Zhao Qi stayed in Ningcheng and watched the government office deal with the Luo family as soon as possible. Fan Lin, his nephew from his mother's side, ran around all day looking for his missing cousin, and seldom met Zhao Qi. Yuan Jing, who had been watching coldly, knew that Fan Lin, his nephew from his mother's side, was more devoted to the Fan family than Zhao Qi, his own son.
Soon, the result of the Luo family came out. Lord Sun collected a lot of charges against them. It was not a frame-up. Each of these businessmen had some problems. It was just that the government turned a blind eye because of their filial piety.
So the Luo family was sentenced to exile. No matter how much the Luo family members cried out, they were eventually escorted to the place of exile by the yamen runners. Luo Yonghai and his wife blamed each other all day long. Luo Yonghai blamed his wife for not taking good care of Luo Yuanjing. If she hadn't nagging him in his ear, would he have thought of sending Luo Yuanjing to Liu Fu, a eunuch?
Mrs. Luo was furious. Her biological father didn't care about it, so why should she, a stepmother, care? She proposed it, but wasn't it Luo Yonghai who sent the man away personally?
But the falling out between the two could not change the ending. At this time, Luo Yonghai thought of another Shuang'er born in the Marquis's Mansion. According to the people in the Marquis's Mansion, that was his biological Shuang'er. Would he just let his biological father suffer? Luo Yonghai began to look forward to it, hoping that Shuang'er would be able to save his biological father from the sea of suffering.
The Luo family did it, and Zhao Qi expressed his attitude in front of Fan and did enough work, finally making Fan relent and agree to go back to the capital together. Fan held her nephew's hand, feeling sorry for her nephew's suffering. She had lost weight and darkened her face: "It was your aunt who made Lin'er suffer. Your cousin said that he left people here to continue the search. Lord Sun in the government office will also help. Lin'er will go back to the capital with your aunt first."
During this period, Fan Lin traveled all over the mountain villages near Ningcheng, but couldn't find any clues. In fact, he had given up hope, but he couldn't bear to let his aunt down, so he still insisted on looking outside.
Fan Lin also knew that he couldn't stay here forever, and the right thing to do was to return to the capital. He comforted his aunt, "I'll listen to you, aunt. I believe that my cousin will be blessed by heaven and will return to you safely."
Mrs. Fan burst into laughter, as if she was really moved by her nephew's words. In fact, she knew that her nephew was right. Her child was indeed blessed by heaven and had come to her safely.
So the group packed their bags, got on the carriage and left Ningcheng. Lord Sun of Ningcheng also breathed a sigh of relief and gave instructions to the Marquis' Mansion in the capital. After all, he was doing his job according to the instructions of the Marquis's son.
Fan Lin had no objection to his aunt's adopted son. As long as his aunt was happy, she could adopt him however she wanted. Moreover, his aunt's health had indeed been taken care of by Doctor Yuan during this period. Otherwise, if the person had not been found, his aunt would have been seriously ill.
So on the way back to Beijing, Zhao Qi ignored Yuan Jing, his sworn brother whom he did not acknowledge. Only Fan Lin often talked to Yuan Jing. Fan Lin was a scholar who had passed the examination for students of higher learning and was planning to take part in the provincial examination next year. He communicated with Yuan Jing and found that Yuan Jing, a doctor, was not less knowledgeable than him. If he took the examination, his results might be better than his.
As a result, Fan Lin liked to communicate with Yuan Jing more and more, or watch Yuan Jing instruct Ming Yu in reading and Zhang Zhi in herbal knowledge. His evaluation of Yuan Jing became higher and higher. He also told these to his aunt and felt that his aunt had done a good job in adopting this adopted son.
Fan was extremely proud after hearing this. It was a pity that Jing'er's master had passed away, otherwise she would have to thank the old man. Without the things the old man taught Yuan Jing, Yuan Jing might not have been able to escape from the wolf's den of the Luo family.
There were no conflicts between Fan and Zhao Qi's mother and son on the way, but after returning to the capital, disagreements arose.
Fan insisted on not returning to the Marquis' Mansion. She had her own dowry house in the capital, so she asked Fan Lin, her nephew from her natal family, to escort her and her adopted son back to his own house. There were servants guarding the house, so there was no need to worry about not having a place to stay. Of course, Fan Lin did whatever his aunt said. His father told him to just take good care of his aunt along the way, and she would make the final decision on everything else.
Zhao Qi was furious. He had finally managed to coax his mother back to the capital, but she became stubborn again after entering the capital. Could he still ask someone to forcibly take his mother back to the mansion? If someone saw her, the censor would immediately report him. Would he still be able to continue his career in the officialdom?
Zhao Qi had no choice but to follow his mother to her dowry house, while asking his men to ride fast back to the Marquis' Mansion to report the news, asking his father to find a way to persuade his mother to go back.
Fan and her group had all settled in, but no one from the Marquis' Mansion had arrived yet, so Zhao Qi had to say goodbye to his mother and go back to the Marquis' Mansion to take a look.
As soon as Zhao Qi left, Fan personally took Mingyu, who was dressed as Shuang'er, to Prince Duan's Mansion. She personally sent Xiao Mingyu back, and Fan Lin asked her to go back quickly because her nephew had missed a lot of study time because of her.
"Don't worry, Lin'er. Go back and tell your father that your aunt has found a backer for you. Even if Zhao Dechang, the Marquis of Huaiyuan, is a big shot, he won't dare to do anything."
Backer? How come he didn't know who his aunt had found as a backer? But after thinking about it, he decided to go back and tell his parents that his aunt and uncle had a quarrel, and his father had to support his aunt and couldn't let her be bullied by the marquis.
So Fan Lin also left. Fan brought Yuan Jing and the other two to the gate of Prince Duan's mansion, introduced themselves to the doorman, and asked to see Prince Duan. Ming Yu stayed in the carriage for the time being and did not show up. The doorman looked confused. Why did the wife of Marquis Huaiyuan want to see his prince?
Yuan Jing stayed with Ming Yu. After getting to know Fan, he learned from her about the situation in Prince Duan's Mansion. After hearing it, Yuan Jing was left with only one feeling, which was hard to describe in words.
Both the person of Prince Duan and the situation in Prince Duan’s mansion are hard to describe in a few words.
In the past, Prince Duan was good to his princess, but no matter how good he was, he could not control the number of beauties he brought into the palace. If it weren't for the fact that Princess Duan had some abilities, there would have been many illegitimate sons born in Prince Duan's palace before Mingyu. It was not until the birth of Mingyu, the eldest son, that Princess Duan stopped suppressing them.
It was not easy for Princess Duan to have this legitimate son. She got married eight years before having this son. Perhaps this exhausted all her efforts. She was bedridden after Mingyu was born and could no longer hold on when Mingyu was four years old.
Once Princess Duan fell, the situation became dire. The beautiful girls in the backyard of Prince Duan's Mansion, without anyone to keep them in check, made the Mansion a mess. Prince Duan was a man who didn't care about anything, so those who had given birth to illegitimate sons became bolder and dared to reach out to Mingyu, the only legitimate son and the eldest legitimate son. As long as Mingyu was around, the position of Crown Prince would not fall to any of the illegitimate sons, but once Mingyu was gone, they still had a chance to compete.
After Mingyu, his legitimate son, went missing, Prince Duan finally realized the seriousness of the situation. He severely beat up the beauties in the backyard, and arrested several people who were responsible and threw them to a faraway farm, telling them that they would never be able to return to the capital in this lifetime. However, his legitimate son was never found.
It was only after hearing this that Yuan Jing dared to send Mingyu back to Prince Duan's Mansion. Otherwise, Prince Duan would not value this child, and he might be plotted against again next time. Fortunately, Prince Duan, this incompetent father, still had this legitimate son in his heart.
In the carriage, Ming Yu was a little unhappy. Actually, he didn't want to go back to Prince Duan's Mansion, but he knew that only by going back would he have the power to deal with his enemies. But when he thought that he wouldn't be able to see Yuan Jing often after going back, he lost interest. So he just had a gloomy face and didn't say anything, just venting his anger. Zhang Zhi couldn't stand it anymore and hurried off.
Yuan Jing touched the boy's head and said, "You can come back and visit us anytime. My mother and I still need your support to deal with Huaiyuan Hou."
Mingyu glared at Yuanjing hard. It turned out that he was sent back just to have him as a backer?
Yuan Jing laughed. This kid was really awkward. "Remember to practice every day. You can't fall behind. You have to remember one thing. It's better to rely on yourself than on others. Only when you become strong, any conspiracy will fall apart."
Ming Yu now agrees with this sentence very much. When he is strong enough, no matter those treacherous villains or Liu Fu, the eunuch, dare to attack him? He firmly remembers this sentence in his heart and still says with a straight face: "If you save me, I will be a backer for you and Madam Fan."
Yuan Jing tried to hold back his laughter and scratched his nose, which made Ming Yu grin. He told Ming Yu not to treat him like a child, as he would catch up with Yuan Jing soon.
Outside the carriage, the doorman finally passed the message to the palace. Prince Duan, unable to find his only legitimate son, had been living a life of drunkenness and debauchery. When he heard that the wife of the Marquis of Huaiyuan wanted to see him, he was dizzy and didn't want to see her. But then he remembered that the wife of the Marquis of Huaiyuan had a good relationship with his princess, and the princess had mentioned her to him several times, so he said, "I will go to meet her in person."
Because he had also heard about the quarrel between the wife of Marquis Huaiyuan and the Marquis Huaiyuan, and also heard that Madam Fan had left the capital, and was now returning to the capital? For the sake of the deceased princess, he would support Madam Fan.
So, what finally came to Fan, who was waiting at the door, was the chubby Prince Duan, who was no longer under the supervision of the princess. He looked much fatter than the one Fan had seen last time.
"Fan has met Prince Duan."
"Mrs. Fan, how are you these days? I wonder what important matter you want to talk to me about? Please come into the mansion and talk first." Prince Duan said with a friendly smile.
"Your Highness, please wait a moment. This time, Fan came here to bring someone for Your Highness to see." Fan called out to the carriage behind her, "Jing'er, you two can get off."
"Hey, here I come." Yuan Jing took Mingyu's hand, lifted the curtain in front of the carriage and walked out.
Prince Duan was curious about who Fan would let him meet. If it was someone else, he would think that she was sending him a beautiful woman, but he knew that Fan would never do that.
When the two people in the carriage showed up, Prince Duan's breathing tightened, and he stared at the younger one held by the older one. Suddenly, he rushed over with a sharp movement that didn't match his round body: "Mingyu? Is that Mingyu? Mingyu, are you back to see father?"
Ming Yu felt more disappointed with his father, saying that he was not good to him. That was not the case, as he absolutely loved him. However, he suffered so much because of him, so he could neither hate him nor love him.
The servants who followed the prince out of the palace were stunned, especially the name the prince called out. Is it really the young master who has returned? But wasn't it Shuang'er who came out of the carriage? Looking more closely, Shuang'er did look like the young master.
Mingyu stood there motionless, looking at his father crying with snot and tears, feeling sick.
Yuan Jing pushed him with a smile, knowing that he was not without feelings for his father: "As long as the prince has learned his lesson and no longer slacks in the palace, it is a great joy that you and your son can be reunited now."
Ming Yu saw Prince Duan looking at him with tears and snot, and finally said, "Wipe it clean, it's so ugly."
"Haha, it's really Mingyu, my son is finally back. Father missed him so much, wuwu..." After laughing, the prince cried even harder.
After hearing Shuang'er's words, the servants became more certain that the young master had returned. The young master had disliked the prince in this way when he was in the mansion, but the prince not only did not blame him, but also felt that his son was better than his father.
A servant quickly brought a handkerchief over, and Prince Duan snatched it away to wipe his tears and nose. Then he looked over eagerly and stretched out his hand to hug his son. But at this moment, when he inhaled, another snot bubble came out of his nostrils, which made Yuan Jing unable to help but turn his head away quickly for fear of laughing out loud. No wonder his mother often showed an indescribable expression when talking about Prince Duan, which really made him at a loss for words.
Mingyu was equally disgusted and walked to the other side, declaring, "Don't hug me."
On the other side, a servant came over immediately and took the young master out of the carriage. Yuan Jing followed behind and jumped down by himself. Then Ming Yu hurried over and asked Yuan Jing to hold his hand and took Yuan Jing into the mansion.
Fan smiled and said to Yuan Jing: "Just tell me, mother, Prince Duan is quite kind."
Yuan Jing could only show his mother an indescribable expression, but compared with a man like Huaiyuan Hou, this Prince Duan still had some advantages, although he didn't know how to list them.
Prince Duan was not annoyed. Instead, he chased after Ming Yu and ordered, "Quickly inform the whole palace that the young master of the palace is back. Oh, and prepare a carriage for me. I will go to the palace soon to ask for Ming Yu to be named the crown prince. From now on, Ming Yu will be the little prince of the palace."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As expected, Prince Duan does love his child. When the title of Crown Prince is given, Mingyu will be protected in Prince Duan's mansion. With the lessons learned from what happened back then, Prince Duan will not let any mistakes happen in the mansion again this time.
The servants who were on the same page as Prince Duan were very happy. Now that the young master was back, they had hope again. However, those servants who were concerned about Xiao Mingyu's disappearance and the fact that he would never come back, turned to the servants of other concubines who had given birth to illegitimate sons. The news of Xiao Mingyu's return frightened them greatly, and they quickly sent the news to those concubines and illegitimate sons. What should they do now?
On the way into the mansion, Yuan Jing took a wet towel soaked in medicine powder and carefully wiped off the red mole between Mingyu's eyebrows. The servants who were originally a little suspicious were finally sure that it was really the young master of the palace, and not Shuang'er who looked similar to him as they had initially thought. It was clearly a boy.
"Your Highness, please forgive us. We were afraid that we might run into trouble on the way back to Beijing, so we asked Young Master Mingyu to dress like this." Fan explained and apologized to Prince Duan.
Prince Duan was even happier when he saw Mingyu's restored appearance. He waved his hand and said, "Even if you put on a red mole, I won't make a mistake. I only took one look and knew it was my son who came back. Son, you've suffered, woo woo..."
Now, Prince Duan started crying again. Yuan Jing discovered that Prince Duan's tear glands were more developed than women's. The servants quickly handed him a handkerchief. Ming Yu rolled his eyes and said unhappily, "I'm back now, why are you still crying? Mother hates to see you cry the most!"
"Really?" Prince Duan was stunned. When Ming Yu nodded in confirmation, he shouted, "Where is the handkerchief? Hurry up and give it to me. Father, don't cry."
Prince Duan tried really hard not to cry because of Mingyu's words, but his eyes were swollen. He was fat to begin with, and now his eyes were almost blind.
As soon as they arrived at the main courtyard, they smelled the scent of cosmetics. Sure enough, the women in the mansion had arrived, not just one, but several.
The first thing they saw when they arrived was Xiao Mingyu who was following Yuan Jing. They were stunned. No one dared to say that this was not Xiao Mingyu. There was no need for any identity documents. Just by looking at his face, they knew that he was Xiao Mingyu. He looked very much like the deceased princess.
After being stunned, fear flashed in their eyes. He had been missing for more than a year, why did he come back? Once he came back, their son would no longer be eligible to fight for the position of the crown prince.
He gritted his teeth and secretly hated her. It would have been better if he had died outside. Why did he come back? Why was the prince still thinking about this kid?
Fan and Yuan Jing saw the expressions of these women and sighed in their hearts. Mingyu looked down on these women just as he did before, but now he would not despise them, because he knew that these people whom he looked down upon could also make him fall badly. If it were not for Yuan Jing, he really would not be able to come back. The palace fell into the hands of the half-brothers born to these women, which made him so resentful that he would die with regret.
"What? Are you very unhappy to see that I came back alive and not as you wished?" Ming Yu gave them a malicious smile.
The women were horrified and looked towards Prince Duan. As expected, Prince Duan got angry when he heard what his beloved son said: "Get lost! Who told you to come? All of you go back to your own courtyards. No one is allowed to come out without my permission!"
"Your Highness..." They were crying so hard that it was hard to feel pity for them. But with his precious son around, no matter how much pity he felt for these women, they could not compare to the weight of Ming Yu.
"Hurry up and pull them down!"
"Yes." The servants hurriedly asked these people to leave, thinking that the young master was indeed different after returning.
Finally, these women left and the air became much fresher. Fan said, "Your Majesty, can you ask someone to step aside for a moment? We have something to discuss with you alone."
"Yes, yes, you guys leave first."
Prince Duan quickly drove everyone out and asked his trusted eunuch to guard the door. He waited for Fan to speak with a serious expression. No matter how stupid he was, he wanted to know how Fan found his son and brought him back from afar.
"Your Highness probably knows why I left Beijing this time. Young Master Mingyu was the one I met in Ningcheng. He was rescued by my adopted son in Liu Fu's mansion in Jiangcheng."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
