A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 431 Waiting for the opportunity to make a contribution

By the lake outside Liangdu city, cicadas are chirping and willows are swaying. There are not many customers in the teahouse by the lake, so it is quite quiet. Gong Liangzhao stands by the window in the side room with a teacup in his hand, looking at the green lake outside with ripples in the wind, but his face is full of worry.

Relying on power, no matter how glorious it is, it is just a chess piece in the hands of others. Once it is no longer needed by the chess player, it can only become a discarded piece. However, how easy is it to become truly powerful with nothing in your hands? Even though he is now the King Zhao of Jingsong, he has no real power and no opportunities to benefit others. After all, he is just an empty-handed prince.

Just when Gong Liangzhao was alone looking at the lake with a sad heart, there was suddenly a wild and unbridled sound of piano outside the teahouse, which made him close his eyes involuntarily and quietly appreciate it for a long while before he smiled: "A piece of "Wine Madness", even without wine, I am still wild."

"Go and ask the person playing the piano to come." After the song ended, Gong Liangzhao was still not satisfied, so he knocked on the closed door and instructed the servant waiting outside.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Soon, a poor scholar holding a zither was brought into the teahouse by a servant. Seeing King Zhao, who was as solemn as the wind under a pine tree, he hurriedly bowed respectfully and said:

"Nanling student Liu Yin greets King Zhao."

"The piece of music you just played was quite good." Gong Liangzhao glanced up and down at the ordinary and poor scholar in front of him and smiled faintly.

"Your Majesty, you are too kind. This song 'Drunkenness' should be the crazy catharsis of a lonely person who is out of tune with the times after being drunk. It is more bold and unrestrained. However, I feel that I am still not up to the mark. Perhaps I am too stupid to reach such a level." The scholar shook his head modestly and continued to salute in reply.

"Are you a student of Nanling Academy? Why did you come to the north of the city to play the piano?" Gong Liangzhao saw that the scholar was humble and polite, and his conversation was extraordinary, which reminded him of himself who was also in a miserable state in the past. So he felt a sense of closeness to him. After waving his hand to signal the other party to sit down, he turned and asked.

"I am a foreigner from a poor family. I wanted to use the ten-day holiday to perform and earn some money, but I was afraid of being seen and laughed at by my classmates, so I ran away." Mentioning his predicament, the scholar sitting in front of Gong Liangzhao lowered his head and replied shyly.

However, Gong Liangzhao was impressed to see that the scholar could openly talk about his financial difficulties. He felt that he had known him for a long time. He suddenly wanted to test his knowledge, so he poured him a cup of tea and asked, "Since you are a student of the academy, can you tell me why the bandits in Jingsong are so rampant and why they can't be stopped despite repeated suppression?"

The scholar Liu Yin was obviously caught off guard by King Zhao's question. He froze in his seat with a stunned look on his face, seeming to be hesitant to speak.

"Don't worry, I am not testing you as a prince. I just want to chat with you because I like you. You can talk as much as you want. I will not blame you whether you say good or bad." Seeing the other party was silent for a while, Gong Liangzhao couldn't figure out whether this scholar had some concerns or was really uneducated and couldn't answer, so he raised his eyebrows and smiled slowly.

"The proliferation of banditry is a result of the world's moral decline and the people's morals becoming perverted." Although the scholar Liu Yin was cautious, he did not dare to offend King Zhao, so he could only bow slightly and speak.

"But why are the morals of the world going downhill and the people's customs becoming so perverted?" Gong Liangzhao noticed that the other party was perfunctory in answering the question, but he didn't intend to give up. So he pretended to be puzzled and continued to ask relentlessly.

The questioning by King Zhao made the scholar, who had wanted to avoid the question, at a loss. Although he was poor and destitute, he had great ambitions and still had some character of a scholar. He could not say anything that was against his will to curry favor with the powerful and flatter the emperor. So he stood up and knelt in front of Gong Liangzhao, and asked in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Today, we are not in front of others. Can I take it as a private conversation with King Zhao? If it is a private conversation, I just want to speak from the bottom of my heart, but this heartfelt words may be regarded as treason in the eyes of King Zhao. Can King Zhao not punish me?"

"Okay, I promise you, get up and talk." The other party's sincerity seemed ridiculous to Gong Liangzhao, who always loved to be hypocritical. Although he sneered in his heart, he still smiled refreshingly on the surface.

"For most people, being able to have enough food and clothing and live a stable life is enough to make them satisfied. But King Zhao, have you ever seen those people who are poorly clothed and hungry in the countryside outside the capital? It is difficult for good people to survive, and becoming a bandit is another way they have to find. When people are living in poverty, if the court only suppresses them without self-reflection, it will probably backfire and breed more mobs. Students think that this is why the bandit problem has been repeatedly suppressed. The ancients said: Teaching is to imitate. If the superiors do it, the subordinates will imitate it. The virtue of a gentleman is like the wind, and the virtue of a villain is like the grass. When the wind is added to the grass, the grass will fall with the wind. The style of a country and the behavior of the people must all look up. If the superiors are not upright, how can they teach the subordinates to be upright?" With the personal promise of King Zhao, Liu Yin stood up and spoke boldly.

After hearing Liu Yin's words, Gong Liangzhao sighed, then walked to the window again with his hands behind his back, with a smile on his face that was hard to understand.

"King Zhao just promised that he would not punish the students." Seeing that King Zhao remained calm, Liu Yin became uneasy and began to regret his outspokenness.

"Of course not. I will even reward you with money for your piano!" Gong Liangzhao was not annoyed by the other party's sudden reminder. He turned around elegantly and smiled at Liu Yin as if nothing had happened. After he finished speaking, he walked out of the room.

Soon, before Liu Yin could react, the servant beside King Zhao entered the room and handed him a bag of silver.

Looking at the heavy silver in his hand, Liu Yin was delighted and couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief. Then he hurried to the window and secretly glanced at King Zhao who was helped by a servant to get into the carriage parked outside the teahouse, and then the carriage went towards the city.

"It is rumored among the people that King Zhao is gentle, respectful and modest, and he is tall and slow-moving. Now it seems that he is indeed worthy of the reputation. It's a pity that such a wise king cannot gain a foothold in the court. What a pity, what a pity!" Only after watching the carriage go away did Liu Yin dare to stand in front of the window. Thinking of King Zhao's gentleness and kindness to him just now, he could not help but sigh.

It was almost noon when Gong Liangzhao returned to the mansion. He just got off the carriage and the old butler who had been waiting outside the mansion for a long time came to greet him and said with a bow, "Your Highness, you are finally back. The prince was looking for you!"

"What do you want from me?" When Gong Liangzhao heard that the prince was looking for him, the haze in his heart that had finally dissipated gathered together again. He frowned and asked in a cold voice.

"This...I don't know." The old butler shook his head and replied.

Gong Liangzhao said nothing more. He turned around and got back on the carriage, heading towards the Prince's Mansion again.

"Sixth brother, it's all thanks to you this time. I finally didn't let father down today! Also, your royal brother has kept his promise and has asked for a good opportunity for you to make a contribution in front of father. You must do your best to get this bandit suppression done and make father happy. Your success and fame are just around the corner!" Upon seeing his sixth brother Gong Liangzhao, Gong Liangming, who had been depressed, had to smile again against his will. He hugged him and laughed pretending to be happy.

"What? The task of suppressing the bandits is left to me?" Gong Liangzhao was surprised and delighted when he heard this, but he dared not show the slightest joy in front of the crown prince. Instead, he pretended to be timid and said worriedly, "Brother, suppressing the bandits is a very important task. I am afraid that I will not be able to do it and mess it up, thus failing the expectations of father and brother."

"How could that be? This strategy of recruiting and sowing discord was thought up by my sixth brother. You are eloquent and resourceful, and even father agrees that you are the best choice. Don't refuse such a good opportunity, sixth brother!" Gong Liangming naturally saw that the sixth brother was starting to pretend to be humble again, so he patted his shoulder and comforted him disapprovingly.

At this point, Gong Liangming had no other choice but to help his sixth brother successfully complete the plan of suppressing the bandits. This would not only please his father, but also severely defeat the Prime Minister Yuan Lin. As for his sixth brother, even if he could accomplish the great feat of suppressing the bandits and gain his father's appreciation, he would not be able to compete with him, the crown prince.

"Brother, do you really believe that I can handle this arduous task?" Gong Liangzhao continued to ask timidly.

"Your Majesty, you are well aware of Sixth Brother's abilities!" Gong Liangming responded with a forced smile.

Gong Liangzhao then bowed solemnly to Gong Liangming with confidence, and said gratefully: "Thank you, my Royal Brother, for your love and trust in me. My Royal Brother, rest assured, I will not let you down."

Heaven rewards those who work hard. Gong Liangzhao has been enduring humiliation and hiding in a corner of Liangdu for more than 20 years, and finally he has waited for the opportunity to make a contribution. He has to do this job no matter what.

Not long after staying in the Prince's Mansion, Gong Liangzhao followed the Prince into the palace to meet the Emperor. After the Emperor gave him a few instructions, he took his hand and said earnestly:

"Governing the bandit problem is a serious matter. Don't let your father down!"

"Please rest assured, Father. I will definitely fulfill my mission!"

Looking at the expectation in his father's eyes, Gong Liangzhao's heart trembled. He finally saw his own existence in his father's eyes.

Gong Liangming, however, ignored the loving relationship between the father and son who seemed to be familiar with each other, and couldn't help but sneer to himself.

After leaving the palace and bidding farewell to the prince, Gong Liangzhao could not wait to rush to Liu Mansion. He wanted to tell his teacher the good news.