Chapter 223 A Dilemma

Zhou Zhining gave a cold laugh.

Bringing Yao Qingling's son back to the mansion is tantamount to competing with her son for favor, isn't it?

Besides, Yao Qingling's son has returned, so it was only a matter of time before Yao Qingling herself returned.

Yao Qingling's "playing hard to get" tactic was quite clever, clearly forcing Zhan Xingzhuo to choose between the two of them; she wanted Zhan Xingzhuo to choose her!

However, it's not a good idea for Zhan Xingzhuo to keep worrying about Yao Qingling like this; if he continues like this, he will only sink deeper into trouble.

His fingers tapped intermittently.

After a while, she smiled and said, "Minglu, you're right. After all, he's Second Master's biological son. It's only right to bring him back to the manor. I'll think of a way."

...

Zhan Xingzhuo will sleep with Xiao'er tonight.

The child was sleeping soundly in his arms.

He was sleeping soundly.

"Father, don't you want me anymore?"

"Father, why did you abandon me?"

"Why don't you want me? What did I do wrong? Father! Mother!"

The child's piercing cries echoed through the air, each one more heart-wrenching than the last, resounding across the sky.

His small body chased after the ever-receding carriage, but he could never catch up.

Sitting in the carriage, listening to the shouts, Zhan Xingzhuo finally couldn't help but lift the curtain and take a look at the child.

He fell to the ground, his little hand still stubbornly waving towards the carriage, crying and calling for him to come back.

But he couldn't see the child's face clearly no matter what he did.

Why do you call him dad?

Is he his father?

The child's cries made him feel distressed.

He wanted to stop the carriage and go down to check on the child.

A woman's cold voice sounded beside him: "Child, be good in Yizhou and listen to Princess Xiao. I will come back for you."

Zhan Xingzhuo turned his head to look to the side and was surprised to find that the Grand Princess of Deyang was sitting next to him, and opposite him was the Duke of Zhan.

"No, you don't want me anymore! I hate you!"

The child stubbornly stood up, looking at him with hatred in his eyes.

Zhan Xingzhuo was startled. He saw the child's face clearly—it looked exactly like his when he was a child!

"Phew!" Zhan Xingzhuo suddenly woke up and sat up abruptly.

Turning my head and seeing the familiar room, my racing heart finally calmed down.

He wiped his face; his hands were covered in sweat.

The man, his mouth dry, threw off the covers, got out of bed, and poured himself a glass of water.

However, he was no longer sleepy.

I opened the window. The snow had stopped, and all was quiet. I could hear my own heartbeat.

The moon hangs alone in the sky, and the mythical beast on the rooftop, with a handful of snow on its head, quietly guards this corner of the world.

The cold air rushed into the room from outside, and Zhan Xingzhuo felt that even breathing was painful.

He sat down, clutching his chest, without closing the window.

Before my eyes is snow, and in my mind are scenes from my dreams.

That child, that carriage, the people inside the carriage...

He would never forget the scene when the Grand Princess left him in Prince Xiao's fiefdom; no matter how much he begged, she still abandoned him.

However, his elder brother inherited the title and became the heir of the Duke's mansion, enjoying peace and prosperity and being praised by the world.

Zhan Xingzhuo suddenly understood why Yao Qingling wanted to take the child by force and refused to come back with him.

She didn't want her child to be the one who was abandoned.

It's like how he was always indifferent towards his eldest brother. Because the best things in the family were given to his eldest brother, and he didn't even have a chance to compete.

If he and his elder brother, who are siblings from the same mother, are like this, then Zhao'er and Xiao'er are not related by blood at all. When Zhao'er grows up and sees the difference, how can she not resent it?

Yao Qingling scolded him so fiercely because, as a mother, she was standing up for the child and instinctively protecting him.

She was furious.

He was so stupid; why didn't he understand what Yao Qingling cared about back then?

Zhan Xingzhuo thought of the child in his dream again, as if he saw his own abandoned past in Zhao'er.

But now, he almost gave up on the child.

He is essentially abandoning his past self...

Zhan Xingzhuo suddenly shuddered and became instantly awake.

No, he can't repeat the same mistake, he can't abandon that child!

But then his eyes also became unfocused.

But he had promised Zhou Zhining… The man looked at Xiao’er, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed.

Xiao'er was raised by him; he treated him like his own child.

Xiao'er even recognized him as her father.

He couldn't hurt Zhou Zhining and Xiao'er's feelings...

Zhou Zhining stood under the eaves, watching the man sitting alone by the window.

His conflicted and melancholic state must mean he's thinking about Yao Qingling.

Ah, men are always heartbroken and restless when it comes to women they can't have.

The woman rolled her eyes resentfully, then turned and went back to her room.

...

After giving Zhan Xingzhu a good scolding, Yao Qingling didn't feel any lingering fear or remorse. She felt relieved and vented her anger, and even slept better than before.

She slept soundly through the night until dawn, when the maids came in to help her wash up.

Lou Yue gently combed a strand of Qing Ling's hair and said, "Miss, there's a maid named Zhao Yin in the main kitchen who wants to come to our Mulan Courtyard."

Qingling looked at the jewelry box, selecting the hairpins she would wear that day, and said indifferently, "Is such a trivial matter worth gossiping about in front of me? You know that Mulan Academy doesn't accept just anyone."

Especially the servants in the Marquis's mansion, they are all spies for others.

The plum vase that Madam Ma forced into the Mulan Courtyard had already been sent away by Qingling under the pretext of Madam Ma going to the estate. Who is the master of this silver?

Lou Yue said, "Zhao Yin just wants to follow a good master. She was sold to human traffickers by her family and then sold to the Marquis's mansion. This girl is extremely envious of our courtyard because she sees that we have a lot of money, can read, and have the opportunity to become a manager."

Lou Yue became smug when she said this.

Not to mention the entire Marquis's mansion, even in the imperial palace, there is no master as good as this.

Let alone Zhaoyin, who wouldn't want to come to Mulan Academy?

Qingling was in a good mood as she listened to Lou Yue's flattery.

She laughed and said, "You're always in the kitchen, you must have gotten to know her well, right?"

Lou Yue tied Qing Ling's hair up, her face suddenly darkening: "Miss, Zhao Yin told me something, which is why I dared to come and mention it to you."

"What's up?"

“Last night, a maid in the main courtyard gave her a packet of medicine and told her to put it in her food. Zhao Yin knew that the food was for the young lady, so she didn’t put it in.”

Lou Yue pulled a small medicine packet wrapped in paper from her sleeve: "This is it."

"As soon as the gates of Mulan Courtyard opened this morning, Zhaoyin rushed over to find me and gave me this. She begged me to save her, otherwise the Marquis would definitely beat her to death!"

Yao Qingling looked at the packet of medicine with a serious expression.

Last night, Marquis Zhongyong forced Qingling to have dinner with Zhan Xingzhuo.

So what kind of medicine was this packet that was supposed to be placed in the food? You can guess with a little effort.

Last night, on her way to the main courtyard, He Yin gave Qingling something to eat, which is why she dared to eat the food.

However, it now appears that the medicine was not added to the food.

Qingling called He Yin over and asked her to take a look at the packet of medicine powder.

After looking at it, He Yin gestured with her fingers: "It's an aphrodisiac."

And it's a very potent kind of medicine.

“If Miss accidentally ingests this medicine, even the antidote I gave you beforehand might not be effective,” He Yin said.