Rebirth: Ordinary Life and Living

Zhou Xinyue knew that since ancient times, princes, especially those related to the throne, had always fought against each other. There was no blood relationship at all, let alone half-brothers. Even brothers with the same father and mother, or biological father and son, any blood relationship could fight against each other when it came to the throne.

Zhou Xinyue kept her head down and didn't say anything. Jin Youyuan knew that Zhou Xinyue was worried about him.

He put down the oars and let the boat drift on the lake.

He bent down, held Zhou Xinyue's hands, and said in the most gentle voice: "Yue'er, this is fate, I can't escape it. Because if I don't fight, I will be killed. I might as well tell you how my mother was executed by them."

Jin Youyuan gently recounted his past.

"My mother was framed by the people in the harem, saying that my mother was a fox who seduced the master. They put some things in advance to frame my mother. At that time, maids kept disappearing in the palace. My mother had just brought me back from Anxin Xiaozhu. They called many court officials and people, and opened the luggage in our carriage in front of everyone. There were seven dead baby girls hidden in it. My father was also shocked at the time and didn't know how to explain to everyone. At that time, the queen led everyone to ask my mother to give an explanation. No matter how my mother explained, no one believed it. Later, the queen and those concubines and beauties took everyone to the palace where my mother lived, and unexpectedly found a bunch of ritual implements. My mother had never seen those things. They also found the bodies of 8 missing and long-dead maids in my mother's palace. My mother's bathtub was full of the blood of these maids. They framed my mother for using witchcraft to seduce the master and harm the maids. What's even more ridiculous is that they said that the basin of blood was a must for my mother to take a bath to maintain her youth."

Hearing this, Zhou Xinyue couldn't believe that there was such a false accusation.

Jin Youyuan continued, "No matter what explanations I gave my mother, no one believed me. The bloody palace and the corpses made everyone furious. Everyone wanted to punish my mother, but my mother had never done these things. I was with my mother every day. Who could understand her better than me?"

"As everyone was furious, my father said he would deal with it, and he threw my mother into a dungeon. I was put under house arrest. Unexpectedly, that night my father suddenly took my hand and led me to a secret passage. It was dark and damp inside. There were 80 of my father's close guards accompanying us. He asked these guards to take my mother and me out of the palace immediately and go to Fuluo City in the southwest border. There my father prepared a separate courtyard for me and stationed an army there to protect my mother and me."

At this point, Jin Youyuan choked up.

Zhou Xinyue sighed and said, "Ayi, if you don't want to say it, then don't say it."

Jin Youyuan shook his head with red eyes and said, "I didn't expect that the queen and the harem got the news and chased us all the way. I don't know how many times we went through, how much suffering we endured, and how many people died because of us. Even if we hid in a village, they slaughtered the entire village. I don't know how long we walked and how much suffering we endured. My mother's black hair turned white in such a short time."

When Jin Youyuan said this, crystal tears rolled down his eyes, and Zhou Xinyue quickly wiped away his tears with a handkerchief.

She said distressedly: "Ayi, stop talking, let's talk about something happy."

Jin Youyuan shook his head and said, "No, I want to say that this is my past and I want to share it with you."

Zhou Xinyue nodded, and Jin Youyuan continued, "80 of Cangdu's top masters died or were injured along the way. When they arrived at Fuliu City, only three were left."

Zhou Xinyue sighed, "You can imagine how cruel they were at that time. They were determined to kill you and your son."

Jin Youyuan nodded and said, "Yes, there is not a day that I don't hate them, and hate their wealthy families. When I returned to Fuliu City, the garrison had already split into two factions. The pro-empress faction killed the pro-emperor faction and was ready to kill us mother and son to win credit. At the last moment of his death, the deputy general told me the whole story. When the pro-empress faction chased after us and wanted to kill us, two guards took up their swords to cut off our retreat. We fled the barracks and fled into the city under the leadership of the last guard. That group of people was still They chased me relentlessly, and even the last guard died to protect me. At that time, in an alley, my mother climbed over the wall, took off her coat, pushed me into a courtyard wall, and asked me to hide in a cart full of manure in the courtyard. Unexpectedly, before my mother climbed over, the group of people rushed over and pulled my mother down from the courtyard wall. When my mother was dragged down, she looked at me with eyes full of heartache and worry, and asked me to hide, and kept asking me to hide. I listened to her and hid in a manure cart outside the courtyard. "

Zhou Xinyue's heart started pounding when she heard this. She felt distressed and nervous, as if she was also there when Jin Youyuan was escaping. She was extremely nervous.

Jin Youyuan continued, "When I was running, I heard the obscene smiles of those men, shouting that this is the most beautiful woman in Cangdu, so beautiful. There were many men's voices. I covered my ears and ran out of the yard desperately, hiding in a big manure bucket. I happened to meet a wealthy family preparing to drive a cart out of the city. When they rushed into the yard to look for me, the family pushed the manure cart away. After the gate guard opened the manure cart, I held my breath and sank into the manure water before I escaped by luck."

Zhou Xinyue said with great distress: "Oh my God, you were only ten years old at that time. I didn't know what to say to comfort you."

"I lived with beggars and many helpless people outside Fuluo City. That day, they told me that my mother was raped by them and her body was cut into pieces and hung on the city gate for seven days. Yue'er, I felt so sad. I hated myself for being so weak and incompetent that I couldn't even protect my own mother."

Jin Youyuan burst into tears and was filled with regret.

Zhou Xinyue burst into tears when she heard this.

"My beggar friends found my mother's torso for me. I didn't find it all. Some parts had been thrown away somewhere, perhaps to stray dogs. It was only thanks to them that I was able to set up a simple grave tablet for my mother. I couldn't even engrave her real name on the tablet. Later, I pawned all the unimportant and valuable things on my body and lived with those helpless and poor people for a long time."

Zhou Xinyue listened carefully to Jin Youyuan's past, which was so full of ups and downs, so sad and infuriating, and so difficult.

"It was not until the festival in the city that I sneaked into the city when there were many people around and went to the villa my father had prepared for me to get something that I discovered that my villa had already been burned down by them. My father had prepared many things for me, but those things were not in the villa, but in a dry well in the southeast corner of the villa. There were many precious treasures and banknotes in it. I started my life with these."