Rebirth As a Fatuous and Self-indulgent Ruler
chapter-102

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

As Zhou Huan was speaking, tears rolled down her face.

Seeing his mother like this, Fang was very worried. “Mother…”

Zhou smiled. “It was my fault.”

“Mother.” Fang held his mother’s hand. “Do you think someone forced my father to do that?”

Zhou nodded her head. “Yes. I didn’t understand that in the past, but now I do. There must be a reason that your father chose to do that!”

“No wonder,” Fang said, “No wonder father would commit suicide… He… he didn’t want to implicate us anymore…”

Coldness flashed through Zhou’s eyes. “Your father said he stayed far away from his hometown. Shuoyang, I suspect… that your father was probably not from our nation. I’m not sure whether the Fang family are actually from our nation, but my Zhou family absolutely are! Yet your uncle also participated in this… I can’t allow your uncle to ruin the century-old Zhou family!”

Fang puckered his lips. “Mother, what do you want to do?”

Zhou said softly, “The emperor has showed mercy and decided not to punish those people in the Zhou family and the Tianyin post who didn’t participate in the rebellion. So… I have to be heartless this time!”

Fang clenched his fist. “But now we can’t even control the Tianyin post yet…”

Zhou slowly looked down. “We can’t, but the imperial court can.”

Fang was slightly stunned. “Mother, you want to…”

“Given the situation, it’s the fastest way and the results will be the most beneficial for us. And I believe that the imperial court won’t bother to control the small Tianyin post and Zhou family later.”

Fang took a deep breath, and then said slowly, “Mother, I understand.”

Zhou smiled. “When you decide to take action, leave the Zhou family to me.”

Once Zhou and Fang had made the decision, Long Xiaoyuan received the news.

After keeping silent for a moment, Long smiled. “I didn’t expect that Zhou Huan would think like that. Being so decisive, she can surely achieve something big.”

The Shadow Guardians were kneeling in front of Long.

Long glanced at the Shadow Guardians and said simply, “Take action.”

Five days later, in the middle of the night, ten thousand troops surrounded the Tianyin post, ten thousand troops surrounded Zhou family and thirty thousand troops surrounded Fenghuang Mountain.

The three parties were taking action at the same time.

In the Tianyin post, with Fang Shuyang’s help, all the loyalists who followed Fang Qiuhua earlier had been secretly got rid of several days ago. Therefore, more than 200 people were taken away by the soldiers, but the Tianyin post was still kept in order.

But Zhou family was completely in chaos.

In recent days, Zhou Hengliang felt something must have gone wrong since he lost contact with Fang Qiuhua. Especially after Fang Shuoyang was released, he had got a backup plan and even secretly controlled the soldiers and horses in Fenghuang Mountain.

However, he hadn’t expected that so many troops from the court would come!

The five thousand soldiers he was hiding in Fenghuang Mountain were useless at all!

Although those soldiers were quite capable, they were nothing at all compared with the twenty thousand elite soldiers from the imperial court!

Most importantly, Fenghuang Mountain was already under full siege.

And his Zhou family was also surrounded by ten thousand troops!

Ten thousand troops! Even if everyone in the Zhou family was good at fighting, could they defeat the ten thousand elite troops?

Zhou went forward with some guards from the Tianyin post.

“Zhou Huan!” Zhou Hengliang gritted his teeth.

Zhou Huan’s attitude was colder than Zhou Hengliang’s. “Elder brother, you made this decision. Don’t you feel sorry for the ancestors of Zhou family?”

“Zhou Huan, what’s going on?” Zhou Huan was the youngest daughter in the family. The woman who asked was Zhou Huan’s mother, Mrs. Zhou.

Zhou Huan said, “Mother, my elder brother conspired to revolt and was exposed.”

“What? Rebel?” Mrs. Zhou rolled her eyes and passed out immediately.

“You brat! How dare you?” Zhou Huan’s father hadn’t expected that his son would commit such a crime, either, so he got so furious that he almost fell over.

“Aunt! My father and I did this for the sake of our family! Aunt, you’re ungrateful!” Zhou Tairong, Zhou Hengliang’s son, shouted. Zhou Huan looked coldly at his nephew. “You did it for our family? Do you know that the crime of rebellion is so serious that all our clan would be killed? How dare you say you did this for us? Our Zhou family has a good reputation in the martial arts world and it’s also quite influential. We could’ve lived a free and easy life. But because of you, all the Zhou family was involved in such a big crime and all of us might be killed. Do you still think it’s good for our family?”

Zhou Tairong was good for nothing. Zhou Huan’s words greatly shocked him.

Zhou Hengliang gritted his teeth and said, “If I succeed, the Zhou family will become the richest and most influential family in the world.”

Zhou Huan laughed. “Elder brother, I don’t know that you’re such a great dreamer. If you succeed? Ha ha. Haven’t you thought about what would happen if you fail?

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Zhou Hengliang said firmly.

“You brat!” Zhou Huan’s father slapped him in the face. Zhou Hengliang didn’t expect that and almost fell over. “Father…”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained? Why didn’t you ask me and your mother if we want to gain money and fame in that way?” The old man roared.

Zhou Hengliang was speechless.

Zhou Huan’s eyes flashed with sorrow, and then she looked colder. “Elder brother, you want to be rich and powerful, but the rest of us only want peace. While you were carrying out your plan, why didn’t you think about the rest of us? Elder brother, you are so selfish! You bet our whole family on your ambition!”

Zhou Huan’s father slapped Zhou Hengliang again.

Zhou Hengliang suddenly got furious and began to fight against his father.

All the other people were shocked. The old man was good at martial arts when he was young, but he was old after all. He hadn’t expected that his son would slap him in the chest, and then his son held him in his arms.

“All of you, step back and let me go. Otherwise, I will kill him!”

Zhou Huan stared at Zhou Hengliang unbelievably. “Zhou Hengliang! He is your father!”

Zhou Hengliang was mad. “So what? I’ll say it again. Let me go! Or I’ll kill him at once!”

“You want to kill your father? You bastard!” The old man was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Zhou Huan roared, “Let father go!”

“Father, take me with you!” Zhou Tairong cried.

Zhou Hengliang didn’t pay attention to his son. Instead, he took his father and flew away.

Just then, Zhou Hengliang’s father suddenly slapped him in the face.

Zhou Hengliang fought back instinctively. Then, his father fell down. The Shadow Guardians flew there and began to fight against Zhou Hengliang…

An hour later, all the people who followed Zhou Hengliang earlier were arrested and taken away.

“Father!” Zhou Huan was in tears in her father’s room.

Mrs. Zhou also woke up with tears streaming down her face.

“Master, please don’t leave me alone…” Mrs. Zhou cried.

Zhou Huan’s father coughed and said weakly, “That brat… how dare he…”

Zhou Huan wiped the tears on her face. “Father… you will be fine. Father, I’m sure you will be fine.”

The old man shook his head. “I know I won’t get over this… My dear, promise me not to let our Zhou family go on without male offspring… When Shuoyang has sons in the future… please make one of them surnamed Zhou.”

Zhou Huan was stunned.

Zhou Huan’s father grabbed her hand. “My dear, promise me, promise me…”

Seeing her father like this, how could Zhou Huan have the heart to refuse? She finally agreed. “Yes, I know, father.”

The old man felt relieved… and then he closed his eyes forever.

“Father!”

“Master!” Mrs. Zhou cried.

All people in Zhou family began to wail in mourning.

When Zhou family was in chaos, Fenghuang Mountain also fell into disorder.

The two leaders, Fang Qiuhua and Zhou Hengliang, weren’t there, but Fenghuang Mountain was attacked. Of course everyone there would panic.

“Surrender, or get killed!” The leader from the imperial court shouted.

After he said that, the place became more chaotic. Some people went to fight, and some people chose to surrender…

As internal disorder arose, the imperial court achieved their goal without difficulty… Soon after, all the people in Fenghuang Mountain were brought under control.