was shocked and hurriedly dismissed the others, saying, "What nonsense are you talking about! How can there be someone who is old and not married? You're already this old and you're still not married. How will others look at you? If people ask, how will father and your father live! "

The more guilty Madam Chu felt, the more she wanted her son to live better than a man. He must have everything that a man should have, otherwise it would be hard to avoid suspicion.

Gou Liang's face was gloomy, "Father, I'm not the only man in the world who has not married. By bringing her home, do you want people to see through our secret and bring disaster to our family? Or do you want an innocent Shuang 'er to suffer the pain of love and die for our mistake?! "

Madam Chu opened her mouth to say that Shuang 'er, whom he had carefully selected, had no possibility of leaking the secret, but when she heard the last sentence, she could not say anything.

Gou Liang knew that he was not a cruel person, so he calmed down a bit and continued, "No matter what your intentions were, you should have stopped before going too far."

"A mistake is a mistake. All these years, I have done my best to cooperate with you and cover up for you, not because I think what you did was right, but because I don't want you to suffer because of this. In this lifetime, I only want to hide this matter well and not let the family suffer, and not let you down. But I'm not omnipotent … Father, in order to hide this matter, I've lived a very painful life. I'm really tired. I don't want to live in fear every day outside, and when I come home, I still have to put on an act in front of the person sleeping next to me. Do you … understand? "

Madam Chu felt sad, but she could not let go of this matter.

He said, "These things are not unbearable. Silang, you should help your father. If you don't get married, how can your father pass the title of Marquis to you? "

Gou Liang's face was ashen, "Even if I get married, it's impossible for me to have an heir. In the future, won't the glory of the second rank Marquis of the Protector General's Estate be inherited by eldest brother's son? What's the point of fighting for these things?! "

"How is that the same?!"

Madam Chu said, "Even if it's left to Chu Qian's son, he must be the heir under your name, and also your son. My grandson is not only Chu Qian's son."

Gou Liang heard this and knew that he had a plan. He could not help but say, "Father, why must you fight for something that doesn't belong to us? Even if eldest brother inherits it in the future, with his temper, he will never be disrespectful to you. Even if we take a step back, even if the descendants are unfilial, I will pass on before you. You have a noble title, who dares not to give you face? "

Madam Chu said, "Am I doing this for myself? I'm doing it for you! "

"For me?"

Gou Liang laughed, tears falling down in an instant, "For me, you lied about my gender. For me, you want me to hide and fight for fame and fortune. For me, you want to harm an innocent Shuang 'er? Father, if you really do it for me, have you ever thought about what I want and what kind of life I want to live? "

"You haven't, never! You only care about whether or not I can inherit the title of Marquis, whether or not I can let you be the only true master of this estate! "

"You!"

Madam Chu, whose selfishness was exposed, flew into a rage out of humiliation and raised her hand to hit him.

But looking at his sad and crying son, he could not bear to hit him. He said rather awkwardly, "Why can't you understand father's painstaking efforts? When your father … Chu Qian is the only one in charge of this estate, do you really think he will be loyal to you? You haven't tasted the feeling of living under someone else's roof, what do you know? "

Madam Chu had lost her parents when she was young and lived with her brother and sister-in-law, so she had suffered many grievances.

Even if she had the honor of being the first wife of the Marquis's household, it was still very uncomfortable. She had long vowed not to let her son repeat the same mistakes.

Gou Liang was silent for a moment, but in the end, he did not say anything to comfort him. He only said, "Father, no matter what, I will never marry Shuang 'er. Before things get out of hand, you should give up on this idea, so that you won't blame me for making you lose face in front of outsiders. If you still insist on this, then I will just tell father everything, so that we don't have to worry about it day and night. "

"You, you're rebelling!"

Madam Chu was furious to the extreme. This time, she really wanted to hit Gou Liang, but before she could hit him, she heard a stern shout, "What are you doing?!"

Madam Chu shivered and looked at General Chu who walked in with a sullen face.

General Chu looked at the father and son with red eyes and frowned.

His youngest son was the least angry. He did not know what conflict had caused him to be so angry. Thinking of this, General Chu looked at Madam Chu with an unkind expression.

Having had a gentle and generous wife, General Chu found it difficult to open his heart to the strong and snobbish Madam Chu. The relationship between husband and wife was average, and he had never liked the way Madam Chu taught her son so quickly. But because no one in the family practiced literature, he did not know much about it, so it was not good for him to ask. But this did not mean that he did not know the hardships his son had suffered over the years. In the past, no matter how overbearing Madam Chu was, she still had a sense of propriety. But this time, seeing that she wanted to hit his son, General Chu could not stand it and scolded her.

He sat down and controlled his temper. "Why are you quarreling all of a sudden? Silang, what did you want to tell father just now? "

Madam Chu's face turned pale.

Gou Liang knelt down. "Father, I —"

"Shut up!"

Madam Chu sharply interrupted him. General Chu sternly glared at her, but she still said, "Don't listen to his nonsense. We don't have anything to hide from husband. It's just a quarrel."

"Shut up! Silang, you say it. "

How could General Chu easily believe his words? He only wanted to hear what Gou Liang had to say.

Gou Liang said, "Father, I can't get married, because I —"

"Silang!"

"I have an unmentionable disease."

Madam Chu screamed as if she had been strangled. She looked at Gou Liang in astonishment.

General Chu did not notice this. He frowned and asked anxiously, "What unmentionable disease? Can it be cured? "

Gou Liang shook his head and said, "Father should still remember that two months ago, I was sent back from the palace by His Majesty. At that time, father asked me what happened. Because it was a secret of the imperial family, I hid it from father."

"Actually, that day, someone poisoned His Majesty, and I mistakenly ate it. That drug … causes impotence. When father said that he wanted to find a relative for me, I had already told him about it. I did not want to implicate the innocent Shuang 'er's life. But … father was afraid that I would lose face in front of my colleagues. He was also worried that outsiders would say that I have an unmentionable disease, so he delayed the marriage and still insisted on arranging a marriage for me. I was unwilling, so we quarreled. "

General Chu's expression changed greatly, "Can he still recover?"

Gou Liang said, "At that time, Imperial Physician Zheng came to stay in the manor for three days. After that, he often checked my pulse. He has already determined that there is no possibility of recovery."

Madam Chu was paralyzed on the ground. Seeing her son use such words to completely cut off his right to inherit the title of Marquis, she was anxious and angry. But he could not refute it. For a moment, he covered his face and cried. He was heartbroken.

General Chu was silent.

Although he had made several guesses about that matter, he never thought that such a thing would happen.

It turned out that the Emperor's favor and trust for his son was because he had suffered for him … He did not know who was so crazy as to poison His Majesty the Emperor!

His thoughts were in a mess. Fortunately, General Chu was a person who lived and died on the battlefield. He was more open-minded and quickly accepted the bad news. He said with a long sigh, "Since it has come to this, what your father did was a benevolent father's heart. There is no harm in you accepting it."

Although there was the suspicion of harming Shuang 'er, he was more concerned that his son would have a caring person to accompany him for the rest of his life.

Gou Liang stubbornly said, "Father, your son is living very well on his own."

Hearing this, General Chu did not make things difficult for him. He turned to Madam Chu and said, "Since Fourth Lang has already made up his mind, you don't need to force him. If he changes his mind one day, it won't be too late for you to make preparations for him. "

As he spoke, he comforted Gou Liang with a few words. Seeing that the mother and son still had a knot in their hearts to untie, he excused himself and left.

As soon as he left, Madam Chu bitterly slapped his leg, "What kind of excuse is that!"

This time, his many years of hard work had really gone down the drain!

Gou Liang looked at the heartbroken Madam Chu and said, "Father, this is not an excuse. What I said … is all true. "

Madam Chu was dumbfounded.

*

When the Emperor heard Ye Xiao's report, he did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Looking back, the Emperor, who felt that Gou Liang had suffered a great grievance for him, arranged a house full of books for the diligent and studious Gou Hanlin. They were all ancient books collected from the common people and were very rare.

Gou Liang secretly curled his lips. Seeing that the Emperor was also reading with him, he couldn't help but sigh. With a Hanlin lover, Tianzong was really the most studious Emperor in history.

However, Gou Liang was soon slapped in the face. The Emperor's studiousness had never been of use to him.

On this day, he found an ancient fire avoidance diagram in the pile of ancient books. The main characters in the diagram were actually two men, and their posture was so hot that even Gou Liang, who boasted about his lack of moral integrity, couldn't bear to look directly at it.

The Emperor was still in high spirits as he hugged him and said, "Look at what this poem says: Swallowing a dragon into a deep pool is to identify the cave. It's unfathomable and wonderful beyond words. Tsk, tsk, it must be very amazing. Xiao Kener, why don't we also try to see if it's real tonight? "

Gou Liang silently stared at him, "… It hurts just looking at it."

This kind of posture that didn't conform to ergonomics, it was better to feed it to the dogs as soon as possible!

The Emperor was quite regretful. Afterwards, he still didn't give up and asked the palace servants. He learned that this posture would make a man's spirit and soul go crazy, but it would also make it very difficult for the person receiving it. If he didn't control it well, he would be injured. Only then did he let it go.

On the other hand, Madam Chu recognized Shuang 'er as her adopted son.

Although there was some damage to Shuang 'er's reputation, compared to this loss, it was obviously more beneficial to become the adopted son of the Protector General's Manor. The Registrar's family was very grateful. Gou Liang's marriage was never settled. Those nobles who came to ask for help were all dismissed by Madam Chu with the excuse that "the Emperor ordered the four sons to concentrate on writing books, and I'm afraid they won't have time to get married in three years".

Yes, the day after Gou Liang's "impotence", the Emperor issued a decree.

First of all, he praised Gou Hanlin's scholarly work very much to his liking, and promoted Gou Liang by two ranks to be a third-rank Attendant Scholar. Thereupon he ordered Gou Liang to stay in the library pavilion and concentrate on writing books for the imperial family.

Gou Liang lived in Zheng Yang Palace. This made many people very curious about what kind of books he was writing. Even the teacher of the original owner, who was retired in Yangzhou, sent a letter to ask about it. The Emperor looked at Gou Liang and hesitated for half a day. He replied, "I am under the Emperor's orders, so I don't dare to say anything. But your disciple has already received the Emperor's permission. When the book is finished, I will give you a copy."

The Emperor couldn't help but laugh. He thought, "That Old Master Liu is already over eighty years old. In his lifetime, he won't be able to fix this book." If he did fix it and burned the Fire Avoidance Diagram in front of his grave, he was afraid that this noble old master would jump out of his grave in anger and swallow him for ruining his precious disciple.

Thinking like this, the Emperor's heart was very happy. He secretly decided that he could give it a try.