Capital, Eastern Palace.
"Your Highness, General Huo is back." Yuan Cheng was busy dealing with the piles of memorials on the desk. When he heard the eunuch beside him pass on the message, he was stunned for a moment.
A drop of ink fell on the table. He put down his pen, rubbed his eyebrows and said, "Let him in."
Huo Yan walked in, looking exhausted. He was about to kneel down to greet Yuan Cheng, but Yuan Cheng raised his hand and said, "No need to greet me."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Although the two were close friends who grew up together, there was a difference between the ruler and his subjects. Huo Yan did not lose his composure because of this, but he did not make it too particular either.
Yuan Cheng closed his eyes and smelled the benzoin burning in the hall, which soothed his tired nerves a little. Then he asked, "Why are you back so soon? I thought you were going to the South Vietnam border again."
Huo Yan had the letter in his arms, but he was in no hurry to take it out.
"Your Highness, I passed by Yangzhou and met the princess."
Yuan Cheng paused, opened his eyes, stood up and walked towards him.
"How is it? Is Zhao Zhao okay? I heard she gave birth to a daughter a few years ago and has been in poor health ever since. Has she recovered?"
His words were full of anxious concern.
"Did she actually use the Imperial Physician Zhang I sent back? In Yangzhou, no matter how good the doctors are, they can never compare to the ones in the palace."
And with some blame.
"I wonder if this heartless person ever thinks of me, his brother?"
"I've already had things prepared to be sent to Yangzhou. Did she say she needed anything? There's still time to buy her some..."
Yuancheng is extremely caring towards his younger sister.
The royal family's affection is indifferent, but he and Yuan Zhao are siblings, and they have been together since childhood.
After the death of the late queen, the emperor's father was busy with government affairs, and Yuan Cheng, who was only two years older than Yuan Zhao, took care of him personally.
As the eldest son, he entered school early, but he always kept Yuan Zhao by his side. Many times when he was unable to take care of her, it was Huo Yan who took care of her.
He naturally wanted the best for his own sister.
The only thing that was not feasible was that even though he was Yuan Zhao's biological brother, he still could not resist the marriage granted by his father.
He disliked Wei Shaoqing from the first moment he met him.
…
Thinking of these old things, Yuan Cheng couldn't help but sigh.
And then he waited expectantly for Huo Yan's answer.
But Huo Yan's face did not look good.
Although Huo Yan usually has an icy face, Yuan Cheng can tell his emotions after spending a long time with him.
Seeing him like this, Yuan Cheng felt uneasy. He asked seriously, "What happened?"
Huo Yan took out the letter from his pocket and handed it to Yuan Cheng:
"This is her handwritten letter. Your Highness will know after reading it."
…
Yuan Cheng took the letter and recognized at a glance that the words "Personally from my Imperial Brother" at the top were indeed Yuan Zhao's handwriting.
Huo Yan didn't know the content of the letter, and Yuan Cheng read the two large pages at a glance.
After reading the letter, Yuan Cheng couldn't help but exude an aura of majesty without even being angry.
He held the letter tightly, his brows furrowed, and looked at Huo Yan with a gloomy gaze. "You should know a lot about Zhao Zhao's affairs."
Huo Yan nodded. These days, news kept coming from Yangzhou, one after another, and there was quite a lot of it.
…
Huo Yan was in the Eastern Palace, having a secret conversation with Yuan Cheng until midnight.
He first recounted in detail his encounter with Yuan Zhao in Heishan Village, then moved on to the sick and disabled children, as well as a lot of information his men had gathered in Yangzhou.
"When I met the princess, she was hiding alone in the dense forest in the middle of the night on a snowy day, wanting to rescue Qi Yu who had been abducted and sold to the village."
"Qi Yu was kept in a pigsty for two years. When I arrived, he was already on his last breath, covered in countless wounds, and mentally ill."
"Mu Sheng is still in a wheelchair. Nan Nan's voice has improved, but he's still very thin."
"And Zhizhi, I heard from your Highness's maid that Zhizhi was left outside the palace when she was one month old and nearly froze to death."
…
Yuan Cheng listened to every word. He sat at the table, supporting his head with his hands on his knees.
Of Yuan Zhao's four children, he had only met Yuan Musheng.
It is said that a son takes after his uncle. When Yuan Musheng was born, he loved him very much at first sight.
During those years, the relationship between the siblings was at a freezing point, so Yuancheng transferred the energy he had invested in his sister to his nephew.
Even when he later had his eldest son, he never treated him as attentively as he did to Yuan Musheng.
Later, Yuan Zhao moved to Yangzhou. When he heard the news that he had a daughter, he was extremely happy and only hoped that he could meet his little niece one day.
I was thinking, is Zhao Zhao's daughter as cute and lovely as she was when she was a child?
Over the years, he gradually learned that several children had accidents, and he was also worried even though he was in the capital. Fortunately, the news said that Wei Shaoqing was quite helpful, so he hired a court doctor. After Qi Yu disappeared, he also ordered a search inside and outside the city.
But now it seems that most of the news coming from Yangzhou is superficial.
These children are all from the Yuan family and his nephews. How could they be so miserable?
He listened to Huo Yan's words and immediately understood the problem. He asked in a cold voice:
"You said Zhao Zhao went to save the child alone, where is Wei Shaoqing?" The more Yuan Cheng thought about it, the more angry he became. He suppressed his voice and pounded the table with a fist.
"Is he dead?! Is the child Zhao Zhao's alone?!"
Huo Yan sat opposite him and waited for Yuan Cheng to vent his anger before answering, "Wei Shaoqing is out of town providing disaster relief and is not in Yangzhou."
This is a fact.
Only then did Yuan Cheng realize that the snow disaster in Yangzhou was serious. Most of the memorials he received in the past few days were about this matter, and he was extremely busy because of it.
Two days ago, a minister submitted a memorial praising Wei Shaoqing for personally going to provide disaster relief, saying that he was truly a role model.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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