Xie Ming

Chapter 289 Tell the truth!

In Nanjing Prefecture, beside the Qinhuai River, the plum rain is gloomy.

In the deep alley of Dongpailou Street, on the second floor of the Shen residence, Yuzhen, Yu'e and her brother Shen Zhengwen were crying and recounting family affairs.

Because of Yuzhen's words, her biological father Zhu Chunchen surrendered to the rebels. Her brother Zhengwen was so angry that he had a splitting headache and fell back on the stool.

"Ugh!"

"How could he do such a thing!"

"Really? He has implicated the whole family. I feel so ashamed of my ancestors!" Shen Zhengwen was furious.

"Brother!" Seeing her brother roaring, Yuzhen felt helpless, so she had to interrupt him quickly.

"elder brother!"

"Father, he has passed away!"

"It was the day Yu'e and I escaped from the mansion and died in Mingyue Tower in the east of the city!"

As soon as these words came out, Zheng Wen was completely stunned! It was as if a pillar under his heart suddenly broke.

The instantly blasted body parts and the rolling aftermath of the air waves struck back and forth in his brain, as if they would not stop until all his rationality was shattered!
Raindrops like sorrow
Tick, tick, tick!
The rain in the south of the Yangtze River is drizzling and drizzling, and there is never a sunny day.

It was almost nightfall in this deep alley of Dongpailou Street, and it was quiet and peaceful.

In the small corner building at the end of the alley, there is a pot of fresh tea in front of the window, steam rising, and a piece of Pingtan music playing, like a thread. How can a wanderer in a foreign land not miss his hometown and distant relatives? !
An unknown amount of time passed slowly until, on the second floor of the Shen residence, his elder brother Zhengwen finally calmed down after hearing the news that his biological father Zhu Chunchen had been killed in treason.

He pondered, silently, unwillingly, wiping away the incoherent tears again and again, but still flowing!

"Ugh!"

"alright!"

"It's in the past!"

"The dead are gone, the living are gone!"

"In the future, how are we three going to survive? We still have to look forward!"

"Now, since he is gone!"

"You two have to travel thousands of miles to come to me safely."

"Yuzhen, it's because of you, what happened before..."

"As your brother, I think I should let you know something!"

Shen Zhengwen was heartbroken and lamenting. Obviously, the death of Zhu Chunchen had deeply affected him!
As he spoke, Zhengwen wiped his tears and waved his hand to ask the two sisters to sit down.

In front of the house, several windows were half-closed, and the sound of Pingtan music could be faintly heard from outside.

wow——

Shen Zhengwen sniffed and poured a cup of tea for Yuzhen and Xiao'e respectively.

"That's twelve years!"

"When I decided to leave home, I, my elder brother, was young and inexperienced, and had a stubborn temper, so I had a big fight with him (Zhu Chunchen)."

"I've been traveling around these years, and the number of times I've been home is probably something I can count on one hand!"

"In recent years, I settled in Nanjing and Yangzhou. It was only recently that I got in touch with my family more often!" Zhengwen spoke slowly, his voice full of loneliness, regret and unwillingness.

"Brother, you are so shameless!"

"It's said that there is contact, but it's just some private correspondence with Xue Bo!"

"If Xiao'e and I hadn't asked Xue Bo to pass on a few words every time, we would have no idea about your recent situation!"

"For a while, not to mention my father, even I have been mad at you for a long time!"

Having not seen her elder brother for many years, Yuzhen naturally had a lot of grievances and complaints, ready to complain.

"Heh" Seeing Yuzhen like this, Shen Zhengwen forced a bitter smile.

"Yuzhen, I haven't had it as easy as you think in this southern border these years!"

"I am so busy with worldly affairs that I have no time to spare!"

"It's a secret that even Xue Bo doesn't know about!"

"Let's just say three years ago!"

"For the sake of what I was planning, I changed my surname and entered the Shen family. I joined the Yangzhou Salt Gang as the nephew of Shen Chaozong of the Huizhou Merchants Association!" "This Shen Chaozong is also from Huizhou, and his current business is the salt business."

"According to him (Zhu Chunchen), in the early years, he and the head of the Shen family were already friends of life and death!"

"The reason why I have changed my name and am here in the southern region is to learn how to run a business with Uncle Shen."

"Most of these things were arranged secretly by him (Zhu Chunchen)!"

With Zhu Chunchen's death, everything was over, so Shen Zhengwen finally told Yuzhen the whole story.

"Ah?! This."

"What does this mean? Why do you have to hide it even from us at home?!" Yuzhen was shocked and seemed quite annoyed when she heard it.

"Ah"

"Everything here was caused by Wu Daoquan, the one who preceded him (Zhu Chunchen), communicating with me through secret letters!"

"Not only you two sisters, but also few people in the clan know about it. Not even Uncle Xue knows!" Zheng Wen could explain.

"But, but why does it have to be this way?!" Yuzhen was still confused.

"Ugh!"

"It's a long story!"

"However, let's just say that this is another plan he (Zhu Chunchen) is making for his family!"

"It's just a retreat option!"

"Yuzhen, you and Xiao'e are women in the inner chamber, and you may have known less about external affairs before!"

"In fact, the situation in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty is in chaos, and the country is in danger. The court is short of tax revenue, and the prefectures and cities are waging wars everywhere, and bandits are rampant. This situation has been going on for a long time!"

"He (Zhu Chunchen) saw early on that this major crisis was imminent, so a few years ago, when the situation in the capital was deteriorating, he began to think of leaving a way out!"

"You have to know that most of our family members are in the northern border, near the capital!"

"That's why if the capital is lost someday, all the land, property and income from the Duke's Mansion near the capital will be gone in an instant!"

"By then, all the merits of past generations will naturally be wasted. In the worst case scenario, the entire family, young and old, may all be wiped out!"

"So, for the sake of the continuation of the family, he (Zhu Chunchen) had no choice but to lower his posture for the first time three years ago and send me a family letter!"

"The gist of the letter is that I'm going to take advantage of the fact that I've been traveling around for many years and there are few knowledgeable people in Beijing. I'm going to change my ways and enter the Shen family as a distant nephew to take over part of the Shen family's salt transportation business!"

"And he said, in this time of quelling rebellion, in order to protect the continuation of the clan, he asked me to accept this mission!"

"Later, what I did here led to what has happened today!" Zheng Wen told the secret.

"Uh"

"This"

"Oh! It's actually like this!"

"I see!"

Yuzhen found it difficult to fully digest such a big plan at once.

As he continued talking, he was also stunned.

"Brother, I have really made things difficult for you over the years!"

"I really didn't expect that things would turn out like this!"

"I am shallow. I had Xiao'e with me before, but I blamed you wrongly!"

After she finished speaking, Yuzhen rarely lowered her head and nodded, looking embarrassed and admitting her mistake.