Xue Chao swayed. Xue Yao seemed to have returned to that desperate night. He was fighting on the front lines. When he returned to his residence after defeating the Nanzhao army, he saw only blood on the bed, his wife on the verge of death, and his son wailing incessantly as if he knew he was about to lose his mother.
"If that's the case, how come we've never heard of the current Lady Hou being a second wife? And there's not a single piece of information leaked out that Xue Chao isn't her biological son?"
Because very few people knew about this, Xue Yao, fearing he couldn't raise the child alone, and after much persuasion from others, finally married his current wife in the border town. She was a young lady from the wealthy Yang family, a local merchant family.
"Back then, Xue Yao was a future marquis. Even if he had a child with a burden, he wouldn't have married a merchant's daughter, would he?"
This era is different from modern times. The traditional social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants existed. The idea of a scholar and a merchant being combined always felt suspicious.
Even if something happened, only the Marquis of Pingyue and his wife knew. The two went from betrothal to marriage in just two months.
Xue Chao had a stepmother before he was even a year old.
At first, Madam Yang did take good care of Xue Chao until the family of three returned to the Marquis's mansion when the child was almost three years old.
Upon returning to the Marquis's residence, Xue Chao, as the eldest grandson, was immediately taken to the Marquis's courtyard and raised by the Marquis's wife, who knew the truth.
A year later, the Yang brothers passed the imperial examination and became Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations). The whole family moved from the border town to the capital. That same year, Yang became pregnant and gave birth to her first son the following year. In the next three years, she gave birth to Xue Yao's third and fourth sons.
"Little Pearl, since you've mentioned the Yang family, have you forgotten about Jiang Wan's family? Isn't she also a wealthy young lady? Has she never visited her grandson Xue Chao in all these years?"
【Master, this brings us to Jiang Wan's background. When she met Xue Yao, she was all alone. Although she brought servants and considerable wealth, she was the only master.】
And her true identity is not that of a Dayan person.
"A Nanzhao person?" After all, the two met at the border between the two kingdoms of Dayan and Nanzhao.
Jiang Wan was not from Nanzhao, but from Nanyue. At that time, the old emperor of Nanzhao had just died, and there was fierce power struggle at the top. The Jiang family was purged because they chose the wrong side.
Jiang Wan fled to Nanzhao with her family, but was betrayed and the Jiang family continued to be hunted down. She and her servants got separated and accidentally came to Dayan.
Before she could even establish herself, she met Xue Yao, fell in love at first sight, and married him upon their second meeting.
Did Xue Yao know that she was from the Southern Yue region?
This is also what the rulers and ministers of Dayan wanted to know, since Nanyue was one of the forces that destroyed Dayan.
In the past, I wouldn't have thought much of these things. Intermarriages between several countries from top to bottom were not common, but they did happen.
They hadn't paid much attention to it, but after learning about the role of spies and collusion between insiders and outsiders in the destruction of Dayan and the severe damage it caused to Dayan, Emperor Mingxi and his ministers had to become cautious.
The two young masters had repeatedly claimed that the territory of Dayan had been infiltrated into a sieve, so they couldn't help but be suspicious.
At this moment, even though Wei Ping slowed down his presentation, he had already said everything he needed to say in the court.
Emperor Mingxi then looked at Marquis Pingyue, Xue Yao, and asked, "Minister Xue, I heard that your grandson was also kidnapped by child traffickers? Why haven't I seen anyone from your residence looking for him?"
Xue Yao quickly stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, my grandson is indeed among the thirty-seven children who were rescued."
My son and I only learned that our grandson, whom we thought had been sent to his maternal grandparents' house, had been kidnapped by child traffickers when Lord Huo sent someone to deliver the child to our residence.
Emperor Mingxi nodded. "The continuation of the family line is a major matter, not only for the family but also for the country. It cannot be ignored."
A perfectly good young master of the Marquis's mansion was abducted, yet the head of the family was unaware. How can one govern the country when the household is in turmoil? You, as grandfather and father, should also reflect on yourselves.”
Xue Yao bowed even lower and said, "Your Majesty's reprimand is correct. Your humble servant will certainly investigate thoroughly."
Xue Chao also bowed, but didn't dare to say a word.
【Master, what kind of expression do you think Xue Yao will have when he finds out that it was his sons who did it together?】
He didn't know Jiang Wan's background at first, but when Xue Chao was six years old, the Jiang family came to his door, and Xue Yao learned that Jiang Wan was a descendant of the Southern Yue nobility.
He feared that if Xue Chao knew the truth, it would affect the already weak brotherly relationship among his sons, so he persuaded the Jiang family not to reveal the truth and petitioned for Xue Chao to be made a crown prince that year.
That year, Xue Yao's second son, Xue Yue, was not yet one year old.
"Was Jiang Wan a descendant of the Southern Yue nobility? How noble?"
[The current Queen Dowager Jiang Yu of Nanyue is her cousin.]
"Wasn't their family purged for choosing the wrong side? How come they have a cousin who's like an empress dowager?"
She was indeed purged because she sided with the King of Wu, but her cousin and the then King Cheng were in love. When the Jiang family suffered a disaster, King Cheng took her cousin Jiang Yu into his palace as a concubine.
Later, the brothers above caused too much trouble, resulting in deaths and injuries, and even the King of Wu, who had initially won, died.
Prince Cheng did not do much to gain the throne. Jiang Yu was made a Consort De because of her son's status. Later, when her son succeeded to the throne, she also rose from Consort De to Empress Dowager.
The Great Yan Dynasty was destroyed by this emperor.
The Jiang family father and son collapsed to the ground, especially Jiang Chao, who was now the emperor of Nanyue, who was actually his cousin!
Emperor Mingxi paused, surprised that the Xue family and the emperor of Nanyue had this connection.
"Xue Yao knew all this?"
The Jiang family only appeared once, when Xue Chao was six years old, when Jiang Yu was still Consort De. However, Xue Yao should have been able to guess that.
Xue Yao and his son Xue Chao are currently in a situation similar to having overseas relatives in Xia Kingdom during a certain special period, making them key targets for vigilance and investigation.
"Do the Xue brothers know about this?"
Whether they know or not is unclear, but Madam Yang likely knows something. After all, with the Jiang family coming to their door, it's impossible for her, as the wife of the heir apparent, not to be present.
"So they didn't dare kill Xue Chao directly, but instead targeted his son?"
That should be correct. The reason why Xue Chao cannot have children in the future is because we cannot directly kill him, but rather make him childless.
He will either have to adopt sons from his brothers' families, or the title will pass directly to his brothers after his death.
No heir!
Jiang Chao's forehead was covered in even more cold sweat. If Xue Ju hadn't found his way home, he might really only have these two options in the future.
Unbeknownst to Xue Chao, after he considered remarrying, he was secretly given a drug that would prevent him from having children. Xue Ju and Xue Rui would be his only biological children.
"Was this also done by his brother? He didn't have any more children after marrying Liu? If that's the case, why did he let his only daughter, Xue Rui, live like a ghost?"
Hehehe, because Xue Chao later had a son and a daughter! This stunned his brothers who had personally given him the infertility drug.
Haha, they once thought they had bought fake medicine at a high price and almost got into a fight with the fake medicine seller.
The person selling counterfeit medicine repeatedly claimed that his medicine was safe and even told his brothers to try it; if it didn't work, they could get it for free!
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