The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

Gong Jianzhou was so shocked that his chopsticks dropped to the ground. He stared at Shen Tingzhi like a fool without saying a word.

"What's wrong? Was what I said not clear enough, or did you not understand?"

Shen Tingzhi ate his snacks calmly, as he knew Gong Jianzhou very well.

Gong Jianzhou is a person who cares about face and has a stubborn temper. No matter what happens, he has to think it through himself. If he can't think it through, it will be useless for others to persuade him.

"No." Gong Jianzhou came back to his senses, looked at Shen Tingzhi and said, "Tingzhi, is what you just said true?"

"Why, when did my character, Shen Tingzhi, change? Are people so unbelievable when they say something?"

Shen Tingzhi put down the stick in his hand and stared at Gong Yifan seriously.

The two looked at each other for a long time, and Gong Jianzhou said to Shen Tingzhi with red eyes: "Tingzhi, you and I are brothers. If you are willing to let me follow you, then I will follow you to the end regardless of life or death."

"Okay, if you are willing to follow me, then I, Shen Tingzhi, will definitely not let you down."

"In the future, when the political situation stabilizes and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascends the throne, I promise you on behalf of the new emperor that although the title of Duke of Tang's Mansion will disappear, you, Gong Jianzhou, will definitely continue the glory of your Gong family."

"Although I cannot compare with your great-grandfather, you will definitely have a place in the court of Yunli Kingdom."

"And I promise to seek justice for you and repay you for all the humiliation you suffered when you were framed by Duke Chen."

Shen Tingzhi's words were not meant to flatter Gong Jianzhou. They were already friends. If Gong Yifan followed Shen Tingzhi now, their relationship would be even deeper.

The Shen family has always been very generous to their own people. As long as you are loyal, the Shen family will definitely help you with all their strength.

Gong Jianzhou stood up at once, walked to Shen Tingzhi, and suddenly knelt down, "Tingzhi, from today on, you are my adopted parent."

"What are you doing?" Shen Tingzhi quickly stood up and helped Gong Jianzhou up. "You also said that you and I are brothers. Why should brothers do this?"

"Tingzhi, you don't know the pain in my heart and the humiliation I have suffered over the years." As Gong Jianzhou spoke, all the sadness and grievances of these years came to his mind.

"I know, Jianzhou, a gentleman's revenge is never too late. We have a long time to go, and one day, all the debts owed will be repaid double."

Seeing Gong Jianzhou like this, Shen Tingzhi felt very uncomfortable.

Although Gong Jianzhou is not an outstanding young talent, he is also a good young man and will surely achieve something in the future.

But no one could have expected that when you thought your life would go on peacefully and steadily, God would play a joke on you and make you fall from the clouds into the quagmire.

Gong Jianzhou had a fiancée who was engaged to him since childhood. She was Lu Qingyao, the eldest daughter of Lu Junwei, the current head of the Fanyang Lu family.

Although the two of them cannot be considered childhood sweethearts, they grew up together.

Unfortunately, Lu Qingyao was not a law-abiding person. Although she already had a fiancé, she had an affair with Chen Ziqi, the grandson of Duke Chen.

In order to cancel the engagement between the Gong and Lu families, and for the common interests of the families, Duke Chen and Lu Junwei jointly wrote and directed a farce.

At the banquet held by the Lu family, the drunk Gong Jianzhou was thrown into a room with a maid from his family.

He also deliberately lured people to watch, making the matter a big deal and letting everyone know about it.

When all the accusations were directed at Gong Jianzhou, the Lu family went to the Duke of Tang's Mansion as victims to cancel the engagement.

Not long after the engagement was broken off, Lu Qingyao married Chen Ziqi, which made Gong Jianzhou a loser and a laughing stock in people's eyes. Not only that, it also ruined his official career.

Although the Duke of Tang and the Duke of Chen have the same title, there is still a difference in the strength of their families.

The Duke of Tang's Mansion simply did not have the strength to fight against the Duke of Chen's Mansion, so even though Gong Chenghai knew that his son was framed, he could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger, thinking that he was unlucky and blaming all the faults on his son.

From that time on, Gong Jianzhou never recovered and stayed at home all day without going anywhere.

"Yes, a gentleman's revenge is never too late." Gong Jianzhou smiled and said, "It's time for me to stand up. I've been a loser for so many years. This time I want to be a decent person again."

"I will pay back double the humiliation the Chen and Lu families have inflicted on me."

At this moment, Gong Jianzhou, who had been decadent for many years, suddenly turned into the young man full of vigor and vitality.

"You're right to think this way. The road must move forward, and people must look ahead. If you keep dwelling on the bad things in the past and can't move on, you'll be the one who suffers in the end."

Shen Tingzhi patted Gong Jianzhou on the shoulder. Life is only a few decades at most. It is really stupid to waste time on unworthy things.

"Tingzhi, is there anything you need me to do now?" Since he has decided to come out of his decadence, Gong Jianzhou doesn't want to waste any more time. He needs to adapt to his role as soon as possible.

"Your father brought people to the Marquis of Zhenbei's Mansion this morning." Shen Tingzhi did not directly explain what Duke Tang was doing at the Marquis of Zhenbei's Mansion, but Gong Jianzhou was a smart man and he would definitely be able to guess it.

"Hmph! The old man is used to changing with the wind, and he always goes to the mountain that is higher." Gong Jianzhou has seen Duke Tang's wavering behavior and his tendency to cling to the aristocratic families since he was a child, and he is very disgusted with his father's behavior.

"The Crown Prince has just been appointed. He is still young and his foundation is unstable. He cannot withstand those storms, so we must be cautious now."

Shen Tingzhi has automatically classified Gong Jianzhou as one of his own, and there is nothing to hide from his own people.

Gong Jianzhou looked up at Shen Tingzhi and said, "I know that the Duke of Tang's Mansion looks peaceful on the surface, but in fact, my father and those uncles have long since made it a mess."

"The Duke of Tang's Mansion is completely corrupt from the ground up. It's a pity that my father can't see through it, and my uncles are even less able to see through it."

"For the title of Duke of Tang, which will soon disappear, you fight to the death all day long, but what good does it do?"

"In the end, it's all just nothing, a dream."

Compared with Duke Tang and his brothers, Gong Jianzhou is extremely clear-headed.

"Yes, but most people live their lives for fame and fortune, but all this fighting and chasing is just a dream in the end."

The Marquis of Zhenbei is not a person who pursues fame and fortune, so his children are also people who are indifferent to fame and fortune. Although they all have supreme power in their hands, they do not regard this power as very important.

"Tingzhi, I know what I should do. I will try my best to stop my father from seeking refuge with someone else."

"If I can't stop it, I'll just do what I have to do. As a son, I've done my best."

As for how much Duke Tang's desire for fame and fortune is, Gong Jianzhou, as his son, has the most say. It is simply impossible to persuade Duke Tang.

But if it fell into Shen Tingzhi's hands, at least he would save his life.

"Okay." Shen Tingzhi nodded and said, "The most important thing for you now is to find out which camp your uncles belong to."

Although Shen Tingzhi did not take the Duke of Tang's Mansion seriously, Gong Jianzhou is now his man, so it is very necessary to find out the details of these people in the Duke of Tang's Mansion, otherwise he will inevitably be restrained in the future.

"This?" Gong Jianzhou lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "My second uncle is from Prince Qing's side. Now that Prince Qing was executed for treason, he's pretty well-behaved now."

"My third uncle is also a fence-sitter, swinging to the side that benefits him. He doesn't have fixed followers. He usually works for whoever gives him the most benefits."

"My fourth uncle is quite close to Zhou Haibei. I've never seen him get close to anyone else. He has a cold personality and doesn't get close to anyone. Zhou Haibei is no exception to his rule."

"As for my fifth uncle, he's a bit strange. He stays indoors all day and rarely gets close to others. But one time, I overheard my father saying to someone that if my fifth uncle continues like this, sooner or later something big will happen that will affect our entire family."

"But as for what he did that would affect the entire family, I don't know."

After hearing what Gong Jianzhou said, Shen Tingzhi knew that Gong's second uncle was not a threat at the moment, and the snobbish third uncle could be left alone for the time being.

The most important thing now is Gong Jianzhou's fourth uncle and fifth uncle. Zhou Haibei is a spy of the Western Rong. Anyone who is close to Zhou Haibei is naturally not a good person. Maybe he has already been a puppet of the Western Rong people.

As for the fifth uncle who lives a secluded life and rarely interacts with others, and who will bring trouble to the entire Gong family, he is most likely Li Chaohui's man.

These two people must be closely monitored, and if necessary, we can choose to make them disappear from this world completely.

"Where is Jianzhi? What is he doing now?" The Jianzhi Shen Tingzhi mentioned is Gong Jianzhou's younger brother Gong Jianzhi, the second son of Duke Tang.

Speaking of his younger brother, Gong Jianzhou couldn't help but sigh. His younger brother didn't like the fighting in the family since he was a child.

Ever since he became a waste, their biological father has started to work on his younger brother, determined to revive the Gong family.

His younger brother had been away from home for three years, and apart from occasionally writing him a letter to tell him about his recent situation, they had no other contact.

"He left home three years ago and went on a journey. I don't know where he is now."

Shen Tingzhi was stunned for a moment. In his impression, Gong Jianzhi was a young man who was more ambitious than his brother Gong Jianzhou. Now he was forced to leave home and travel around. It was conceivable how difficult life had been for the two brothers at home over the years.

"I will send people to look for him. Once we find him, we will bring him back to the capital and let him choose the life he wants to live."

Gong Jianzhi loved reading very much. If it weren't for the changes in his family, he would at least be a teacher teaching students in the Imperial College.

"In that case, Jianzhou would like to thank Tingzhi in advance."

For Gong Jianzhou, being able to find his brother back was naturally the best thing that could have happened.

"Okay, don't be so polite to our own people." Shen Tingzhi put down the stick in his hand. This was the most snacks he had ever eaten in his life.

Drinking tea made Shen Tingzhi hungry. Because the snacks were delicious, Shen Tingzhi was already looking forward to the dishes here.

Just as Shen Tingzhi was about to ask the waiter to order food, he saw a group of people coming with food.

Plate after plate of dishes were placed on the table, all of which were Shen Tingzhi's favorite dishes. Shen Tingzhi looked up at Gong Jianzhou and saw that he also looked confused, so he knew that these were definitely not arranged by him in advance.

This made Shen Tingzhi wonder who arranged all this. He had just returned to the capital, so not many people should know about it.

And he was puzzled and uneasy that she knew his habits so well.

"Second Young Master, please use it."

Hearing the call of "Second Young Master", Shen Tingzhi turned around to look at the person who was speaking and found that it was actually a manager of their Zhenbei Marquis Mansion. Because this manager had been to the northern border to deliver supplies, Shen Tingzhi had some impression of him.

The manager nodded at Shen Tingzhi, and Shen Tingzhi understood and said nothing more.

Since this meal is prepared by our own family, there will definitely be no problem and you can eat it with confidence.

As for why the steward of their Zhenbei Marquis Mansion appeared in this first-class building, he would know everything after asking after he finished his meal.

Shen Tingzhi didn't know yet that Yipinlou had changed its name to Shen, and had become the property of his sister Shen Tianjiao from Zuo Beichen.

All the money earned by this Pinlou every day has been deposited into Shen Tianjiao's private treasury as a reserve for the national treasury in preparation for future multinational wars.

Shen Tingzhi, no longer entangled, began to relax and enjoy the delicious food in front of him.

As expected, the snacks and dishes at Yipintang are delicious. Shen Tingzhi hasn't had such a pleasant meal out in a long time.

After Shen Tingzhi and Gong Jianzhou finished their meal, they briefly discussed some things together, and then Gong Jianzhou left alone.

Shen Tingzhi stayed. He wanted to find out what was going on with Yipin Building. If he didn't solve the mystery today, he would not be able to sleep.

Soon the steward came with some snacks and tea to help with digestion. After placing all these in front of Shen Tingzhi, he knelt down in front of him and said, "Second Young Master, please enjoy. These are good for digestion and relieving greasiness. You will feel much better after taking some."