He Youyou asked with a smile, "Child, what's your name?"

The boy obediently answered, "Zhao Wenqi."

very good.

As expected, his surname is Zhao.

She hadn't forgotten that Cheng Tingrui had told her that Zhao was the imperial surname.

Zhao Changqing was appointed Grand Commander of the Army by the new emperor, bypassing the Council of State Affairs and issuing an imperial edict in a slanted manner.

Zhao Wenqi is his nephew.

Therefore, this family must be inextricably linked to the royal family.

She looked troubled and said to Zhao Changqing, "Hanzhang, the child is young, and this is a poor, remote area. What if something happens to him..."

"He brought his own entourage for protection. If anything happens to him, they will be responsible. It has nothing to do with you. You can rest assured about that."

He Youyou nodded.

If something goes wrong, the other party is fully responsible. Okay.

“Hanzhang, in the countryside, we eat simple food, nothing fancy. I’m afraid the food might not suit your taste and it would be unfair to the child.”

"It's alright, let him eat whatever is available. If he doesn't eat, let him go hungry. If he can't stand the hunger, we'll send him back to the capital."

"Well... what if the child is naughty and accidentally breaks something here..."

"Double compensation."

What if you make me angry?

"You can hit me, scold me, or punish me as you please."

"Is it really okay to hit or scold someone?"

Zhao Changqing took something off his belt and slapped it on the table.

Snap—

Golden and dazzling.

He Youyou picked up the item out of curiosity and examined it closely.

What I saw was a golden sign with four large characters written on it—

"The imperial edict grants immunity from sin."

He was granted a gold plaque granting him immunity from punishment.

He Youyou held the gold medal and looked at Zhao Changqing.

Zhao Changqing didn't say anything, but Zhao Wenqi, who was standing next to him, widened his eyes.

"Uncle, are you serious? You're really going to do this? You even... brought this out?"

Zhao Changqing glanced at him indifferently and said to He Youyou, "This child is unruly and will cause a lot of trouble. Madam, please discipline him strictly. With this golden token, no one will dare to blame Madam."

He Youyou smiled.

A pardon bestowed by the emperor, huh?

nice one.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

As she spoke, she tucked the gold medal into her sleeve.

Accepting the gold medal means accepting the child.

The dinner went relatively smoothly.

Firstly, Zhao Changqing secretly tried to sow discord between Zhao Wenqi and Zhao Changqing.

Secondly, fearing he wouldn't be able to serve them well, Steward Qian specially found a servant to ride a fast horse to town and buy the best local braised beef.

The braised beef is sliced ​​cold and arranged on a plate, then rolled up in a pancake and eaten; it tastes incredibly delicious.

Even He Youyou ate half a pancake more than usual.

According to He Youyou's habit, she would disappear after dinner.

He claims to never stay up late and goes to bed early.

Zhao Changqing then pulled Zhao Wenqi back to his bedroom.

The bed in the room is big, so the uncle and nephew squeeze into one bed at night.

The two chatted for a while, then asked someone to bring hot water and took a bath.

Zhao Wenqi was exhausted from the long journey. After taking a shower, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the bed.

Seeing that he was asleep, Zhao Changqing turned off the light in the inner room.

In the shadows outside, someone had been waiting silently for a long time.

“Governor,” the man said.

Although Zhao Changqing was the son of the late emperor and the younger brother of the new emperor, he was young when he left the capital and did not have a title.

Therefore, this person can only be addressed by his official title.

According to the established practice of the imperial court, princes could only be granted titles upon reaching the age of sixteen, and after reaching adulthood, they would leave the palace to establish their own residences.

(This is a setting in this book. In reality, each dynasty had different customs. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, children were granted titles at the age of ten and established their own prefectures at the age of fifteen. In the Tang Dynasty, it was even earlier; children could be granted the title of king at the age of one.)

Zhao Changqing sat in a chair, drying his hair with a cloth: "Which palace are you from?"

"Reporting to the Governor, my subordinate Qin Ming is by His Majesty's side."

Zhao Changqing paused in his act of drying his hair.

A master of the inner palace.

"Before you came, did His Majesty send you any oral instructions to me?"

"Yes. His Majesty instructed me to tell the Governor that the Second Prince insists on staying in Jizhou. Let him stay here and suffer a bit. We must not indulge him in everything. His diet and daily life should be simple and frugal. It would be best to let him experience some hardship, understand the suffering of the common people, and temper his character."

Zhao Changqing smiled faintly and said, "It seems that Wenqi has caused quite a bit of trouble in the palace, and the palace is probably at a loss as to what to do with him."

Qin Ming dared not accept those words.

The second prince loves to cause trouble, and his uncle can say so, but he, as a servant, cannot.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Changqing continued, "After the Qingming Festival holiday, I need to return to Youzhou, so I can only leave Wenqi here. This matter cannot be kept from the palace. I will write a letter later, and you can send someone to deliver it back."

Qin Ming respectfully said, "Governor, His Majesty has decreed that here, all actions shall be in accordance with your will, and there is no need to report to him. As long as the Second Prince's life is not in danger, you may do as you wish. Her Majesty the Empress also instructed me to tell the Governor that the Second Prince should stay outside for as long as possible, and not return too early, lest she get a headache from seeing him."

Zhao Changqing remained silent.

How much does the palace dislike Zhao Wenqi?

Has the father and mother stopped loving each other to this extent?

"Is the Second Prince really that annoying in the palace?"

Qin Ming bowed his head and said, "This subordinate dares not overstep his bounds."

If you don't dare to say it, then you're admitting it.

He's gotten He Youyou into a huge mess.

Zhao Changqing suddenly felt a little sorry for her.

"Qin Ming, did you bring any money with you this time?"

Qin Ming asked, puzzled, "I brought it. Does the Governor need money?"

"You've all been eating and living at the Han family's house, how dare you not pay?"

"Yes, I will give the money to the mistress of the house tomorrow. I wonder... how much money would be appropriate?"

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