After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 673 - 667: Seeking Harmony

Zhao Hanzhang ultimately didn’t go in to interrupt their conversation.

Government matters can be resolved slowly, but opportunities for a father and son to resolve conflicts are rare.

Zhao Hanzhang had to expend a lot of mental effort to persuade Zhao Hu today, didn’t she?

So the siblings sat on the steps in front of the house, lost in thought, while a servant went to get hot water for Zhao Zheng.

Zhao Hanzhang propped her chin and indicated the room behind him, asking, "Seventh Ancestor just arranged this for you, won’t you go in and take a look?"

Zhao Zheng shook his head, "No need to look, I anyway can’t live in it."

He said, "In a while, I still have to go to Ruyin County with my father. Once we return, my father will not allow me to live in such a room."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, "Although we were born into wealth, we must not become spoiled children of privilege."

She said, "Heaven has blessed us greatly, so we must do something in return for this world. If we only indulge in pleasure, not only will we waste the good start we have in this life, but once the fortune is exhausted, the future days won’t necessarily be good."

Zhao Zheng, who was at an age where he liked to nitpick, asked, "What if I work hard, but the end result is still not good?"

He continued, "Take Yan Heng for example, he worked so hard, and yet he still met a premature death, didn’t he?"

Zhao Hanzhang just smiled and said, "Then do you think Yan Heng regrets coming into this world? Does he regret having chosen Gou Xi, advising him, and in the end, dying for him?"

After seriously thinking for a while, Zhao Zheng said, "I think he probably doesn’t regret it."

"If he hadn’t studied or chosen Gou Xi, and instead stayed in his hometown, just seeking to make ends meet, drifting with the tides of the chaotic times, living out his life in a muddled way—even if he could live longer than he did now—do you think he would be happy?"

Zhao Zheng said nothing.

Zhao Hanzhang said, "I would not want to live such a life. Compared to blissful ignorance, I prefer painful awareness. He may not care about posthumous fame, but the reality is, his name resounds throughout the Central Plains and will be recorded in history books. People in future generations will remember him, and people today are inspired by his character. Those he helped have survived crisis after crisis under his protection, living on in these troubled times."

"I think, since he doesn’t regret dying for Gou Xi, naturally he wouldn’t want to just let life slip by either," Zhao Hanzhang said. "He is someone with great ambitions, someone worthy of our respect."

Zhao Zheng then said, "If in the future I don’t live well, I too will not regret today’s choice."

Zhao Hanzhang then smiled, patting his shoulder, and said, "Good boy, then you’d better work hard and not give yourself a chance to regret it."

The heart that was wavering because of exquisite clothes and objects steadied, and Zhao Zheng exhaled a breath, silently deciding to see less of his grandfather for now, lest he be unable to control his heart’s desires.

A servant brought a basin of hot water and offered a clean cloth.

Zhao Zheng draped the cloth over the wooden basin and glanced towards the pavilion, seeing they seemed to have finished talking, he picked it up and said, "Third Sister, I’m going now."

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand, "Go, go. By the way, did you see the government document by my seat? Bring it to me when you come back."

Zhao Zheng responded with an "Oh," hesitating, "Third Sister, why don’t you come with me?"

"You’re a family talking, what would an outsider like me be doing there? You go on your own."

Zhao Zheng was a bit scared. He feared his grandfather’s tears and his father’s scolding, so he wanted to take Zhao Hanzhang along. "You just persuaded Grandfather, aren’t you part of the family too? Come with me."

Zhao Hanzhang refused, "Your grandfather just cried. He’ll definitely be uncomfortable seeing me right now. You go, I’ll wait here for you."

Zhao Zheng had no choice but to leave, looking back every few steps.

He held up the water basin, while his father personally rinsed the cloth and handed it to Grandfather. Upon seeing it presented before him, Zhao Hu started crying again.

He wiped his face with the cloth, crying while he wiped, and the more he wiped, the more tears there were.

Zhao Zheng stood there dumbfounded.

Zhao Cheng: ...

He silently took the cloth, washed it again, and handed it back. He then turned and asked Zhao Zheng, "Third Lady hasn’t left, has she?"

Zhao Hu immediately stopped crying, forced the tears back, quickly tidied himself up, and swept his reddened eyes around fiercely.

Unfortunately, his eyes were too red for Zhao Hanzhang to notice any ferocity. She only felt he seemed a bit pitiful, so after a careful look, she discreetly withdrew her gaze and refrained from watching them.

Zhao Zheng took the water basin as he left, also taking along Zhao Hanzhang’s document. Zhao Cheng merely glanced at it and said nothing, waiting until he left to turn and speak to Zhao Hu, "Father, remove those things from Zheng’er’s room."

Zhao Hu had just reconciled with his son, and didn’t want to argue any further, so he nodded. In his view, since the items were already placed there, they might as well use them; he’d just give Zhao Zheng less extravagant things in the future.

But looking at his son’s clear and upright face, he didn’t say it out loud.

After pausing, Zhao Cheng continued, "I don’t understand business matters, but Father, the reason you can now travel between various states and counties, buying land and shops, is not just due to your own abilities but also because you have Hanzhang as a support."

He said, "So whatever she seeks, I ask Father you to heed. If she is strong, Yu State is strong, the Zhao Family can be strong, and we can protect our clan members."

Zhao Hu, slightly discontented, hummed twice but still agreed.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the rationale, he just didn’t want to admit defeat, especially not to Zhao Hanzhang.

For some reason, he always felt incompatible with her ever since the year she returned home carrying a coffin.

Zhao Hu said, "Zitu, don’t you think she has changed a lot? I remember she wasn’t like this before; every time I saw her, she was a gentle and quiet little girl. When did she become like this, this..."

Zhao Hu couldn’t even find the words.

Zhao Cheng was unconcerned, "How many times have you really seen her before?"

Zhao Hu said, "Twice. Only twice, but each time she appeared to be a gentle and quiet little girl."

Zhao Cheng chuckled, "Those were just appearances."

Unlike Zhao Hu, Zhao Cheng had a very good relationship with Zhao Zhi. Even after Zhao Zhi got married, they continued studying together, so from Zhao Third Lady’s birth to Zhao Zhi’s severe illness and death, Zhao Cheng often saw her.

In his impression, she was lively and mischievous but also very smart.

At the age of two or three, she dared to cover her hands with ink, hide them behind her back, and when her father picked her up, she would slap Zhao Zhi’s face with them. Even Zhao Cheng fell victim to her antics occasionally.

There were numerous pranks like these—she was highly active but also very intelligent. If she heard a poem twice, though she couldn’t read yet, she could recite it by heart, nodding and swaying as she did.

Therefore, while Zhao Song was surprised and Zhao Hu suspicious, even Zhao Ming sometimes puzzled over Zhao Hanzhang’s current demeanor, Zhao Cheng never had any doubts.

It’s just that she was born a daughter, which is why so many people questioned her.

Had she been born a son, the mischievous and intelligent child growing up to achieve such things would have been a matter of course, wouldn’t it?

Zhao Cheng never doubted she was in any way inferior to a man. Previous reservations were merely hidden under various considerations.

And now, she no longer needed to hide her abilities and thoughts, which is why she has become so formidable.