I rely on infrastructure systems to build a prosperous village

Chapter 126: Bianjing Affairs

Emperor Huide's heart skipped a beat. He held her shoulders with both hands, his eyes filled with grief.

"Ci'er, why should we go back to the past? What I want is our future. Rui'er has been found now, our Rui'er has been found. Qin Zhao wrote me a letter explaining what happened back then.

Although he cooperated with the Miao people to steal the child, he later ordered someone to secretly take the child away and killed those people. He then placed the child on a mountain road in An County and watched until someone took the child away before he left.

"So what? That can't cover up the fact that Qin Zhao helped others steal my Rui'er. Qin Di, I didn't expect that you would help your own brother get away with this crime at this time. What about me? What about my Rui'er? Do you understand the pain of separation between mother and son over the years?"

Seeing her face covered with tears and her eyes bloodshot, and every question she asked was reasonable and every word was heartbreaking, Emperor Huide's hands on her shoulders could not help but drop down, and he took two steps back dejectedly.

After a long moment, Emperor Huide whispered, "Ci'er, our Rui'er is now in Lijia Village, An County. His name is Li Chunhua. He is my newly appointed lord's fourth uncle. He has already won the first place in the provincial examination and will come to Bianjing for the next spring examination. Then, we will all be able to see him in person."

After she finished speaking, she saw Chu Ci standing there indifferently, and she understood in her heart that she knew it, and that Nanny Song was now a servant of the Li family.

Emperor Huide walked under the crabapple tree, looked at the falling leaves, and a smile flashed in his eyes. Then he sighed softly, his thoughts drifting away, and he said weakly:

"Ci'er, it's not because Qin Zhao is my younger brother that I want to protect him. It's because I promised my father and mother that I would protect him for the rest of his life. That's why my father gave him the title of 'Prince of Ning', hoping that he would live a peaceful and worry-free life.

Qin Zhao was originally the son of Prince Ding. Born weak, he was fostered in the home of a relative. His father even sought out the world's greatest swordsman as his mentor, who trained him from a young age. However, his father and brother both died on the borders of the Qin Empire, leaving his mother heartbroken and unable to recover. She fell ill and passed away soon after.

Later, my father felt guilty towards Prince Ding, and my mother was also resentful because her second child was stillborn. So my father gave the child to my mother to raise, telling others that my younger brother had been born in poor health and needed to be fostered with relatives to survive. Now that those relatives had passed away, he had taken the child home to raise personally.

The Queen Mother knew this was her deceased child, so she doted on Qin Zhao from a young age, and no one noticed anything. This was also because these were royal secrets, and few knew about them.

Upon hearing this, Chu Ci couldn't help but open his eyes wide. It turned out to be Prince Ding, the person who often appeared in his father's mouth, the person his father always praised, and the person his father would always sigh when talking about him: What a pity.

The two of them stood in silence, one in front and one behind, under the crabapple tree, each with different thoughts. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, blowing up the fallen leaves on the ground and shaking the branches.

"Qin Di, no matter where he was born, he couldn't avoid the mistakes he made. I can't forgive him on behalf of my son, nor can I forgive him on behalf of myself, who has been a walking corpse for so many years."

After saying that, Chu Ci turned around and left neatly, and the hem of her skirt outlined with gold thread drew a beautiful arc in the air.

Emperor Huide shuddered, closed his eyes, stood with his hands behind his back, and did not look back.

The imperial palace Huayang Palace.

A eunuch hurriedly walked into the gate of Huayang Palace, crossed the corridor and came to the inner hall.

"Your Majesty, I saw His Majesty enter the Fengyi Palace."

"what?"

The dignified woman dozing on the chaise longue sat up, the golden hairpin on her head swinging back and forth as she stood up. She calmed down and looked at her nails dyed red with cardamom, a flicker of resentment in her eyes.

"Have you seen His Majesty come out?"

Hearing her cold tone, the eunuch kneeling on the ground trembled and replied in a trembling voice, "No."

"Oh, such a useless person actually dares to come back and report. Madam Wu, why don't you deal with such a useless servant quickly?"

"Yes, ma'am."

After a while, the eunuch was dragged out with his mouth covered.

Seeing the sinister look on her delicately made-up face, Nanny Wu sighed inwardly and hurried over, saying softly, "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. You still have the eldest prince."

As soon as these words came out, the dignified woman immediately showed a proud smile on her face and said:

"Yes, I still have my Sheng'er. Hehe, Chu Ci, what do you have? You have nothing. Hahahaha, from now on, this great Qin Dynasty will belong to my Sheng'er."

Zhou Mansion in Bianjing.

In the study, Zhou Hanmin sat behind his desk, staring at the letter unfolded on the desk, speechless for a moment. After a long moment, he couldn't help but sigh: He never imagined that one day, this kind-hearted lady would become his daughter-in-law.

Thinking of his son's words in the letter, he couldn't help but frown, chuckled, and sighed: "My son has been raised so well that even as a father, I am often used to exploit him." Well, the current popularity of the Renshan Township Lord is unmatched by anyone in the court.

"Zhou Cheng, go tell my wife that I will have dinner with her tonight."

"Yes, sir. As for Concubine Xu..."

"You should also go and tell them that I won't be going over today."

"Yes, my lord."

At dinner time.

At this moment, the dining room of the Zhou Mansion was filled with a scene of a loving father, a virtuous mother, and a filial son.

"Dad, when will my brother come back?"

After hearing this, a hint of displeasure flashed across Zhou Yang's eyes, and she sternly said, "Why mention him? So what if he's back? When has he ever come to see us?"

"Mom, my brother came to see you before because you always looked so indifferent."

Zhou Yunyue retorted weakly with her head lowered.

"Yuer, you actually spoke for him. You're breaking my heart."

Zhou Yunyue was frightened when she heard her mother say this, and quickly said, "Mom, you know that's not what I meant."

"Mom, Yue'er didn't mean that. Besides, it's true that Big Brother hasn't been home for a long time."

"Jun'er, you..."

"okay."

Zhou Hanmin glanced at Yang with dissatisfaction and said in a deep voice, "Yang, when Tian'er comes home in the future, I hope you can act like a mother and not just ignore him. If you can't do that, then don't act like a mother in front of Tian'er in the future."

Yang looked at Zhou Hanmin in disbelief and loudly retorted, "Why is that? Master, when have I ever ignored him? When have I ever wronged him in terms of food, clothing, and other expenses in this mansion? It was that rebellious son who never gave me his all. How can he blame me now? Back then, he was just contradicting me because of that wet nurse..."

"Okay, I came here today to tell you that you don't have to worry about Tian'er's marriage. I will make my own arrangements."

After saying that, he turned away.

"Master, you..."

Zhou Yunjun and Zhou Yunyue looked at each other, and there was worry in their eyes when they looked at Yang.

At this time, Yang was sitting on a chair with a gloomy face and a flash of resentment in her eyes. She complained in her heart: It's all that rebellious son's fault. It's all his fault. I shouldn't have given birth to him in the first place.

But Yang didn't think about it at all. Now that she was out there, who would give her the honor and glory that everyone would admire her for?