The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 418 Green Turtle on the Head
It was already afternoon when Xu Xuan and Li Congjia were sent away, and it was almost time for dinner. Zhu Xiu was so hungry that he was going to go to the kitchen to get some food.

While walking, a person jumped out from the corner of the corridor, startling Zhu Xiu.

"Second brother." Zhu Xiugong held up his hands and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Zhou Min is 40 years old now, but his temper is still so cheerful. No wonder he makes his old father angry every now and then.

Zhou Min grabbed him and said with a smile: "Where are you going, brother-in-law?"

Zhu Xiu said honestly: "I'm hungry, so I'm going to find some food."

Zhou Min pulled him to the other end of the corridor: "Brother Yu just sent some dried fruits from the Western Regions to Ehuang Courtyard, you go there to eat."

Zhu Xiu quickly hugged the pillar, shook his head and said: "Thank you for your kindness, second brother. I will just go to the kitchen to eat."

Zhou Min tugged at his arm, but didn't move, winked and said, "Why, the young couple are having a fight?"

Zhu Xiu grinned: "No."

Ever since Zhu Lin made Zhou Xian angry that day, the young lady never gave him a good look.

Even when Li Jing sent his eunuchs to convey the decree and confer marriage, she just kept a cold face, cooperated with Zhu Xiu perfunctorily to accept the decree and thanked him, and then turned away with a flick of her black hair.

She greets Wu Youdi on time every day. When talking to Wu Youdi, her voice is soft, her manners are dignified, and her smile is kind. In short, she behaves like a good daughter.

Zhu Xiu stood aside, but the young lady didn't even bother to look at him.

Every time Wu Youdi asked him to see her off, as soon as she walked out of the courtyard, the little lady would turn around and glare at him fiercely, indicating that he could go back and not follow him like a follower.

Zhu Xiu knew why she was angry, and he also knew that her anger was still there, so he wouldn't make it uncomfortable for her now.

Zhou Min chuckled strangely: "You still said no, I've been back for the past two days and I've never seen you two talking to each other. What else could it be if it wasn't that they were at odds?
We're about to get married, why aren't we affectionate at all? "

Zhu Xiugan smiled and said: "You can't meet too frequently before getting married. Isn't this a rule?"

Zhou Min pouted and said: "Are you afraid? But it's all for outsiders to see. Which young couple doesn't secretly get tired of being together before they get married? Song Qiqiu's third grandson, Song Yuansi, his wife was pregnant before they got married! You sister in law"

Zhu Xiu's eyes widened with a look of disgust on his face.

"Ahem~" Zhou Min waved his hand, "Don't talk about this. Don't be ignorant, little boy. Ehuang has you in his heart, and I, the second brother, know it best. Women, regardless of age, should be subdued and please when they should. Lower your face."

Zhou Min pulled out something wrapped in a brocade handkerchief from his arms like a magic trick and stuffed it into Zhu Xiu's hand.

It was heavy in hand, Zhu Xiu squeezed it, and saw it was a bracelet. When he opened the veil, he saw that it was a pure gold bracelet as thick as a finger. It was dazzling and shiny, and it probably weighed less than half a kilogram.

"." Zhu Xiu couldn't laugh or cry, and was speechless. Which daughter-in-law would wear such a heavy and thick gold bracelet?

Only Zhou Min, the owner of thirteen shipping companies, could do such a rich thing!

"All women love this, take it, it's a meeting gift from my second brother!"

Zhou Min felt proud and patted Zhu Xiu on the shoulder.

".Thank you, second brother!"

It was hard to refuse such hospitality, so Zhu Xiu thanked him and accepted it.

Zhou Xian definitely didn’t want it, so it ended up being his.

Anyway, with Zhou Min's net worth, he is not short of this little gold.

"Go quickly, don't let your new daughter-in-law look sad all day long, it's unlucky! When you get married, my second brother will make hundreds of painted boats and parade on the Qinhuai River, so that the whole Jiangning people can celebrate you!"

Zhou Min's big hand passed over it, and he suddenly felt heroic.

The corners of Zhu Xiu's mouth twitched, not wanting to talk to this pompous young man anymore.

After sending Zhu Xiu to the gate of the Kuayuan where Zhou Xian lived, and watching him go in step by step, Zhou Min left in peace.

Without a solution, Zhu Xiu had no choice but to bite the bullet and climb up to the pavilion.

The boudoir where Zhou Xian lives is named Guzhuzhai. It is a two-story building surrounded by many plane trees, but not a single bamboo.

Since Dongmei was killed, Zhou Xian sent several maids who were serving in Guzhu Zhai to other places, leaving only a 40-year-old maid, Aunt Liu, who usually does menial work of fetching water and cleaning.

The first floor is a small hall with various musical instruments. Zhou Xian lives on the second floor.

Aunt Liu was mopping the stairs. When she saw Zhu Xiu going upstairs, she bowed and saluted with a smile, and pointed to the second floor, her eyes a little narrower.

Zhu Xiu thanked her and tiptoed upstairs with the hem of her robe in hand.

I heard from Zhou Xian before that Aunt Liu was originally a maid by her mother's side. After getting married, she was barren for several years and was rejected and abused by her husband's family. When Zhou's mother found out, she stepped forward to make the decision, allowing Aunt Liu to reconcile smoothly and let her return to the Zhou family.

Before Zhou's mother passed away, she specifically told Aunt Liu to stay in the Zhou family until her old age.

With the protection of the Zhou family, Aunt Liu had a stable life. However, she suffered persecution in her husband's family for several years and became mute.

Standing at the door of the bedroom, she listened for a while, but she didn't hear the sound of the pipa. Zhu Xiu dusted off her sleeves and robe and knocked gently on the door.

After knocking several times, but no one answered, Zhu Xiu gently opened the door, crossed the threshold and walked into the room with gentle steps.

Zhu Xiu also entered this boudoir for the first time. He came once a few days ago and was blocked by Zhou Xian.

The boudoir was decorated in a simple and elegant manner, with two pots of pale chrysanthemums in unopened buds placed on the window sill. A green willow brocade screen separated the bed, and Zhou Xian's beloved pipa was placed on one side of the screen.

A refreshing fragrance was inhaled into the nostrils, Zhu Xiu sniffed a little harder, it was the same smell as Zhou Xian's body.

In front of a foldable painting table, Zhou Xian was concentrating on painting something with a brush, and a palette was placed on the table beside him.

Zhu Xiu approached furtively, craned his neck to take a peek, and found that the canvas in front of the young lady was depicting a picture of playing in a mountain stream.

To be precise, it is a picture of washing feet in a mountain stream.

The little person sitting on the bank of the stream can be seen to be a young lady. The person standing in the stream is a naive little person with a funny expression, a young man.

The scene in the painting looks familiar, Zhu Xiu rubbed his chin and thought about it, isn't this what happened the day Fang Shan ran for his life!

I don’t know whether Zhou Xian’s painting skill is limited to this, or whether she deliberately painted the characters to be ugly and ridiculous. Her painting actually has a comic style of later generations’ comics. From a contemporary perspective, it may not be popular.

Zhou Xian was also amused by his funny painting style. He chuckled, picked up a paintbrush, dipped it in green paint, and applied two strokes on the head of the little man standing in the middle of the stream.
Zhu Xiu exclaimed: "Don't!~"

Zhou Xian didn't expect that there was someone behind him, so he screamed "Ah" and stood up in a panic. When he turned around and saw Zhu Xiu approaching with a shy face, he drew the paintbrush towards his forehead in panic.
The green paint almost turned Zhu Xiu's forehead green, and even stained her hair.

Zhu Xiu was so frightened that he stepped back and wiped his forehead. His palm was dyed green, and his face became angry.

Seeing how funny he looked, Zhou Xian let out a sweet laugh.

"You want to murder your husband? Hurry up and wipe it off!" Zhu Xiu glared at her angrily.

Zhou Xian spat, his eyes moving: "Who asked you to break into my lady's boudoir without permission? Interrupting my painting."

Zhu Xiu glanced at the picture of foot washing in the mountain stream, winked, and said with a lewd expression: "It turns out that Emperor E has been deeply in love with me since then~" Zhou Xian looked slightly panicked and quickly tore off the canvas and crumpled it into a ball, with a rosy face. Somewhat ashamed: "Nonsense! I, I draw pictures casually, and I am happy to see your ugly look!"

Zhu Xiu curled her lips and found a chair to sit down: "Hurry up and get some water to wipe off the paint on my face. What is this green thing? Will it cause heavy metal poisoning?"

Zhou Xian couldn't understand his mumbling and said dissatisfiedly: "This is a mixture of the juice of Polygonum indica and Daqingye. I don't even understand this. There is water in the basin, wipe it off yourself."

Zhu Xiudao: "If you don't wipe it for me, I will go out with green hair on my head and shout in the street that it was done by my unmarried wife."

"You, you are shameless!" Zhou Xian was so angry that he stamped his feet, filled with shame and anger.

Now in Jiangning, he, Zhu Xiu, is also considered a celebrity. Everyone in the city knows that he has been granted a marriage by the emperor, and the person he is marrying is Old Master Zhou's daughter.

As soon as he went out and made a noise, the news spread throughout most of the city after half a day.

Before the young lady of the Zhou family got married, she had a quarrel with her future husband and even made a move to dye her husband's hair green.

Judging from how shameless Zhu Xiu is, Zhou Xian absolutely believes that he can do it.

"Wait!" Zhou Xian gave him a vicious look.

After a while, Zhou Xian came over with a small basin of water and a gauze scarf on his arm.

Zhu Xiu closed her eyes, leaned back, raised the corners of her mouth, and let the little lady wipe her forehead.

Zhou Xian rolled up his sleeves and wet the gauze, twisted it and stood behind Zhu Xiu, looking at the green patch of his forehead, he chuckled again.

"You seem to have painted a green turtle on your head!"

Zhu Xiu was furious and gritted his teeth: "Zhou Xian! Don't go too far!"

It doesn't matter if his head is dyed green, but if he adds a turtle, wouldn't Zhu Xiu become a green turtle man?
Zhou Xian suppressed his laughter and stared at his almond-shaped eyes: "Sit down! Do you still want to wipe it?"

Zhu Xiu hummed and sat down, leaning his head back. Zhou Xian used a wet silk scarf to wipe off the paint on his forehead bit by bit.

The fragrance of the young lady was inhaled into her nostrils. Zhu Xiu's throat slid and her body felt a little hot.

"It smells so good~ Isn't this the scarf you use to tie your breasts?" Zhu Xiu chuckled coldly.

Zhou Xian's face turned red with embarrassment, his teeth clenched, and he hit him on the head gently.

Zhu Xiu heyed twice, closed his eyes and lazily enjoyed it, and stopped talking.

Zhou Xian didn't say anything as he wiped it carefully, half a gauze towel and a basin of water gradually turning green.

After getting along with her for so long, Zhu Xiu finally figured out this little lady's temperament. She was soft yet strong, and she was definitely not the kind of weak and unassertive girl at heart.

Taking advantage verbally and making her blush and stamp her feet is the limit. If there is further physical contact, it will be too hasty and will only be counterproductive.

Zhu Xiu didn't want to destroy the intimacy that was finally built in her heart.

At some point, Zhu Xiu opened her eyes. Zhou Xian's glowing face was so close that he could clearly see the tiny fuzz on her delicate skin.

A pair of flashing eyes noticed it and blinked quickly unconsciously, which further reflected her inner shyness and panic.

Zhou Xian tried his best to pretend not to see those burning eyes, and wiped the paint on Zhu Xiu's forehead calmly, but after a while, a few drops of sweat appeared on the tip of her pretty nose.
"All right."

Zhou Xian quickly walked away with the water basin in his hand.

Zhu Xiu stood up and looked in the bronze mirror, nodding with satisfaction. The lady's service was attentive and meticulous.

"Aren't you leaving yet?"

After washing his hands with soap, Zhou Xian said angrily when he saw Zhu Xiu looking around the room with his hands behind his back.

"Haha, don't be in a hurry." Zhu Xiu sat down and poured tea for himself.

"Here, this is the gold bracelet I gave you." Zhu Xiu took out the gold bracelet that could only kill people.

Zhou Xian took the scissors to trim the bluegrass, turned his head and glanced at it, saying with disdain: "It's vulgar and ugly, keep it for yourself."

Zhu Xiu shrugged and stuffed it back into his arms without forcing it.

"Ahem~" Zhu Xiu coughed twice, "Ehuang, has uncle told you about our affairs?"

Zhou Xian didn't turn his head and just hummed lightly.

"It's a very important matter, you must not leak the news." Zhu Xiu warned, worried.

Zhou Xian sneered unceremoniously: "Kiddling the prince, deceiving the emperor, kidnapping the prince's daughter, these things are enough to get your head chopped off ten times!"

Zhu Xiu smiled bitterly and said, "It's not me, it's us. If this matter is exposed, the Zhou family will be in danger."

Zhou Xian stopped pruning the dead leaves and said in a cold tone: "Is this the reason why you forced me to leave my father and brother and stay away from you in Kaifeng?"

"Oh~ I'm not forcing you. If I leave, I will definitely bring trouble to the Zhou family. If you stay, with Li Hongji's vengeful nature, I'm worried that he won't let you go.
My uncle is old and I'm afraid he can't protect you all the time. After much deliberation, the safest choice is to let you leave with me."

Zhou Xian sneered: "You want the power of Dazhou and the women of Jiangnan, and you are not willing to let go of any of them, right?"

Zhu Xiu was silent for a moment and nodded: "Yes."

Zhou Xian tightened his grip on the scissors in his hand and turned to look at him, his eyes filled with mist and turning red.

Her voice trembled as she spoke, and her eyes showed resentment: "My father has made a marriage arrangement with you, and the emperor granted me the marriage, but I have no choice, right?"

Zhu Xiu sighed guiltily: "Yes"

"If I go to Kaifeng with you, when will I be back?"

Zhu Xiu became more and more ashamed: "I don't know."

Zhou Xian bit his lip: "How will you treat me when I go to Kaifeng?"

Zhu Xiu looked at her red eyes full of tears and said sincerely: "I will give you a title, protect you, give you freedom, let you have enough food and clothing, and do whatever you want to do."

Zhou Xian's cheeks were a little pale, and two lines of tears fell silently.

She understood the meaning of Zhu Xiu's words.

As long as she wants, she can still marry Zhu Xiu, but not necessarily in the name of the royal wife.
Zhou Xian smiled miserably, and said softly, "Let's go~"

Zhu Xiu was silent for a while, then stood up and walked to the door of the room, paused, and turned around and said: "Ehuang, I will not force you, but I hope you can choose to believe me. This may be selfish, but living in troubled times, there are also How many people can truly make decisions for themselves?”

The door opened and closed, and Zhu Xiu walked down the stairs and walked straight out of the small courtyard of Guzhuzhai.

Zhou Xian sat on the ground limply, tears dripped down, his thin shoulders trembled slightly, and he covered his face with his hands, trying to suppress the sound of crying.

Downstairs, Aunt Liu listened to the faint sobs coming from the attic and sighed worriedly.
(End of this chapter)