Chapter 927: Zhou Zhi is the Emperor

Zhou Zhi lowered his eyes and replied calmly, “I know.”

Zhou Zhao nodded in satisfaction.

The Crown Prince’s conferment ceremony was grand. Many old ministers were already familiar with Zhou Zhi, so when Zhou Zhi had the intention to fight, they did not take any sides. They only watched silently as those who did not understand Zhou Zhi watched on.

Now that the position of Crown Prince had indeed fallen to Zhou Zhi, their smiles became even more meaningful.

These people still wanted to interfere in Zhou Zhi’s marriage. Hadn’t they learnt?

After Zhou Zhi became the Crown Prince, the royal court was peaceful for a while.

The empress, Wei Ling, sent many things to Zhou Zhi. Zhou Zhi accepted them all. However, she just wanted to see Zhou Zhi, but she didn’t get what she wanted.

Many madams were already flattering him. As they chatted, they mentioned that there was no close person around Zhou Zhi.

Wei Ling felt hurt when she thought about it. Ever since that year, she would always think of the past. It was more than 30 years ago, and her two sons were still in her stomach.

When she first found out that she was pregnant with two children, she was both happy and worried. When others gave birth to two children, they had to suffer twice. She only needed to suffer once.

She was also the empress, and her maternal family valued her very much, so her food, clothing, accommodation, and transportation were all taken care of by loyal people. The children’s nutrition and her own body were all carefully taken care of.

However, after the Master’s prophecy, everything changed.

When the children were born, Wei Ling was also terrified. Zhou Zhi had always been more domineering among her two sons. From then on, her heart was biased.

She had personally fed Zhou Heng and let him eat his fill first. When Zhou Zhi ate too much, she did not like it, so she did not want to feed him for long. Zhou Zhi and Zhou Heng actually recognised their mother, so Zhou Zhi was always domineering because he did not have enough to eat.

“Her Majesty, Her Majesty—”

The maidservant called Wei Ling a few times.

Wei Ling came back to her senses and realized that she had been distracted for a long time. Many madams in the hall looked at her with smiles.

Wei Ling smiled appropriately and said, “Speaking of these things reminds me of the past. I’m really emotional. Time passes too quickly.”

Zhou Zhi was already 34 years old and the women around his age were all married. Back then, they avoided Zhou Zhi like he was a snake. Now, they were sending their daughters to Zhou Zhi.

Wei Ling couldn’t help but think of herself again. She had seen Zhou Zhi as a fiend, a demon, and only wanted him to die as soon as possible. But now, didn’t she also want him to live a long life?

If the opportunity was lost, it was lost. It would never come around again.

Wei Ling looked down and smiled faintly. “I’m tired. I just want to enjoy myself quietly in the future. I won’t care about these things. In the future, don’t be too tired. That’s all. I’ll go back first.”

Today was her birthday, and these madams were enthusiastic.

The birthday was a facade. Their real purpose was to show their daughters.

However, she was no longer the Wei Ling of the past. No matter how good these delicate flowers were, it was useless if Zhou Zhi did not like them. Zhou Zhi was not under her control. He was not under anyone’s control.

Wei Ling couldn’t help but think that even the emperor, Zhou Zhao, couldn’t control Zhou Zhi’s marriage, let alone her.

She should not care about anything else. She should return to the small courtyard and plant vegetables to live her peaceful life.

No one would have thought that the empress, who used to be high and mighty, would retire from those prosperous clothes and stop participating in the concubine’s fights. She no longer minded who the emperor doted on. She wore simple clothes and went to dig for the fruits she had carefully cultivated with a small hoe. She liked such days. She had learned a lot about agriculture. She knew a lot of food and could plant them. Now, what she ate was personally planted by her.

She often gave some to Zhou Zhi, who would accept it, but she knew that he didn’t eat any of it.

But that didn’t stop her from continuing to send him food. She would never be able to make up for the pain, but she would always try with her actions.

After Zhou Zhi became the Crown Prince, he eliminated many people with evil intentions.

Zhou Zhao was quite satisfied. Zhou Zhi had ruthless methods and the ability of an emperor.

However, in early November, when Zhou Zhi sent all the evidence of Zhou Liao’s crimes to the court, Zhou Zhao frowned. Before he could do anything, this matter erupted in the royal court and even spread among the people. Immediately, he could not protect Zhou Liao even if he wanted to.

Zhou Liao’s mother, the noble consort, knelt outside the hall and cried, begging Zhou Zhao to spare the child’s life on account of their father-son relationship.

Zhou Zhao had nowhere to vent his anger. He did not expect Zhou Zhi to do so many things under his nose.

This was too detestable. He was not that old yet and had not abdicated. How could Zhou Zhi be like this?!

He had crossed the line. This was undoubtedly provoking Zhou Zhao’s power as the emperor. No matter how much he valued his son, he was still angry. His heart had always ached more for Zhou Zhi. He also valued him very much.

Zhou Zhi’s ability was enough to become the emperor, so he deserved to be the Crown Prince. When he grew old and abdicated, Zhou Zhi would be the emperor.

But why was he so anxious? He was provoking him by doing these things. Zhou Zhao could not tolerate it.

He could value Zhou Zhi, be kind and dote on him, but Zhou Zhi could not cross the line. Once he did, everything would change.

The mess on the ground was caused by Zhou Zhao’s anger. He was thinking about what had gone wrong and did not notice Zhou Zhi’s change.

Zhou Zhi was here. When he passed by the noble consort, she glared at him fiercely. Her resentful gaze wished she could cut him into pieces.

However, Zhou Zhi did not even look at her and walked in calmly.

When he walked into the hall and looked at the mess, Zhou Zhi met Zhou Zhao’s gaze. His expression was normal as he bowed and said, “Father, why did you call me?”

“Aren’t you going to give me an explanation? There’s no leeway in the royal court. Are you going to kill your brother, huh?”

Zhou Zhao questioned angrily.

Zhou Zhi looked at Zhou Zhao and said calmly, “Father, you’re wrong. I didn’t cause His Majesty to die. I didn’t ask him to burn, kill, or rob. I didn’t ask him to make weapons in secret. His death was caused by himself.”

Zhou Liao’s path was all his own. He was too ambitious.

Zhou Zhao was so angry that his beard trembled. “If you kill them all like this, what about Zhou Yan and Zhou Ying? Do you want them to die too? And Zhou Heng, your brother, are you going to kill him too?”

Zhou Zhao felt that Zhou Zhi was deep in thought. It was normal for him to hide his thoughts. After all, he had experienced different things since he was young. But now, he realized that he could not understand this son at all.

A chill rose in his heart. He was afraid.

“No, Zhou Ying and Zhou Yan have already left. As long as they don’t rebel in this life, I won’t touch them. Zhou Heng is the same.”

Zhou Zhi looked straight at Zhou Zhao and replied calmly.

“Have you ever thought about me, your father, when you did all this? If you treat them like this, what about me? What are you thinking?”

Zhou Zhi had already crossed the line. Zhou Zhao’s heart sank. He had been in power for many years and had power in his hands. There were too many things that he could not let go of.. Now that Zhou Zhi had crossed the line, what would he do next? Could he no longer wait to become the emperor?