good season

Zhao Shiqing sighed. Whether it was a dream or a lifetime that Xiao Zhen actually experienced, it was all from Xiao Zhen's perspective. Xiao Zhen didn't know her, so of course she wouldn't know Niqiu, and therefore wouldn't know what happened to Niqiu and Xiaobao in the end.

Xiao Zhen told Fatty Si to go to the capital to inquire about the news, and he immediately set to work. Da Zhuang went to inform Fatty Si, and two hours later, Da Zhuang returned with the news that Fatty Si had inquired about.

It has to be said that money makes things easier, especially for someone as shrewd and resourceful as Fatty Si, who has people in almost every government office who will pay him to do things for him.

Da Zhuang said, "That day, four kidnappers were indeed sent by yamen runners from the Ministry of Revenue, including the coachman. These four kidnappers were already on the wanted list in the capital. The one carrying the load was even on the wanted list. So there's no need to worry about this case. The capital will definitely give them a severe sentence. Xiu Xiu is from a respectable family. Just for that, these four will get forty strokes of the cane. Add to that their previous cases, even if they aren't beheaded, the cane alone could kill them."

Zhao Shiqing frowned slightly. Although the four people deserved their punishment, Zhao Shiqing still felt that there was something fishy about it.

There's no doubt that these four people wanted to abduct Xiuxiu, and there's no doubt that Xiuxiu was rescued by the Ministry of Revenue's yamen runners when she cried for help. But this is just too much of a coincidence.

Filled with questions, Zhao Shiqing returned home. Well, Zhao Tingluo was still there, his eyes red and swollen, but he was already calling Mudfish his brother.

Mudskipper, however, was timid and didn't dare to respond when Zhao Tingluo called him "brother."

My goodness, who would dare to agree? This is the grandson of Prince Fu, the grand-nephew of the retired emperor. Anyone who can be called "brother" by him is either a member of the imperial family or a nobleman. He, Little Mudskipper, is just a poor child abandoned in a muddy pond. Staying in Prince Liang's mansion for a few days is the greatest fortune of his life.

Zhao Shiqing understood at a glance: Xiao Luoluo was too enthusiastic, and Niqiu was not used to it.

She quickly came to the rescue of the mudfish and said to Zhao Tingluo, "Little Luoluo, are you sure Xiaobao is your brother?"

This time, Zhao Tinglu did not correct the nickname. He said with a smile, "Although I haven't met Xiaobao yet, I have a feeling. My intuition tells me that he is my younger brother. I plan to go home and tell my mother, and then we will go to Liangdi together to bring Xiaobao back."

Zhao Shiqing looked at the loach: "You have no objections?"

The loach looked puzzled: "What objection?"

He used to think that Xiaobao was just a child from a wealthy family, but he never imagined that he would be this wealthy.

Good heavens, this is the Prince Fu's Mansion!
Xiao Bao is the young master of the Prince of Fu's mansion. He can lie down and do nothing, and still have plenty to eat and drink. How wonderful!

Zhao Shiqing knew what Niqiu was thinking. Niqiu himself was an orphan. He adopted Xiaobao and hoped that Xiaobao could find a family. Now that someone had come looking for him and the conditions were so good, Niqiu couldn't wait to send Xiaobao away to enjoy a life of luxury.

Zhao Shiqing gave up hope and said to Zhao Tingluo, "Have you been looking for your brother all these years?"

Zhao Tinglu nodded: "Yes, we've been looking for it."

Zhao Shiqing said, "Xiao Bao had been living in the capital for a long time. All the neighbors knew that he was a child they had taken in. The Prince of Fu's mansion is rich and powerful, so how come they didn't receive any news about him?"

Zhao Tinglu looked bewildered. Yes, how come she couldn't find out?
Zhao Shiqing then asked, "You said your family is looking for someone, how did you do it, and who arranged it?"

Zhao Tinglu hurriedly said, "My mother, all of her maids have been looking for my brother."

Zhao Shiqing sneered: "So, the people who are really looking for your brother are not from your Prince Fu's mansion, but your mother's family?"

"Where's your father? And your grandparents? Your uncles? Didn't they go looking for him? Why didn't they? Your younger brother's surname is Zhao."

Zhao Tinglu was stunned for a moment, then sighed: "Ever since my younger brother went missing, my father and mother have become enemies, no, they're even more like enemies than enemies."

To put it simply, my father has a scar on his neck, which my mother cut with scissors. My mother wanted to avenge my brother, so she sneaked into my father's room in the middle of the night, intending to kill him. My father tried to take my mother to the Imperial Clan Court, but my grandfather suppressed the attack and beat my father up.

Later, when they ran into each other face to face at home, neither of them paid any attention to the other.

Let's not talk about them anymore, let's talk about my family.

About three years ago, my grandfather found out that Aunt Gu had an older sister. The couple had been away from home for many years, but suddenly they brought back a little boy, saying that they had given birth to him outside. The child was being raised by his grandmother, and then they left again.

My grandfather found out about this and suspected something was wrong, so he ordered someone to bring the child back.

My mother only glanced at him and said that this was not my brother.

But when my father and that child took a blood test, it was confirmed that the child was indeed my father's biological offspring.

In addition, the child's age and the time when Sister Gu and her husband brought the child back all matched my brother's. Most importantly, the child looked a lot like our family members. So my grandfather took it upon himself to adopt the child.

During this time, my mother kept making a scene, saying that it wasn't her child, but when asked why she thought that, she couldn't explain.

During those six months, because of this child, my mother cursed my grandfather and my grandmother; in short, she offended the whole family.

Upon hearing this, a thought flashed through Zhao Shiqing's mind: the young master of the Prince of Fu's mansion has not been found yet, which means that this child is a fake.

But they can do a blood test for kinship, and the person looks like a family member... Could it be...?
"Is that child your father's mistress?" Zhao Shiqing asked tentatively. Little Luoluo is sensible; she shouldn't be angry, right?

Zhao Tinglu nodded with tears in her eyes: "She was born to my father and Aunt Gu's older sister, and she is two months younger than my brother."

Zhao Shiqing.
"How did you find out?" Zhao Shiqing was extremely curious.

Zhao Tinglu: "I found out it myself. Humph, if I couldn't find this out, I would have lived in vain! My mother doesn't like that child, and I thought that things couldn't continue like this, so I wanted to find more evidence to make my mother believe that this is my brother."

Yes, at the time I also thought that was my younger brother.

But after investigating, I found out that my father was also having an affair with Aunt Gu's sister! Ugh, I still get angry thinking about it.

Zhao Shiqing didn't ask him how he found out. He was the all-knowing scholar of the Forbidden City; how could he not find out about his own affairs?

However, that was three years ago, when he was only seven years old.

Zhao Shiqing almost cried. What was she doing when she was seven years old?
They're still running all over the mountains.

Sure enough, before coming to the capital, she thought she was clever and quick-witted, but after arriving in the capital, she realized that she was just not stupid.

Zhao Shiqing asked, "And then, your Prince Fu's Mansion decided to keep this a secret, acknowledge the child, and register the child under your mother's name?" Zhao Tinglu nodded heavily, "Yes, that's what they did. They used both soft and hard tactics on my mother to get her to acknowledge the child. My mother refused and even went to the Emperor to have him judge, so they had no choice but to give up."

But after that, no one in the household ever looked for my brother again. The only ones still searching for him were my mother's maidservants outside the palace.

Zhao Shiqing then asked, "What about that child? Is he still being raised in the manor?"

"Originally, we wanted to raise it in the manor, but my uncle came and made a scene. He said that if I wanted to raise it in the manor, I had to break an arm or a leg. Otherwise, we would spread this matter around and see if anyone would be interested in such a big secret."

Zhao Shiqing couldn't help but laugh. It must have been so difficult for Prince Fu to survive until now. Using an orphan with an unknown background to impersonate a member of the royal family is like handing a knife to someone else and letting them stab you.
Zhao Tinglu continued, "After my uncle made a big scene, the child was sent away. I checked, and he was raised in a manor in Longshuling, but he hasn't been registered in the imperial genealogy yet."

"If your brother is found, his life in the manor won't be easy, will it?" Zhao Shiqing asked.

Zhao Tinglu firmly denied it: "Definitely not, I'm here. I'll take him with me when I go to the palace. While he's still young, I'll let him walk around the palaces and become familiar with them. Then I'll let him act cute in front of the Empress. Humph, let's see who in the manor dares to bully him."

Zhao Shiqing patted his shoulder and said, "How about this, you can take him back, but if he's not doing well in the manor, or if he doesn't want to stay there, don't force him. I have two mountains, I have a village, and by the way, I have many houses. I can afford to support him."

Mudfish, who was listening nearby, was getting anxious. So this was how bad the Prince Fu’s mansion was. If his little treasure was found and taken back, would he be bullied?
Upon hearing Zhao Shiqing say this, Mudfish immediately replied, "Me too! I can raise him too, for a lifetime!"

Zhao Tingluo suddenly felt ashamed, for herself, for her father, and for her family.

If it weren't for his mother's insistence, that bastard child would have replaced Xiao Bao and become the legitimate descendant of the Prince of Fu's mansion, enjoying royal glory.

Thinking of this, he couldn't wait to go back and tell his mother the good news.

"Don't worry, with me here, with Mother here, with Uncle here, we will never let Xiaobao suffer any injustice!"

After saying that, he ran off in a flash. He wanted to go home and tell his mother that his younger brother was still alive, really still alive!

Distracted by Zhao Tingluo, Zhao Shiqing forgot to ask Xiuxiu about that matter. She had heard too much today and was a little tired. She dozed off while combing Xiao Yao's fur. Lingbo laid out the kang (a heated brick bed), and she couldn't wait to lie down. She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

At her age, she should be able to eat and sleep well.

The next morning, before Zhao Shiqing had even gotten out of bed, Yanxia's servant, Walnut, came to pick her up.

Zhao Shiqing was woken up by Lingbo. She rubbed her eyes groggily and then remembered her promise to Yanxia.

But they didn't say they'd go first thing in the morning yesterday.

Lingbo quickly changed Zhao Shiqing into the clothes that He Tao had brought. Zhao Shiqing finally woke up and did some work on her face, transforming herself into a servant of the Duke of Wei.

Inside the carriage, Zhao Shiqing met Yan Xia.

This was the first time she had ever seen a Yanxia riding in a horse-drawn carriage.

"Brother-in-law, why are you up so early?"

Yan Xia explained, "Lord Xu is a Grand Secretary, and his residence is always guarded. Today is the first day of the new year, and all officials in the capital must go to the palace. Those who like to guard their residences are all loitering around the palace right now. If we go at this time, we will avoid them."

Zhao Shiqing understood. As for those who liked to stake out various mansions, she had seen them before, even outside the usually quiet Liang Prince's mansion in the capital, there would occasionally be some.

From the outside, Lord Xu's residence was unremarkable, just an ordinary three-courtyard official residence. Yan Xia led Zhao Shiqing and He Tao through the back door, where a teenager came out to greet them. From their conversation, Zhao Shiqing learned that the teenager was Lord Xu's second son, Xu Bo.

Moreover, Zhao Shiqing also discovered that Xu Bo seemed to admire Yan Xia a lot, with bright, sparkling eyes. If he weren't a man, and Yan Xia didn't have any special hobbies, Zhao Shiqing would have fought off the vixen for her sister.

"Brother Yan, could you take me with you next time you go out on business? My father will definitely agree if you're willing."

"Brother Yan, when are you getting married? Sigh, can't you just not get married? What's so good about getting married? Getting married will only slow down your progress in achieving great things."

Zhao Shiqing found this person too noisy, but fortunately they soon arrived at their destination.

However, Zhao Shiqing never expected that Lin Xian's place was not a guest room, but Xu Bo's room.

Xu Bo: "My dad said this person is of great importance, so he let him stay with me. We're about the same age. If someone really comes to kill him and mistakenly cuts me instead, he can save his life."

Zhao Shiqing twitched her lips. This Second Young Master Xu was quite a character; after all, there weren't many people with such ingenious ideas.

Xu Bo continued, "Oh, Brother Yan, you have no idea how annoying Lin Xian is. At first, he would ask ten times a day who he was and where he was. I would tell him and he would forget. Then he would ask again after a while. I taught him countless times before he finally remembered."

Soon, they met Lin Xian.

Yanxia gave a wink, signaling Hetao to pull Xu Bo outside. Even after the door was closed, Xu Bo's voice could still be heard.

Zhao Shiqing said with a smile, "This Second Young Master Xu is quite the chatterbox."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Lin Xian looking at her.

His injuries had not yet healed, and he was lying flat on the bed. Yan Xia went over, helped him up, and let him lean against the large pillow.

Zhao Shiqing sat down on a small stool by the bed and said, "Do you still remember your name?"

Lin Xian: "The young master who just went out said my name is Lin Xian and that I am a scholar."

Xu Bo didn't know him at all before, so that's all he could tell Lin Xian.

Zhao Shiqing said, "You are from Wu. Your ancestral home is Zhushan'ao, Qinglu County, Luzhou Prefecture. Zhushan'ao is surrounded by bamboo. The village is very small, with only about twenty households, but every household knows how to weave cloth. Sitting on the hillside, the mountain wind blows the bamboo branches and makes a rustling sound. The sound of weaving rises and falls. You grew up in such an environment until later, when you went to study in Baifeng City, a hundred miles away."

Lin Xian looked bewildered: "A hundred miles away? That far?" (End of Chapter)