Chapter 895: Long-lost Soul
For many people, friendship is an unnecessary thing.
They claim to have seen through the fickleness of human nature and the so-called friendship, but that thing is not as valuable as one's chest. Anyone who mentions friendship to them will only be laughed at.
Night falls.
Li Tian is waiting.
The food on the table was cold, and the grease solidified on the surface of the dishes, making them look like they were covered with a layer of white frost.
The wet nurse was holding the child and coaxing him, while Huang Yaner was looking at Ruyu with hostility behind the wet nurse.
Ruyu reported tenderly, "...Mr. Xia said that even if he has to stay until midnight today, he will stay until the Earl comes out. As for what you are concerned about, Mr. Xia said that now that public opinion in the capital has changed, those dignitaries are in a state of panic, so you can just rest assured."
Li Tian nodded, "What's the public opinion like outside?"
Huang Yaner glanced at Ruyu and interrupted, "Madam, I asked before, and the outside world now says that those powerful people are shameless, and that Master Bo is getting rid of harm for the people."
Li Tian thought of what her man said about everything being under control, and couldn't help but laugh, "Then what is he still struggling with?"
……
"This kid! What is he still hesitating about?" Xia Yan stood in the front yard with his hands behind his back, looking at the cold moonlight.
Xu Wei and Hu Zongxian were both hungry, but Xia Yan refused to eat, so they had to endure it together.
Tang Shunzhi didn't care about this. He went to the kitchen and ordered a bowl of noodle soup and a steamed bun, which he ate with great relish.
Xu Wei was somewhat curious. "As far as I know, Mr. Jingchuan comes from a well-off family. Why is he suffering so much?"
Tang Shunzhi chewed the food slowly, and after swallowing it, he said, "External things will only confuse people and add to their worries and shackles."
"But people have to eat, drink, defecate and urinate, right? Besides, why don't you eat delicious food, wear gorgeous clothes, or lie on a big bed? Why do you choose to eat coarse food, wear cloth clothes and straw sandals, and cover yourself with a thin quilt in winter..."
In Xu Wei's view, life should be enjoyed while it lasts.
Living like an ascetic is self-abuse.
Tang Shunzhi smiled, "I was quite depressed for a while after I resigned from my official position, so I went to live in a Taoist temple. I ate plain soup every day, which made me uncomfortable at first. But gradually I found that when you seriously enjoy those coarse and light food, you will find that the original taste of food is so delicious. Those so-called delicacies with countless seasonings are just to fool people's taste buds."
"tasty?"
"How about you give it a try?"
Tang Shunzhi tore off half of the steamed bun and gave it to Xu Wei, "Chew slowly, and you will be able to taste the real wheat aroma."
Xu Wei took it, took a bite, and chewed slowly.
"How?" Tang Shunzhi sounded like a monk who wanted to enlighten the world.
Xu Wei shook his head. "It's bland and tasteless. It would be better with some hot sauce."
Tang Shunzhi smiled, lowered his head and continued eating his noodles.
He is not an ascetic, but he has experienced the true taste of life from the ordinariness and dullness.
"I wonder how my uncle is doing." Xu Wei swallowed the food and felt even hungrier.
……
There are many ways for men to relieve their worries. People in later generations either play games, watch short videos, or play escape room games with a few friends...
Jiang Qingzhi has been in South America for a long time and has no friends in the country. When he is troubled, the only way to relieve his worries is to drink.
At first he went to bars, but as time went on, he found the bar environment annoying: too noisy. And the constant coming and going of people made him uncomfortable even if he sat in a corner.
So I took a bag of beer and found a quiet place in the park, drinking it quietly by myself.
After getting drunk, all my worries seemed to disappear. I went home and went to sleep.
But the next day, the troubles came as expected, and were even more difficult to get rid of.
It's a vicious cycle.
"Drinking to drown your sorrows only makes you more sorrowful!"
The more Jiang Qingzhi drank, the more sober he became.
He was thinking about what attitude he should adopt to face the new policy and the Ming Dynasty.
Xu Wei, Hu Zongxian, Zhang Juzheng, Xia Yan, and even Daoye all hoped that he could kill decisively and abandon the "problems" brought from his previous life.
Jiang Qingzhi knew everything Xia Yan didn't say.
——You are the leader of the new policy. Your words and deeds will affect the new policy, which will bring great changes to everyone who follows you and supports the new policy.
The fate of the Ming Dynasty and those who support the new policy is in your hands.
Be ruthless, boy!
Jiang Qingzhi thought of Shang Yang.
That person is the real ruthless person.
He was ruthless and kept his word, which made the powerful people in Qin State silent. If his boss had not passed away, Shang Yang would still be able to make them dare not cross the line.
Should I be cruel?
Kill decisively!
"Who is blocking the way...If gods stand in the way, kill gods; if Buddhas stand in the way, kill Buddhas."
Jiang Qingzhi squinted his eyes, looked at the cold night, and suddenly shivered.
"I can do it."
He thought of his experiences in South America in his previous life.
In South America, he led his subordinates to fight against the government forces on and off, and engaged in intrigues with his men... Anyone who posed a threat to him would be killed without leaving any alive.
After returning to China, he suppressed his murderous aura and became like a country bumpkin, traveling around all day, as curious as a child.
Why?
Jiang Qingzhi felt that he had found the crux of the problem.
He squinted his eyes, and after an unknown amount of time, he suddenly smiled.
“That’s because I feel at peace!”
“I feel at ease in the country!”
"Why are you at peace?"
"It's just because everyone around me has the same skin color and speaks the same language. Everywhere I look, there are words that I'm familiar with. Those delicacies, those habits, those swear words, those..."
Jiang Qingzhi looked up at the sky, with a look of genuine joy in his eyes, as if he had found his long-lost soul, "That's my soul!"
Jiang Qingzhi laughed out loud, feeling relieved. No, it was like he had been walking in a long dark tunnel for a long time and suddenly covered his eyes with his hands.
He saw the light ahead.
"Hahahaha!"
"Young Master, are you okay?" Sun Chonglou's joyful voice came from outside the door. Ever since Jiang Qingzhi entered the forbidden area, Sun Chonglou has been guarding outside the door on his own initiative. Even if Xia Yan sent someone to pass on a message, he could only convey it.
"All right."
Jiang Qingzhi stood up by the workbench, smiling at the night sky, "Why am I so soft-hearted? Because this Ming Dynasty is also my soul!" "This is not about being soft-hearted, but... there are things I should do and things I shouldn't do!"
“Why should I change myself?”
"I am who I am!"
"It's time for others to change themselves to adapt to me!"
Jiang Qingzhi picked up the wine jug and drank from it.
The wine dripped down his chin and landed on the shoe surface.
In the past, Jiang Qingzhi would subconsciously think about the dirty uppers of his shoes and whether people would regard him as an alcoholic if he drank like this.
But at this moment he put all that behind him.
I am who I am!
My heart is like the bright moon, it moves as my heart desires.
What does the outside world have to do with me?
I live by the voice deep in my heart and my own will. I eat when I want to eat, and I eat as much as I want. Why should I worry about others saying that I don't eat well?
I laugh when I want to laugh, I speak up when I don’t like something, and I take action when I see injustice…
Why should I look ahead and behind?
Who set those rules before and after?
Those are not rules, they are cages.
Tang Shunzhi said that the space between heaven and earth is a big cage, and the physical body is a small cage.
The big cage of heaven and earth traps all things, and the small cage of the flesh traps the human soul!
Jiang Qingzhi threw the wine jug on the ground and squinted at the night sky, as if he saw countless chains.
Each chain is a rule. Countless chains of rules stretch across the heaven and earth, and are everywhere. These chains of rules have trapped everything and people...
You have to do this, you have to do that...
Ever since he could remember, there were countless rules waiting for him.
You must study hard, be at the top of your class, be smart and polite, be humble, and obey your teachers unconditionally...
Qingzhi, this won’t work!
Qingzhi, that won’t work…
Countless no’s are the chain of rules.
An innocent soul is turned into a puppet, an actor, performing his own life script in this cage.
"I'm going to fuck you!"
Jiang Qingzhi laughed loudly, walked to the door, opened it, and outside the door was Sun Chonglou's ecstatic face.
"Master, they said you..."
Before he could finish his words, he was hugged by Jiang Qingzhi.
"Thank you, kid!" Jiang Qingzhi patted Sun Zhonglou on the back, let go of his hand, looked at him and smiled: "Who do you like? Go after her!"
"Ah!" Sun Chonglou was stunned, "Master, you have changed."
"Oh!" Jiang Qingzhi took a step back so that he could see himself more clearly. "Do you think it's good or bad?"
Sun Chonglou scratched his head. "Before you... I don't know how to put it, but now you seem to have lost something."
"It's a shackle, kid!" Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile, "You haven't answered me yet, who do you like?"
"what do you like?"
"Woman!"
"Women...are troublesome."
“It’s also very interesting.”
"I...I don't know."
"Who do you like to be with?"
"Master!"
"I'll fight!"
Jiang Qingzhi was about to kick, but just as Sun Chonglou was about to be kicked, he pulled his legs back and laughed, "Just kidding, kid. I'm talking about women."
Sun Chonglou tilted his head and thought carefully, "It seems to be... Hua Yan."
Jiang Qingzhi was stunned, "Isn't it Dou Jialan?"
Sun Chonglou shook his head, and Jiang Qingzhi asked, "Then why are you so close to her?"
Boy, are you tempted by something new?
Sun Chonglou's eyes widened, "That's a brother."
Uh!
Jiang Qingzhi blinked his eyes and said, "I was defeated by you."
"Uncle!"
Ruyu came softly and gently, "My wife is waiting for you to have dinner."
"Tell her to eat first and don't wait. I'll go to the front yard." Jiang Qingzhi said.
"Yes." Ruyu glanced at Jiang Qingzhi and went back to report.
"What do you think, husband?" Li Tian asked.
"It looks like... it's like it's been reborn."
Ruyu's intuition was her capital to gain a foothold in the Duke's Mansion. After arriving at the Earl's Mansion, she quickly opened up the situation in the backyard based on her intuition.
"That's good." Li Tian happily reached out her hand, took the child, and said with a smile: "Dapeng, the rain has stopped and the sky is clear."
Xia Yan was pacing in the yard, walking faster and faster.
Xu Wei and Hu Zongxian stared at each other, while Tang Shunzhi was standing still...
"have you eaten?"
In an instant, Xia Yan stopped and almost fell to the ground due to hunger.
Xu Wei stood up suddenly.
Hu Zongxian's legs became numb from squatting, and he couldn't get up immediately, so he sat down on the ground.
Tang Shunzhi's Zhuang Gong collapsed instantly...
Jiang Qingzhi was standing under the moonlight.
He smiled and said, "It's been a long time."
(End of this chapter)
