A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 166 Memories

Li Yunye left Zhuo's house and returned to the courtyard in the outer city. He thought he could live his previous life comfortably from then on, but he didn't expect that his cousin Zhuo Yanzheng came to him in person that night.

"Come back to Zhuo Mansion with me." Zhuo Yanzheng did not enter the courtyard, but asked the housekeeper to call Li Yunye out alone.

Today, he was busy at the Censorate until dark, but when he returned home, his mother started crying and scolding him. From his mother's excited words, he learned what happened to Li Yunye in the palace last night. He was very angry. He usually spoke for the prince in the court, but he didn't expect that he would be thinking about his nephew.

"Uncle, I... I'm still used to it..." Li Yunye was a little embarrassed, but he didn't know that Zhuo Yanzheng already knew what happened last night. So when he was struggling on how to reject him, he heard Zhuo Yanzheng said seriously:

"If you continue to stay in Zhuo's house, the prince will still be cautious and will not do anything to you. But if you stay in this outer city, I am not sure I can protect you."

"Uncle...you know everything?" After hearing Zhuo Yanzheng's words, Li Yunye's face turned pale and he lowered his head in shame.

"This is all my cousin's fault. I was careless and failed to protect you." Li Yunye's decadence and uneasiness also made Zhuo Yanzheng feel guilty. He stepped forward and patted his nephew on the shoulder, blaming himself.

"Uncle, I heard that the prince is behind you..." After hesitating for a moment, Li Yunye still wanted to express his doubts.

"Are you doubting me? Suspecting that I gave you up to curry favor with the prince... In your heart, your cousin is so shameless?" But before Li Yunye could finish his words, Zhuo Yanzheng was already so angry that his face turned blue. He clenched his hands into fists behind his back and glared at Li Yunye, questioning him with gritted teeth.

"No, cousin... I... I have never thought about you this much!" Seeing that Zhuo Yanzheng had misunderstood him, Li Yunye was so scared that he quickly waved his hands and continued to finish his unfinished words: "Yunye just doesn't understand why my cousin would associate with someone like the prince?"

"In the court, only political views are discussed. The prince and I rarely have any contact in private, but we often have the same political views in the court. In order to consolidate his position, the prince needs to win over the ministers in the court. Over time, I was rumored to be a member of the prince's party. But I did not explain this rumor. It is true that I can avoid a lot of trouble by using the name of the prince, and I don't have to be so hypocritical when doing things. I am not your cousin and I am not upright. After all, the position of the Chief Censor cannot be maintained by sincerity alone." Knowing that it was his misunderstanding, Zhuo Yanzheng's anger subsided a lot and continued to answer Li Yunye's questions.

Li Yunye understood his cousin's explanation. It turned out that his cousin dared to do such unkind things because of the title of the crown prince. Many people in officialdom are forced to do things against their will. Since his cousin was able to rise to the position of Imperial Censor, he must have been well versed in the ways of being an official.

Afterwards, Li Yunye listened to his cousin's words and took An Yun and followed Zhuo Yanzheng back to Zhuo's house.

Seeing that his sworn brother was determined to go back to Zhuo Mansion, Mu Liang did not try to persuade him and just let him go. He only reminded An Yun to keep an eye on the young master and inform him of any situation in time.

When they arrived at Zhuo Mansion, Li Yunye had just got off the carriage when Old Madam Zhuo, who had been waiting outside the Mansion, hurried forward and held him. Although she did not say much, she could not help but shed tears.

Old Madam Zhuo was also blaming herself in her heart. She should not have allowed her niece and grandson to attend the palace banquet yesterday, so that he would not have suffered such a grievance. Fortunately, nothing serious happened, otherwise how would she explain to her niece?

Li Yunye was still feeling nervous when he saw his aunt and grandmother, but they didn't say anything and just kept crying, so he had to keep comforting them.

At the court the next day, Zhuo Yanzheng remained silent, causing Crown Prince Gong Liangming to lose the argument with Prime Minister Yuan Lin. Gong Liangming was furious, so after the court session he went to find Zhuo Yanzheng with a lot of anger.

"Master Zhuo, what did you mean by not saying a word just now?" Gong Liangming narrowed his eyes and asked majestically.

"Your Highness, do you really not know what this humble servant means?" Zhuo Yan was looking at the prince with a cold expression, and he was also trying to suppress the anger in his heart.

Gong Liangming noticed the anger that flashed in Zhuo Yanzheng's eyes, and he roughly guessed what it was about. So his anger subsided a lot, and he smiled and said, "I drank too much at the palace banquet that day, and didn't want to treat Young Master Li as my own. But don't worry, Lord Zhuo, I didn't touch him." After saying this, there was still a hint of ambiguity in his eyes.

"Yun Ye is my humble nephew and the apple of my mother's eye. He has been spoiled since childhood and cannot stand being frightened. I hope Your Highness the Crown Prince will consider the old lady and not make fun of him anymore." Seeing that the Crown Prince still had an evil look on his face and did not take it seriously, Zhuo Yan was so righteous that he immediately frowned and was even more furious in his heart, but the other party was the Crown Prince after all, so he could only continue to endure it.

"Okay, Lord Zhuo, I promise you that I will not touch your nephew in the future." Seeing Zhuo Yan's face gloomy again, Gong Liangming sighed lightly and had to respond.

The situation in the court today also made him realize clearly that if he didn't have Censor Zhuo to help him, Yuan Lin would directly suppress him, so Censor Zhuo must not be lost. No matter how good Li Yunye was, he was Censor Zhuo's man. It didn't matter, if he lost the beauty, he could find another one. He just had to keep his position as the crown prince stable.

"However, it's rare to see Lord Zhuo so nervous about someone. I'm also curious whether Li Yunye is the favorite of Old Madam Zhuo or the favorite of you, Lord Zhuo?" Gong Liangming saw that Zhuo Yanzheng's expression had eased, so he smiled and asked in a low voice. He originally thought that it was just a special conversation between the two of them in private, but he didn't expect to annoy Zhuo Yanzheng again:

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, please don't talk nonsense. Yunye is the child of my cousin. In my heart, he is just a child." Zhuo Yan said with gritted teeth, then left angrily with a wave of his sleeves. Gong Liangming has been the crown prince for more than 30 years and he must have developed a serious illness.

"Cousin?" Gong Liangming finally grasped the key point. It turned out that Zhuo Yan loved his cousin so much. He didn't expect that Censor Zhuo was actually a romantic man. No wonder he didn't remarry in all these years. It turned out that he was still thinking about his cousin.

Zhuo Yan was sitting in the sedan chair with his eyes closed, and memories of his childhood with his cousin in his hometown emerged in his mind:

"Cousin, what kind of bird is this?"

"Magpie."

"Is this the magpie? The magpie helps build the bridge for the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to meet each other every year, which is why they meet on the magpie bridge."

"You are so young, you are reading these books secretly. Be careful or I will tell your aunt."

Snapped!

"Zhuo Yanzheng, how dare you!"

"Dai'er, don't hit my head!"

Snapped!

"You are disrespectful. I am your cousin, and you are not allowed to call me by my maiden name!"

"Are you all going back in three days?"

"Yes, Daddy will come to pick me, Mom and my little brother up."

"Then...will you still come to see me...to see my parents?"

"of course."

"Can I write to you later?"

"Well, if you see anything interesting in the future, please send it to me so that I can help relieve my boredom at home."

"Okay, if you like it, I'll send it to you often."