"Hey! Brother Ye, boy in black, Old Fu, what are you three doing here? Didn't Second Brother bring you along? If you keep wandering around like this, you'll be out of the village. Be careful not to get lost!" Grandma Xiao, who had finished getting ready to go find Grandma Gu to gather herbs on the mountain, greeted the three of them with a smile.
"Aunt Xiao, are you planning to go dig for wild vegetables?" the emperor asked, seeing her carrying a basket and a carrying pole on her back, with tools in the basket.
Now that he knew Lu Zheng's identity, he naturally wanted to know Grandma Xiao's identity.
Although the old lady looks very different from how she looked back then, you can still recognize her if you look closely.
He had witnessed Old Madam Xiao and Old Madam Gu beating Lu Zhenyuan half to death in the capital, and he had even secretly prevented anyone from sending a message to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
He admired old ladies like that, who would do anything for their children, just like his mother and his grandmother, who did it purely for their children, not for power or status.
"Why would I dig for wild vegetables? We don't raise pigs or chickens. I'm going to collect herbs. I forgot to tell you, I'm a traveling healer. If you have a headache or fever, I'll get you some herbs, and they'll definitely cure you!" Grandma Xiao said with a smile.
Emperor: "...Alright, then we won't keep Aunt Xiao any longer. Let's continue our stroll."
As expected of the old lady he admires, complaining of headaches and fevers in the middle of the Lunar New Year, hahaha...
"Alright! Remember! The village entrance is just ahead, don't get lost! I'll go ask Old Gu to find someone to come and keep you company!" Grandma Xiao waved and left.
...
The weather was nice and sunny today, so Lu Zheng took out Grandma Xiao's herbs to dry in the sun. Just as he was arranging them, the door was pushed open.
"Oh! It's Uncle Ye and Young Master Xue!" Lu Zheng greeted them with a smile, his hands still busy.
"Oh! It's Lu Erlang, the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo! I didn't expect to meet you here!" the emperor said with a forced smile.
Lu Zheng paused, then continued fiddling with the herbs: "Uncle Ye, please stop teasing me! I now take my mother's surname, and she also gave me a name when she gave birth to me. What do you mean by 'the heir of a Duke of Zhenguo'? I'm just a country boy!"
The emperor slowly walked in: "Is that so? A country bumpkin? If you don't admit it now, then from now on I will consider you a country bumpkin!"
Lu Zheng had already prepared the herbs. Upon hearing this, he was greatly surprised, stood up, and then knelt down: "This humble subject greets Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"
The emperor approached and patted him on the shoulder: "Does this country bumpkin recognize me as the emperor?"
Lu Zheng shook his head: "I don't recognize it! However, the Emperor refers to himself as '朕' (Zhen). I think that in this world, besides the Emperor, probably no one else would dare to use that self-reference!"
The emperor kicked him: "You brat, you saw Qian Yu the day before yesterday and ran away, and now you're pretending you just met him. Do you think that just because you said you took your mother's surname, I won't punish you for deceiving the emperor?"
Lu Zheng knelt down, head bowed, and remained silent.
The emperor kicked him again: "Get up and speak properly to me. Don't act like I'm bullying a little boy like you!"
Lu Zheng: "...Thank you, Your Majesty!"
You've been bullying me all along. I'm not your subject, so why did you kick me?
The emperor asked, "Did you tell the Gu family my identity?"
Lu Zheng shook his head without hesitation: "No. I told my second uncle that day that I had met someone I didn't like and wanted to avoid them for a while."
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