Chapter 62 [62] The problem is not the lack of wealth but the inequality...

【62】/First release

The Duke Protector's expression froze.

But in a moment, he raised his eyes to look at his niece in front of him, frowning: "Why did the princess suddenly ask this?"

Yun Ran carefully observed the Duke's every expression. "I'm not asking this out of the blue. I've wanted to know for a long time, but I never found the right opportunity. Today I finally have some free time to sit down and talk with my uncle, so I came here."

"That's all in the past. Why are you asking again, Princess?"

The Duke of Huguo pursed his lips and said solemnly, "I see that you and His Highness Prince Jing are getting along very well. As your uncle, I'm truly happy for you. Princess, I want to advise you that excessive curiosity is not a good thing. It would be best if you could just live your life with Prince Jing diligently."

The more he said this, the more Yun Ran doubted what happened that year.

"Uncle, everyone in the world knows that my prince was captured. I just want to know the details. Why can't I tell you?"

Yun Ran frowned, "Or was there another hidden reason behind His Highness's capture?"

The Duke of Protectorate's heart skipped a beat.

Seeing his niece's curious and expectant expression, he couldn't help but speak in a serious tone, "The princess is asking these questions. Does His Royal Highness Prince Jing know?"

Yun Ran was slightly startled and shook his head: "He doesn't know."

Duke Protector of the Kingdom: "Then why do you ask?"

"Because he is my husband."

Yun Ran pursed her lips and said, "Of course I'm curious about him, I care about him, and I want to know everything about him."

She spoke with such confidence that the Duke of Huguo was choked for a moment.

"Uncle, there's no one here anyway. Although I've only met you a few times, my mother often tells me about you. She said that when I was born, you and my second uncle were so happy that you ran to see me in the hot weather and almost fell down. She also said that when I was a child, you often carried me on your backs and rode on your horses, and every time you did, you would buy me lots of delicious and fun things..."

Yun Ran softened his tone, his face sincere. "Although I don't remember those things, my mother would never lie to me. As the old saying goes, the most delicious thing is dragon meat, and the closest person is my uncle. You are my uncle, and now I just want to ask you about some past events. Please be kind and tell me."

The Duke of Huguo looked into his niece's clear black eyes that were filled with pleading, and felt both reluctant and helpless.

When the little niece was born, both families were overjoyed.

As uncles, he and his second brother both love this little niece who is like a glutinous rice ball very much. It is not an exaggeration to say that they love her like a daughter.

Later, his little niece went missing, and the entire Duke's Mansion was filled with grief and depression for a while. Seeing his sister weeping all day long, her eyes nearly blinded by tears, he even considered adopting his daughter to her as a solace.

However, the girl still rejected his kindness and said, "Baozhu is Baozhu, and no one can replace her. As long as I am alive, I will not give up looking for my daughter."

The territory of Dajin is vast, and finding a little girl is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The Duke of Huguo thought that his sister was too stupid and it would be better for her to have another child while she was still able to.

Unexpectedly, more than ten years later, the girl actually found a clue, followed the clues, and traveled thousands of miles to Yangzhou.

Now that Mingzhu has returned, the young lady in front of him has tender yet stubborn eyes and eyebrows, which are exactly the same as the girl back then.

"Uncle, just think of it as Ranran begging you!"

Yun Ran stood up from the couch and bowed to the Duke of Huguo. "Just tell me, and I'll keep it secret. I swear to the Lord, if you let anyone know a word about what happened today, I will... I will strike you down with thunder and lightning!"

"Hey, kid, what are you doing?"

The Duke of Huguo also stood up quickly and stepped forward to help him: "Don't say that! If your mother knew you swore nonsense, she would scold me to death."

His sister appears gentle and loving to the outside world, but when it comes to protecting her children, she is truly a tigress who cannot be provoked.

Yun Ran was still hunched over, only slightly raising his head: "Then tell me. If you don't, I won't leave today."

The Duke of Protectorate was stunned.

After all, she is the Princess of Jing, so why is she still acting like a child?

Yun Ran didn't care about that. She had finally caught an insider, and he was her own uncle. If she wasn't a scoundrel now, when would she be?

The Duke of Huguo also realized that although his niece looked young and innocent, she was actually very shameless.

After pondering for a long time, he sighed and said, "Forget it."

He glanced at her with his eyelids slightly raised. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone. Even if someone asks, don't say it was me who said it. Can you do that?"

"Yes, definitely!"

Yun Ran agreed without hesitation, swearing, "Don't underestimate me because I'm young. When it comes to serious matters, I'm very tight-lipped."

The Duke of Protectorate did not comment, but just pursed his lips and motioned her to sit down.

Yun Ran sat down immediately and raised his hand to invite him, "Uncle, please sit down too."

The Duke of Protectorate lifted his robe and sat down. He took a deep breath and finally gathered his emotions to tell the story of that year.

"The rebels attacked Chang'an at night. When the late emperor heard the news, he led his elite imperial guards and fled through the Chongxuan Gate, the only gate still unoccupied by the rebels. By the time the empress...now the queen dowager learned the news, the rebels had already entered Chang'an and were approaching the palace gates. She took the crown prince and Prince Jing, disguised herself as palace maids and eunuchs, and took advantage of the chaos to escape through a secret passage."

"She found a detachment of Jingzhao Prefecture soldiers outside the palace to escort her, blending in with the refugees and successfully escaping Chang'an. She headed straight for Shu to catch up with the late emperor's troops. Unfortunately, her whereabouts were discovered, and the rebels and Rongdi troops split up and pursued her. At the time, I was assigned to inspect Mount Qishan. Upon learning that the Empress and the Crown Prince had fled there, I brought a group of brothers to support them."

"When we arrived, the Queen's guards had been killed to the point of being almost extinct. Seeing that she was an orphan and a widow, she couldn't be without guards, so we took on the task of escorting them to Shu..."

But the pursuers kept coming, and their brothers were killed or injured. In the end, only he and a deputy general were left.

At that time, the mountains and rivers were broken and the land was engulfed in war.

It was heard that the traitor Zhou Haotian had proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an and changed the country's name to Zhou. The Sima Jin Dynasty was in danger and could collapse at any time.

Rewards were also issued in various places. If anyone could hand over the queen and the prince, they would be promoted and given ten thousand taels of gold.

Hearing this, Yun Ran couldn't help but ask, "Isn't my uncle tempted?"

The Duke of the Protectorate glanced at her. "Who do you think your uncle is? Although I was only a fourth-rank general at the time, I was a loyal and patriotic man with a strong character. What kind of a person is Zhou Haotian? A mixed-race kid who had an affair with the Rong and Di tribes. How could he be emperor? Pah."

Yun Ran immediately had a look of admiration on his face, and he held his chin with both hands: "Uncle, you can become the Duke of Protectorate!"

Seeing his niece so flattering, the Duke of the Protectorate felt a surge of the same heroic spirit he had in those days. He stroked his short beard with a touch of pride. "As the saying goes, fortune and honor are sought in danger, and heroes are made by the times. At the time, I thought, if I succeed in this mission, the future revival of the Great Jin will certainly benefit me. Even if I fail and die on the road, I will be recorded in history books as a patriotic and loyal hero!"

Yun Ran was also brought back to the turbulent years of war by his uncle's description, and his heart was filled with excitement and emotion.

But the next moment, his uncle's brow furrowed, and his previously high-spirited demeanor suddenly dropped. He lowered his eyes and said, "But those damned Rongdi soldiers were chasing us too closely. My deputy general, the queen, and her son disguised themselves as a family of five, switched from land to water, and bought a boat to head south."

"Not long after the boat sailed, the Rongdi soldiers caught up with it. In the chaos, the two young princes fell into the water together."

"There's a turbulent current ahead and pursuers behind. Time is running out, and I can only save one person."

"...The Queen said, save the prince."

The Duke of Protectorate closed his eyes, the urgent scene from many years ago still deeply imprinted in his mind——

The river was turbulent at night. He and the queen were discussing the escape route in the front cabin. Somehow, the two princes who were supposed to be sleeping in the cabin fell into the water together.

One was the six-year-old King Jing, and the other was the nine-year-old crown prince.

The two brothers were struggling in the river, shouting, "Mother, Mother, save me."

The Queen stood by the boat and saw the two brothers falling into the water. Her face changed drastically and her eyes were bloodshot. "Hurry up and save them, hurry!"

However, the pursuers' arrows were shooting from behind like meteors. If the ship stopped at this time, everyone on board would be captured.

He could only grit his teeth and say, "I can only save one prince. Please make a decision quickly, Your Majesty!"

The princes in the river shouted again and again: "Mother!"

The queen burst into tears and finally clutched her chest and said, "Prince, save the prince!"

As soon as he received the order, he jumped down without delay and rescued the prince.

But when he struggled to get ashore, he could still hear the little prince's gradually faint cry: "Mother——"

"Royal brother..."

And, "Uncle Zheng."

He climbed onto the boat. The queen held the soaked prince in her arms, turned her head away, closed her eyes, and ordered in a hoarse voice, "Go, go quickly."

The boat moved away quickly.

The crying sounds in the river became weaker and weaker until they could no longer be heard. From afar, it seemed that the Rongdi soldiers' boats had docked at the shore.

For some time afterwards, the Duke of Protector of the Country always had auditory hallucinations.

The young prince's childish and desperate cries always come to my ears——

"Uncle Zheng."

"Uncle Zheng, save me."

Such a sensible and well-behaved little prince.

She was not afraid of hardship or fatigue during the escape, and even hugged his neck and said, "Uncle Zheng, when you see my father, I will ask him to give you lots of gold ingots."

He said, "Okay, I thank your Highness for the reward."

But such a good child was abandoned by them.

He couldn't sleep every night and only prayed to God to have mercy on him and let the little prince ascend to heaven as soon as possible.

It was not until we met up with the late emperor's troops that we learned that the young prince had not died in the river, but had been captured by the Rongdi.

"I was both happy and worried. I was happy that he was still alive, but I was worried that such a small child would suffer in the hands of the Rongdi people."

The Duke of Huguo's jaw was clenched, and his brows were filled with unwavering worry. "The enemy used King Jing to threaten the late emperor. Although the late emperor was reluctant, he could only consider the overall situation and bear the pain and ignore it..."

King Jing once again became a discarded pawn.

The last time, it was by his biological mother.

This time, it was by his biological father.

At this point, the Duke of Protectorate could not continue and could only sigh deeply: "Ran Ran, His Highness is a pitiful man."

Yun Ran knew that Sima Jing had suffered a lot in the past, and he had personally touched the hideous scars on his body.

But I didn't expect that the source of all this was because of falling into the water——

No wonder he reacted so strongly when she jumped into the river to save someone.

No wonder his relationship with the Empress Dowager and the Emperor was so cold and distant.

Even though the situation was forced at the time, as the one who was given up by the mother after weighing the pros and cons, it would be hard for anyone not to feel resentful.

What is worrying is not the lack of wealth but the inequality.

This is true for property and also for emotions.

"Ranran, please don't mention what your uncle told you today to anyone else, let alone to His Royal Highness Prince Jing."

Through the curling smoke, the Duke of Huguo's mature and weathered face was filled with solemnity. "The past cannot be retrieved. Bringing it up is only painful and meaningless. If you hadn't repeatedly asked me today, I would have simply kept these things to myself and never thought of them again."

Yun Ran heard this and looked ashamed. "Don't blame me, Uncle. I've always been puzzled as to why Your Highness has such a cold relationship with the Queen Mother and Your Majesty. I've asked Your Highness before, but he avoided the topic and deliberately evaded the question. I'm at my wit's end, so I can only ask you."

The Duke of Huguo stroked his short beard and snorted, "Yes, you are just like your mother, you both like to pick on your own family members."

Yun Ran smiled and handed him a cup of tea: "You are my uncle after all."

The Duke of Huguo did not really blame Yun Ran. He could see that his niece really cared about King Jing, which was why he came to inquire about it.

After taking two sips of tea to moisten his throat, the Duke of the Protectorate once again looked at the little girl in front of him: "Perhaps it was fate that my own daughter married the then Crown Prince, and my own niece married the then Young Prince..."

He sighed deeply and said earnestly, "Ranran, you've suffered a lot in the past, but now that all the hardship has ended and happiness has come, just live a peaceful life with His Highness. As long as you two love each other and have a few smart and lively children in the future, and they are safe and sound, your uncle and your parents will be relieved."

Yun Ran heard the genuine concern in his words and was moved.

She stood up and bowed to the Protector of the Country again: "Ranran thanks you very much, uncle."

This time, it is a sincere respect.

The uncle and nephew chatted for a few more minutes, and Yun Ran didn't want to stay any longer and stood up to say goodbye.

The Duke of Protectorate watched the petite and slender figure leave the study, feeling an indescribable melancholy in his heart.

Who would have thought that his niece would marry the little prince back then.

I just hope that these two poor children with such unfortunate fates can live in peace and safety and have everything go well for them in the future.