Epilogue 5 – The Top Student and The Bookworm (Part 17/17)
This minor farce passed quickly. The influential figures here couldn’t be bothered to pay any attention to Zhao Zhicheng, so they naturally wouldn’t take his offence seriously. However, one couldn’t say for sure whether they would tell Zhao Pingbo about it once they returned to the capital. In the way... the consequences would be obvious.
Mu Tianyuan and his wife witnessed all of this, and complicated emotions filled their hearts while they felt dazed. They’d really looked favorably upon the union between Zhao Zhicheng and Mu Qing in the past, but they’d abandoned such thoughts when they witnessed this scene.
Because Zhao Zhicheng’s seemingly impudent actions had caused him to leave a bad impression in the hearts of all those influential figures, so his future was worrying.
Uncle Yong’s figure suddenly approached from the limestone path, and he said, “Thank you for waiting. Please come with me.”
As he spoke, Uncle Yong waved his hands to order the guards to withdraw from here, and then he turned around and walked towards the mansion.
“Come, let’s go with him. Remember that you absolutely must take care of your manners and etiquette.” At this moment, the emperor revealed a solemn and serious expression as he took a deep breath and walked over behind Uncle Yong.
The other influential figures of the empire grew even more serious when they witnessed this scene, and their expressions became solemn as they followed Uncle Yong. From the beginning until the end, no one paid any attention to Zhao Zhicheng.
Mu Tianyuan and his wife acted as if they were avoiding the plague as well, and they followed closely behind the group.
“What... what exactly is going on?” Zhao Zhicheng’s mind was in chaos after he witnessed this scene.
He was sure that the mansion in the distance should be Chen Lan’s home. But.... Why have all of these influential and authoritative figures come here tonight? Moreover, even the emperor himself has come here?
He couldn’t figure it out.
The middle aged man who wore a suit asked, “Young Master, what should we do now?”
“Since we’ve come, then let’s go over and have a look as well. Let’s see if we can turn the situation around.” Zhao Zhicheng sighed as he followed the group like a walking corpse.
...
The mansion was brightly illuminated, and the ground was covered in a red carpet. All the furniture and decorations seemed to be antiques, and they were elegant and extraordinary.
At this moment, a man and a woman were seated upright in the hall. The man was handsome and calm while the woman was beautiful and dignified. There was a group of old and young by their side.
Amongst them was Chen Lan and Mu Qing who were standing behind the man and woman.
When the emperor led the group into the hall and saw the man and woman seated at the seats of the host, his entire body shook, and he actually knelt on the ground as he said, “Big Sister, Brother-in-law!”
All the influential figures of the empire were dumbstruck. The emperor actually knelt down!!Even though the empire still maintained many traditions from the previous dynasty, it had been developed greatly. It was completely like a modern society, and the act of kneeling down and kowtowing wasn’t prevalent any longer.
Yet now, the emperor had knelt down!
This was too shocking. If reporters were to have snapped a picture of this, then it would definitely shock the entire empire and even the entire world!
Zhao Zhicheng who’d just arrived outside the hall just happened to witness this scene, and he was instantly shocked to the point of crying out involuntarily while horror filled his heart.
After an unknown period passed, Zhao Zhicheng finally recovered from his shock, but he didn’t walk into the hall and walked over to a corner of the mansion inside. He took a few deep breaths before withdrawing his handphone with shaky hands, and he dialed his father’s number.
“Hey, father.”
“What is it?”
“I just... I just saw.... I... I’ve made a mistake.” Gloominess covered Zhao Zhicheng’s face, and he seemed as if he’d lost his soul.
“What exactly happened?”
Zhao Zhicheng took numerous deep breaths for a long time before he spoke bitterly and described everything that had just occurred.
The person on the other side of the call fell silent for a long time before speaking once more, “It was you who made the mistake. Don’t come back if you can’t make amends!”
The call was cut right after.
Zhao Zhicheng was instantly stunned on the spot, and he felt the world was crumbling down around him.
...
After the emperor and the others finished conveying their new year wishes, they left hastily beneath the veil of the night. Only when they were on the way did the emperor give the other officials a short explanation.
It turned out that Yellow Millet Village or ‘黃粱村’ was phonetically similar to the words ‘Royal Liang’ or ‘皇梁’, and it was where the Royal Liang Family had originated from.
In other words, that mansion was where the royal family’s bloodline had started!
At this moment, all the officials finally came to a slight understanding. However, they were still shocked in their hearts, and they wondered who that big sister and brother-in-law of the emperor were!
Moreover, they wondered why that brother-in-law of the emperor seemed even more revered and respected!
The emperor didn’t reveal the answer to this, and it was even to the extent that it was his first time meeting that brother-in-law of his. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so anxious and hastily rushed over here without even celebrating new year’s eve just to pay his respects.
...
Yellow Millet Village. Within the Liang Family Mansion.
Mu Tianyuan and his wife had stayed behind, but they seemed very ill at ease.
Especially when they faced Chen Lan’s parents right now. They actually felt pressure that caused them to be unable to catch their breaths. After all, they’d watched with their own two eyes as the emperor knelt to them just moments ago....
“Since Lan’er and Miss Mu Qing like each other, then I, his father, would naturally not obstruct their relationship. However, our Chen Clan is slightly special, so please be more understanding in the future.” Chen Xi smiled as he took a sip of tea. With his current status, he would naturally not do something like splitting the young couple. Regardless of what sort of girl his son fell for, he wouldn’t stop them so long as they liked each other.
“Of course, of course.” Mu Tianyuan nodded repeatedly.
“There’s no need to feel ill at ease. We’ll be a family in the future, so just treat it as a casual chat with your family,” said Liang Bing before she started engaging Liu Xiuzhi in conversation.
Chen Xi withdrew a bottle of wine instead, and he started drinking with Mu Tianyuan.
Chen Lan pulled Mu Qing away and left the room when he noticed that there was nothing left for him to do.
“Hey, your parents look really like ancient people. Especially your father, he’s even wearing green robes and has hair that reaches down to his shoulders. He really seems so much more elegant and unrestrained than a bookworm like you.” Mu Qing’s eyes glistened with excitement. She’d never imagined that her parents had actually come here as well. Moreover, they’d changed their attitude and stopped standing in the way of her relationship with Chen Lan.
“My father... is very unrestrained indeed.” Chen Lan sighed. However, he hadn’t told her that his father wasn’t just unrestrained, his father was simply talented in romance to a point that he could look down proudly upon the world. Of course, according to his father, his father was always the person that was being pursued....
“Right, your mother is actually a distantly related older sister of the emperor? Why didn’t you tell me about this in the past?
“Besides that, all of the servants of your family seem so extraordinary. They’re simply like a group of gods.
“Right, you said that you have a few older brothers and an older sister? Where are they? Why aren’t they here to celebrate the new year?”
Mu Qing was like a curious child that asked questions in succession.
Chen Lan instantly laughed bitterly. He’d expected such a situation to arise, but he hadn’t expected it to arrive so quickly.
“I can tell you with absolute certainty that even I didn’t know that the emperor was my mother’s distantly related younger brother. As for those servants, they are gods. Besides that, my older brothers and older sister aren’t here. But I’ll take you to see them in the future.” Chen Lan explained patiently.
These two youths just continued talking and talking with each other, and dawn had arrived before they’d even realized it.
When dawn arrived, Mu Qing suddenly realized that what Chen Lan had said during the reunion dinner that night was true, they really were people of two different worlds.
Fortunately, Chen Lan had come into her world now, and that was all that mattered to her.
On the other hand, Mu Tianyuan and his wife had realized the exact same thing when they left Yellow Millet Village. Their daughter and Chen Lan... really were people of two completely different worlds. But now, they had to be worried about whether their daughter would suffer any injustice once she was married to Chen Lan....
This was what being a parent was like. All their thoughts revolved around the well-being of their children. Perhaps they would do some things which their children disliked, but it was always done with good intentions.
The night of new year’s eve came to an end just like that.
The End.