Capítulo 2048: Chapter 182: The Nation’s Orphan
There is a secret about Chi ngfu that is almost never openly discussed.
But those present in the Baohua Palace at this mont are the highest echelons of the Sumr Country, so naturally they are all aware…
When Chi ngfu was born, he had six toes, and his biological parents viewed him as a deford monster and threw him directly into the river.
He happened to be rescued by a boatman.
That boatman was a widower who lived alone on the boat his whole life and was not concerned about idle gossip, so he adopted him.
Unfortunately, the good tis didn’t last long. When he turned seven,
one day a guest on the boat saw his six toes, thought he was of demon blood, and wanted to bind him and feed him to the Fierce Beasts.
The boatman tried to stop them and ended up being beaten to death.
He took advantage of the chaos to jump into the river and escape, then went to report to the authorities.
The one who killed the boatman claid he was eliminating demons, and said those who harbor the demon clan deserved no pity.
The child, then still called Chi San’er, stripped off all his clothes in court and asked the adults present where exactly he was a demon?
That official was reasonable and sentenced the murderer to an exemplary punishnt.
But how to deal with Chi San’er posed a real dilemma.
The boatman was already gone.
After much difficulty in finding his biological father, the man refused to acknowledge having borne such a thing.
The official had no other choice but to raise the child himself, considering him as a servant.
But this situation didn’t last long either.
When Chi San’er was nine years old… the county office caught fire, and the official and his entire family were burned to death.
Only Chi San’er, who was out making purchases at the ti, escaped the disaster.
So said he was a harbinger of doom, and that anyone close to him would not die a good death. So said he was the one who burned the official’s family to death, that there was hatred hidden in his heart, that he didn’t want to be a servant but wanted to be the official’s son…
Soone arrested him to demand justice, but no evidence could be found, so he was released.
And so once more, he was left without a ho.
And this ti, no one dared to adopt him again.
This matter sohow ca to the attention of Emperor Xia Xiang, who personally decreed that the child be sent to the National Academy.
He said, “The country has its orphans, the country shall raise them.”
Chi San’er read books and gave himself the na Chi ngfu. He believed he had a family, that he was the eldest son of that family, so he took the na “ng,” but he was also without a ho, as the widower spent his whole life living on a boat, so he also took the word “fu” aning ho. He hoped to have a family of his own.
Later, once when Emperor Xia Xiang visited the National Academy, he suddenly wanted to test the students’ knowledge.
The Teaching and Training instructor selected six students to present to the Emperor, among them was not the best-performing student, Chi ngfu.
The reason for this, Chi ngfu naturally understood.
The National Academy was a place where scholars gathered, but not all scholars were discerning.
“Strangeness” itself was a form of guilt.
He was long accustod to this.
But Emperor Xia Xiang said, the instructor’s selections didn’t count; he didn’t want to see fancy embellishnts, he wanted to see thorns and wild grass that grew on their own. He ordered soone to bring the list of nas, blindfolded the accompanying Prince, and had the young prince select at random.
The young Prince circled with ink and thus selected seven students.
After Emperor Xia Xiang tested them himself, he was very pleased because one student perford extrely well.
He patted this student’s shoulder and said, you are a great talent of our Sumr Country.
This student knelt down and asked the Emperor, “Do you know that I have six toes?”
Emperor Xia Xiang paused for a mont and said, “I do, so is there so special skill you wish to show ?”
This student was, of course, Chi ngfu.
Old matters need not be ntioned.
But today, Liu Xiyi’s utterance of “Six-toed Thief” was undoubtedly a great humiliation to Chi ngfu. It was an enormous denigration of his morality and even his character!
There were initially quite a number of civil and military ministers ready to echo Liu Xiyi, but now they all fell silent.
Not daring to speak again.
On the right side of the second tier of the Cinnabar Steps, King Min Yu Liyang’s expression was sowhat unnatural. After all, he was the one who led five True n in an attack on Jiang ngxiong, ultimately to no avail, also losing the True Monarch of Formation Dao, Tai Hua.
The things Chi ngfu spoke of seed to expose his shortcomings one by one.
As for the “Six-toed Thief” or Chi ngfu’s inexpressible pain… they were of no importance.
On the left throne, King Wu Si Jiao kept his eyes closed, silent, not knowing where his thoughts were wandering in Divine Travel.
On the highest tier of the Dragon Throne, the Son of Heaven sat solemnly, quietly watching the civil and military officials as he had for so many years. Observing without speaking.
And from behind the beaded curtain hanging over the imperial seat, a stern female voice abruptly rang out: “Minister Liu, you have lost your composure!”
Though Liu Xiyi had a fiery temper, he was extrely respectful to the Empress Dowager, especially since he was aware he had misspoken. He cupped his hands towards the Cinnabar Steps and retreated to his standing position.
At this mont, only Chi ngfu was left standing alone in the center of the grand hall, a shadow cast by the brilliant pearls on the do, like a soul that had given up struggling, pressed against the floor. He did not speak for the mont.
Of the details from his interaction with the late Emperor, he certainly rembered more.
For instance, the Prince who accompanied the late Emperor at that ti was the one later cut to pieces by the Life-cutting Blade while encircling Zhongxuan Chuliang within the realm, the Third Prince of Sumr.
For instance, he actually replied at the ti, saying, “I work especially hard.”
And Emperor Xia Xiang said, “That is the most special ability.”
For example… that night, he went back and cried silently under the covers for a long ti.
But now he said nothing at all.
The voice of the Empress Dowager Xia continued, “The decision regarding Jianfeng Mountain last year was made by our entire court and I together; what’s right at one ti may seem inappropriate with the passage of ti. If we can endure this ordeal, extending the tiline by ten, a hundred years, it might be right again. Who has the eyes to see through the future? Even the sage Bu Lian had ancient errors, let us not reopen old accounts.”
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