Chapter 380 Father and Son
Yiren glanced at Butler Wu in annoyance and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could a child of the Zhao royal family look exactly like him? Are you blind?"
Butler Wu shook his head and said confidently, "I watched the young master grow up. I have seen what he looked like at every age. I can never misjudge anyone, but I will never misjudge the young master. Look, this nose, these eyes, they look so much like the young master!"
Upon hearing this, the girls immediately looked at the child carefully, and indeed, they saw a hint of familiarity between his eyebrows.
It seems..., it really is a bit similar!
At this moment, Su Qing also remembered where that familiar feeling came from.
Butler Wu was right, this child looked exactly like Li Nuo when he was a child!
Her eyes turned to Yiren first.
Could it be that this child was secretly born to her and Li Nuo in Zhao State?
This child looks about the same age as Li Yan, which means his mother was pregnant at about the same time as the beautiful woman. Could it be that at that time, he and the beautiful woman had already secretly decided to spend their lives together?
That's impossible. She is still a virgin.
But if you say that he had the child with another woman in Zhao State, the time doesn't match at all.
Judging from the child's age, Li Nuo was still in Chang'an at that time.
He secretly had a child with someone else in Chang'an, and sent the child to Zhao State to be raised by the Queen of Zhao State. This doesn't make sense emotionally or logically!
More importantly, he is not the kind of person who would secretly have affairs outside.
Is it just that they look alike?
How could there be such a coincidence in this world?
Li Yan and Li Nian's eyes and eyebrows are more like Jia Ren, while Li Zhi looks more like Princess An Ning. There is no reason why other people's children should be more like him than his own flesh and blood. No matter how you explain it, it doesn't make sense.
Su Qing is in a mess...
Not only her, everyone is messy.
Butler Wu finally realized something. After a moment of silence, he looked at the child again, smacked his lips, and shook his head, saying, "Maybe my eyes are blurry. Now it seems that this little guy and the young master don't look that similar..."
Li Yun stole the show in front of the Mohist officials of Zhao State. He was very proud of himself. He walked over with his hands behind his back. He glanced at Li Nuo casually and said in amazement: "Whose child is this? Why does he look so much like Li Nuo..."
Somewhere in the palace.
Li Nuo was discussing with the empress how to govern the country when Yi Ren suddenly came over and asked, "Zhi Yi, what's the child's name?"
Zhao Zhiyi's eyes moved slightly, he lowered his eyelids, and said: "His name is Zhao Che. I hope he can be an upright and pure-hearted person in the future, not like my brother..."
Yiren brought Zhao Che closer to Li Nuo and asked, "Hey, do you think this kid looks like you?"
Li Nuo rolled his eyes at her and said unhappily, "Are you kidding? How could other people's children look like..."
Before Li Nuo finished speaking, his tone suddenly paused.
Not to mention, this little guy's eyebrows and eyes are really somewhat similar to his.
But it's just similar.
Children under one year old have not fully grown yet. Unless there are very obvious features, it is hard to tell who they look like. It is just a coincidence that their nose and eyes are similar to his.
After the banquet, everyone returned to the palace.
As soon as he walked into the room, An Ning and Yi Ren closed the door and looked at him with their arms around their chests. There was scrutiny and suspicion in the beautiful woman's eyes.
Li Nuo looked at them and asked, "What are you doing?"
Yiren looked at him suspiciously and asked, "What's going on with Zhao Che?"
Li Nuo was even more confused and asked, "What's going on?"
Yiren said, "Butler Wu told my mother that he looks exactly like you when you were a child. How do you want to explain this?"
"What do I explain?"
Li Nuo asked with a puzzled look on his face, and then he realized something and said in astonishment: "No way, do you suspect he is my child? What a joke, he is about the same age as Li Yan, it's impossible to think about it..."
There is absolutely no doubt about this matter.
Zhao Che is about the same age as Li Yan, which means that his mother, Jiaren and An Ning were pregnant at the same time. He was still in Chang'an at that time. Could he have teleported to the capital of Zhao overnight and cuckolded King Sheng?
The women couldn't explain this.
An Ning wondered, "Is it really such a coincidence?"
Li Nuo really didn't expect that he would be implicated. If the technology in this world could not perform paternity testing, he would have to prove his innocence immediately.
The Mohist school has not yet developed to this level. Although the doctors in this world have found a different way and taken a different path, they are powerless to do anything about this kind of thing.
In desperation, Li Nuo had to ask Senior Dongfang to prove his innocence.
The next morning, Dongfang Xuan was about to go out when he was stopped by Li Nuo.
He looked at Li Nuo and asked in surprise: "Why are you doing this?"
Li Nuo said: "Senior, please don't ask me. Just tell me whether it can be counted or not."
Dongfang Xuan shook his head and said, "Others can calculate, but you can't."
Li Nuo was stunned and asked, "Why?"
Dongfang Xuan explained: "Your Confucian cultivation is too high. The methods of other schools are useless against high-level Confucianists. Unless you are a sage of the Yin-Yang School, I am afraid no one can figure out what happened to you..."
He looked at Li Nuo for a few times, with a meaningful look on his face, and said: "You kid, you are so affectionate, you don't even know how many children you have?"
Li Nuo was not afraid of his own flaws, but they insisted on doubting him. Li Nuo was too lazy to explain, so he waved his hand and said, "Go and do your work..."
Although they failed to directly prove his innocence, An Ning and Yiren did not dwell on this issue.
After all, that statement was too untenable. No matter how skeptical it was, it could not explain the problem of the timing of pregnancy, and his grievances would naturally be cleared.
Dongfang Xuan left the palace and came to the Imperial Master's Mansion.
Looking at the skinny old man basking in the sun on a chair, a trace of suspicion appeared on his face, and he asked: "I clearly gave you a few years of life last time, why did you become so lifeless again? Did you abuse the Yin-Yang technique again?"
The State Master of Zhao slowly opened his eyes and did not directly answer his question. Instead, he asked, "Do you still remember the Gongsun family?"
Dongfang Xuan nodded and said, "Of course, a hundred years ago, the Gongsun family was very powerful, but in recent years, I haven't heard much news about them, and I don't know if the inheritance is still there..."
All the major families of the Yin-Yang School had their own peak times.
The Dongfang family reached its peak three hundred years ago, but ever since the ancestor of the family broke through the realm of a saint and died of madness, the family has been declining with each generation. In this generation, Qing'er is the only heir.
The State Master of Zhao said: "Over the years, the Gongsun family has had another successor, who is in Zhao. She appears to have only reached the fifth realm of cultivation, but I suspect..."
Dongfang Xuan asked, "What do you doubt?"
The State Master of Zhao heaved a sigh of relief and said, "I suspect she has already attained sainthood..."
Dongfang Xuan was shocked and said, "What? There is a seventh-level Yin-Yang Saint on the mainland. Where is she?"
Zhao Guoshi said: "She has fallen, but I don't understand some of the things she did before her death..."
…
Zhao State.
On the streets of the capital, people were talking about it.
"I heard that His Royal Highness Prince Zhao returned yesterday."
"That giant bird is King Zhao's mount. As expected of King Zhao, he is truly unique."
"Do you think that the little prince adopted by His Majesty is the child of her and Prince Zhao?"
"Didn't they say that the child was born to King Sheng's concubine?"
"We can't trust everything the court says. If it was Prince Sheng's child, would Her Majesty treat him so well and adopt him as her adopted son? In my opinion, he is most likely the child of Her Majesty and Prince Zhao..."
Li Nuo was originally going to accompany them shopping today, and along the way, he heard many outrageous rumors.
He said that Zhao Che was the son of him and the Empress, but he himself didn't know about it.
According to the calculation of time, he had a relationship with the empress when he was still in Chang'an.
But at that time, she was still a virgin. They saw it with their own eyes. There was no need for Li Nuo to prove it himself. Jia and An Ning would not believe it at all. Yiren could even prove that they had always been innocent when they were in Zhao State.
Even though they have long since lost sight of her as the empress, they would not believe such outrageous rumors.
"Greetings, His Royal Highness Prince Zhao."
"Long live His Royal Highness Prince Zhao!"
Unlike in Chang'an, walking on the streets of the capital of Zhao State, the people all have warm and sincere smiles on their faces.
Jia Ren and An Ning's mood were obviously much better than when they were in Chang'an.
It was indeed the right decision to let them change their environment.
The situation in Zhao State is much more stable than that in Daxia. With the empress taking care of them, Li Nuo can do his own thing with peace of mind.
When he returned to the palace, Li Nuo found that the queen was also there.
Li Yan was walking unsteadily on the grass while Zhao Che was crawling behind him. Although Zhao Che was born less than ten days later than Li Yan, he did not look like a child of the same age at all.
Li Yan and Li Nian can already call their parents and aunt, and can walk unsteadily, but Zhao Che can only crawl and sit, and can hardly call anyone.
However, Zhao Che's development speed is in line with common sense.
Li Yan, Li Nian and Li Zhi were all baptized every day by Li Nuo with the fifth level of medical qi, and their physical constitutions were much better than those of ordinary children.
Zhao Zhiyi had obviously noticed this, and looking at the two children, he curiously asked Li Nuo, "They are obviously about the same age, why is there such a big gap between Zhao Che and Li Yan..."
Li Nuo explained the reason to her. Zhao Zhiyi thought for a moment and said, "Can you also help Zhao Che? Li Yan and the others can all walk, but he can only crawl and can't play with them..."
Since she had asked, Li Nuo certainly couldn't refuse.
Li Nuo walked over and picked up Zhao Che who was crawling on the ground. The little guy did not resist in Li Nuo's arms and looked at him with his big eyes blinking.
Li Nuo looked at the little face in front of him and felt an indescribable strange feeling in his heart.
When he saw him for the first time, he didn't think anything was wrong.
Once he accepted the assumption that this child resembled him, the more he looked at him, the more he felt that they resembled each other...
No wonder An Ning and Jia Ren would be suspicious...
Zhao Zhiyi looked at Li Nuo holding Zhao Che and teasing him seriously, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Then, she took out a red letter from her sleeve and said, "This is the wedding date chosen for you by the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory. You can choose one from them."
There are at most a dozen auspicious days selected by the Ministry of Rites.
The nearest one will be held in ten days.
For those further away, it may be one month later, two months later, or even until the end of the year at the latest.
Li Nuo naturally wanted it to be as fast as possible.
But this time, Yiren had a different opinion.
According to the birth dates of the two people, although the day ten days later is also considered an auspicious day, it can only be considered slightly auspicious. The other days are some very auspicious, some extremely auspicious, and some extremely auspicious.
The best would be the best, but it would be at the end of the year, eight months later.
When Li Nuo married the beautiful lady, the wedding day was just an auspicious day.
But Yiren has set her sights on this day.
Su Qing advised her, "Shangji is not bad, it's almost good enough."
Yiren looked at Su Qing and said firmly, "I have waited for so long, a few months won't make a difference. We can only get married once in a lifetime, and the first time has been taken away from us. This time, I must have the best!"
Su Qing moved his lips, but in the end said nothing.
In this matter, Yiren has indeed suffered too much injustice, and finally got a chance to make amends, so let her do as she pleases...
Li Nuo naturally had no objection.
However, he certainly could not stay in Zhao State forever before getting married.
Zhao Zhiyi took the letter from Li Nuo and saw the circled date on it. He asked in surprise, "Are you sure you want to wait that long?"
Li Nuo smiled and said, "If love lasts forever, it doesn't matter if we are together day and night. Since she likes it, let her do it..."
Zhao Zhiyi sighed softly, with an inexplicable meaning in his tone: "You are so good to Yiren..."
Zhao State, the capital.
Recently, in addition to gossiping about the identity of the Queen's adopted son, people in the capital have also been discussing the marriage between Prince Zhao and Princess Zhaorong.
Her Majesty the Queen doted on these two princes and princesses of different surnames. The ceremony of their wedding far exceeded that of ordinary princes and princesses, and was second only to that of the Emperor's empress.
In a way, even the ceremony of enthroning the queen could not compare to this wedding.
To celebrate, not only will all government offices be closed for three days, the empress will also exempt farmers with less than 100 acres of arable land from one year's taxes. This is a true national celebration, as even the emperor's wedding would not necessarily exempt the people from taxes.
This wedding will surely be remembered by many people.
Just when the people of Zhao had more topics to talk about after dinner because of the return of King Zhao.
Daxia, Chang'an.
The results of the imperial examination in the 36th year of the Holy Emperor have just been announced.
This was the third imperial examination in three years, and it was also the imperial examination with the largest number of admitted Jinshi since the founding of Daxia.
The number of people admitted to this imperial examination was as high as 500.
Of these five hundred people, only the first one hundred will be appointed to official positions immediately, but there is no need to rush for the remaining four hundred.
Their master, as an inspector, had only visited a few states, and many official positions had been vacated in the court. As long as the master killed more corrupt officials, there would definitely be vacancies that they could fill...
There is another surprising phenomenon in this year's imperial examination.
Among the 500 Jinshi admitted this year, 493 were students who had attended Li Nuo's imperial examination tutoring class.
Although these people have been screened once, under normal circumstances, such a horrific proportion would not be possible.
Scholars are very particular about learning from their teachers, which means that this year's Jinshi, nearly 500 future officials in the court, have to call him "sir". What a huge force this is...
The Imperial Palace.
In the silent palace, a figure walked in slowly, bent down, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, we have found some clues. Those people are very likely from the Qingluan Society of Qi State..."
(End of this chapter)
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