"explain!"
Chi Yi continued, "That year when soldiers were conscripted, the Chen family selected Chen Huaixu to go out, but the second branch of the Chen family only had one son, Chen Huaixu."
In order to ensure the continuation of the Chen family's second branch, the entire Chen family pooled their resources to buy Chen Huaixu a wife, who is now the Deputy Minister of Agriculture.
Su Luo was actually bought back, but given Su Luo's personality and abilities, how could she allow others to buy and sell her?
How could that be?
"The prince had this question, and at the time, his subordinates did not believe the villagers' statement either. How could the deputy minister of agriculture have been bought? It was only after several conversations that we learned the truth."
It turns out that the Deputy Minister of Agriculture was traveling and learning with her master. Later, while collecting herbs, she accidentally fell and was rescued by Su's mother. It was at that time that she fell and became mentally impaired.
After living in the Su family for half a year, Su's mother passed away, and Su Guang sold her to the Chen family. She lived as husband and wife with Chen Huaixu for a day before they were separated forever.
Later, she gave birth to Chen Yanchuan and Yi Huan, and was subsequently separated from the Chen family. Together with her mother-in-law, the family of four lived in a kiln in Changping Village.
At this point, Nangong Chiyu felt a pang of heartache. So that's how Su Luo had gotten through it. No wonder she didn't want to rely on men at all. In her heart, men were simply unreliable.
"And then what?"
"At that time, the child was still young, and the deputy minister of agriculture was not sober. He was always suppressed by the eldest branch of the Chen family, and the four of them relied entirely on her mother-in-law to dig wild vegetables to support them."
Until two years ago, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture was struck on the head by Luo, and suddenly he recovered and returned to normal. The Chen family changed as a result.
Chi Yi stood up and continued recounting Su Luo's deeds.
"That's what I found out. After the Deputy Minister of Agriculture regained consciousness, she discovered that her child was already five years old. For the sake of her child, she took on the responsibility of supporting the family."
From that time on, she began going up the mountain to dig up medicinal herbs to sell. She also heard that her master was a wandering immortal, which was why the Deputy Minister of Agriculture possessed such skills.
The villagers didn't know much, but that's all Su Luo said to others, and that's all they knew.
"Your Highness, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture became a prominent figure in Yongle County in just one year. When he went to Changping Village, he learned that Changping Soy Sauce was actually the business of the villagers of Changping Village."
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture is a major shareholder; she also holds shares in Ji'an Hall in Yongle County, and Fumanlou is actually a business she shares with the Third Prince.
Nangong Chiyu's phoenix eyes narrowed, and she put down the portrait of Yan Chuan in her hand: "You said that Fumanlou is the property of Su Luo and Nangong Qing?"
Chi Yi was unusually firm, “In the two Fumanlou restaurants in Yongle County, it is indeed true.”
Everyone in Changping Village knows about this, but no one in the capital knows.
"I see!"
Nangong Chiyu sat down again. No wonder Su Luo said that the poem was hers; it turned out that the entire Fumanlou restaurant belonged to her.
Fumanlou has branches in many places. Last time he saw her and Nangong Qing go to the money exchange and take out a lot of silver notes. It was the end of the month, so it seems that she was just going to share the profits with Nangong Qing.
After knowing each other for so long, is it really just friendship?
“Chi Yi, you said that Su Luo and Chen Huaixu were only husband and wife for one day, and it was when she was not in her right mind. Do you think she might not even know what Chen Huaixu looks like?”
Chi Yi didn't know about such a private matter.
"Your Highness, that's still possible."
Su Luo doesn't recognize him, so is he Chen Huaixu? If so, all the evidence proves that Chen Huaixu is dead.
If he wasn't, then why did Su Luo appear in his memory, along with Chen Yanchuan, the child who looked exactly like him?
Before seeing this portrait, he thought Yi Huan was the person in the world who most resembled him, but he never expected that Chen Yanchuan resembled him even more.
"Your Highness, this is a portrait of Old Madam Chen. Would you like to take a look as well?"
Zhao Ruyun is Chen Huaixu's biological mother, how could he not look at her?
The scroll was slowly unfurled, revealing a woman with her hair tied up in a bun and adorned with a silver hairpin. In the portrait, she smiled gently, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes made her appear kind and approachable.
She sat in a chair, her hands folded on her knees, dressed neatly, with a gentle look in her eyes.
The face in this painting... it looks so familiar, like I've seen it somewhere before.
Staring at Zhao Ruyun's portrait, he felt a deep, agonizing pain in his heart, and his eyes involuntarily reddened.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, are you alright?"
Nangong Chiyu covered his chest with his right hand. Why would he feel this way just because he was looking at a portrait?
"I am unharmed!"
His gaze fell on Zhao Ruyun's portrait again. His mind was spinning. Suddenly, an image flashed through his mind: a woman being whipped with a bamboo stick.
He was being protected beneath this woman, whose face was none other than Zhao Ruyun.
Zhao Ruyun's body was covered in whip marks. She was terrified of that bamboo stick, and she would tremble every time she saw someone touch it.
The images come one after another, some from his childhood, and some from when he grew up.
In his memory, Zhao Ruyun was a work machine that never stopped.
When he was a child, he followed Zhao Ruyun around, cutting pig feed and collecting firewood.
As I grew up, I was glad that I was born a boy and had received some schooling.
Nangong Chiyu shook his head, feeling dizzy and his stomach churning. Tears welled up in his eyes as he recalled a scene.
Zhao Ruyun's clothes were all patched, and he had to brave the heavy rain to pick up fallen rice in the fields. The Chen family bullied him because he had no father, and he was not allowed to go home until he had picked up two jin (1 kg) of rice.
He saw this scene when he returned from the academy. He wanted to go and help Zhao Ruyun, but Zhao Ruyun was afraid that he would get sick, so she took off her outer robe to shield him from the rain.
He once said: "Mom, when I grow up, I will definitely take you away from the Chen family and give you a good life."
The mother and son embraced in the field, weeping bitterly. When they returned, the eldest son's family instigated him, and his grandfather beat Zhao Ruyun with a bamboo stick.
After that incident, Zhao Ruyun fell seriously ill and almost died.
But Zhao Ruyun still wanted to guard his father's grave, fearing that the Chen family would dig him up and expose him to the elements.
Nangong Chiyu braced himself on the stone table, trying to stand up, but he couldn't muster any strength in his body.
His chin trembled, he mumbled incoherently, unable to speak, and his eyes were red...
Chi Yi sensed something was wrong and quickly went over to support him, patting his back to help him breathe more easily before stopping.
"Your Highness, take a deep breath and relax!"
The prince is never like this before. His eyes are full of guilt. This is all because he saw Zhao Ruyun's portrait. Is the prince remembering something again?
It took Nangong Chiyu a long time to recover. He stroked the figure in the painting with his fingers, feeling as if something was blocking his throat.
"mother……"
Chi Yi was startled by his words and turned to look at Zhao Ruyun's painting. The prince had just called out "Mother" to the person in the painting.
"Your Highness, you?"
"Chi Yi, I remember, I remember... Ah..."
Although Chi Yi was happy for him, the prince was too repressed, having taken too many detours in his search for his memories.
"Your Highness, do you remember your past? Do you know who you are, where you live? Do you remember everything?"
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