Yiming slowly opened his eyes. As he rubbed them and saw the person in front of him, he immediately reached out and wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Mother, am I dreaming?"
It seems the child is really frightened.
She quickly hugged him and gently comforted him.
"Yiming, your mother is here. You're not dreaming. Your mother will never leave you again."
Yiming then grinned.
"Mom, I've missed you so much lately. I dream about you every day. When I woke up just now, I was afraid it was just a dream."
"This isn't a dream, it's real. Get up now, and Mother will take you away from here."
Where are we going?
"Go back to Yong'an City, and then move to a place where no one recognizes us."
This was the result she came to after thinking about it all night.
She couldn't leave Yiming behind; she had to take him with her, even to the ends of the earth, she wanted to be with Yiming.
She knew that it was impossible for her to leave openly and honestly, so she decided to leave quietly with Yiming before dawn.
But to her surprise, when she pushed open the door, she saw hundreds of guards standing in the courtyard. They turned around and looked at her when they heard the door open.
Nie Yuan, the commander of the Imperial Guards, stepped forward with a cold face.
"Miss Luo, where are you going so early?"
Looking at the people in the courtyard, she blinked a few times and withdrew her foot that had already stepped out the threshold.
"I... came out for some fresh air."
"It's windy outside, you should go back inside!"
Upon returning to the room, Luo Zhiwan immediately realized that they were being held under house arrest.
"Mother, are we not leaving?"
"We can't leave."
She sighed helplessly, "It seems we'll have to find another way."
Yiming blinked his still-sleepy eyes and yawned.
"Otherwise, let's stay here and be with my father!"
Zhiwan suddenly turned around and looked at him.
"Yiming, what are you saying?"
Hearing his mother's stern tone, Yiming was wide awake. He quickly shook his head, pouted, and dared not make a sound.
She moved closer to him, trying to calm herself down, and asked softly:
"Yiming, you just mentioned your father? What do you know?"
Yiming timidly rubbed his two little fingers together, replying:
“…I…I know that Uncle Chen is actually my father.”
"He told you?"
"No, I guessed."
Zhiwan raised her hand, held his head, and asked gently again,
"So, do you want to stay?"
“Yes, I want to be with Dad,”
"What if Mother doesn't stay?"
Yiming's eyes suddenly reddened.
“If Mother doesn’t want to stay, Yiming doesn’t want to stay either. Yiming doesn’t want to leave Mother.”
His words instantly broke her down, and tears welled up in her eyes.
If there's one thing she fears most about coming to this strange world, it's Yiming.
Yiming is her weakness, her everything.
As dawn broke, Leng Chuchen arrived in haste.
He looked at the guards filling the courtyard, frowned in displeasure, and stepped forward to knock on the door.
The door opened with a click, and the moment Zhiwan looked up, she met Leng Chuchen's beautiful eyes.
She had been holding in her anger all morning, and could only vent it on him.
"What do you mean by this? Are you putting me under house arrest?"
He quickly explained to her.
"This is my father's will, and it has nothing to do with me. But don't worry, I will go to the palace now and explain it to my father."
Before he could finish speaking, Eunuch Sun's voice rang out.
"By imperial decree, Crown Prince, receive the decree, Luo Zhiwan, receive the decree."
For an ordinary peasant woman, the emperor's edict was more important than anything else.
She led Yiming and Leng Chuchen into the courtyard. As everyone in the courtyard knelt down, Eunuch Sun, waving his whisk and folding his hands together, began to speak:
"By imperial decree, it has been learned that Crown Prince Leng Chuchen has abandoned a child among the common people. To prevent him from being extorted, Luo Yiming will now be taken to the palace to undergo a blood test to confirm his kinship with the Crown Prince. Gentlemen, please follow me!"
Upon hearing this, Leng Chuchen's face immediately turned ugly.
"Eunuch Sun, what does Father mean by this? Does he doubt me?"
Eunuch Sun quickly bowed and replied:
"Your Highness, you are overthinking it. The Emperor is not doubting you, but he doesn't want you to be fooled. The Emperor got up early today, so please don't keep him waiting."
Leng Chuchen whispered to Zhiwan beside her,
"Please don't mind, Father has always been rather cautious."
She suddenly laughed mockingly.
"What do I have to care about? The truth will never be hidden, and the falsehood will never become the truth."
Although blood-drop kinship testing is a rather foolish and illogical thing, people like to use this method to prove their kinship, so what can she do?
They quickly entered the palace. Looking at the vast palace and the high city walls, Zhiwan felt an indescribable worry.
Yiming, on the other hand, was filled with curiosity about this place, which he considered sacred.
Leng Chuchen walked beside the mother and son, her brows furrowing from time to time, secretly making up her mind.
In any case, once it's confirmed that Yiming is his child, he will ask his father for permission to marry Zhiwan as his principal wife.
When they arrived at the Qianqing Palace, it was already packed.
Besides the Emperor sitting in the main seat, there were also the Empress Dowager and Empress Qi. At the lower seats sat several concubines and several highly respected ministers of the court. Among them were General Yue Yunshan, who was the assistant to the state, and Yue Ji, a veteran of three reigns and the current Grand Tutor. They were also Yue Xiaomin's grandfather and father.
It seems the Emperor takes this matter very seriously, having invited most of the important figures in the court.
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