Notes on Longevity

Chapter 74 When the birds and rabbits die, the good bow and the hunting dogs are cooked.

“Madam.” Zhou Chengzong looked at the beautiful woman and the boy she was leading, and sighed deeply. He looked at the Crown Prince and said, “Your Highness, please take them with you.”

But the beautiful woman said, "Master, I'm not leaving."

Xiuyi said the same thing: "Father, I'm not leaving either."

The group wept, their words filled with sorrow. The Crown Prince sighed helplessly, "General Zhou, if we don't leave now, it will truly be too late."

"Heaven is truly unkind to me. I have dedicated my life to protecting my country, yet I never imagined I would die like this." Zhou Chengzong looked at the mother and daughter, his grief overwhelming. He then looked at the child in the beautiful woman's arms. "Your Highness, this child is the only male heir of my Zhou family. Please take him with you."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince countered, "And what about you, your wife, and your daughter?"

“I have followed you, sir, for decades. Wherever you go, I will go,” the beautiful woman said slowly, looking at Zhou Chengzong.

Xiuyi wiped away her tears, and although she didn't speak, she understood everything.

"Xiao Xu, you take Young Master Zhou and leave first." The Crown Prince shook his head and said helplessly to the young man who brought the news.

"Yes." The young man took Zhou Zhou from the beautiful woman's hands, but Zhou Zhou resisted. Helpless, he had no choice but to carry Zhou Zhou out of the mansion.

"Madam, go and dismiss all the servants in the manor. They shouldn't have died for me. Ruoru, you should go too," Zhou Chengzong said, looking at the beautiful woman.

"it is good."

Upon hearing the commotion, the beautiful woman and Xiuyi stood up, walked past a house, banged on the door, and told them to pack their belongings and flee for their lives. They were free to take anything of value from the mansion. They were also instructed to pass the message on to each other.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chengzong shook his head and looked at the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, I entrust my wife and daughter to you."

The Crown Prince looked at Zhou Chengzong and sighed as well, "Ruoru and I are in love, and we will find a way. But they are unwilling to leave now, and I was temporarily relieved of my military command during the morning court session because I pleaded for them, so I am powerless to do anything about it."

"It really proves that saying," Zhou Chengzong sighed, saying, "When the birds are all gone, the good bow is put away; when the cunning rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is cooked."

"When the birds are all gone, the good bow is put away; when the cunning rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is cooked." Ping An sat in the reception room of what was formerly the Shengjing General's Mansion, now the Zhou Mansion. He looked at Zhou Zhou with a melancholy expression as he recounted the events of that night, softly murmuring this phrase.

Over a decade ago, he and his master had heard about Zhou Chengzong's great victory over the Wu Kingdom on their journey to seek immortality. Zhou Chengzong had been incredibly brave, defeating the enemy and forcing the Wu Kingdom to flee in disarray. However, he never expected that Zhou Chengzong would meet such an end. And Zhou Zhou was a descendant of Zhou Chengzong, which was something he had never anticipated.

Sitting to the side, Xiuyi watched Ping An mutter something and said, "That day, when we woke everyone up and told them to pack their things and prepare to leave, those who had already left came back."

That night, the servants, carrying bundles of various sizes, returned in a panic. They went to Zhou Chengzong's room and shouted, "Master, they're here!"

"This"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengzong sighed. Seeing this, the Crown Prince asked Zhou Chengzong, "Is there any other way out in the mansion?"

Zhou Chengzong lowered his head and remained silent. Xiuyi saw that the people who had packed their things had all run back, so she went up to them and asked, "Didn't you leave? Why are you back?"

"The gate of the mansion is full of soldiers, and even the other exits are blocked."

Upon hearing this, Xiuyi quickly ran back to the door of Zhou Chengzong's room, only to see her father and mother standing at the door looking towards the mansion gate.

She approached the two of them and asked, "Where is Bohong?"

"The Crown Prince went over there." Xiuyi followed their gaze and saw the Crown Prince walking briskly in the courtyard, heading towards the main gate.

"Prince!"

The soldiers who had rushed in and started fighting stopped what they were doing when they saw the newcomer and looked at him with puzzled expressions.

The Crown Prince, looking at the blood-soaked courtyard and the piles of corpses of the general's men, and the women being led away, roared, "What are you doing? Do you know where you are?"

The soldiers looked at each other, speechless, their faces filled with helplessness.

Seeing that they remained silent, the crown prince pressed closer and closer, and they all retreated until they were outside the door.

Outside the mansion, in front of the orderly array of soldiers, a middle-aged man sat on his horse. When he saw the soldiers who had gone in retreating again, he was about to ask what was going on when he saw the Crown Prince spread his arms and stare at them with a furious expression.

He dismounted, ran to the soldiers, bowed to the Crown Prince, and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."

"It's you?!" The Crown Prince and the middle-aged man looked up and, upon seeing his face, became even angrier: "Hai Ru! Father actually sent you. General Zhou is like a brother to you, how could you possibly do this?"

"Your Highness, it's not that Hai Ru is heartless, but it's truly difficult to disobey the imperial decree!" Hai Ru looked at the Crown Prince and exclaimed loudly, "You can ask these soldiers if they are willing to lay a hand on the general they respect most. They simply have no choice in the matter."

"We have no choice," the crown prince said with a bitter smile, gradually lowering his arms. "Then what does Father Emperor want you to do?"

Hai Ru lowered his head upon hearing this and said, "Your Majesty's intention is that all men should die and women should be confined to brothels."

"Women who stoop to prostitution?" The Crown Prince looked at Hai Ru in disbelief and asked sharply.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince felt a wave of dizziness. He struggled to steady himself, looked at the women of the mansion who were being held down to the side, pointed at them, and asked Hai Ru, "All of them?"

"Yes." The same answer finally broke him. He leaned against the gate of the mansion, looking at Hai Ru in disbelief.

"Did Father really say that?"

"Yes."

How could this be? He clearly knew about the affection between himself and Miss Zhou, and he even approved of the marriage. How could this happen? The Crown Prince stared at Hai Ru in a daze. Hai Ru, burdened by the Emperor's orders, could only send someone back in.
"That night, all the men in the manor were killed, and all the women were taken away and forced into prostitution." Xiuyi looked at Ping An, her expression full of exhaustion.

"Fortunately, the Crown Prince also went to the Drunken Flower Pavilion that day. He told the madam to take good care of my sister and that he would come to pick her up after he pleaded with His Majesty. That's why my sister was not humiliated." Zhou Zhou saw that Xiu Yi's expression was not good, so he took over her words.

After listening, Ping An couldn't help but sigh, "A family so loyal, yet a treacherous minister has spoken of you in such a way. How were you then exonerated?"

"Our ability to clear our names is also related to the deaths of Young Master Yang and Miss Xie," Xiuyi said with a sigh, looking at Ping An.

"What do you mean?" Ping An asked, puzzled.

"I wonder if Master Ping An knows that Young Master Yang has two good friends. One is named Li Chengru, and the other is named Zhang Ze'an."

Ping An frowned slightly upon hearing this and said, "I have met Young Master Zhang once before. My senior brother happened to come to pick me up from the mountain and also met the Second Prince."

(End of this chapter)