Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2718 Still Vigorous in Old Age 102.0
“That’s exactly right.” Xiao Fengqi nodded and smiled at everyone who looked over. “Because this matter is related to both me and Xiaofeng, Xiaofeng is young and the adults don’t want him to know about this kind of thing. So, His Highness the Regent, Lord Qi, and my great-aunt told me the whole story at different times. I know the details even without them going into the details, but they are basically the same.”

"The Regent? Yelü Ertu?"

“Yes.” Xiao Fengqi looked at Chu Han. “My benefactor should remember that he was one of the special envoys from the Liao Kingdom back then.”

“Yes!” Chu Han nodded. “There are two special envoys from Liao. One is Yelü Ertu, and the other is…” He looked at Qi Zhifeng, “your father.”

"My father?" Qi Zhifeng was taken aback. "He has never mentioned it."

“He doesn’t want you to know these things.” Xiao Fengqi rubbed Qi Zhifeng’s head. “He wants you to always be happy and carefree like this, but he also knows that’s impossible. Young Master Lan and Young Master Nan are also very clear about this, but they can’t bear to tell you anything cruel, so I’m the only one who can play the bad guy.”

"They...they commissioned you?"

"It's not a matter of entrusting or not entrusting; it's more like an unspoken understanding between us."

"The tacit understanding between cunning little foxes." Chu Han chuckled, beckoned Qi Zhifeng to sit down beside him, and said softly, "Actually, you're not young anymore, and you don't want to be protected like a child by those around you all the time, do you?"

"Hmm." Qi Zhifeng nodded. "Actually, I know a lot about what they do, and they know I know too, but we just tacitly avoid exposing it. Of course, this only applies to things that happened after I grew up. As for what happened when I was a child..." He shook his head slightly, "I really don't know much about it."

"Do you want to know?" Chu Han pinched his cheek. "If you don't want to know, we don't have to tell you."

“Yes!” Shen Cha nodded. “If you’re really against it, we can talk about it privately, okay?”

“I don’t resist. There’s nothing to resist. Aren’t the things I’ve experienced firsthand more exciting than these past events?” Qi Zhifeng moved closer to Shen Cha. He wasn’t so keen on sitting next to Chu Han, not because he disliked him, but because he didn’t like Chu Han pinching his cheeks so much they were almost swollen. “Actually, I’m not a child anymore. Don’t worry about me so much.” He looked at Ning Cheng, who was chatting and laughing with Old Madam Ning, and whispered, “See? That’s a real child.”

“You two are only a year apart in age, you’re still kids in our eyes.” Shen Cha couldn’t help but smile and exchanged a glance with Chu Han and Xiao Fengqi. “Since you don’t object, then we don’t need to avoid you.”

"Of course!" Qi Zhifeng was about to say something when he saw Shen Haolin slowly walking over, followed by Shen Jiu and Xia Jiu. He tugged at Shen Cha, "Brother Duke is here!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Cha turned around and saw that Shen Haolin had already walked up to her. The two greeted each other with their eyes. Shen Haolin first led Shen Jiu and Xia Jiu to greet the Third Grandfather and Old Madam Ning, and then came back to greet Chu Han.

"Alright, alright, please sit down!"

Chu Han pulled Shen Jiu and Xia Jiu to sit next to him, and let Shen Haolin sit with Shen Cha.

Jin Miaomiao and Xue Ruitian, who were sitting next to Shen Cha, both made room for Shen Haolin and poured him a cup of hot tea. "Why did you come?" Shen Cha asked softly, "And you brought them with you."

"I heard there's something delicious tonight, so you have to come along." Shen Haolin reached out and touched Shen Cha's forehead and hands to make sure there were no signs of fever before letting out a sigh of relief. He then looked at Xue Ruitian, who had come closer, and said, "It's almost time."

When Xue Ruitian saw Shen Haolin appear, his expression was very helpless. He knew it was time for him to go to the main camp, but the story was just reaching a crucial moment, and he was reluctant to leave.

"It's alright, I'll tell you the story again after you've finished listening." Xia Chen patted Xue Ruitian on the shoulder. "Go ahead and don't worry!"

“Yes, I can tell you about it too.” Song Yaojia raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Don’t let such a small matter interfere with your important business.”

"I understand, I understand!" Xue Ruitian stood up helplessly, bowed to Chu Han, and said, "Grand Uncle, I'll be going now."

"go quickly!"

Xue Ruitian responded and went to say goodbye to Third Master and Old Madam Ning. As he passed by Qi Zhifeng, who was gloating, he casually pinched his cheek. This brat had long lost the restraint he had when they first met, and his mischievousness was no less than that of the other kids in the family.

After Xue Ruitian reluctantly left, Shen Haolin asked Shen Cha what they were talking about. Shen Cha gave a brief explanation and saw a look of disgust flash across her brother's face.

"Brother, do you know?"

“Master has spoken to both me and Yao Jia.” Shen Haolin looked at Song Yao Jia, who nodded slightly. “Master was thinking that when Xiao Jue is choosing a concubine in the future, there might still be people who would have such thoughts, so he wanted us to be more vigilant.”

“That’s right.” Chu Han chuckled. “The reason I’m bringing this up now is for this very reason. Although His Majesty won’t be choosing a consort in this year’s election, we still need to be vigilant.” He looked at Xiao Fengqi and Qi Zhifeng. “You two are the same. There are still people alive who know about what happened back then. It’s not impossible for them to replicate it on a small scale.”

“I know!” Xiao Fengqi nodded seriously. “I will have a serious talk with the two Yelü princes when I get back.”

"Alright!" Chu Han clapped his hands lightly. "Now that we've finished discussing these things, let's continue with our previous topic." He looked at Xiao Fengqi and said, "You continue."

"Huh? Ah!" Xiao Fengqi was taken aback by the sudden change of topic, but he quickly recovered and said, "As I just mentioned, the two special envoys are His Highness the Regent and Lord Qi. The reason they are these two is because the victims of that child abduction were my brother Xiaofeng and me. At that time, His Highness the Regent wasn't the Regent yet; he was just an ordinary prince. He was ordered by the late king to come with Lord Qi to participate in the investigation. After several months of investigation, they found that the area involved on our side wasn't large, and there were only a handful of families suspected—you could count them on two hands. So, the two of them discussed it and decided to go back and arrest all the suspected families."

"Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free, right?"