Chapter 231: Cabbage, Yellow Field (Two Chapters in One)

A few days later, another good news came. Zhao Tingzan, also known as Xiaobao, officially became Murong Linlang's disciple!

Speaking of which, it was the Crown Prince's Consort who facilitated this matter.

When Niu Qiu followed Zhao Shiqing to the capital, he left Zhao Tingzan at Baihe Mountain. The child had red lips and white teeth, was cute and smart, and was very clever. Murong Linlang liked him very much. When she had free time, she would let him kick his legs and do horse stance, and when she was in a good mood, she would even teach him a few moves.

A few days after Zhao Tingzan returned to the palace to trace his roots, the Crown Princess discovered that her youngest son had learned martial arts. She asked Zhao Tingluo and found out that the father of the seemingly very aloof Master Murong was actually the best martial artist in the world.

The Crown Prince's wife thought quickly. Her youngest son had the advantage of imperial favor, but looking around the capital, there were a lot of people with the advantage of imperial favor. However, there were differences between those with the advantage of imperial favor and those without it. Some could rise to the top with the help of their ancestors' favor, while others had lost the favor of their ancestors. But there were more who would hold on to the favor they had in childhood until their death without making any progress, or even without a real job in their entire lives.

For example, the younger brother of the Prince of Nan'an was a fourth-rank official at the age of four. He has been idle all his life and has never been an official. Now he is almost seventy years old and still a fourth-rank official. None of his children and grandchildren are successful. A man in his forties still has to ask for household expenses from his old father. His fourth-rank official title is not hereditary, so he dare not die. If he dies, he will have nothing, and all his children and grandchildren can only rely on the charity of the Prince's Mansion to survive.

Thinking of this, the Crown Princess shuddered. Her little son, whom she had found with great difficulty, could not live his whole life like this.

The eldest son was intelligent and clever, and the family also had the throne for him to inherit. Both the old prince and the eldest son would support the younger son, but that also depended on the younger son's own efforts. Zhu Yu of the Baoqing Marquis's mansion was still the crown prince. Wasn't the support of his family enough? In the end, he still brought about his own early death.

So in the final analysis, the younger son has to be capable himself, otherwise not only will he waste resources in the future, but he will also be a burden to his older son.

The son was born to her, so she should take care of him instead of relying entirely on her eldest son.

The Crown Prince's Consort took the initiative to make friends with Murong Linlang. They were of similar age, one was unmarried and the other was equivalent to a widower, and they hit it off immediately. The Crown Prince's Consort asked Zhao Tingzan to become her apprentice, and Murong Linlang agreed immediately.

In Murong Linlang's opinion, Zhao Shiqing has grown up and will make her angry. It is not as fun as when he was a child, so she wants to take in another little apprentice.

When Zhao Shiqing heard the news, her heart ached. From then on, her master was no longer her master alone. She had to share her master with the little kid.

Zhao Tingzan has a special status, and Murong Linlang accepted him as her disciple, so it is inevitable that people from the palace would come in and out of her residence.

Just like when they were in Liangdi, even though she lived in Baihe Mountain with her apprentice, the Prince of Liang's Mansion would still send people over every now and then, and there were people from the palace on the mountain and at the foot of the mountain.

Zhao Shiqing's identity could not be made public in the capital for the time being. Murong Linlang did not want to implicate her elder disciple for the sake of her younger disciple, so she moved out of Tianjing Hutong and lived in a house prepared for her by Prince Fu's Mansion.

Murong Linlang moved away. Zhao Shiqing sat on the steps like an abandoned kitten, singing for a whole hour, "Little cabbage, the ground is yellow, six or seven years old, I have a junior brother, who is better than me, the junior brother eats noodles, I drink soup, I pick up the bowl, tears welling up..."

Everyone...

Wan Ruyi: "Second Miss, I'll go cook noodles for you. The noodles are all yours, but there's no soup."

Zhao Shiqing sniffed: "I'm a little thirsty, let's have some soup."

Everyone: You are just free.

The Crown Princess did not publicize the fact that Zhao Tingzan became a disciple. Every morning, the carriage from the palace would take Zhao Tingzan there and bring him back in the evening.

But not long after, the matter was discovered. Outside Murong Linlang's house, people often asked for news. After Zhao Tingluo found out, he quietly settled the matter.

Despite this, the news that the second young master of Prince Fu's Mansion, who had just been brought back, had become a disciple of a female master still spread out. Murong Linlang breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately she had moved out of Tianjing Hutong.

On the other side, the marriage between Princess Huixin and Lin Sen was officially finalized, and the wedding was scheduled for August. At the same time, the people sent by Manager Li to investigate the Lin family also returned.

Lin Sen's cousin is his aunt's daughter, named Luo Liqiong.

Luo's father lost both his parents when he was young. He started his own business from scratch and got married and had a daughter at the age of 30. Unfortunately, he became ill due to overwork and passed away at the age of 38.

Although the Lin family had some wealth, they had to support several scholars in succession, and their expenses were increasing. They were spending more than they earned, and their family assets were depleted.

Just at this time, the news of Luo's father's death reached the Lin family. Luo's mother and Lin's mother were sisters from the same mother. They also had a brother who died a few years ago. Now, only the widowed sister-in-law and two teenage nephews are left to support the family business.

Lin's mother and father went to Jiang'an County where Luo's mother lived and persuaded Luo's mother to take seven-year-old Luo Liqiong with them to the Lin family.

Half a year later, Luo's mother became mentally disturbed because of "missing her deceased husband" and went crazy. She ran into the street and was trampled to death by a frightened horse.

Luo's father had no parents or brothers, and Lin's uncle had also passed away, so the Lin family took in Luo Liqiong.

Luo Liqiong was young, so the family business left by her father was naturally handed over to Lin's father and mother to manage.

Lin Sen is three years older than Luo Liqiong. They were childhood sweethearts and grew up together. Luo Liqiong married Lin Sen and gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The delivery was dangerous. Although Luo Liqiong survived, she never felt happy again.

That is to say, from the time when the Luo family mother and daughter moved into the Lin family, the Lin family became more and more prosperous. After having enough money, Lin's father searched for famous teachers for Lin Sen. Later, he spent a lot of money to use his connections to get him introduced to a great Confucian scholar.

Although Lin Sen had average qualifications, he was a good teacher and a good student, and with his good luck, he passed the imperial examination and became a juren.

After he passed the imperial examination, Luo Liqiong was sent to a remote village due to illness, and the two children were raised by Lin's mother. It was at that time that Luo Liqiong's status changed from wife to concubine.

Yes, this matter had been implemented long before the Lord's death. In other words, after Lin Sen passed the imperial examination, the Lin family abandoned him.

Princess Huixin could not calm down for a long time after hearing the results of the investigation.

Luo Liqiong's family was not poor at all, but she was wiped out by the Lin family!

Luo's mother went crazy after only half a year in the Lin family. It was most likely caused by the Lin family.

The Lin family made Luo Liqiong pregnant and gave birth to a child early on, just to make her loyal to the Lin family. Having a child would tie Luo Liqiong down, and Lin Sen would go from being a cousin of the Luo family to being the son-in-law of the Luo family, so that they could eat up the family wealth openly.

The Lin family devoured the Luo family and now they are here to suck her blood.

Although she had no power or influence, she was still a princess. Although her dowry was not as great as that of other princesses, the royal family would give her a lot for the sake of face.

What's more, now that the Lin family has a princess daughter-in-law, their descendants will be able to cross class boundaries.

Princess Huixin even thought that given the Lin family's usual style, there was a high probability that they would not let her die of old age.

Although she could live in the princess's mansion, she had no loyal servants around her. After she and Lin Sen gave birth to a child, Lin Sen only needed to bribe one or two servants and he would have plenty of ways to kill her.

Princess Huixin is not an innocent lady from a noble family, nor is she a little girl who has never seen the world. She grew up in the palace and has seen many unknown and secretive methods.

These methods can only prevent it temporarily, but not forever.

How many of the concubines in the cold palace who never see the sun are fools? All of them are full of schemes. Most of them lose not because of their lack of skills, but because of their momentary negligence. One negligence leads to their being schemed against, and they not only lose themselves but also bring trouble to their natal families.

The Lin family is a lowly family and is not worthy of her. If she eventually dies in their scheme, how can she be willing?

"This marriage is unacceptable, and the Lin family cannot keep it!"

Princess Huixin made up her mind that even if she remained single like Princess Jiarou, she would not want to marry someone like Lin Sen.

"Go find Luo Liqiong. I want to see her alive or dead!"

Butler Li took the order and left. He sighed and asked, "What is Princess Huixin going to do?"

When Lord Meng left the capital, he simply asked him to run the shop as before, and he has been doing so all these years. He occasionally runs errands for the two princesses and helps with small favors, but these are all insignificant little things, and he doesn't care.

Even though Princess Huixin asked him to investigate the scholar and the Lin family, he didn't take it seriously.

But now, the person Princess Huixin asked him to find was actually Jinshi Lin’s ex-wife.

Butler Li had a vague feeling that this matter was not simple.

Before he left, he wrote a letter and asked his son to deliver it to the official post station, addressed to Mr. Meng.

Lord Meng passed away two years ago. Now the head of the Meng family is Master Meng, who is also Queen Meng’s younger brother.

A few days later, Butler Li brought a woman to Princess Huixin. She was Luo Liqiong.

In the past few years, she has been living in that small village. The funny thing is that this small village is also the property of the Luo family.

No one in the village knew why she came to live there, and when they asked her, she refused to tell them.

It's not that she didn't want to say it, but she didn't dare to say it. Her two children were still in the Lin family. The Lin family said that if she kept her mouth shut, her son would still be the eldest grandson of the Lin family, and the Lin family's property would also belong to her son. If she spoke nonsense, the two children would be adopted out.

So she didn't dare. Like the other women in the village, she farmed during the day and went home to spin and weave at night. She made a set of clothes, shoes and socks for her children every year. She hoped that one day she could see her children wearing her clothes with her own eyes.

She waited and waited for several years, until not long ago, she finally heard news about the Lin family from a manager.

Lin Sen passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi!

Lin Sen is going to be a royal consort!

Not only were her two children sent to the Lin clan, but they were also adopted by a cousin of Lin Sen who died before getting married.

This news was like a bolt from the blue, and Luo Liqiong felt regret and hatred.

That year, the steward who was highly trusted by her father came to her secretly and told her that the Lin family had embezzled money during the years when they were managing the business for her. Now they had evidence. If she wanted to manage the Luo family's business personally, they, the stewards, could help her take it back.

After the steward left, she thought about it for a few days. Just when she decided to take over the property left by her father, she woke up in the middle of the night and found her cousin lying on top of her.

Afterwards, her cousin swore never to let her down, and her uncle and aunt arranged a marriage for her and her cousin. Before she could recover from the shock, she became the daughter-in-law of the Lin family.

Not long after, she heard the news that the manager who had come to see her that day had accidentally fallen into the water and died.

At this time, she found out that she was pregnant.

The two children she gave birth to with great difficulty were taken away by Lin's mother when they were just one month old. Since then, she never appeared in public again. She was locked up in the backyard of the Lin family. The cousin who once swore to never let her down seemed like a different person and never even slept with her again.

She knew she had been deceived, but she still held on to a glimmer of hope. She hoped that the Lin family would treat her two children well.

So she obeyed the Lin family's orders, and she didn't make any noise when they sent her to the farm.

She has been very obedient over the years, but they still gave her child away for adoption. Her child is not the eldest son or grandson of the Lin family, and the property that the Lin family took from the Luo family will not fall into the hands of her child.

The next day, Luo Liqiong quietly left the village. She wanted to go to the Lin clan to pick up her child.

However, she had been trapped by the Lin family since she was seven years old, had never seen the dangers of the outside world, and had no money on her, so not long after she escaped, she fell into the hands of the kidnappers.

Shopkeeper Li had come across her by chance. The kidnapper had sold her to a pair of bachelor brothers in their forties or fifties. When the brothers came to pick her up, she was screaming like crazy. Shopkeeper Li happened to be passing by and heard the woman shouting, "I'm the daughter of Jiang Anluo. I'm from a decent family! I want to report to the police!"

Jiang Anluo's daughter!

Shopkeeper Li immediately thought of Luo Liqiong. Without saying a word, he bought Luo Liqiong at twice the price.

This mission was accomplished without any effort.

Princess Huixin was very happy. She went to the candy shop and met Luo Liqiong.

Although Luo Liqiong was only twenty-two years old, she looked haggard and had dull eyes, and looked ten years older than her actual age.

"You want to find your child? I can help you."

Luo Liqiong looked at the woman in front of her in surprise. She had never seen such a noble woman, not even the young ladies from wealthy families that she had met with her father when she was a child.

"Who are you?" she asked cautiously.

Princess Huixin smiled. "He's someone who hates Lin Sen just like you do. He hurt you, and now he's trying to hurt me."

A trace of confusion flashed across Luo Liqiong's eyes, and suddenly, she knew who the person in front of her was?

"Are you a princess?"

Princess Huixin nodded, gently held her hand, and said in a gentle voice: "You have suffered over the years."

Her hands were so warm, so soft, and her skin was as smooth as silk. Luo Liqiong subconsciously wanted to pull her hands back. She was worried that her hands, which were as rough as tree bark due to years of hard work, would scratch the princess's delicate skin.