"Ranzhuo, this..." Xia Jingyan was about to say something, but was stopped by Zhou Ranzhuo.
Zhou Ranzhuo took Xia Jingyan's hand and walked forward with a smile. Someone in the village saw Zhou Ranzhuo outside the village, and immediately attracted everyone to greet him, smiling as if he was about to celebrate the New Year.
"Young Master!"
"Young Master, you are back!
The crowd was noisy, but there was no chaos at all. They stood at an arm's length from Zhou Ranzhuo, as if there was a line blocking them in front of them, very orderly.
"Everyone has worked hard, and Ranzhuo hasn't been back for a long time. How are you all?" Zhou Ranzhuo waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet and said.
"We are all fine! How is the young master of the village? It is not easy to make a living in the palace, but have you suffered any injustice?" an old man in the village asked, tears hanging on his face, and he was swallowing.
"Uncle Zhang, everything is fine with me. Your Majesty values virtuous people and treats Ranzhuo kindly." Zhou Ranzhuo responded, smiled and glanced at Xia Jingyan again, took Xia Jingyan's hand and raised it with their fingers interlocked, so that everyone could see,
"Ranzhuo is still in love with the princess!" Zhou Ranzhuo said loudly and deliberately.
Xia Jingyan blushed instantly, grabbed Zhou Ranzhuo's sleeves and complained in a low voice: "What are you doing, there are so many people!"
"Why don't you call me Madam, Young Master?" Zhou Ranzhuo teased deliberately and pulled Xia Jingyan into his arms.
“Young Master’s Madam!” everyone shouted in unison.
Xia Jingyan hurriedly hid behind Zhou Ranzhuo, he was really shy.
"It's rare for the young owner and his wife to come back. Let's prepare food for you two. Hey! Brother! Why don't you kill the pig quickly!" the old man shouted again.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Everyone was excited, "When the young owner and his wife come back, they will have to set up a few tables to celebrate!"
"Okay, okay." Zhou Ranzhuo smiled helplessly, "Since everyone is so enthusiastic, Ranzhuo and his wife are no longer polite to everyone. It's still early, so everyone is busy first. Ranzhuo takes his wife to visit the village, okay?
?”
"Okay!" Everyone immediately made way for Zhou Ranzhuo and Xia Jingyan, and Zhou Ranzhuo took Xia Jingyan's hand and walked across in front of everyone's eyes.
"Cousin." Zhou Ranzhuo was about to move forward when Gu Yun's voice came from behind.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Ranzhuo turned around.
During the few days of travel, Gu Yun didn't speak much. Zhou Ranzhuo thought that he must have returned to Yihe, which brought back memories and made him sad.
"I see that everyone in the village is working hard, and it's rare for me to come back. I can help as much as I can. My cousin and the princess can go and have a look. I'll come back to treat my cousin and the princess to a meal later." Gu Yun looked at it seriously.
I felt a little disappointed, but I still managed to smile.
Even Xia Jingyan noticed Gu Yun's sadness. Looking at Gu Yun's back, she asked Zhou Ranzhuo with some confusion: "Ranzhuo, what's wrong with Mr. Gu?"
"I haven't been back to my hometown for a long time. I feel homesick." Zhou Ranzhuo stared at Gu Yun's back and sighed.
"Then aren't you going back to your hometown now? Why are you still so sad?"
"Yan'er, you are wrong, this is not Gu Yun's hometown."
Xia Jingyan turned back to look at Zhou Ranzhuo, and Zhou Ranzhuo also looked at her.
"Yan'er, I once told you that all the nine tribes were wiped out, and you doubted me for the same reason. I took you back to your hometown to explain it clearly to you..."
Zhou Ranzhuo signaled Xia Jingyan to look around the village.
"What do you think of this place?" Zhou Ranzhuo asked.
"It's very peaceful and warm." Xia Jingyan looked at the people talking and laughing in the village and smiled.
The next moment, she couldn't laugh anymore.
Zhou Ranzhuo's voice was cold: "This is a slaughterhouse."
Xia Jingyan's smile froze on her face, and she looked around again. There really was no hint of killing, but when she looked back at the depth in Zhou Ranzhuo's eyes, she had to believe it.
"Eight years ago, the appearance of this place was almost the same as it is now. Everyone performed their duties and lived and worked in peace and contentment. The only difference was that we people didn't have much communication before. Each family looked after their own family. My family, my parents and my brothers, all
We were a little wealthier than them, but that's all, we all thought we could live this life peacefully and peacefully, until... During the Battle of Sijiang, the Zhou Kingdom was weak, so Emperor Qi of Beijiang took advantage of the chaos to raise troops and invaded the Zhou Kingdom of Nanjiang...
…”
Xia Jingyan slowly looked at Zhou Ranzhuo, and she saw tears in Zhou Ranzhuo's eyes.
Xia Jingyan was not born yet when this happened, but she knew it clearly.
At that time, there was a melee in the four rivers, and the most powerful ones were the Yuan State of Dongjiang and the Qi State of Beijiang. The two countries were fighting, and Qi gradually lost its enemy, so they attacked the Zhou State of Nanjiang with an army of 100,000, forcing the Zhou emperor to cede the land to pay tribute.
A war was avoided, but even if the war stopped, Zhou's border areas would suffer heavy damage.
Could it be that Zhou Ranzhuo and his family were included?
"At that time, the Qi army invaded. My parents and brothers did not want to be bullied by the Qi army. They led the people in the mountains to voluntarily form an army and went out. They even defeated a deputy branch of the Qi army. But the Qi army was so powerful that how could a few mountain people defeat it?
?My parents died tragically at the sword of the Qi army. My brothers escaped. But when the Zhou Kingdom surrendered, the Qi army demanded the lives of my nine tribes to pay for the lives of the dead soldiers. My brother risked his life to help me escape.
But they... were tortured to death..."
Zhou Ranzhuo was trembling and clenching his fists.
"Up to now, they...Qi Jun still don't know that I am alive. If they knew, I might not be alive today..." Tears fell from Zhou Ranzhuo's eyes.
The other words are false, but the tragic death of the nine tribes is a bloody fact!
Whenever Zhou Ranzhuo mentioned his parents and brothers, he would always feel heartbreaking pain.
Zhou Ranzhuo was so full of hatred that he couldn't help but burst out.
In just a few words, how can one describe the blood-splattered scene that is enough to make people remember it for a lifetime? But the person who destroyed the Zhou Kingdom was the father of the young master of the Zhou Kingdom who was most beloved.
Zhou Ranzhuo wanted to hate and hate the Xia family, but he couldn't restrain his love for Xia Jingyan. That love had already been deeply rooted in his bones, and he couldn't forget it or control it.
Xia Jingyan is the only person who has brought him light in the past ten years.
At this moment, Xia Jingyan hugged Zhou Ranzhao tightly from the waist, and Zhou Ranzhao's heart, which was almost still in pain, began to stir again.
"Ranzhuo, you still have me, and you also have Prince Xia's Mansion as your backer. From now on, Prince Xia's Mansion is your home, and my brother and I will protect you..."
Xia Jingyan saw Zhou Ranzhuo feeling uncomfortable and couldn't help crying.
"Everyone in the world is afraid of the power of the royal family, including the Beijiang Qi royal family. As long as they dare to touch you, I, the Prince of Xia, will dare to destroy his family!"
It was genocide again. Zhou Ranzhuo felt heartbroken when he heard these two words, but after all, these two words coming out of Xia Jingyan's mouth were for his own good. Zhou Ranzhuo also hugged Xia Jingyan.