Chapter 711 Xiaoman’s “Awakening”
While Xiao Yan was still speeding on the official road back to the capital, a disturbance of varying degrees had already arisen in the capital.
——Zhang Heyao was assassinated and injured.
When the news reached the Imperial College, Xiaoman's face changed immediately. After asking for leave from his teacher, he hurried back to Zhang's house.
As soon as I entered the mansion, I saw the servants looking panic-stricken.
He walked quickly into the inner room and saw Zhang Heyao leaning on the couch, his left arm with the sleeve rolled up and wrapped in thick white cloth, a hint of blood could be seen, his face was a little pale, but he was still in good spirits.
"Dad!" Xiaoman stepped forward quickly, his voice filled with uncontrollable worry and anger. "How are you? Are you seriously injured?"
Zhang Heyao looked up at him and forced a smile: "It's okay, just a flesh wound, no bones or muscles hurt, why are you panicking?"
"Who did it?" Xiaoman asked gritting his teeth, with a fierce look in his eyes.
The trusted butler beside him whispered, "It's... it's Aunt Song."
"Song Chenghuan?" Xiaoman was startled, then her anger intensified. "Why is it her again? Dad, you've done everything you can for her!"
It turned out that after Zhang Heyao returned to Beijing, his stepdaughter Song Chenghuan, who had once made things difficult for Zhang Heyao, came to his house repeatedly to cry and complain that her in-laws treated her harshly and that her life was difficult.
Zhang Heyao was somewhat considerate of the fact that she was the daughter of an old friend, but he also knew that it was inconvenient for him to interfere too much in her family affairs, and he didn't want to see her get into trouble again, so he avoided seeing her several times.
But that's how people are.
No matter what love-hate entanglements there were before, as long as you die, you will probably be able to find some good things after a few years.
So for Song Mingzhen's sake, Zhang Heyao secretly sent someone to investigate carefully. He learned that after the Zhenbei Palace fell apart, Song Chenghuan's situation was indeed not good.
So he ordered people to count and organize all of Song Mingzhen's dowry and send it to Song Chenghuan without missing a single cent.
——He didn’t keep any of Song Mingzhen’s things.
Giving it all to her only daughter was also a way of taking into account the few remaining friendships.
Unexpectedly, Song Chenghuan was still not satisfied with the huge dowry, and today he used the excuse of going back home to get some of his mother's "old things".
Zhang Heyao softened his heart for a moment and allowed her to enter the mansion.
Unexpectedly, she took advantage of the guard's carelessness, pulled out the dagger hidden in her sleeve, and stabbed him.
Fortunately, Zhang Heyao reacted quickly and dodged to the side, only injuring his left arm. The guards in the mansion immediately stepped forward and subdued him.
Xiaoman's face turned pale after hearing this. "He is insatiable and ruthless. This time he will not be forgiven! Someone, go to Jingzhao Prefecture and report this crime. He is assaulting someone with a weapon and assassinating the prime minister. He will be investigated according to the law."
This time, Zhang Heyao did not stop it. He just closed his eyes tiredly and acquiesced to Xiaoman's arrangement.
After the servants took the order and left, he slowly opened his eyes and said to Xiaoman, "Go to the Marquis' Mansion... and tell your mother that I can't go with her to worship our parents the day after tomorrow. Let her... go by herself."
Xiaoman felt a pang of sadness when she heard this. She looked at Zhang Heyao's pale face, which seemed to be enduring something, and nodded heavily: "...Okay, I'll go right away."
He turned and walked out of the house, but his steps became heavier.
How could he not understand?
Dad's words were not just a simple reminder, it was clearly... he clearly wanted to let Mom know that he was injured, in order to gain her sympathy and a visit.
But when Xiaoman saw such cautious testing and expectation, she felt extremely sad and a little powerless.
——If this entanglement continues, it will not be good for his father, mother, and...his biological father.
When Xiaoman arrived at the Marquis' Mansion and saw Lu Qiniang busy counting the gifts for inducing labor, she swallowed the words back.
He simply said calmly, "Mom, Dad asked me to tell you that he has some urgent business the day after tomorrow and can't spare the time. He can't accompany you to the sacrifice ceremony, so you'll have to make your own arrangements."
Hearing this, Lu Qiniang said casually without even looking up, "Oh, OK, I see. It's more important for him to focus on his work."
Erya is due to give birth in a month, so the birth-inducing gifts need to be sent to Guangzhou Prefecture as soon as possible.
So she is really busy at the moment.
Xiaoman looked at her and saw that she showed no emotion at all when he mentioned his father. He felt an indescribable pain in his heart, but he could only chat with her for a few more words as if nothing had happened before saying goodbye and leaving.
After returning to the Zhang Mansion, he came to Zhang Heyao's study.
Zhang Heyao was staring out the window in a daze. When he heard footsteps, he immediately turned around and subconsciously looked behind Xiaoman. When he found that there was no one there, a trace of hard-to-disguise disappointment flashed across his always deep and sharp eyes. He quickly concealed it and asked lightly, "...Have you told your mother?"
"I said it." Xiaoman lowered her eyelashes, unable to bear to see her father's forced calmness.
"Yeah." Zhang Heyao responded without asking any more questions. He just picked up the book at hand again, but did not turn a page for a long time.
The silence in the study was depressing.
Xiaoman looked at his injured arm and the loneliness that no one could tell. Her previous thought that he shouldn't be like this was suppressed by the surging heartache.
He walked forward silently and changed a cup of hot tea for Zhang Heyao.
Xiaoman really hopes that her father can recover as soon as possible.
He should have a new life of his own.
There is no point in trapping yourself in memories, and doing it alone.
But he has grown up now, and there are some things that once you say them and get rejected, you can never say them again.
Xiaoman thought that he would accompany his father well.
Ten days later, Xiao Yan returned to Beijing.
The emperor felt relieved when he saw him.
When the emperor saw him, it was as if he had seen a savior. He breathed a sigh of relief, but then his face turned stern again. He pointed to a pile of memorials piled high on the side of the imperial desk and said angrily, "You finally decided to come back! Look! Let me see what this is! This is all what I left behind to clean up your mess!"
He pointed at the pile of memorials, his heart pounding. "These are all urgent matters imposed by your Ministry of War! I'm both the Emperor and your Chancellor. How easy is that?"
Xiao Yan stood quietly with his head down, listening to the emperor's complaints, but suddenly he lifted his robe and knelt down upright.
The emperor's eyes widened instantly, and his body leaned forward involuntarily: "What are you doing? Xiao Yan, I'm telling you, you should quit while you're ahead. Don't tell me that your second daughter is about to give birth in Guangzhou, and you need to take three months off."
The emperor knows everything that happens in the Marquis' Mansion.
No, I will never be allowed to take leave again.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty. Please punish me."
"Are you guilty? You are guilty, but I won't punish you. What can others say?"
"Your Majesty, it's not what it used to be."
Emperor: "...Are you saying that you mobilized troops without permission again? Tell me... what did you mobilize the troops for?"
He came to see how I could fill in the blanks for him.
"No, I am not that outrageous."
"That's good."
The emperor felt that he could handle everything except this matter.
"Get up and talk!"
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