Chapter 74 Chapter 74 Uncle and nephew meet, why don’t you just hold the belt...
Yan Zhuo took off his mask and stared at the stunned boy in front of him without blinking. His calm eyes were filled with a little ripple.
The young man in front of him was Cui Cen, who had been missing for many days.
The moment Zhao Mingsheng saw the jade-like face beneath the mask, her eyes widened slightly. It was actually His Royal Highness Prince Heng! She had never imagined that the person she had mistaken for someone else would be him.
Wait, if she had heard correctly.
Yan Zhuo said he was Cui Ergou’s uncle???
How could Cui Ergou be Yan Zhuo's nephew? Did he recognize the wrong person? Is there any misunderstanding here?
Before she could react, she saw Cui Ergou, who was standing there in a daze, subconsciously turned around and ran away the moment he came to his senses.
Zhao Mingsheng didn't understand why he was running?
After spending so long with the kind Yan Zhuo, Zhao Mingsheng almost forgot that Prince Heng had another famous title that could even make waiters cry.
Zhao Mingsheng could forget, but Cui Cen could never forget, nor could he forget the feeling of having his skin torn apart.
When he was a child, he was naughty and at the instigation of others, he and his slaves hung his half-brother Cui Kan on a tree. They hung him for half an hour and let him down only after they had enough fun.
At that time, the Marquis and his wife were still alive, but the Marquis was far away at the border, and his wife had always disliked this eldest son from a concubine, so they turned a blind eye to the matter. Cui Cen thought that the matter was over, but who would have thought that Prince Heng would find out.
He dares to take care of things that others dare not.
Yan Zhuo's face was dark. He ordered his men to tie him to a tree for a whole night before letting him down. Afterwards, he used family rules to punish him for disrespecting his brother. Even his mother's plea could not shake Yan Zhuo's attitude.
After twenty lashes, his skin was torn and he was unable to get out of bed for half a month.
After he was able to get out of bed, his uncle took him to apologize to Cui Kan. After he was forgiven, the matter was settled.
From then on, Cui Cen never treated his half-brother with disrespect again.
It was thanks to Yan Zhuo's discipline that he didn't develop a lawless character, but it also left a deep impression on Cui Cen's heart.
Now, the first reaction when seeing his uncle is, run!
Are you kidding me?! Are you waiting to be beaten if you don’t run?
Having finally found the person, Yan Zhuo naturally wouldn't let him go so easily. He casually plucked an inconspicuous bead from his waistband and flicked it with his fingertips. The bead shot off at an extremely fast speed towards the departing figure.
It happened to hit a spot on Cui Cen's leg, neither too hard nor too light. His leg immediately felt numb and he had to stop.
"Why are you running?"
Yan Zhuo approached him step by step, and finally stopped beside him. His tall figure pressed down at an angle, giving off a strong sense of oppression.
Cui Cen endured the numbness in his legs, pursed his lips and said nothing.
Yan Zhuo attacked extremely quickly, so quickly that Zhao Mingsheng didn't have time to react before Cui Ergou fell down with a painful look on his face.
Although she didn't know why Yan Zhuo attacked and hurt people, she couldn't care less at the moment. She hurried to Cui Ergou and checked his injuries.
"I just hit his paralysis and made him unable to walk temporarily."
For some reason, seeing the somewhat flustered little girl, Yan Zhuo couldn't help but open his mouth to explain.
Zhao Mingsheng finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Yan Zhuo's words.
Fearing that Yan Zhuo would attack again, she spread her arms in front of Cui Ergou, took a deep breath, and mustered up the courage to say to Yan Zhuo:
"Your Highness Prince Heng, did you recognize the wrong person? Is there any misunderstanding here?"
Misunderstand?
Yan Zhuo felt like laughing.
Although the boy's skin color became darker, he grew taller, and even his demeanor changed a lot, could he still mistakenly recognize his nephew?
The girl's protective behavior seemed strangely irritating to him.
"Tell me, is this a misunderstanding?" Yan Zhuo's voice grew slightly colder.
Cui Cen endured the numbness in his legs and stood up with difficulty. He gently tugged at the girl's sleeve and led her aside. He then bowed politely in the direction of Yan Zhuo and said:
"uncle."
Zhao Mingsheng couldn't believe it. She actually heard these two words coming out of Cui Ergou's mouth. Then she looked at the two people's faces and found that there were indeed some similarities. These discoveries made her stagger back a small step.
The current sage has no children. His only siblings are Prince Heng and the eldest princess, who many years later became the Marquis of Jiangding. Currently, the only one who can call him uncle is the eldest princess's only son, Cui Cen.
"Then all the things you said to me before were lies?" Zhao Mingsheng felt that he had been deceived.
"I didn't lie to you!" Cui Cen hurriedly defended himself, "I did have a nickname called Cui Er, and my parents are both dead..." He just concealed a part of it.
The boy lowered his head, and his pitiful appearance made Zhao Mingsheng not know whether to be angry or sympathize with him.
At this moment, Yan Zhuo beside him suddenly asked: "Since everything is safe, why don't you go back?"
Cui Cen lowered his head and said sullenly, "I don't want to go back."
If he went back, he would have to face the person he never wanted to face again in this life. He already had a vague guess in his mind about the incident in the mountains where he almost lost his life.
The brotherly humility, respect, and friendship they once shared seemed like a dream, and upon waking, they faced a harsh reality. For the sake of a title, years of brotherhood vanished into thin air, and someone even sought to kill him at all costs. He had no interest in power, and he didn't want to compete with him. If the man liked it, then he could take it...
“Nonsense!”
A scolding brought Cui Cen back from his memories.
Yan Zhuo's lips formed a straight line, "Did you know that Old Madam Cui has been sending people to look for you?"
"Grandma..." Cui Cen raised his head suddenly, "Grandma, is she okay?"
"How can she be well when you are missing and your life or death is unknown?" Yan Zhuo asked back bluntly.
Cui Cen looked ashamed.
He had indeed acted recklessly in this matter, abandoning his grandmother and the Marquisate simply because he wanted to escape from that person. Grandmother was already very old, and she must have been terribly worried during this period.
The more I thought about Cui Cen, the more I felt that I was too willful.
"Go ahead and hit me. This time it's my turn." Cui Cen closed his eyes and said with a determined look on his face.
Yan Zhuo had a strange look on his face.
"Why would I hit you?"
Cui Cen was stunned. He pointed at the brocade belt in his hand and asked doubtfully, "Aren't you holding the belt just to hit me?"
Yan Zhuo: ...
He used up the beads for the buckle and now he can't tie his belt, so he's holding it in his hand!
Yan Zhuo really wanted to beat him up, but fortunately Jing Liu, who arrived, interrupted this thought.
Jing Liu's hurried look made Yan Zhuo frown slightly.
"Why are you so flustered?"
"Your Highness, a letter has arrived from the capital, ordering you to return immediately today."
There are many people here and there, and although Jing Liu did not elaborate, Yan Zhuo guessed that the reason why they were so anxious to ask him to go back was probably because there was a change in the situation of the refugees in Yanzhou.
Yan Zhuo suppressed his urge to take action, took a deep breath, and said to Cui Cen, "You come back with me."
Jing Liu was wondering who Prince Heng was going to take back with him, when he turned around and saw the young man standing not far away. He rubbed his eyes in confusion. Why did this young man look so much like the Second Young Master Cui they were looking for?
When he focused his eyes and looked carefully, the young man still looked the same. Who else could it be but the Second Young Master Cui? The moment he saw it clearly, Jing Liu was so excited that tears almost came out.
It was like searching for gold everywhere, but it came to be without any effort. They had been searching for so many days without even seeing a trace of it, so how come they just happened to run into it today?!
"I finally found you." Jing Liu strode forward and held Cui Cen's hands tightly, fearing that the person in front of him would disappear again.
Cui Cen was a little overwhelmed by the sudden enthusiasm. He recognized Jingliu, his uncle's personal guard, and guessed that something had happened in the capital. He struggled to free his hands and turned to ask, "Are we leaving now?"
He thought of the children in Qingshan Village, and there was some hesitation in his tone.
Now that he is gone, what will happen to the children in Qingshan Village?
Many of them are very talented. If he leaves, those children may drop out of school again. Cui Cen doesn't want them to waste this opportunity to study and change their destiny.
And even though he was leaving, he hadn't properly said goodbye to the Zhao family and thanked them for their care over the past few days.
Cui Cen was thinking about these concerns in his mind and spoke them out unconsciously.
After hearing Cui Cen's words, Yan Zhuo was slightly stunned. He originally thought that Cui Cen was unwilling to go back because he felt more comfortable outside than in the capital. He just thought that he was unwilling to go back because he had played around. He didn't expect it was because of these things.
In a short period of time, he went from being a young master in the capital to a country teacher, and it seemed that he taught quite well, which made him look at him with new eyes.
"No, there's no time. We'll be leaving soon." Yan Zhuo shook his head and resolutely refused him.
Although he was very pleased with Cui Cen's changes, the situation in the capital was still unclear. They had to return to the capital as soon as possible, for fear that something might happen if they were late.
"But..." Yan Zhuo changed the subject, "I'll take care of the schooling for the children in Qingshan Village. I'll arrange for another teacher to come as soon as possible. As for thanking the Zhao family, you should come back with me first. It won't be too late for you to come back after things in the capital have stabilized."
With Yan Zhuo's promise, Cui Cen finally felt relieved.
Zhao Mingsheng could see that they had another urgent matter, so he urged them, "Go back quickly. Your grandmother must be very worried about you. You don't have to worry about the school."
Thinking of his grandmother still waiting for him to come home, Cui Cen didn't delay any longer and jumped onto the horse that Jing Liu had prepared for him. He looked at Zhao Mingsheng with a hint of guilt and said, "Tell those children my apologies for me. I'll definitely come back to see them soon!"
Zhao Mingsheng nodded in agreement.
After their figures disappeared from sight, Zhao Mingsheng turned and walked towards the pharmacy.
When I returned to the pharmacy, Zhao Qingyue and the others who had been separated were already waiting there. He was stunned when he saw his sister coming back alone.
"Brother Cui hasn't come back yet, why don't I go look for him."
"No need to look for him, he went home." Zhao Mingsheng reached out to stop him and told him what had just happened.
Zhao Qingyue was silent for a moment after hearing this, then said with some emotion, "So Brother Cui is actually the legitimate son of the Dingguo Marquis family. No wonder he is so knowledgeable."
After I finished expressing my feelings, I realized that my sister's expression was a little strange. I didn't know what she was thinking.
"Sister, are you worried about the schooling of the children in the village?" Zhao Qingyue asked.
"ah?"
Zhao Mingsheng was immersed in his own thoughts and didn't hear what his brother was saying for a while.
Zhao Qingyue had no choice but to repeat what he had just said. After a brief thought, he said, "If I can't find anyone, I can ask the teacher for a few days' leave and go back to take over temporarily."
"The Autumn Examination is coming soon, brother, you should focus on your studies. His Royal Highness Prince Heng said he would send someone, and I believe he will keep his word!"
With Yan Zhuo's promise, the village teacher's problem would surely be resolved within a few days. She had been thinking about something else entirely. On the way back to the pharmacy, Zhao Mingsheng felt that the title of Marquis Dingguo's legitimate son sounded familiar, as if she had heard it from her grandmother when she was very young.
After thinking hard for a long time without any clue, Zhao Mingsheng simply gave up thinking about it.
The news of Cui Cen's discovery had already been sent back via carrier pigeon.
After reading the contents of the letter, Mrs. Cui, who was worshiping Buddha in the ancestral hall, finally relaxed the spirit that she had been holding on for many days. Once she relaxed, she collapsed on the cushion and let the tears flow.
Mrs. Zhang, who was serving beside her, thought something had happened and hurriedly helped the old lady up from the ground. She became nervous and asked with concern, "What happened, old lady?"
Mrs. Cui wiped away her tears and said, "There's news about Cen'er. He's still alive."
She trembled and raised the letter in her hand, and said with a sense of relief, "The letter says that they will arrive in the capital today."
Upon hearing this, Mother Zhang was also delighted and hurriedly smiled and tried to comfort him, "Second Young Master is blessed with a long life. This is truly a great joyous event. Old Madam, please stop crying and quickly send someone to prepare!"
Mrs. Cui came back to her senses from her joy and quickly gave orders, asking someone to clean Cui Cen's room thoroughly.
He also sent someone to inform the kitchen to prepare a banquet today, because he didn't know when they would be back, so he asked the kitchen to be prepared at all times.
Mrs. Cui even sent someone to tell Cui Kan the "good news." When the messenger returned, she asked him a question.
"When you delivered the message, did the eldest young master react?"
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