Although I know that my identity has been around for a long time and have seen some big events since I was a child, I still feel very uncomfortable with being kneeling down and bowing to them. I hurriedly supported them and said, "Don't defeat my life."

Several people stood up and retreated aside.

Although the women were covered in dust, their eyes were bright. They looked at us curiously with a novel expression on their faces.

Then I looked at the old man. His expression was still very calm, but I knew that the calmness was the numbness formed by long-term tempering. The only thing that could see his inner fluctuations at this moment was the complicated eyes in his eyes, which were always looking at me, as if he was looking at his own salvation.

I said, "Old man is—"

He said, "Your Highness has never seen me."

I shook my head.

"Actually, I have seen Your Highness several times, but I have seen it from afar when His Highness was young, and I dare not alarm Your Highness."

"oh?"

I thought about it and remembered that my mother often brought me here to fish and play. Sometimes she would walk away alone. I don’t know what she did, because I was young at that time and only cared about playing. Now, as soon as this person said that, I understand.

My mother took me to visit back then, but I was afraid that the main purpose was to meet this person.

I asked directly: "Who are you?"

The old man was silent for a moment and said, "For a long time, I have forgotten my name. Your Highness can call me Zongzheng."

Zong Zheng…?

If I remember correctly, I have seen these two words in the previous dynasty’s record, but they are not the name of a person, but an official name.

"Zongzheng..." I murmured these two words and looked behind him again: "These are—"

"This is my adopted son and my granddaughter."

"Have you been here all the time?"

"Yes, we have been guarding the Sanjiang Dam here for more than thirty years."

He said, looking at me, his eyes appearing a little haggard: "If Your Highness doesn't show up again, we are probably going to be unable to keep it."

|

We found an open space, and there were just a few stones. Susu took a mattress and put it under me for me to sit down. Pei Yuanhao didn't say anything and sat not far beside me.

This old man who called himself "Zongzheng" stood in front of me with his children and grandchildren.

After a few words, I probably understood his identity. This man should be an official from the previous dynasty, but he may have been castrated and had no wife or son. He guarded the Sanjiang Dam here. In order to continue this work, he adopted his adopted son, just like Mr. Ma from Gantang Village. If we don’t come, they will guard the dam here for generations.

However—I glanced at the daughters behind his adopted son. They looked quite well. I probably haven't seen outsiders for a long time. They all looked at us with wide eyes, especially men like Pei Yuanhao and Cha Bixing, so they naturally looked at them a few more.

I also understand why Zongzheng said that if I don’t come again, they will be unable to keep it.

His adopted son gave birth to all his daughters, and it was indeed difficult to continue doing this.

Although I had a lot of doubts in my heart, I had never expected the appearance of this old man. I didn't even know the existence of this person, so although I had many doubts, I didn't know what to ask him.

After a while, I remembered and asked, "Old man, have you seen any strangers coming here?"

Zong Zheng said: "Although we protect the dam, we don't live here every day. We live on the mountain and just came down today. As soon as we came, we saw Your Highness."

"oh……"

I nodded and looked forward again, calculating the time in my mind, and I still have to rush over later.

"When it comes to strangers-" Zong Zheng said, looking at Pei Yuanhao who had been sitting next to him calmly and silently, and said, "Your Highness, who are they?"

Although this old man has been here for decades, he still has a lot of vision. He did not ask Du Yan and Cha Bixing behind me, but asked Pei Yuanhao alone. It was obvious that he and us were two different groups at a glance.

I glanced at Pei Yuanhao and said, "He, he is the emperor."

“…”

Zong Zheng's face suddenly changed: "What?"

"He is the emperor."

“…”

Zong Zheng slowly turned to him, and his eyes that seemed a little confused because of his old age looked straight at Pei Yuanhao.

He was an official from the previous dynasty and naturally he would not have any other thoughts about this emperor. After looking at Pei Yuanhao for a while, he looked back at me, and his gaze seemed very strange.

Pei Yuanhao couldn't help frowning when he was watching like this.

But at this moment, Zong Zheng suddenly said to me again: "My Highness, his Majesty, what did he come to Xichuan for?"

I said, "He comes to the peace talks, and he comes to the peace talks with my brother, the head of the Yan family."

Zong Zheng's face suddenly changed: "Peace talk!"

These two words seemed to have touched something in their hearts. Not only him, but also the adopted son who had been numb and the quiet granddaughters behind him changed their faces, and they all walked up one after another: "Father!"

"Grandpa, have they really had a peace talk?"

"Peace talks! The Yan family finally got peace talks with the court!"

I don’t know why this almost well-known news made them so abnormal. Although they lived in the mountains and might not be able to get in, the people of Xichuan also had their own opinions on the peace talks, so why did they get excited?

I asked, "Old man, what?"

At this time, Zong Zheng seemed to be unable to hear my voice. He laughed and sighed again. Tears blew in his eyes. He bowed to the heavens repeatedly: "God has eyes, God has eyes, we, we finally don't have to keep guarding!"

What's the meaning?

I was a little confused, and at this moment, a strange expression appeared on Pei Yuanhao's face.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Zong Zheng bowed three times in succession, and his adopted son and granddaughter behind him devoutly bowed to the sky, then stood up and said in tears: "Your Highness, I don't know that I was ordered to protect the dam here by the time I was ordered to protect the dam here. As long as the dam is there for one day, as long as I am still, I am, and my children and grandchildren, I will protect it here and cannot leave."

I nodded. This is the same as Mr. Ma and his friends protecting the Yan family ancestral hall.

He said, "But, since the old family has passed down to this point, only some granddaughters are left. If you want to defend it, you can't keep it."

I said, "Did my mother have no other arrangements?"

He said in tears: "There is only one arrangement, which is to wait until the court negotiates with the Yan family."

“…!”

My heart suddenly pounded.

Pei Yuanhao was originally very quiet, but at this time he couldn't help but say, "What's the point?"

Zong Zheng said: "Only by the day when the court negotiated with the Yan family, I and my grandchildren can leave the Sanjiang Dam and there is no need to protect it here!"

I frowned: "This is how my mother told you?"

Zong Zheng cried so hard that his whole body was twitching, and he said, "This is my life, how could I remember it wrong?"

I took a deep breath.

My mother had already had a premonition that the division between the imperial court and Xichuan would not last long. She had expected that Xichuan would have to negotiate with the imperial court one day, so she asked the old man to protect the Sanjiang Dam here and gave him such an order.

As long as you have peace talks, you don’t have to defend it anymore.

However, the Sanjiang Dam is the lifeline of Xichuan. Regardless of whether the peace talks or not, this place is equally important to Xichuan. Why don’t you have to protect this place after the peace talks?

What was her intention?

I was still thinking in my heart, and the Zongzheng family was so excited that they couldn't help themselves, especially those women, who were crying even harder than their grandfather. One of the youngest women cried, their voices were hoarse, and they said, "We, we can finally leave here..."

Although I still have a lot of doubts in my heart, I still couldn't help feeling sad when I saw them like this.

The vast world outside is full of wonderful things, but for this family, all the flowers and willows are green, the phoenixes fly and fish are too far away from them. They are guarding a lifeless dam in this painful world, which is tantamount to a kind of hard work and a kind of destruction of human nature.

Although I know the importance of the dam and protecting this place is of course necessary, why did my mother ask Zongzheng to protect it?

Perhaps like me, I also felt pity for them. No one from Pei Yuanhao to Chabixing asked to disturb the family's celebration. They cried and laughed, and were very excited. It took a while before they calmed down.

Then I asked, "Old man."

At this time, Zong Zheng even smiled deeper in his face, and a little light shone in his eyes, looking at me: "What are your instructions?"

I thought about it and asked, "Why did my mother ask you to come here to protect the dam?"

Zong Zheng sighed and said, "The mountains and rivers are broken, and I have no body, no wife or children, and I have no worries. If I don't come here to protect the dam, I don't know what else I can do."

"But, you are the only ones? Didn't my mother send other people to the table?"

"I can't see anyone in this place for many years, and at most I can see some lost hunters. In fact, it's the same whether there is anyone to protect it. At the beginning, only I was the only one. After taking this adopted son, I was not alone after he got married and had children."

I thought about it and nodded. It was true that there was no need to say that this dam was important to Xichuan, so naturally no one would come here to make trouble. As for the others - before today, no one could go deep into Xichuan and come to this dam to have a bad idea.

"But," Zong Zheng said as if he had remembered something: "A fewer than ten years ago, someone came here."

"Who is it?"
Chapter completed!