After seeing Empress Qi off, Yue Xiaoyue immediately lost her temper.
"Yue Xiaomin, don't think that just because your aunt praised you a few times, you've become arrogant. I agreed to let you be positive and me be negative because I'm magnanimous, and you should thank me."
Yue Xiaomin's lips curved into a beautiful smile, and then she nodded.
"Xiaoyue, I thank you for giving up the position of the principal wife to me. However, it's still uncertain whether Brother Chen will accept us or whether we can marry him as we wish. What's the use of you whining to me now?"
"Who's nagging you? You always put on this act of being a well-bred and virtuous lady, but everyone knows you're just pretending."
Yue Xiaomin, however, calmly raised her hand and patted her shoulder.
"Alright, Auntie told us long ago that we should keep quiet after moving in and not bother Brother Chen. If you keep making a fuss like this, Brother Chen might kick you out."
After saying that, she rolled her eyes at her and walked towards the Jade Pavilion, leaving Xiaoyue there stomping her feet in anger.
...
When Hu Ke and Li Ping approached Leng Chuchen, he looked at them with a serious expression and gave them instructions:
"You two, go to Yong'an City immediately. Under the guise of opening a cloth shop, protect Zhiwan and Yiming. You must spare no effort to ensure their safety."
Seeing his repeated emphasis, Hu Li and Li Ping exchanged surprised glances and curiously pressed for an answer.
"Your Highness, what has happened? Aren't you coming with us?"
Leng Chuchen shook her head.
“I can’t leave Beijing right now, but I’m afraid someone might hurt them, mother and child.”
"Your Highness, why don't you tell the truth and then bring them back to the capital? That way, you can better protect them."
Leng Chuchen sighed softly and shook her head.
“I would like to, but not only would Zhiwan not agree, but Father and Mother would also not agree. After all, there is no precedent in the royal family for marrying a commoner woman as their principal wife. It would be too unfair to her to make her a concubine.”
Hu Ke and Li Ping clasped their hands in a fist salute and replied:
"Understood, Your Majesty. I will depart immediately."
He waved his hand helplessly.
"Go ahead. If Yiming asks about me, tell him I'll go see him soon."
He knew that Zhiwan wouldn't ask him any more questions, and the only one who would think of him was probably Yiming.
Yong'an City
Lord Zhu investigated in Yong'an City for a month but found no evidence of Zhuang Guoqiang's crimes. This was because Zhuang Guoqiang had been claiming illness for the past few years. According to the imperial decree, when a prefect is on sick leave, the chief clerk can temporarily handle all matters in the prefecture.
Therefore, on the surface, all of this was done by Sun Dachuan and had nothing to do with him.
Moreover, during Lord Zhu's investigation, Zhuang Guoqiang also realized that there were many things Sun Dachuan had done that he was completely unaware of. Of the silver he collected, he only knew about a portion and received only a small share; the rest was appropriated by Sun Dachuan and squandered.
After Lord Zhu investigated carefully, he realized that the silver he had amassed was just the tip of the iceberg. During Sun Dachuan's tenure, he made a fortune, while he had only gotten a small share.
In the end, Lord Zhu reinstated him to his original position and brought Sun Dachuan back to the capital for trial. Before leaving, he told him that he would come to Yong'an City regularly, seemingly warning him not to do anything he shouldn't.
After all this turmoil, Zhuang Guoqiang escaped unscathed, and he probably won't dare to do anything evil again anytime soon.
On the day he was reinstated, he admonished his two children to behave themselves in Yong'an City and not to cause any more trouble.
The Zhuang family has just survived a close call, so even if Zhuang Xiaomei could act recklessly in Yong'an City before, she'll have to be more restrained this time.
During this period, the Luo Family Clinic's business has been getting better and better, and it remains the busiest shop on this street.
Whenever they were too busy, Liu Dazhuang from the butcher shop, Hu Xiaocao who sold sesame cakes, Xu the widow who sold doufu (a type of flatbread), and other neighbors would come to help, as if they were happy because their business was doing well.
The people on this street are worlds apart from those in Willow Lane, Phoenix City.
Yiming would occasionally go to school with Jiawang, and sometimes he would run to the entrance of the fabric store next door to play for a while. He always felt that if he waited here, his father would come sooner or later.
Today, the Luo family clinic was still very busy. Since the school had a half-day off, Jiawang was also helping out at the shop. Yiming ran to the entrance of the cloth shop again, jumping around on the steps, occasionally looking up at the words on the plaque, his chubby little mouth opening to reveal a cute smile.
At this moment, a woman dressed as a man appeared on Caishen Street. When she arrived at the entrance of Luo Family Medical Clinic, she squinted at the busy scene, a slight smile playing on her lips, and went straight to Yiming's side.
"Kid, are you called Luo Yiming?"
Hearing someone call his name, Yiming quickly turned around.
When he saw an unfamiliar face, he asked timidly:
Who are you?
“I…I’m your mother’s friend. I just went to see your mother, and she said she was very busy and asked me to go out with you.”
"My mother's friend? I've never seen you before."
Rouge, disguised as a man, slightly furrowed her brows and narrowed her eyes as she explained.
"Before you were born, your mother and I were very close. We grew up together. Later, I went to a very far place with my family and only came back a few days ago, so of course you don't recognize me..."
Yiming looked at her with some skepticism, then tentatively asked:
"Do you recognize my father?"
His father?
According to what she knew, his mother must have been with many men before giving birth to him, so how could she possibly know his father?
She shook her head.
“You weren’t even born when I left, so how would I know your father? Come on, I’ll take you to a fun place.”
"No, I'm going to wait for Uncle Chen here."
Uncle Chen?
Could it be Crown Prince Leng Chuchen?
She asked tentatively:
"Is the Uncle Chen you mentioned the owner of this fabric shop, Leng Chuchen? And there are two other people with him, named Li Ping and Hu Ke?"
Seeing that the stranger in front of him could actually say Uncle Chen's name, Yiming suddenly nodded excitedly.
"Yes, Uncle Chen's name is Leng Chuchen. How did you know? Did my mother tell you?"
Rouge paused for a moment, then shook her head somewhat awkwardly.
"No, I ran into him when I went to Phoenix to look for you. He said he went back to Beijing and might not come back."
Uncle Chen isn't coming back?
Upon hearing this, Yiming pouted, looking like he was about to cry.
Rouge looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to her, quickly stepped forward, comforting Yiming while whispering:
"Do you miss your Uncle Chen?"
Yiming nodded heavily.
"Um."
"Well... I'm going to the capital anyway, shall I take you to find him?"
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