Chapter 14: The Year's End (2)

  Tomorrow is the eve of the Lunar New Year, and it's the second time Zhu Yinglong has spent a year in this space-time after borrowing a corpse to return his soul. The last time was in the palace, during which he was like a puppet on strings throughout the grand wedding, and he doesn't even know how he got through that year. Tomorrow should be considered the true eve of the Lunar New Year since he arrived in this space-time.

  "Your Highness, it's getting late and chilly, you should get some rest!" Xu Yingyuan softly reminded Zhu Yinglong, who was still deep in thought under the lamp.

  "Is anyone else at home?" Zhu Yinglong asked slowly as he raised his head.

  "There is, but..." Xu Yingyuan stuttered.

  "But what?"

  "Your Highness, don't ask me anymore, I don't want to say it." Xuyingyuan suddenly knelt down and said with a sob.

  "Alright, get up. The ground is cold. If you don't want to talk, then let's just forget it." Zhu Yinglong said dejectedly. Every family has its own unspeakable sorrows. He had been thinking about his parents in that time and space earlier. If they knew he was dead, how much pain would they be in? Unfortunately, he couldn't send a message to them even if he wanted to. Even if he could, his body on the other side probably turned to ashes long ago.

  "Your Highness, I was sold into the palace when I was six years old. That year, our family suffered a disaster and had no food to eat. As the eldest son, my parents sold me to a human trafficker for five taels of silver. The trafficker then sold me into the palace, where I became a small eunuch. Because I am taciturn and rarely speak, many eunuchs in the palace did not like me, so they assigned me to serve you, Your Highness. You know what happened afterwards." Xu Yingyuan poured out his tragic experience, it seemed that he had never told these things to the real Zhu Youjian before, otherwise he wouldn't have known today that eunuchs were also pitiful creatures, most of whom were not inherently bad, but rather a kind of people who were both hateful and pitied.

  "I was only six years old at the time, I didn't understand anything and didn't know where my home was, I just knew it was in Zhili, so although I knew I had a father and mother and relatives, I didn't know where to find them." Xu Yingyuan continued.

  "Ying Yuan, do you hate your parents?" Zhu Ying Long asked.

  Xu Yingyuan shook his head and said, "I don't resent them, they had no choice but to sell me away. If they didn't sell me, my father, mother, younger brother and sister would have starved to death. Besides, after being sold into the palace, I get to eat three meals a day, which is much better than what they have."

  It's rare to find someone who entered the palace at the age of six and still maintained a childlike heart after more than a decade. Not every man becomes like Wei Zhongxian after being castrated. He patted Xu Yingyuan on the shoulder three times and said, "Don't worry, as long as your parents are alive, I will definitely help you find them and let your family reunite!"

  Xu Yingyuan was instantly moved to tears, and with a thud, he knelt down again, kowtowing three times in a row to Zhu Yinglong, saying: "Your Highness's great kindness, Yingyuan will never be able to repay in this lifetime. From now on, Yingyuan's life belongs to Your Highness. No matter whether it's climbing a mountain of knives or diving into a sea of fire, Yingyuan is willing to charge forward for Your Highness!"

  Zhu Yinglong was also very excited, and he quickly helped him up, saying: "I don't need you to go through knife mountains and fire seas, just do your job well, I will be very happy, and in the future, I won't treat you unfairly."

  "I understand, thank you for your kindness, Your Highness."

  "All right, you can go and rest now. Summon Yan Hong for me." Zhu Yinglong instructed, thinking of Xu Yingyuan's miserable experience, he thought of Yan Hong who was also a palace maid in the imperial palace, so he wanted to understand Yan Hong's situation.

  Yan Hong walked in with a basin of hot water, since she got Zhu Ying Long's promise, she has become more cheerful and her smile has increased. Every night, it was her who came to serve Zhu Ying Long washing his feet before sleeping. It can be said that the three princesses combined did not understand Zhu Ying Long's body as well as Yan Hong did.

  His icy feet soaked in the warm water, it was extremely comfortable. If a pair of gentle small hands were to carefully massage them, it would be like living in heaven. Zhu Yinglong didn't want Yan Hong to do these things, but Yan Hong insisted that she was his person and should do these things. Moreover, he was her master, this was also her duty. Zhu Yinglong could only compromise under her persistence. No wonder people say, the hardest thing to bear is a beauty's favor.

  "Yan Hong, is there anyone else at home?" Zhu Yinglong suddenly remembered and asked.

  Only saw Yan Hong's hand suddenly tremble for a moment, and then continued to help Zhu Yinglong wash his feet, lowering his head without saying a word.

  Zhu Yinglong felt something was off, so he bent down to take a look. A pair of phoenix eyes that were originally bright red had become moist. He reached out to grab her arms and stopped her from continuing to wash his feet, asking: "What's wrong? Why did you suddenly start crying?"

  "Your Highness, I have no one left at home." Yan Hong said, barely holding on and not daring to look directly at Zhu Ying Long.

  "Yan Hong, don't you have any relatives left?" Zhu Yinglong asked in surprise. Even if his parents were not around, he should still have some uncles, aunts, brothers or distant relatives.

  "There's no need to hide it, Yan Hong is the daughter of a guilty official, and was implicated along with her entire family. At that time, I was still in my infancy, and fortunately managed to escape the implication, not even knowing what our surname was. It was only later, when I was taken in by someone else, that they told me about it. After that, I was sold into the palace, and later ended up serving Prince Wang." As Yan Hong spoke of her sorrowful past, tears naturally flowed down her face.

  "What about the one who adopted you?" Zhu Yinglong couldn't help but ask.

  Yan Hong shook her head and said: "I haven't seen him again since I entered the palace, and I don't know where he is now."

  Another poor soul, fortunately she met herself, otherwise who knows what kind of tragic fate it would be. Suddenly thinking of herself, thinking of her parents and friends in that time and space, her heart filled with compassion for Yan Hong, unconsciously embracing her and gently stroking Yan Hong's hair: "Yan Hong, since you don't know your surname, why not take the king's surname from now on."

  "No, Yan Hong doesn't dare and isn't worthy of this blessing." Only then did Yan Hong realize that she was already leaning against the chest of the person in her heart. She was greedy for that wonderful feeling, but in surprise, she still jumped up to one side, frantically waving her hand.

  "If I say it's okay, then it's okay!" Without being a bit overbearing, this girl would absolutely not agree.

  Yan Hong finally succumbed to Zhu Yinglong's "lustful power" and had her own surname, but the little girl resolutely refused to let Zhu Yinglong tell anyone except the Wang sisters, and Zhu Yinglong was also happy to agree, because he didn't want to cause trouble either. Granting a "national surname" was still beyond his authority.

  On New Year's Eve, Zhu Yinglong's thoughts were with his parents in another space-time. Every year on this night, the family would gather together to celebrate the passing of the old year and welcome the new one, laughing and chatting. His father's kindness, his mother's diligence... he didn't know how they would spend New Year's Eve in the future, whether their wrinkles had deepened, whether their bodies were weaker than before. Forgive me for being unfilial, I can no longer take care of you two elderly people! Zhu Yinglong prayed silently that his parents in that space-time were safe and happy. Tears streamed down his face, bitter and salty, just like his mood at the moment.

  Zhu Yinglong got drunk, this was his first time getting drunk in his life, he really wanted to just stay drunk like this and never wake up.

  A flash of lightning tore through the sky, and the era belonging to Zhu Yinglong has finally arrived.