If it were an ordinary family, giving birth to twins would be a great joyous event, but for a dragon or phoenix, twins might not necessarily be a blessing. Duke Dingguo took the two children with trembling hands. He had only one thought in his mind: no matter who their father was, they were all Princess Huishan's children, and thus the flesh and blood of the late crown prince. Duke Dingguo chose the eldest son among his two children, brought him back to the Duke's Mansion, and raised him up in a pampered manner. The other one was sent to a farm far away in the south of the Yangtze River. Many years later, the imperial court moved its capital and the Duke's family moved south. Only then did Duke Ding see the child he had sent to the south of the Yangtze River. He suddenly discovered that this child who was raised outside was actually better than Jing Lao San, the child he personally raised! Although they have the same appearance, the young man in front of him has graceful manners and is outstanding. However, Jing Laosan made him more and more disappointed, especially in recent years. Jing Laosan's behavior became more and more strange. Whenever he was not satisfied, he would vent his anger on the people around him. Once, he almost bit a servant to death. Therefore, Duke Dingguo indulged Jing Lao San more and more, allowing him to do whatever he wanted as long as he was happy. Fortunately, Jing Laosan only goes crazy when things don't go his way. Most of the time, he is still that humble and gentle young man.
Zhou Kun was the name given to him by Duke Dingguo after he met him. Before that, he was called Jing Shuangsheng, and his external identity was a distant relative of the Jing family. Even the servants and tenants in the manor did not know that the real owner of the manor was Duke Dingguo. After seeing Jing Shuangsheng, Duke Dingguo couldn't calm down for a long time. He had never met the late crown prince, but he had often heard his grandmother and father talk about his demeanor. Therefore, when he met Jing Shuangsheng, all his imaginations of the late crown prince Zhou Dong took shape in his mind. Duke Dingguo told him about his life experience and the past of Princess Huishan. Jing Shuangsheng listened calmly. He was not shocked by what he heard suddenly, nor was he overwhelmed with grief. He certainly did not beat his chest and cry loudly like Jing Laosan. Jing Shuangsheng calmly accepted his own origins and his mother's experiences that could not be accepted by the world. Duke Dingguo's eager gaze did not make Jing Shuangsheng retreat. He knelt on the ground and called him "Father" respectfully. No matter who his biological father is, from today on, he is the son of Duke Dingguo. At that moment, Duke Dingguo burst into tears, thinking back to when Jing Laosan refused to eat or drink for several days after learning that he was not Duke Dingguo's biological son. Later, he accepted his fate and continued to enjoy the wealth and glory brought to him by Duke Dingguo, as well as the fatherly love of Duke Dingguo, but from then on, he never called him "father" again. Duke Dingguo felt comforted by Jing Shuangsheng's call of "father", so he changed Jing Shuangsheng's name to Zhou Kun. Water gives birth to wood, wood gives birth to fire, and fire gives birth to earth. He Ran named the child he found from somewhere Zhou Jian, so he changed Jing Shuangsheng's name to Zhou Kun. Compared with Zhou Jian, Zhou Kun's bloodline is more noble. He is the only descendant of the late Crown Prince Zhou Dong. Jing Lao San was crippled and his life or death was uncertain. Although Duke Dingguo was sad, after the sadness, he thought of Zhou Kun. All he did was for Zhou Kun. As long as Zhou Kun is still here, there is still hope. Duke Dingguo prepared for this day for a long time. Outsiders only knew that Liu Shanhe was powerful in the court, but they did not know that Duke Dingguo had also gathered a large number of people in private. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to kill Liu Shanhe and overthrow the emperor in one strike that day. Unfortunately, he is still too conservative.
Duke Dingguo was a founding father of the country. He could not rebel like He Ran did. Although he could mobilize a large number of troops, he could not make these troops rebel with him, so he had been waiting for an opportunity. Finally, the opportunity came. The emperor's life experience and everything he had done were all exposed. Duke Dingguo knew that the opportunity had finally come. He succeeded in imprisoning the emperor. However, this opportunity came too late. Before he could clear the way for his beloved child, He Ran arrived at his doorstep and he could only fight back hastily. Unfortunately, the defeat was overwhelming. All he could do now was to preserve his last bit of strength, push Zhou Kun to the throne, rebuild a small court in a corner, and wait for the right moment. If he still had the confidence to compete with He Ran for the world before he went to Yangzhou, he gave up the idea after seeing those cannons. He only needs a small piece of this world. The barbarians in the southwest are fighting to the death. With Zhou Cangyue, He Ran will be helpless in the southwest corner for at least a few years. In addition to the barbarians in the southwest, the beggar Zhou Cangyue from the two lakes, and the father and son of the Wu family who have occupied the northwest for many years, the division of the world is an inevitable trend. Well, let him get a share for his children. At least his children have the surname Zhou and are true descendants of Taizu. They should have a share in this world. There was no grand coronation ceremony, but the court officials were already accustomed to it. The King of Qi also ascended the throne in a hurry. The first time was new, the second time was familiar. The throne could be sat on by the Min family, the descendants of Zhou Tong could sit on it, and of course this Zhou Kun could also sit on it. We are not all idiots like the Earl of Yan'an. Who would stop us from ascending the throne? Although Duke Dingguo was defeated in the war, he still had an army. In these chaotic times, whoever has an army is the boss. Amidst the cheers of "Long live the emperor!" louder and louder, Zhou Kun sat on the dragon throne and became the sixth emperor of this dynasty. Zhou Kun appointed Duke Dingguo Jing Chongguang as regent. From then on, there was no more Duke Dingguo, but there was an extra regent. The ministers said congratulations but they were muttering in their hearts that the previous regent was the late emperor. Oh, yes, the late emperor is still alive. If he is still alive, he cannot be called the late emperor. How should he be called from now on? Fortunately, Prince Jing did not make things difficult for everyone, and the news of the late emperor's death was spread the next day. The late emperor was not a man of integrity and was despised by the world. In addition, there are internal and external troubles now, so he cannot be buried with great ceremony. There was no national mourning. Prince Jing chose a cemetery on a hill outside the city and buried the late emperor hastily after only one day's rest. Zhou Kun changed the reign title to Yonghe, and was known in history as Emperor Yonghe. When the news came that He Xiulong's army had conquered the three counties of Zhenjiang, Emperor Yonghe ordered a move south. Although this migration to the south was awkward and hasty, fortunately the imperial court still had hundreds of thousands of troops, which was much more decent than the interception by the 6,000 soldiers of Marquis Wu'an. Despite this, they were stopped by Jiang Tao's army that arrived halfway, and most of the treasures that Emperor Yonghe brought out of the palace were lost. That's right, Jiang Tao received an order to rob things, and half of the looted things belonged to him. As the commander, of course, he couldn't really take all these things home, and at least half of them had to be distributed to the soldiers under him. Therefore, it is conceivable that those wolf-like soldiers wanted to strip off the clothes of those palace ladies, which were all silks and satins, and could be sold for a lot of silver. If Prince Jing had not been prepared and divided the treasures in the palace into three groups for transportation, the losses would probably have been even greater. A month later, Emperor Yonghe fled to Fuzhou. Fuzhou Governor Chang Xin and General Li Fengshi were both close confidants of Prince Jing. Emperor Yonghe finally breathed a sigh of relief, and from then on Fuzhou became his capital. Emperor Yonghe arrived in Fuzhou and the dynasty continued, but in the eyes of the world, this was no longer the previous dynasty and was known as the Later Zhou. For Emperor Yonghe, although it was called a move of the capital, it was actually an escape.
When Min Man moved the capital to Nanjing, it was done with great fanfare. Almost all officials in Beijing moved south, and even many common people and scholars with some wealth followed the emperor south. However, this time, only a few officials followed him in his escape. Even a few officials from Prince Jing's faction backed out at the critical moment and fled Jinling with their families without even saying goodbye, and their whereabouts are unknown. Therefore, at the first grand court meeting, there were only a few dozen people in the hall, which was incomparable to the grand occasion in the capital when the hall was crowded with people inside and outside. But both Prince Jing and Emperor Yonghe were very content. After all, at this time, it was rare to still have someone following them loyally. It’s a pity that Prince Jing was unable to bring his grandmother, Old Lady Meng, to Fuzhou. The night before his escape, Prince Jing finally returned to the Duke's Mansion which he had not visited for a long time. Of course, it was already a prince's mansion at that time, but unfortunately there was no time to change the sign. When he returned to the mansion, he found out that his wife, three sons and one daughter had all left without saying goodbye. Except for the dozen or so old women and maids around Old Madam Meng, the rest of the servants were also missing. Even by the side of the Crown Prince and his wife, there were only two servants. Old Madam Meng was so ill that she could not recognize him, and in this state she could not travel long distances. For the first time in his life, the Prince rebelled against his father and stood in front of Old Madam Meng's bed, refusing to let his father take his great-grandmother away. The couple was willing to stay in Jinling and serve their great-grandmother. Prince Jing was furious and denounced the Duchess's wife and those unfilial children, even scolding the Crown Prince. However, he really couldn't do the thing of abandoning Old Lady Meng. If his eldest son was willing to stay and die, then let him go. Fortunately, he still had Zhou Kun. After settling down in Fuzhou, Emperor Yonghe persuaded Prince Jing to send someone to inquire about the news of the prince. Prince Jing was very moved. He said that Zhou Kun was tolerant, humble and considerate. Although he was not his biological son, he was much more sensible than his unfilial sons. He sent people to Jinling to inquire about the news, but unfortunately, the people he sent never returned. As time went by, Prince Jing put the matter behind him. As for what happened to Old Madam Meng or the Crown Prince, he didn't care anymore. He had people who were worthy of his wholehearted care. On the first day of August, the Later Zhou army retreated to Fujian. On the ninth day of the ninth month, which was the Double Ninth Festival again, He Ran went to Jinling from Yangzhou, but this time she did not bring Prince Zhou Jian with her. Although Jinling is the ancient capital of Six Dynasties, He Ran has no plan to build the capital here. She still prefers the weather in the north. On the day He Ran entered the city, the streets of Jinling were deserted. The window seats in the restaurants and teahouses along the street had already been reserved at high prices. People took to the streets one after another, wanting to see the legendary boss He with their own eyes. The Jinghong Tower in Jinling was burned down several years ago, leaving behind the story of the Twelve Gentlemen. Today, on the open space where Jinghong Tower was originally located, a huge plaque has been erected with the words "Jinling Jinghong Tower welcomes the master" inscribed on it. Jinghong Tower was burned down, but the people in Jinghong Tower were still there. In the past few years, they have been in Jinling and have never left. During these years, from Min Man's disappearance to the scandal of King Qi, every piece of news that was known on the streets was fueled by them. The people of Jinling who were afraid of He Ran and Ran Jun suddenly felt less fearful after seeing this sign. Yes, this legendary female devil who could turn beans into soldiers and kill people without blinking an eye was actually the boss of Jinghong Tower. They were familiar with Jinghong Tower. They passed by it when they were young and went to it when they grew up. They had been to the poor families there and had drunk the porridge and snacks provided by Jinghong Tower. How cruel can the boss of Jinghong Tower be? When they saw the Ran army entering the city with their own eyes, voices of doubt were heard from the crowd on the street from time to time. "Which one is the boss He?" "Are you blind? Of course it's the one who is surrounded by many people." "Of course I saw it, but she doesn't look like that. She's so young and so pretty, she doesn't look like someone who would kill people." "Hush, keep your voice down. Who said that He Dagong killed people like crazy? My cousin's neighbor's daughter-in-law, whose maiden family is from Xuzhou, said that when He Dagong attacked Xuzhou, the people of Xuzhou left the house the next day and did what they had to do. They didn't kill a single civilian." "Yes, yes. I can prove that the Ran army really didn't kill anyone when they entered the city."
"How did you know? Do you have relatives in Xuzhou?" "It's in the comic books. Are you stupid? Have you never read the comic books? Anyone who has read the comic books would not ask such a stupid question." At this time, a young man squeezed over and asked, "Is the head of the He family called He Ran?" Everyone looked at the young man as if he were a fool: "Brother, where are you from? You don't even know the name of Mr. He, do you?" The boy blushed and said, "No, I'm just making sure." "What the hell are you sure about? Are you from the countryside and illiterate? Yes, you don't look like someone who can read. Tell me you came to Jinling to find a job and you are not from Jinling." The young man was full of energy, but he could not refute it, because he was indeed not from Jinling, but he had lived in Jinling for several years. Even if he was not a native Jinling person, he was at least half one. He tried to hold back, but still couldn't help saying, "Don't look down on me. I tell you, He Ran is my sister, my real sister!" Everyone laughed. A young man in a scholar's robe pointed a fan at his nose and said mockingly, "Who doesn't know that Mr. He is from Zhending Prefecture, Zhili? The He family of Zhending is a family of scholars, and there are many talented scholars among their descendants. However, the head of the family, He, treats all of them equally. All the children of the He family must take the official examination before they can become officials. Among the newly sent officials to Xuzhou was a Mr. He. He was a relative of Mr. He, and had ranked among the top in the official examination. After he arrived in Xuzhou, several talented men from the south of the Yangtze River challenged him to a poetry contest, and they all lost. That is the real relative of Mr. He. Look at you, you can't even read or write, how can you be qualified to be related to Mr. He? Do you deserve it? " The scholar became more and more excited as he spoke. The imperial examination had been suspended for several years, and now that Mr. He had arrived in Jinling, it meant that students from Jiangnan would be able to go to the capital to take the official examination in the future. How could he not be excited? The young man stamped his feet in anger: "I really am He Ran's brother. I won't talk to you idiots anymore." After saying this, he squeezed out of the crowd and ran home, with a burst of laughter behind him. (End of this chapter)