CH 190

It was unknown how this matter reached Song Luan’s ears, but she ended up learning that Ming Zhu was dead, and that her son who had been good and obedient since childhood was ruthless like a wolf and unscrupulous like a dog and didn’t even hold a funerary service for her.

Song Luan called her son over that day to scold him.

Zhao Zhi did not contradict any of her words, and just quietly sat on the other side, enduring the scolding. At the end, for fear that his mother would be thirsty, he even poured her a cup of water, “Don’t put a strain on your body because of anger.”

This light-hearted attitude he had right now, was the same as pouring oil on fire.

Song Luan’s face turned cold, and she raised her hand to knock down the teacup on the table. He was really breaking her heart, she thought she had raised her son very well, that he was obedient and understanding, and knew what things to do, and what things not to do. But it turned out that he was hiding deep and only pretending to be good.

“Forget it, I can’t control you at all.” Song Luan said, “Later on, you best not regret it. ”

Regret, was the most useless thing in this world.

Zhao Zhi left the palace with a sullen face, he learned that his mother had heard of the matter because Ming Zhu’s tombstone had been smashed on the outskirts of the city, and the idiots at the imperial court of justice couldn’t bear the princess’ aggressive orders, so the matter ended up being brought up in front of his mother.

When Wei Liu finished telling the story to Zhao Zhi, he finally asked, “That tombstone ……”

Zhao Zhi interrupted him, “You don’t need to care.”

He laughed in anger, how could Ming Zhu’s luck be so bad? If she had known that her grave would be dug up after her death, she would definitely have jumped out of the coffin and fought with those people.

Wei Liu suppressed his astonishment and said one word at a time with difficulty, as he asked, “We, we’re…not repairing?”

Zhao Zhi turned sideways his icy-cold face, and looked at him indifferently with cold eyes, as the corners of his mouth curled up into a curve that didn’t look like a smile, “It’s not like I was the one who made her this tomb, why should I help her repair it?”

As he listened to these words, Wei Liu’s heart trembled. He really did not know what kind of hateful things miss Ming Zhu had done in the end, that even after her tragic death, the crown prince still hated her so much that his teeth were gnashing.

Zhao Zhi couldn’t tell whether he loved or hated Ming Zhu, maybe it was both, it was not clear. He stubbornly imagined that if she knew what he was doing, that she would resent him, hate him and remember him, that she would become a ghost and come find him.

With such indefinable emotions, Zhao Zhi endured until winter.

The first day of snow, coincided with the 15th day of the month. Zhao Zhi was wearing a moon-colored jacket, with white clouds patterns embroidered on the cuffs, and a jade pendant hanging on his waist. His long ebony hair was pulled up, his figure was thin and meager, his expression was indistinguishable. The man was standing in the corridor, as his cold pupils quietly looked at the increasingly falling snow. He stretched out his fingers, to catch a few tiny snowflakes, which disappeared as soon as they landed on his palm. The snowflakes sticking on his skin were slightly cold. There was no emotion on his face, as his white and thin fingers silently clenched together.

The snow fell all night long, and the next day, the pile of snow was as high as people’s calves.

The servants got up early to clean up the snow in the courtyard and discovered that the flower tree in the backyard was short of a lot of branches, and then when they looked at it carefully, they saw that the trunk underneath was completely rotten, it looked like an empty shell.

This tree could not be saved, it was already dead.

The fact that a tree was dead, it was not a big matter. The intendant Lin did not think much about it and reported the matter to the crown prince.

It was a cold winter day, yet there was no charcoal burning inside the study, and the room was freezing cold. However, Zhao Zhi’s body was hot, and unless it was really cold, he generally would not burn charcoal in the room. Otherwise, it wouldn’t take long for his body to start sweating.

Zhao Zhi coughed twice before he came back to his senses and asked, “What did you say?”

The intendant Lin polished his words and said, “The flower tree in the backyard is dead, when would be a good time to have it removed? Does Your Highness want to plant another flower tree in the spring?”

There were bamboos planted in most of the backyards of ordinary families, or cypress trees that had a good meaning, but it was very rare to see flower trees planted.

Zhao Zhi coughed even more. The faint daylight was illuminating his snow-white and jade-like cheeks. He wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, before saying: “Just leave it.”

Hearing these words, the intendant Lin looked at him in a daze.

Zhao Zhi faintly said: “Even if it’s dead, just leave it without touching it.”

He still remembered that it was Ming Zhu who had ordered people to move that tree to the backyard. She liked spring, liked all kinds of flowers, she was somewhat foolishly naive and romantic. The flower tree was brought over by some southern merchant, and when she saw it, she liked it very much, but did not have the silver to buy it, so she ended up begging in front of him with a red and pitiful face, asking him to borrow some money.

She said “borrow”, but in fact, she didn’t return the money.

Even now, when Zhao Zhi closed his eyes, he could still recall how she tugged on his sleeves back then, her attitude as she softly begged him with a red face, pink ears and a small voice. Sweet and soft, and exquisite.