I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 469 Going into battle in person
The laughter in the room stopped abruptly. Chu Yuxin hugged her tightly, reluctant to let her go. "Sister, can't you stay a little longer?"

Chu Liuzheng smiled and said, "Young Master is busy. I will come back another day."

"Oh." Although Chu Yuxin was reluctant, she knew that her older sister couldn't make the decision. She let go of Chu Liuzheng, helped straighten the wrinkles on her skirt, and then took her older sister's hand and walked out.

The little girl solemnly promised, "Sister, don't worry, I will study hard from now on and I won't lie to anyone. Don't worry about me. I will definitely use my real skills to save up a lot of dowry for you."

"You said it yourself, I've remembered it."

"Ok!"

Bai Shi and Chu Qin also received the news. Seeing the two sisters coming hand in hand, Bai Shi's eyes were full of reluctance.

Chu Liuzheng smiled and said, "Mother, I will send someone to bring you to the palace to talk in a few days."

The monthly meeting allowance should not be wasted.

Knowing her daughter's predicament, Madam Bai nodded in agreement.

The family reluctantly saw Chu Liuzheng off, watching her get into the carriage.

Chu Qin put his arm around Bai Shi and comforted her in a low voice: "Just think of it as our daughter marrying far away. You can still see her once a month. Isn't that better than those who don't see each other for years?"

Thinking about what she said, Bai found it made some sense, which made her feel a little better. She then pondered what to bring her eldest daughter next time they met.

Inside the carriage, Xiao Jingfan leaned against the side of the carriage, his eyes closed as he rested, a look of fatigue on his face.

Chu Liuzheng called out softly, "Young Master."

Xiao Jingfan opened his eyes, looked her over, and then pulled his legs in to make room for her.

Chu Liuzheng sat down beside him, placed the food box he was carrying at his feet, and asked, "Have you had lunch yet?"

"No." Xiao Jingfan knocked on the carriage, and the carriage began to move forward.

It's almost noon and he still hasn't eaten! What's the tyrant doing? Why isn't the Duke of Zhou (the god of sleep) trying to persuade him?

Chu Liuzheng bent down and opened the food box, taking out a plate of orange-red, jade-like flower-shaped pastries. "My mother and I made golden cakes with persimmons. They're sweet and sour. Would you like to try a piece?"

Xiao Jingfan glanced at the appealing-looking pastries but didn't touch them.

Since there was no refusal, it meant that it was fine to eat or not. With great experience, Chu Liuzheng used a clean handkerchief to pad his hand, picked up a piece, and fed it to Xiao Jingfan's lips. Xiao Jingfan opened his mouth and ate it.

"how?"

"It's okay."

"How about another one?" Chu Liuzheng leaned forward, holding the plate.

Xiao Jingfan then reached out and took a piece to eat slowly.

[Sigh, this tyrant is such a poor eater, he needs to be coaxed to eat even a snack, it's a wonder he can gain weight.]

Chu Liuzheng put the snack plate back into the food box, turned around and lifted the curtain to look outside, wanting to see if there was any ready-made hot food on the street to buy for the emperor to have a bite to eat.

Xie Hui rode over and asked, "What is it?"

"Young Master is hungry." Chu Liuzheng glanced at the shops along the street, but there wasn't a single restaurant in sight.

Xie Hui glanced into the carriage and thought to himself, "Who was it that said they had no appetite and didn't want to eat? They were just saving it for someone to pity."

Gee!

He said, "Fulai Restaurant is just ahead, and some of their signature dishes are quite good."

Upon hearing this, Chu Liuzheng pulled his head back.

Conversation could be heard inside the carriage. Xie Hui listened intently, but before he could make out what they were saying, Chu Liuzheng poked his head out again. "Young Master said he'll have dinner at Fulai Restaurant later, and then go back." Xie Hui nodded: "Okay, I'll go order first."

Chu Liuzheng hurriedly gave a long list of instructions, which made Xie Hui dizzy. It was the first time he had ever known that his emperor had so many rules about eating.

However, this did not deter Lord Xie. He took Zhou Yuande, who was driving the carriage, away and let Eunuch Zhou take over.

Zhou Yuande: "..."

*
It was past lunchtime, and Chu Liuzheng and his group were the only guests at Fulai Restaurant. The dishes were served very quickly.

While the emperor was eating, Chu Liuzheng secretly opened the system to see what Xiao Jingfan had been doing, as he hadn't even bothered to eat.

[Oh, so the tyrant went to the Duke of Zhong's mansion. His sudden visit gave everyone quite a fright.]

[Strange, why would the tyrant suddenly go to the Duke of Zhong's mansion when it's neither a holiday nor a festival?]

She glanced at the emperor, who was eating intently, and continued scrolling down.

[Holy crap! The mastermind behind setting my brother up was actually Duke Zhong! What happened to jealousy turning into hatred? So that guy I found earlier was just cannon fodder in disguise.]

Chu Liuzheng couldn't help but reflect on whether she had been lying too comfortably lately and lacked a sense of crisis. Why hadn't she taken a deeper look?

[I thought the real intervention would be the tyrant sending someone to teach that cannon fodder a lesson, telling him to behave himself and stop eyeing other people's food. But the tyrant actually took matters into his own hands, directly targeting the mastermind, Duke Zhong! That's incredibly powerful! Should I treat the tyrant to a meal?]

Thinking this, she glanced at the food on the table and decided to pay the bill herself later.

Xiao Jingfan lowered his eyes and chewed his food, thinking to himself: I have plenty of food to eat, so there's no sincerity.

After thinking it over, Chu Liuzheng also felt that it was not appropriate to use the emperor's money to treat the emperor to a meal. She decided to think about it again later. The most important thing now was to find out why the Duke of Zhong had suddenly set his sights on her brother.

[Does the Duke of Zhong know what King Xiao is planning? Is he intending to replace my brother with one of his own men and then take a share of the spoils?]

[That doesn't make sense. What King Xiao did would primarily affect these powerful clans with their deep-rooted connections. Why would he dig his own grave?]

[Hmm... Could it be that Duke Zhong intends to plant people to sabotage the operation beforehand?]

She made wild guesses in her mind, considering all sorts of possibilities, but she never expected it to be because of herself.

[Frog! What a clever roundabout way to achieve your goal! If you can't do it yourself, you'll go after my brother, huh? Empress, I'll remember you!]

She gritted her teeth, then suddenly remembered something and quickly searched through the system, finding many details that she had previously overlooked.

[Well, no wonder the Empress didn't dwell on the Imperial Garden incident; it turns out she wanted to uproot my entire family while I wasn't looking!]

If it weren't for Xiao Wu at the general store, her elder brother following Prince Xiao, and Chu Yuxin being protected at Lan Hui Academy, the methods used by the Duke of Zhong's mansion would have resulted in either four more hostages or four more cripples, some of whom would be imprisoned for their crimes.

She gritted her teeth in anger, and her good mood from going home vanished instantly.

[So you're trying to achieve your goal indirectly, creating an accident? Everyone has family, right? The Zhongguo Duke's mansion is a much larger operation than my own. And your hands aren't clean either, Empress. You've been pretending to be a good person for so long, you've probably forgotten how the tyrant's first child died, haven't you?]

Xiao Jingfan: ? ! !

His Majesty the Emperor was so startled that he almost dropped his chopsticks.

Wasn't Hui Rong his first child?

Why is there another one?
Where is it?
Why didn't he know?
The emperor was filled with questions, but Chu Liuzheng had already begun digging up gossip about the Duke of Zhong's mansion and the empress.

It's a bit much, but it doesn't matter. What she has plenty of right now is time.

Once she compiles a list of incriminating evidence, then... hmph!

Xiao Jingfan glanced at her several times, wanting to ask but unable to, feeling frustrated. Just then, Xie Hui, who had gone out to buy sweet soup, suddenly came in and reported, "Young Master, something has happened at home."

(End of this chapter)