Chapter 28

Not long after sending Bai Fenghua away, Zhou Hanzhang came back in a carriage.

He looked normal, but his brows were slightly furrowed, and it was obvious that he didn't want to bring the emotions he had in the county government office back home.

Shi Yanqing is currently practicing acupuncture on a wooden human model in the house. She has recently learned a few new techniques, some of which are dangerous, so she cannot practice on a human body.

The windows in the house were open, and the light from outside shone into the room, bringing in a hazy dusk.

Dan Ye walked in from outside, holding a few folded clothes in her hands. She went straight to the wardrobe, opened the door, and put the clothes in.

At this time, Zhou Hanzhang also entered the house.

As soon as he came in, he saw Shi Yanqing practicing acupuncture with full concentration, his eyes were very focused.

Seeing this, for some reason, the depression in his heart dissipated a lot, as if he was soaked in warm water, and he felt very relaxed.

"Greetings, Master." After putting down her clothes, Dan Ye turned around and saw Zhou Hanzhang. She hurried forward to salute.

Zhou Hanzhang withdrew his gaze from Shi Yanqing, turned his head to look inside the room, and ordered, "It's a little dim, go light the candle."

"yes."

Soon the candles were lit and the light in the room instantly became brighter.

Zhou Hanzhang changed into comfortable clothes, walked to Shi Yanqing, took a cushion and sat down.

He supported his chin with his right hand and lay on the table watching Shi Yanqing practice acupuncture.

When Yan Qing finished his practice and raised his head, he had already fallen asleep in the same position.

"Why are you sleeping here?" Shi Yanqing said in a low voice.

She put the needles on the model back into the needle bag, then stood up and rubbed her neck.

"Dan Ye, when did Han Zhang come?"

She walked to the door and asked Tanye, who was sitting under the eaves chatting with Shi'an.

Dan Ye stood up and answered, "I came here about two quarters of an hour ago. The master asked me to light the candles in the room."

After getting the answer, Shi Yanqing turned around and went back into the house.

She walked to Zhou Hanzhang's side, took a cushion and sat down.

But just as she sat down, Zhou Hanzhang seemed to feel something move his eyelids, and he opened his eyes after a few seconds.

I saw Shi Yanqing’s eyes.

"You, did I disturb you?" Shi Yanqing's heart skipped a beat when he saw the eye contact, and he felt a little flustered.

She leaned back, a little further away from those eyes and the feelings that were about to be exposed.

This reaction made Zhou Hanzhang, who was a little confused, curl the corners of his mouth. He supported his head with his hands and looked at Shi Yanqing with his head half tilted.

"It didn't wake me up. I was just hungry."

"Then let's go have dinner now. I'll ask Dan Ye to ask Liu Niang to prepare." Shi Yanqing said as he stood up with the help of the table.

She hurried out the door without waiting for Zhou Hanzhang's answer. After Dan Ye left, her pounding heart had calmed down a lot.

"Let's go to the front hall for dinner." She looked at Zhou Hanzhang and said.

"I wonder what dishes Liu Niang will cook tonight?"

"There should be river shrimp. I ate them at noon and they were delicious, so I asked Liu Niang to buy some more."

"River shrimp? Are they steamed or stir-fried?"

"Stir-fried with a little bit of chili."

“Isn’t it spicy?”

“Not spicy.”

In the capital, inside the imperial palace.

Empress Xiao Jiangyan was reviewing memorials in the Qinzheng Hall when a child's voice suddenly came from the door, with faint crying sounds.

Xiao Jiangyan continued to review the memorial without any pause. After she finished writing the last word, she looked up at the maid standing beside her.

"Si Xi, who's outside the door?"

The maid's name was Sixi, after the empress's rank, and she was one of her confidants.

Si Xi had just learned from the eunuch outside who the visitor was. She was a little hesitant, but still revealed the man's identity.

"Your Majesty, the little prince is outside the door. He ran out from Kang'an Palace for some reason and is crying to see Your Majesty."

Hearing this, Xiao Jiangyan frowned slightly. She closed the memorial and placed the red pen on the pen holder beside her.

Then she stood up and walked out the door, saying as she walked, "Go and call Young Master Yun to wait for him first. I'll see him after the little prince leaves."

Si Xi: "Yes."

Outside the palace, the little prince Xiao Shan'an was sitting on the ground in a completely ungraceful manner, hugging the wooden pillar in front of him and sobbing quietly.

The eunuchs who were surrounding him in a circle, but no one dared to touch him. Just when the eunuchs were getting as anxious as ants on a hot pot, a pair of hands lifted the little prince up from the ground.

The eunuchs took a closer look and knelt down hurriedly: "Your Majesty."

Xiao Jiangyan ignored the group of eunuchs. She held the little prince in her arms and gently wiped his cheeks with a handkerchief, wiping away his tears one by one.

At the same time, he asked softly, "What's wrong? Why is Xiao Yuanbao crying?"

Xiao Shan'an was suddenly picked up by the Queen Mother. He was a little happy at first, but when he heard the Queen Mother's gentle voice asking him, he couldn't help but shed tears.

He clenched his hands into fists, his mouth drooped, and he whispered, "I miss my mother."

Xiao Jiangyan walked into the palace with Yuanbao in her arms, coaxing him as she walked, "If little Yuanbao misses the Queen Mother, you can send Aunt Si Le to tell the Queen Mother. As long as the Queen Mother knows, she will definitely go to see little Yuanbao."

"Really?" Yuanbao asked softly.

"Of course, the Queen Mother has never lied to Little Yuanbao, right?"

Xiao Shan'an thought about it and realized that the Queen Mother had not lied to him.

Only then did he really laugh.

"Then it's settled. I miss Mother, so I'll let Aunt Si Le tell her."

Seeing Yuanbao smile, Xiao Jiangyan carried him to sit on the soft couch in the hall for rest. There were several plates of Yikehua pastries on the small table next to them.

She picked up a piece of cake and fed it to Yuanbao. Seeing that he was eating happily, her expression also relaxed a lot.

"Your servant greets Your Majesty and the little prince." Si Xi walked in from outside the hall, holding a food box in her hand.

"Get up." Xiao Jiangyan glanced at her and saw her nod slightly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Si Xi stood up and walked to the couch, put the food box in his hand on the small table, and took out a bowl of lotus seed sweet soup from it. This is one of Xiao Shan'an's favorite desserts.

"Yuanbao, this is the lotus seed sweet soup that the Queen Mother specially asked Si Xi to make. Would you like to try it and see if you like it?" Xiao Jiangyan brought the bowl to Yuanbao so that he could eat it easily.

Yuanbao's eyes lit up instantly. He picked up the spoon with his little hand, scooped a spoonful of sweet soup and put it into his mouth. The next second, a satisfied expression appeared on his face.

"It's delicious, Yuanbao likes it!"

After Yuanbao finished eating the sweet soup, his eyes narrowed.

Xiao Jiangyan carried him to the bed and patted his back gently with her hand.

Soon, Yuanbao fell asleep.

"Si Xi, you just stay here and guard the Yuanbao." Xiao Jiangyan sat up and instructed Si Xi who was standing beside him.

Si Xi: "Yes."

In the side hall, when Xiao Jiangyan entered, he saw Yunshan sitting in front of the desk, flipping through a book in his hand.

She waved her hand, signaling the maids and eunuchs in the hall to leave.

This noise brought Yunshan back to his senses from the world of the book.

He stood up and saluted: "Yunshan greets your majesty."

"No need for formalities." Xiao Jiangyan walked straight to the carved wooden chair and sat down. She picked up the tea on the table and took a sip. The bitter fragrance spread in her mouth.

She was slightly distracted, but quickly came to her senses and didn't let Yunshan notice anything.

"You still don't want to accept the ingot?"

She suddenly asked, her tone so calm that it was impossible to tell whether she liked or disliked it.

Yunshan lowered his eyes, hiding the resentment in his eyes. He replied, "Your Majesty, you are joking. Yuanbao is also Yunshan's child. How could I not accept him?"

"If you accept him, why haven't you visited him yet?" Xiao Jiangyan's tone turned cold, and the atmosphere instantly became solemn.

Yunshan seemed unaware and continued, "Yunshan is obsessed with various books and really has no time to accompany Yuanbao."

"Lu Yunshan!" Xiao Jiangyan slammed the teacup onto the table.

She wanted to say something, but she closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the anger in them had dissipated a lot.

"You are blaming me, you are hating me."

Yunshan clenched his fingers tightly, his eyes still lowered, never raising them: "Yunshan dare not."

After hearing these four words, Xiao Jiangyan's anger completely disappeared.

Her eyes were tinged with darkness, and she didn't look as imposing as usual.

"You don't dare, not that you don't have it."

"Okay, I'm not meeting you today to argue with you. Since you don't like Yuanbao, I will take him to the Queen Mother and let her take care of him temporarily."

"It's all up to Your Majesty." Yunshan said lightly.

After Xiao Jiangyan finished speaking, he stood up and prepared to leave.

When she saw the calm expression on Yunshan's face, her heart ached, and she finally asked a question.

"If you could leave the capital by changing your appearance, would you leave?"

Yunshan's eyes trembled, and he raised his eyes to look at Xiao Jiangyan. The eyes that always smiled in the past were now full of loneliness.

"I can."

Hearing the expected answer, Xiao Jiangyan couldn't help but clench her fingers. She paused for several seconds before saying, "Okay, in ten days, Master Yun will be disfigured by a fire. From then on, he will stay in Kang'an Palace, never leaving the house, and will not see anyone."

"You are free, Lu Yunshan."

After saying this, Xiao Jiangyan turned around and left the side hall.

The maids and eunuchs outside all lowered their heads and dared not look up.

Naturally, he didn't see the tears in her eyes.

As the ruler of a country, she had let Lu Yunshan down, so she could no longer let down all the people of this land.

In the side hall, Yunshan was still stunned after hearing what had just been said. He couldn't help but take two steps forward, but then stopped where he was.

Is he free?

Lu Yunshan is free?

They have been together for fifteen years. The first ten years were full of love, but the last five years were like falling into the abyss.

He couldn't help but feel resentment and hatred towards his missing younger brother, his second brother who had a broken leg, and his deceased parents.

These unwilling voices would enter his dreams every night, tormenting him and causing him to collapse.

Lu Yunshan smiled, tears flowed down his cheeks and fell to the ground without any echo.

Ten days later, Master Yun was disfigured by a fire and locked himself in the palace, refusing to see anyone.

The little prince Xiao Shan'an fell unconscious due to a high fever, and the empress took care of him personally until the fever subsided. On the same day, the imperial physician diagnosed that the empress had been pregnant for more than a month.

According to the Records of the Empress' Sleeping, the empress slept in Kang'an Palace that day.