"Uncle Niu, Aunt Chen, May 20th is my father's birthday. He said in his letter that he hopes you can bring Brother Xiao, and Xiao Fubao and her sisters along."

Ji Ying said.

Niu Da thought for a moment and said, "Alright, let's go together. It'll be a good opportunity to celebrate your father's birthday."

Ji Ninghai and Niu Da were born in the same year, but on different dates. Niu Da was born on June 20th, a full month younger than Ji Ninghai.

Apart from visiting once during the Chinese New Year, it had been several months since they last met. Niu Da then wanted to take some of the children over for a visit.

This year, however, seems to be somewhat different from previous years.

On May 20th, Niu Da and several children arrived at the prefectural capital. They found that the area outside the capital was not as usual, with two gatekeepers sitting at the entrance.

Instead, two eunuchs stood there very solemnly, along with the two uncles who had previously guarded the gate; all of them were serious and unsmiling.

Xiao Heng roughly understood some of it.

People from over there have arrived.

Upon entering the prefectural government office, two servants stood at the entrance. One of them, seeing that Xiao Fu Bao and her family had arrived, immediately greeted them respectfully:

"Mr. Niu, Miss, please get into the sedan chair!"

Then, a few rough-working women and a few men came and carried two sedan chairs. Xiao Fubao and Xiao Heng followed Niu Da and Shen Yu into one of the sedan chairs.

The other four girls went up to another tent.

"What's going on?" Little Fu Bao asked the maid, lifting the curtain. "There are people everywhere. Who came?"

The rough-looking old woman carrying the sedan chair said:

"The servants don't know who has come; they only know that a guest has arrived, who arrived before you."

Little Fu Bao lowered the curtain.

Xiao Heng suddenly felt uneasy.

"Big brother, what's wrong?" Little Fu Bao asked.

"It's nothing," Xiao Heng said.

After traveling for an unknown period of time, about an hour, the sedan chair was finally lowered, and Xiao Fubao let the old woman from the mansion carry her down from the sedan chair.

"We've finally arrived! The people inside have been waiting for a long time!" the old woman said, then led them outside.

Two maids dressed in palace attire stood outside the door. One of them, dressed in a light green brocade, led Xiao Fubao and the others inside.

"Master, the person has arrived."

The Niu family are guests today, so they are all dressed quite elegantly.

When Xiao Heng saw the two people in front of him, he subconsciously felt much more relaxed. One of them was standing, and the other was sitting with Ji Ninghai.

Next to the woman sitting like Ji Ninghai was a little boy, about six or seven years old. Although he was dressed in coarse linen clothes, his demeanor clearly indicated that he was from a wealthy family. Moreover, he was very well-fed and delicate, like a little dough ball.

Standing there was an old eunuch.

"Yes, it does look quite similar! It's truly a blessing for Her Majesty and the Emperor's brother-in-law. His Majesty is currently seriously ill, and he only has one young son who is not yet two years old. The various princes are all eyeing him covetously."

Only Niu Da and Shen Yu's family were completely bewildered.

In Xiao Heng's memory, the emperor's search for his son should have happened when he was twenty-four years old, which is ten years later.

At this time, the emperor fell seriously ill, and the two-year-old prince was made crown prince. However, the emperor recovered and lived for another ten years or so.

The crown prince died young at the age of twelve.

At this time, a former official of the emperor submitted a memorial saying that he had found the whereabouts of the prince born to the late empress, who was being raised by a couple surnamed Zhao in Zhaoshan Village.

The sister-in-law of the Zhao couple was once the Empress's personal maid. The Empress gave birth on her way back from Cixi Temple.

Unexpectedly, the maid escaped with the child and the eunuch, who turned out to be Xiao Heng's first adoptive father.

Xiao Heng's first adoptive father was sold into the palace by his parents when he was four years old and became a eunuch. This is why his adoptive parents never had any other children.

This is also why the family's uncle concluded that Xiao Heng was definitely not of Zhaoshan Village descent.

“It does resemble her,” the seated woman said. “However, we shouldn’t make a fuss this time, lest that person find out how many princes and grandsons in the palace have fallen victim to her poison. It’s not too late to talk about it after my brother recovers.”

The phrase "Imperial brother" startled Niu Da and Shen Yu quite a bit, but the woman was dressed as an ordinary peasant woman, without any makeup, headdress, or earrings, clearly not wanting to reveal her identity.

"I heard that Lord Ji recommended a martial arts graduate to be your family's teacher. I'd also like to send my child over here to train him, so he won't be a little devil all the time. We can provide for his food, clothing, and other necessities. What do you think?"

As she spoke, she took out a silver note worth five hundred taels.

Well, their house has really become a den for kids.

He kept referring to himself as "Imperial Brother," subtly revealing his identity without explicitly stating it. No matter what, the Niu family wouldn't mistake the "Imperial" in "Imperial Brother" for the "Huang" in "Huang" (meaning "Yellow").

How could I not answer?

Xiao Heng breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, they weren't going to take him away right now.

“Little Fu Bao, come here, let your godfather give you a hug and see if you’ve grown any heavier?” Ji Ninghai said gently.

Ji Ninghai picked up Xiao Fubao, who snuggled into his arms. After all, she was a child, so she could be as cute and affectionate as she wanted: "Godfather!"

"This child is fair-skinned and has a very auspicious appearance. You have adopted a very lovable daughter." As she spoke, she instructed the standing eunuch to have someone fetch a pair of dragon and phoenix jade pendants and give them to Little Fu Bao.

"Your godfather also wants to give you something," Ji Ninghai said, taking out another land deed. "Since you're here to celebrate my birthday, I won't be able to go to your house next month to celebrate Niu Da's birthday. Consider this my birthday gift."

Xiao Fubao looked at her godfather, then at her father, and suddenly felt like a little lampshade. Was her godfather in love with her father, not her mother?

The little girl looked at her mother with pity, as if she had discovered something extraordinary.

These two men hit it off immediately upon meeting, and remained so upon meeting again.

He drinks until midnight every day.

When they got back, the whole family stared at Xiao Heng and then discovered a big piece of news: the adopted son's identity was unusual, but they couldn't say it outright.

Only Xiao Fubao kept secretly observing her father and mother.

When Xiao Heng and the others returned, Niu Yong sensed that everyone's expressions were somewhat subtle, but since he hadn't gone to the prefectural capital, he was completely confused.

There was an eerie silence and politeness at the dinner table.

Niu Da and Shen Yu kept putting food on Xiao Heng's plate and wouldn't let him do any work, which Xiao Heng couldn't take anymore.

"Godfather and Godmother, you don't need to be like this. It's not even close to being settled yet!"

"What hasn't been decided yet?" Niu Yong asked.

"It's nothing, none of your business!" Niu Yong was speechless after being confronted by the three of them, but his curiosity only grew stronger.