People from the border

Although he had seen the two of them get along several times before, Qilian Jingyao still felt jealous today.

When he gets a few years older, he will find a queen who is devoted to him and will definitely love her more than his cousin! Qilian Jingyao made a secret decision and looked at Luan Zhengya with a little more pride.

But thinking of his cousin's attitude towards Aunt Yang, Qilian Jingyao couldn't help but cough and said seriously, "Aunt has been alone at the border these years. I don't know how she's been doing. Now that she's back, you should go and see her. I heard she's still ill."

On the carriage back to Prince Zhen'an's mansion, Qin Yuyao sat quietly beside Luan Zhengya. She never took the initiative to ask about the "Aunt Yang" mentioned by the emperor. She always felt that Luan Zhengya had a complex emotion after hearing about this person, a mixture of sadness and anger.

From the moment she came out of His Majesty's study until she got on the carriage, Luan Zhengya held her hand tightly the whole time. The warmth of her palm and the occasional trembling showed that she was not at peace.

After an unknown amount of time, Qin Yuyao finally heard the person beside her sigh. Then, he slowly placed her hand on top of the other and patted it.

"Yuyao, I originally thought it would take a long time before I could tell you about this." Luan Zhengya's voice sounded a little hoarse, filled with many emotions that Qin Yuyao had never heard before.

Hearing this, Qin Yuyao still didn't say anything. She understood that he just wanted to tell the truth now.

This Aunt Yang was indeed not just some superficial bystander, but Luan Zhengya's biological mother, Yang Zhiyan.

The reason His Majesty addressed Luan Zhengya as his cousin was because Yang Zhiyan was the cousin of Qilian Jingyao, the late Empress Dowager. Given their incredibly close relationship, it was difficult for Qilian Jingyao to specifically address him as his cousin.

One is that he is grateful that when Luan Zhengya was the regent, he did not really treat him as a puppet, but instead trained him carefully as a disciple.

Yang Zhiyan was not the youngest daughter of any distinguished family. At best, she was the daughter of a famous imperial merchant during the previous emperor's time. Unfortunately, there was chaos both inside and outside the palace at that time.

At a banquet, Yang Zhiyan became the one caught in the crossfire. Forced into sexual intercourse, Yang Zhiyan was not tolerated by her family and gave birth to Luan Zhengya alone in a temple.

I heard that Yang Zhiyan once wanted to find the man she had a relationship with, but she only learned from the host of the party that he had committed suicide long ago.

Then, Luan Zhengya, still an infant, was entrusted to the temple's abbot, and Yang Zhiyan returned home. She was gone for fifteen years. Only when Luan Zhengya grew up was Yang Zhiyan taken back home.

Luan Zhengya already had his memories back then, so naturally he didn't understand why his mother gave birth to him and then chose to abandon him. It would have been better if she hadn't given birth to him in the first place.

Although the Yang family wouldn't be so stingy with a child's food rations, they wouldn't wait so long to remember. Until one day, Yang Zhiyan got drunk and beat and scolded Luan Zhengya.

Only then did he know that Yang Zhiyan, who had left Luan Zhengya and gone away for fifteen years, was married off to a wealthy businessman by her parents when she came down the mountain, but they had no children in five years.

The wealthy businessman became suspicious and consulted a doctor. He then discovered that Yang Zhiyan had a physique that made it difficult for her to have children. A wife who could not give birth to a child was useless to a wealthy businessman.

So he wrote a divorce letter and sent Yang Zhiyan back to the Yang family. It was also at this time that Yang's parents learned about Luan Zhengya's existence. They had always believed that Yang Zhiyan had aborted the child and returned home.

Luan Zhengya still remembers the day he returned to the Yang family. His grandfather took his hand and said, "Your mother's health was damaged because of giving birth to you. You must take good care of her in the future."

Luan Zhengya, who was only fifteen years old, naturally agreed, but the truth was that it was a problem with Yang Zhiyan's physical condition.

"I didn't blame her, but I just didn't understand. Since I was her only child, why did she always beat and scold me?" When he recalled the memories of being with Yang Zhiyan, he only remembered his drunken mother.

Even when I took my mother to the border, we often returned home to cold rice and leftovers, the house reeking of alcohol, and broken wine jars scattered across the floor.

"She can come back anytime she wants. It's just a matter of adding another pair of chopsticks. I will arrange another place for her to live." After saying this, Luan Zhengya's emotions completely stabilized, and she no longer looked like she did in the palace just now.

Seeing that Qin Yuyao was still looking at him, Luan Zhengya was puzzled: "If you want to ask something, just ask directly."

"Since your mother is an imperial merchant, why can you become the regent?" Thinking of the evaluation of Luan Zhengya in Shengjing, it seems that no one has ever mentioned his mother.

"Because the abbot of the temple is actually a prime minister who voluntarily retired and returned to his hometown during the reign of the late emperor. Under his care and training, I became a member of the late emperor's staff very early on."

As for what happened next, it was all about how to achieve merit and how many rebels he killed. And in the battles against the grassland tribes, relying on the military exploits accumulated in hundreds of battles, he was able to take on the role of regent temporarily, entrusted by the late emperor.

But no matter what he did, it was dispensable to him until that heavy rain. Not only did he see the sun after the rain stopped, he also saw the person he wanted to spend his life with.

Thinking of this, Luan Zhengya felt his chest burning hot, and he couldn't help but hold Qin Yuyao in his arms, expressing his emotions with a kiss.

When they separated, Qin Yuyao touched her lips, which were swollen. She couldn't help but glare at him, then asked, "If that's the case, then perhaps Mother's temper was like this because of that banquet?"

Qin Yuyao couldn't help but sigh at the thought. Survival was already difficult for women, and perhaps Yang Zhiyan's mental state had deteriorated after the assault, and her mental state had worsened after bearing the pressure of Luan Zhengya.

And she met the wrong person after marriage. If that weren't the case, she shouldn't have treated her only son like this.

Hearing this, Luan Zhengya said calmly, "I found the host of the banquet and the family that committed suicide, and brought them to her and killed them."

Qin Yuyao froze for a moment. After a moment, she sighed and said, "It can be considered revenge." Then she fell silent again and stopped asking about Yang Zhiyan.

Over the years, whether it was a misunderstanding or intentional, Luan Zhengya was now like this, not caring about his mother's attitude at all, so she naturally felt sorry for him.

Many children move out after getting married, so for the sake of filial piety, it would be enough to visit them during the holidays. Thinking of this, Qin Yuyao couldn't help but lean on Luan Zhengya's shoulder, leaning sideways and hugging her with both hands.

Luan Zhengya's body stiffened, and he quickly reached out and placed his hand on the back of her hand.

A few days later, Qin Yuyao finally arranged the tasks entrusted by Qilian Jingyao smoothly. Those ministers who tried to find her were pushed back according to her plan.

After being busy for several days, Qin Yuyao finally stood up and waved to Luan Zhengya who had been with her in the shop.

"Let's go back early today. I haven't been to the hot spring resort for a long time. Shall we go there after dinner?" Qin Yuyao looked at him with shining eyes.

Thinking of what happened last time at the hot spring villa, Luan Zhengya's Adam's apple rolled and she immediately agreed.

Qin Yuyao didn't know that the people around her were thinking about indescribable things at this time. She was only thinking about asking Jin Yu to prepare dinner well.

The two people, each with their own thoughts, had the same expression, full of joy, which surprised Jiang He who was waiting beside them.

"Prince, Madam Yang is back." Jiang He said stiffly. He naturally knew his prince's attitude towards Yang Zhiyan, but the blood relationship could not be easily severed, and the other party came to him in person.

Suddenly, the gate of Prince Zhen'an's Mansion felt like winter rain and early spring wind, so cold that people couldn't help shivering.

Seeing this, Qin Yuyao was about to speak when she suddenly saw two people walking out of Prince Zhen'an's mansion.

The woman was dressed in a dark blue gown, her hair held in place by a single jade hairpin, but judging by the jade earrings and necklace around her neck, she was indeed a woman from a wealthy and pampered family.

The young woman supporting the woman had willow-shaped eyebrows, a slight frown on her face, as if filled with lingering sorrow. She wore nothing but a white dress, her hair tied back with an apricot-colored ribbon.

"Jiang He, see the guests off." Luan Zhengya took Qin Yuyao's hand and walked towards the palace without looking around.

Jiang He breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the prince's order. Just as he was about to step forward and speak to the two people who were in a stalemate, he heard Yang Zhiyan speak.

"Is this your attitude when you meet your mother? It's bad enough that you have a bad attitude, but how come even your wife is like this? You are really birds of a feather." Yang Zhiyan's voice was hoarse, which was inconsistent with her appearance.

Luan Zhengya turned a deaf ear to him and continued walking into the mansion holding Qin Yuyao's hand. Qingyu and Jinyu, who had heard the news, hurried over. They were the first to see Yang Zhiyan, and they finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the two of them return.

Without stopping, Qin Yuyao turned to Jin Yu and said, "Jin Yu, take Madam Yang to the guest room to rest."

After receiving the order, Jin Yu immediately turned around and ran towards the gate of the palace. If he was any later, Jiang He would have sent the person away early.

Jiang He: I don’t understand, but the princess’s meaning is the prince’s meaning, so I just have to obey and do as she says.

What's strange is that Qin Yuyao thought that Yang Zhiyan's attitude that day would make her continue to make trouble in the palace, or continue to cause trouble for Luan Zhengya, but she was quiet for several days in a row.

Until one day, Luan Zhengya did not return for a long time after the morning court session, and Qin Yuyao sorted out the recent work on the promotion of wide looms in the study. Now, local people in the eighteen towns near Shengjing have been asked to learn how to use them.

The rest of the towns couldn't be in a hurry, simply because a wide loom required a craftsman after all and couldn't be mass-produced so quickly.

She had only written halfway when she heard Jin Yu say outside, "Old Madam, you can't go in."

Normally, Qin Yuyao can enter and leave Luan Zhengya's study at will, but others cannot.

Hearing the sound, Qin Yuyao stood up and walked out without hesitation. Then, Yang Zhiyan, who happened to push the door open, bumped into her.