Ever since I ate that punishment breakfast, I always go to my mother's room to hug Yu'er when Xie Yuancheng isn't around. Yu'er is such a naughty boy; he always acts cute in front of others, but then he becomes naughty in private.
He's the only cute little one in the household who can run and talk. Although he can't speak in long sentences, he's incredibly adorable and naturally everyone dotes on him.
"Yu'er~ Stop right there, or I won't let you hug your little sister."
I can't even outrun this little guy. He runs out the moment he gets out of bed, puts on his shoes, and goes straight to bed. No wonder he always knocks on the door on time every morning when I was pregnant.
"Hehe, Mom can't catch up~" Yu'er, that little rascal, ran off and disappeared.
Just as I was about to chase after her, I saw Li Zhaole. I had almost forgotten she was in the manor because Xie Yuancheng had been punishing me so much these past few days.
Now Cailu knows everything. Her mother said that Li Zhaole works very hard taking care of the child, and sometimes she would take Yu'er over to visit.
Her child is only five months old, almost six months old.
At first, Yu'er only knew to tease the baby, but when she found out he was a younger brother, she ran away immediately.
I sent Qiao'er and Anxiang to catch Yu'er, just in case he got excited and jumped into the pond. With his size, there's no way he could swim back up.
"Princess." I wasn't wearing a veil today and walked directly towards Li Zhaole.
"You...you're still alive?"
Li Zhaole paused for a moment while holding the child; the excitement on her face was undeniable.
"Yes, let's find a place to talk about it slowly."
"Okay, I didn't expect to run into you here."
When Mother heard the noise, she came out and took Li Zhaole's child outside, leaving us a place to talk.
As soon as they entered, Li Zhaole spoke up: "When I heard that you had an accident outside the city, I was pregnant and it was not convenient for me to leave the palace. So I had some people make trouble for Brother Yuancheng so that he could not protect you properly."
“We ran into each other outside last time, but when we saw you with Lin Yu, we didn’t expose you.”
Li Zhaole was visibly stunned when she heard Lin Yu's name: "I've broken up with him completely. I'll raise the child myself, and I don't want to go back to the palace."
“You are a princess, and the empress and emperor’s own daughter. They will help you get justice.”
“No.” Li Zhaole bit her lip. “Father wanted me to go and persuade Dongqin to surrender and control. If he knew I was coming back, he would send me back.”
She's much calmer now; she's even accepting my identity so quickly.
"And what about Lin Yu? What is he thinking?"
“Him.” Li Zhaole rolled up her handkerchief: “He’s different from before. This time he came to propose marriage, but he just wanted to embarrass me. At the time, Xiren and I were in the room. I had just put Junjun to sleep when I went out for a walk.”
I had thought that once we arrived in Dongqin, we could live like any other couple, but he personally told the woman hiding in the shadows, "When we get back, we'll send him to the side hall, and the child will be given to the Empress to raise."
"He already has a queen? And he still wants to steal your child?"
"Yes, I knew he had an empress when we were in Sizhou City. She was the daughter of Prime Minister Dongqin. This is probably punishment for my past willful and capricious behavior. I always thought I was indispensable, not even as important as the other's throne."
I sat down next to Li Zhaole and handed her a handkerchief: "How did you escape? We still haven't found Xiren."
“I didn’t want to take Xiren with me, but she said that if she stayed in the palace, she would either be beaten to death by the Empress or played to death by the Crown Prince. She would rather I take her there to sit on the sidelines.”
Thankfully, I took her with me. We had planned our escape long ago, but one day during a torrential downpour, we fled to a nearby farmhouse and narrowly escaped disaster. Then we began preparing to head to the capital. As we approached the city, Xiren, to cover for me, jumped into the water carrying Junjun's little blanket.
I can't even imagine how those two girls, with babies several months old, managed to survive.
Fortunately, they encountered a farming family. The people of Dazhao were very kind. If they had entered Dongqin, they would have been arrested.
Li Zhaole was sobbing uncontrollably beside me. I patted her back. Back when she was still Princess Zhaole, she was incredibly glamorous. Now that she's reached marriageable age, and because her first husband has 'passed away,' she has to remarry for the sake of a political marriage.
That bastard Lin Yu, an emperor at that, married the woman who bore him a child just to have a son. No wonder he became the Crown Prince's lackey.
"Don't be sad. Of course, the manor can't compare to the palace, but you're still safe now."
"I originally wanted to seek refuge with Lu Fengjun, but he is now in dire straits himself, so I came to the Ji residence to try my luck. Fortunately, Madam Ji and General Ji are kind and took me in."
"What happened to Lu Fengjun?" He was the one who covered for me back then. Although we were discovered, Lu Fengjun is definitely a good person.
"Because of the Empress's affair, he was made a scapegoat. Although he was sent to Linyang, he had no real power. After Yuan Cheng's reputation as Marquis of Anle was restored, he was recalled to the capital and is now effectively sidelined."
"Will he be in trouble?"
"It's unlikely at the moment, after all, he has a lot of power behind him, he was just a sacrifice."
"Sigh, how did things turn out like this? When we first met, it was so much better. Everyone was doing well and there were no worries."
Li Zhaole stared blankly, clutching her handkerchief: "Yes, if I had known it would turn out like this, I would never have listened to Lin Yu's words and gotten together with him, and even had a child with him."
I poured tea for Li Zhaole. This was the choice I made back then. I also gave birth to Yu'er for Xie Yuancheng. But the hardships are over, and we are still crawling forward. But there is always a way to solve things.
Li Zhaole misjudged Lin Yu. If Lin Yu had half the sincerity of Xie Yuancheng, they wouldn't be suffering so much.
However, if he had half the sincerity of Xie Yuancheng, he wouldn't have become emperor.
"Mother~" Yu'er, you little rascal, how did you get back? There wasn't a maid watching you.
I went to the door and hugged him. He smiled and tugged at a small strand of my hair that was hanging down: "Mommy~ Yu'er wants to drink water."
"You're always so naughty. Come and call Aunt Zhaole."
Yu'er turned to look at Li Zhaole, his little hands clutching the front of my clothes: "Auntie."
Li Zhaole wiped away her tears, stood next to us, touched Yu'er's face, and finally smiled.
Yu'er started acting cute again, pinching Li Zhaole's index finger with both hands and shaking it, then started laughing again.
"He is the child of Brother Yuancheng and your sister, named Yu'er?"
“It’s mine and Yuancheng’s. When I went to Linyang, I was already married to him.”
I still blush when I talk about this. I used to dislike him a lot, but now I miss him terribly even after being away from him for a short time.
"You've married Brother Yuancheng, so what about your sister?"
"Actually, it was me. I had to keep it a secret for the sake of the Ji family. I know I'm sorry, so I've been helping you whenever I can since then."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
