Chapter 73: 73

Seeing that her brother couldn’t protect her and her father’s expression was still as stern as ever, the little chubby girl flattened her mouth and looked like she was about to cry. 

“No crying!” Wei Zhao looked down at his daughter and said word by word. 

The little girl sniffed and blinked, holding back the tears that were about to come out of her eyes. 

Wei Chongrong looked dumbfounded; he never knew that his fat girl had such a skill. 

Seeing that his daughter was no longer causing trouble, Wei Zhao asked Wei Chongrong what happened in Zhuxia. Although Wei Chongrong had written back before, there were many things that couldn’t be explained clearly in the letter, so he had to tell in detail now. 

Wei Chongrong started from the beginning and told everything, apart from the fact that after he had been poisoned by the Blue Silkworm gu, the poison had been purged but the Blue Silkworm couldn’t be expelled. 

After listening, Wei Zhao frowned slightly: “You mean, it was Wang Zhao’s idea that Wang Xiang should go to Honghe County.”

Honghe County has been Zhuxia’s territory for many years and was only reclaimed for a few decades. It was not surprising that there were remnants of Zhuxia’s forces there; just like in Baicheng County back then, when Wei Chongrong was obediently staying in the county governor’s mansion but was kidnapped by Helian Zhuo. 

What’s more, Wei Mao went to Dongshan Town where the three countries of the Great Yan, Zhuxia and Nanyue bordered, and Xiaoluo was only a few dozen li away. It could be called a standard place for a four-way fight; no wonder Wei Mao was captured there. 

At first, when Wei Zhao received the information that Wei Mao had gone to Honghe County, he thought that Wei Mao was going to go to Nanyue to look for his sister Princess Yunmeng Wei Kou via Dongshan Town and that he had been captured by the Zhuxia people by accident. Later, after receiving a letter from Wei Chongrong, Wei Zhao realised that this was not the case. 

“That’s right, yes.” Wei Chongrong nodded slightly and said solemnly: “After arriving at Yao’an, I specifically asked Third Brother why he went to Honghe County and whether it was decided by drawing lots or something. Third Brother told me that he was in a very bad mood at that time, and he didn’t want to stay in the capital at all, so he wanted to find a place to go out and get some fresh air, but he didn’t have an idea where to go. It was Wang Zhao who told him that Yizhou was rich in food and Honghe mountains and rivers were beautiful. Third Brother had no destination in mind, so thinking of Wang Zhao’s words, he naturally went there.”

Wei Zhao sat in the chair next to the writing desk, holding the little chubby girl’s restless little paws that tried to grab a book on the writing desk, and pondered: “You mean, Wang Zhao just made a suggestion, but the final decision was made by Wang Xiang himself.”

“Yes.” Wei Chongrong said while moving away all the things that the little girl could reach, lest she make a mess of Wei Zhao’s writing desk, “Uncle Emperor has only three sons, and they are all from the same spouse. Since childhood, Third Brother has always been very receptive to the words of the Crown Prince and Wang Zhao. When he had no idea, if Wang Zhao inadvertently pointed out a place for him, I think it was most likely that he would go there. And I heard Little Dongzi say that it was Wang Zhao’s idea to suggest to Uncle Emperor to send me to find Third Brother. Is that true?”

The toy that was about to be reached was gone and held far away by her brother. Little Huo Feifei was very angry. She slapped the writing desk with her two fleshy little hands and kept shouting: “Dede bad, dede bad…”

Wei Chongrong couldn’t figure out who the little fat girl was angry with, but he could see that Wei Zhao was about to get annoyed. Sure enough, Wei Zhao picked up his daughter, placed her on the writing desk and said sternly: “Don’t mess around anymore! Otherwise, I will send you out right away.”

The little girl could only say a few words, and her pronunciation was not yet clear, but she could understand what Wei Zhao said. She gave Wei Zhao a flattering smile and sat still on the writing desk, looking as good as she could be. 

Wei Zhao turned around, took a white porcelain rabbit from the antique shelf behind him, stuffed it into his daughter’s hand and said to Wei Chongrong: “This is indeed the case. At first, Brother Emperor wanted to send guards from the palace, and have the cities and counties along the way cooperate. However, Wang Zhao suggested that it was not advisable to make a big fuss about Wang Xiang leaving the palace without permission, so it was better to secretly send people to look for him quietly. The emperor agreed and didn’t spread the news. Then Wang Zhao said that the skills of the palace guards were limited, and if the number of people sent out was too large, it would be easy for word to get out and be used by someone with an ulterior motive; but if they were sent out in small numbers, they would be at disadvantage. So he recommended Brother Emperor to send you, saying that you were good at martial arts and could do things neatly. Brother Emperor asked my opinion but I couldn’t refuse him on such a trivial matter. However, I didn’t expect that Wang Zhao had made other arrangements.”

“I chased Third Brother all the way south, and he kept leading me in circles. I thought he was well prepared and didn’t want to be taken home too early. Until I entered Yisha City, I didn’t think that the whole thing was deliberately planned by someone. Instead, I felt that Third Brother was unlucky, and I was worried that Zhuxia would use his identity to threaten the Great Yan to cede the land and make peace. But I never thought…” Saying this, Wei Chongrong had to lament that the other party apparently attached such importance to him, “In the whole plan, Third Brother turned out to be just a bait. The person they were looking for seemed to be me?”

Wei Zhao picked up the tea placed on the edge of the writing desk, took a sip and asked, “Rong’er, have you ever wondered why?”

Wei Chongrong frowned and said helplessly: “I’ve thought about it many times, but I’ve never figured out the reason.”

Wei Lan didn’t like him. This was something Wei Chongrong had known since he was a child, but he didn’t care. He was not a silver ticket, he couldn’t make everyone like him. Besides, Wei Lan’s personality was not as impulsive as Wei Mao’s. His dislike for Wei Chongrong was mainly manifested in his haughty expression and disdainful eyes, but he would not be as rude to him as Wei Mao, who would fight at the drop of a hat if there was a disagreement. Of course, he and Wei Mao had been fighting for so many years but instead of their relationship deteriorating, they had developed a bit of brotherhood, which could be considered an unexpected bonus. 

“I know some reasons why Wang Zhao doesn’t like me. It’s nothing more than when we just came back from Fuyu, our identities were very embarrassing. Uncle Emperor was in a very delicate situation at court at the time. But he was protecting you, Daddy, and me with all his heart, even to the point of being likely to anger the late emperor. So Wei Lan disliked us.”

From Wei Lan and Wei Mao’s standpoint, Wei Chongrong could understand their anger against him. When Wei Zhao just returned to the country, the late emperor’s attitude was unclear and there was constant gossip in the court and the harem; Wei Ming was under great pressure defending Wei Zhao, and Wei Lan and Wei Mao felt this pressure, so they were disgusted with Wei Zhao and Wei Chongrong, whom they had never met. Otherwise, when Wei Mao and Wei Chongrong were fighting, Wei Mao would not have called him “little wolf cub” and said things like “it would be better if you never came back”. 

It was just that so many years passed, and later Wei Su’s attitude towards Wei Zhao was well known among civil and military officials. Not only was Wei Zhao not a burden on the Eastern Palace, but he was the first to help Wei Ming’s smooth ascension to the throne. Wei Zhao also helped Wei Ming block many covert and overt attacks. 

Wei Chongrong never expected his relationship with Wei Lan to be good, it was fine as long as some face was given. But obviously, Wei Lan didn’t want to give him face, he was carefully planning to completely get rid of him. 

“Daddy, I really don’t understand. Wang Zhao is targeting me like this, what is he doing it for? Let’s imagine, even if he had rebellious intentions to rebel, the first person he would have to deal with would be the Crown Prince, ah. I have no idea how I can stand in his way.”

Wei Zhao tapped his fingers on the writing desk and said solemnly: “Rong’er, you are right. Wang Zhao’s mind is indeed not simple. I have tested the attitude of Brother Emperor, he absolutely has no suspicions in this regard, and I am not at liberty to mention more.”

Excuse me?! Did Wei Lan really have rebellious intentions?

Wei Chongrong was stunned and said hurriedly: “Daddy, unless the evidence is conclusive, you must not say anything in front of Uncle Emperor.” It was one thing for Wei Ming himself to be suspicious of his son; if others took the initiative to tell him that, it would feel completely wrong. 

Wei Zhao caught his daughter’s hand, preventing her from stuffing the whole porcelain rabbit into her mouth, and said with a low chuckle: “You still need to teach me such things? I just feel that the Crown Prince is generous and benevolent, while Wang Zhao’s intentions are uncertain, which is not conducive to the stability of the court.”

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Wei Chongrong slapped his forehead and suddenly said, “There is one more thing, I almost forgot to ask. Daddy, do you know what happened to Li Kang’s wife and children after he died? Did they stay in Yujing? Or did they go somewhere?”

When it came to Li Kang, Wei Zhao’s expression unconsciously became a little bit gloomy. The little fat girl, who was having a good time, raised her head, a little frightened. She even stopped playing with the white porcelain rabbit, hurriedly stretched out her little fat hand and patted Wei Zhao lightly on the face, as if to comfort him. 

Wei Zhao’s expression relaxed a little and he asked in a deep voice, “Rong’er, why are you asking about them, are they related to this incident?”

Wei Chongrong nodded and said, “After I arrived in Yisha City, because previous clues showed that the disappearance of Third Brother in Dongshan Town had something to do with Zhuxia’s Second Prince Tuduo, I tried to get close to him. Tuduo loves to collect all kinds of beauties. He would definitely not miss the annual Flower Empress Banquet at the Hundred Flowers Garden, so I also went to the Hundred Flowers Garden. It just so happened that Wang Changning’s people also got the same information as me. They also entered the Hundred Flowers Garden and tried to approach Tuduo as Flower Empress candidates. Huaixi concealed his identity and made his final appearance with a man named Qingcheng. I was afraid that something would happen to Huaixi and snatched him from Tuduo’s hands. Fortunately, there was Qingcheng after him, and he is really as gorgeous as his name suggests, so he was taken away by Tuduo. Huaixi told me that Qingcheng had been lurking in Zhuxia for many years and had sent a lot of useful information, but I found that there seemed to be something wrong with his identity…”

When this was said, Wei Zhao said in a calm and unruffled tone, “After Li Kang died, his only son Li Jing assumed the title and became the new Hou Pingnan. Li Jing was the grandson of Shangguan Yi to begin with, and my father cultivated him carefully. But he was the son of Li Kang, how could I allow him to stay in the army? He originally followed his mother to live with the Shangguan family, but later they returned to Li Kang’s hometown, and I never paid attention to them again. Why, you suspect that Qingcheng is Li Jing, isn’t this a bit…”

Wei Zhao hated Li Kang to the extreme. Without Li Kang, his life would have definitely been different. It was a pity that Li Kang was dead, and even died carrying the name of a hero and Wei Zhao didn’t even have a chance to avenge himself. 

Even so, Wei Zhao didn’t take it out on Li Kang’s wife and son. He just ended Li Jing’s military career, but both mother and son had the titles, and as long as they kept to themselves, their lifetime of peace and prosperity was absolutely guaranteed. 

“I also find it unbelievable that he chose to become Tuduo’s male pet instead of being a good Hou Pingnan, and that Tuduo is… something.” Halfway through, Wei Chongrong suddenly remembered what Wei Zhao had encountered in Fuyu and immediately kept his mouth shut. 

Wei Zhao didn’t ask Wei Chongrong what he hadn’t finished, but just asked plainly: “Rong’er, I remember you should have never seen Li Jing. How did you recognise him?”

Wei Chongrong was startled for a moment. How could he explain to Wei Zhao? He had indeed never seen Li Jing in this life, but he had seen him in his previous life. Li Jing had a tattoo of a white tiger on his arm. The style was very special. He remembered it well after seeing it once. 

When he saw Wei Chongrong stammering and unable to say anything for a long time, Wei Zhao thought that it was because he felt awkward pestering him about the matter of the Li family, so he said: “Never mind, it’s good that you let someone check it in private. Shangguan Yi made outstanding achievements in his life. Without the court sending a single soldier to support him, he was able to retake five counties, including Jianning. Li Kang later retook Yi’an County, keeping up his reputation. Shangguan Yi had no sons and only one daughter, Guantao County Lord. No matter how wrong Li Kang was, his family shouldn’t be implicated. Li Jing was the only child too, so I let them go. I didn’t mean to let the tiger go back to the mountain. Thanks to your vigilance, we didn’t make a big mistake.”

Wei Chongrong sighed, not knowing what to say. While he was racking his brain trying to come up with a way to take his words back, in just a short moment Wei Zhao actually filled the gaps for him and stopped asking questions. 

He straightened out his thoughts and said, “Daddy, in your opinion, Li Jing is closer to Wang Dai or to Wang Zhao?”

In terms of blood, Li Jing was obviously closer to Wang Dai Wei Shi. His father, Li Kang, was Wei Shi’s uncle, while Wei Shi’s mother, Concubine Yun, was his aunt. The two were direct cousins. 

However, both Li Kang and Concubine Yun had been dead for many years, and Li Jing lived with his widowed mother Shangguan Pingting in his uncle’s family for many years. 

The previous generation of the Shangguan family had three brothers Shangguan Ao, Shangguan Yi and Shangguan Xiang, as well as a daughter Shangguan Ling, the late emperor’s Consort Xin. In Shangguan Pingting’s generation, there were few children. Shangguan Yi had only one daughter. Shangguan Ao also had only one daughter, Shangguan Chanjuan, or Wangfei Zheng. The current Gong Yue, Shangguan Xuan, was the eldest son of the medical god Shangguan Xiang. He was adopted by his eldest uncle and inherited the title. Shangguan Xuan had only one younger brother, Shangguan Yuan, the governor of Lingzhou.

Since there were so few of them, the relationship between the brothers Shangguan Xuan and Shangguan Yuan and their cousins Shangguan Chanjuan and Shangguan Pingting was very close, no different from that of brothers and sisters. Li Jing lived in the Gong Yue’s residence for many years when he was young, and Shangguan Xuan’s eldest daughter, Shangguan Cha, was the wife of Wang Zhao Wei Lan. 

It was hard to tell who Li Jing was closer to, but when Wei Chongrong remembered the spring hunt in Shanglin many years ago, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and could not help but ask, “Daddy, do you think there is a possibility of conspiracy between Wang Dai and Wang Zhao?”

During the spring hunt, if it hadn’t been for Jun Hua clamouring for Wei Chongrong to take him to ride a horse, the crazy black horse that Wei Mao rode would have been chosen by Wei Chongrong. Because Wei Mao almost had an accident, Wei Xuan was very angry and sent someone to investigate the matter strictly, but it was never resolved. However, according to the information Wei Chongrong received, that incident had a bit of connection to Wei Shi. This time, someone had abducted Wei Mao with the ultimate goal of targeting him. There was no doubt that Wei Lan was involved in this matter, and as for Wei Shi, it was not entirely impossible. 

“Wei Shi? Wei Lan?” Wei Zhao recited these two names repeatedly and fell into contemplation. 

Wei Chongrong thought for a while and continued: “I know that Wang Dai and Wang Zhao used to be classmates at the palace school for many years and have always had a good relationship. But if they conspire to do such a thing together, it is definitely not based on feelings. It must be a common interest.”

Wei Zhao once again took away the white porcelain rabbit that his daughter wanted to put in her mouth, and analysed: “Rong’er, according to what you said, Wang Dai and Wang Zhao have no basis for cooperation at all. Wang Dai is the son of the late emperor. His mother’s family doesn’t exist, his wife’s family is not strong, and he has been in his fief for a few years. He doesn’t have any power at hand. If Wang Zhao wants to compete with the Crown Prince, Wang Dai can’t help him. Brother Emperor is a kind-hearted person and will take care of his younger brother. Even if he is gone, the Crown Prince is also kind-hearted and generous, and he will never embarrass Wang Dai who is not a threat to him. On the contrary, if Wang Dai helps Wang Zhao, what can he gain? He’ll still be a prince, and there’s no room to go any higher, so why take such a risk?” 

“Daddy, you mean that I thought wrong?” Wei Chongrong was dumbfounded. He had just felt that he was enlightened and was on the verge of straightening out the whole thing, only to be struck down. He couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. 

“No.” Wei Zhao shook his head and said softly: “I’m not saying that there is no possibility of cooperation between Wang Dai and Wang Zhao. I just think that their cooperation is not based on interests in the usual sense. Maybe there is something else in this that we don’t know.”

Wei Chongrong thought for a moment, then clapped his hands and decided: “Daddy, that’s it. You can send someone to check on Wang Zhao. Since you feel that he has crooked thoughts, there must be someone by his side. I’ll send someone to investigate Wang Dai. His fief is in the north, and I am more familiar with it. As for Zhuxia’s side, Huaixi helps me keep an eye on it. If Li Jing is up to something, Huaixi will tell me and Wang Changning. I don’t believe I can’t find out why Wang Zhao is so determined to deal with me. And if he dares to think about Crown Prince Brother’s position, he won’t be able to get past me.”

The little fat girl tried to bite the white porcelain rabbit several times but couldn’t bite it, and finally gave up. She threw the white porcelain rabbit away and chewed on her thumb, chewing with relish, as if it was a rare delicacy in the world. 

Wei Zhao could not bear to see this and hurriedly pulled her hand out, saying at the same time: “Rong’er, aren’t you overthinking the problem? You just mentioned the reason why Wang Zhao wants to deal with you, what else is there to find out?”

Wei Chongrong suddenly had an epiphany, and his face distorted, turning pale. Yes, Wei Lan didn’t like him when he was a child and treated him coldly for a long time, but no matter when, he didn’t conflict with him face to face like Wei Mao, because there was no need for that. 

Whether it was Wei Lan or Wei Shi who had tampered with the black horse back then was debatable, but they both knew that Wei Chongrong was a good horseman and highly skilled in martial arts. So they probably didn’t expect him to fall off that crazy black horse and die but just wanted to give him a hard time. 

The incident in Zhuxia was different. Wei Lan definitely targeted him. But he didn’t want Wei Chongrong dead, he wanted to use him to deal with Wei Xuan. 

You are reading story Rebirth of Glory and Splendour at novel35.com

This explained why Wei Mao stabbed him with the dagger infested with the Blue Silkworm. Baili Pei said that once there was the Golden Silkworm and Blue Silkworm raised on the heart’s blood of the same person, the person who owned the Golden Silkworm could control the mind of the person who carried the Blue Silkworm. However, it was not easy to raise the Blue Silkworm and it was not easy to infect someone with it. This gu was not something one could plant successfully just putting it close to the skin, it needed to go directly into the body. 

Taking into account Wei Chongrong’s martial arts skills, without such a ploy it would be impossible to give Wei Chongrong such a deep sword or dagger wound. 

It seemed that tomorrow he would have to pay a visit to Wang Lu’s residence. The Golden Silkworm was not easy to raise but since Wei Lan had gone to such great lengths to put the Blue Silkworm inside Wei Chongrong, he must have been quite sure of his success. If the time came when Wei Lan could control his mind, it wouldn’t be fun.

Even though the white porcelain rabbit was not allowed to be eaten, it was hard anyway and was not sweet. Fingers were another thing. The little fat girl refused to let them go and struggled hard while sitting on the writing desk. No matter how Wei Zhao threatened her, it was useless. 

Wei Zhao could see that their conversation was almost over and it was not easy for his daughter to be quiet for so long, so he picked her up and handed her to Wei Chongrong: “All right, take Feifei to her nanny, I guess she is hungry. If she’s not fed, she’ll make trouble.”

Wei Chongrong took his sister, turned around and took a few steps, then suddenly turned back and asked, “Daddy, you keep Hou Wu’an in Lingzhou, aren’t you afraid that the fat girl will not recognise him in the future? Do you want to send someone to replace him and transfer him back?”

Huo Qingyang was full of love and admiration towards Wei Zhao, which Wei Chongrong vaguely noticed a long time ago despite Huo Qingyang’s attempts to hide it. What Wei Chongrong didn’t expect was that Wei Zhao would respond to his feelings and give birth to a daughter for him. 

A prince couldn’t marry as a lord consort. This was the rule of the Great Yan for hundreds of years. Huo Qingyang was given the title of Hou for his military achievements and held a real power in the army. It was unrealistic for him to take off his military uniform and become Wangfei Qin.

Therefore, although they had a daughter, the relationship between Wei Zhao and Huo Qingyang was still undefined. Not only that, except for Huo Feifei’s birth and her one-year birthday, Huo Qingyang was permanently stationed in Qingjia and couldn’t return to Yujing. 

Wei Zhao raised his brows and said with a smile: “Rong’er, you don’t know the situation in Lingzhou. Without Qingyang there, Shangguan Xuan won’t be able to hold it down. It will be strange if there is no trouble. It’s easy for me to transfer Qingyang back, but who can take his place?”

Wei Chongrong blurted out: “There is me. I will go to Lingzhou, I promise it will be fine.”

Half of the people in Lingzhou were Fuyu slaves in the past. Although they surrendered to the Great Yan, they were still different from the Great Yan people in their bones. When Xie Qiu returned to Yujing two years ago, he said that it only took three months to conquer Lingzhou but it would take at least thirty years to truly master it. However, Wei Chongrong was different from others. The Fuyu people had a special trust in him. It was indeed most appropriate for him to go to Lingzhou. 

Most importantly, Baili Pei told Wei Chongrong that the control of the Golden Silkworm over the Blue Silkworm was limited by distance, and it was impossible to have effect thousands of li away. The ancient book recorded that the limit was a hundred li, but it was not yet known whether it was actually possible.

And Qingjia was indeed thousands of li away from Yujing. If Sun Ye couldn’t do anything about the Blue Silkworm, it might be safer for Wei Xuan if Wei Chongrong stayed away from Wei Lan. Even if Sun Ye helped him get rid of the gu, there would still be nothing wrong with him replacing Huo Qingyang. 

Ji Xin was stationed in Yi’an County and Jun Qing could bring his sons with him to reunite the family. Huo Qingyang was stationed in Qingjia but Wei Zhao and Huo Feifei couldn’t go there. A son should be filial to his father, and Wei Chongrong estimated that Wei Zhao would not object to his suggestion. 

Sure enough, Wei Zhao didn’t argue with Wei Chongrong but only said that he had to think about it, telling Wei Chongrong to leave the study with Huo Feifei, who had already started crying because she was hungry. 

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On the way back to the capital, Wei Mao imagined what he might encounter when he returned to Yujing. However, when he really experienced it, he still had the deep urge to run away from home again, which was really heartbreaking. 

Crown Prince Wei Xuan was definitely a good big brother who loved his little brother. When the little brother who had been away from home for many days returned, Wei Xuan personally went out of the city to greet him. Then, in the carriage all the way back to the palace, he lectured Wei Mao for more than half a shichen without a single word being repeated. 

Wei Mao was devastated in his heart, but he didn’t dare to show any sign of impatience on the surface and had to answer a word or two from time to time to show that he had learned his lesson and would never dare to make the same mistake again. 

In their family, the roles of a loving father and a strict mother were well-established. Anyway, Wei Ming was busy with state affairs and certainly didn’t have much time to discipline his son but Jun Feili was different; the harem was empty and he was so idle that he was almost bored. Wei Lan was married, moved to his residence and usually didn’t live in the palace; so Wei Mao needed Wei Xuan to intercede for him when they arrived at Weiyang Palace later. He couldn’t afford to offend Wei Xuan and had to reply to everything his elder brother said without a trace of sloppiness.

To Wei Mao’s surprise, in the Yongchun Hall of Weiyang Palace, the whole family was gathered. Except for his father who was reviewing memorials in the imperial study, there was the Crown Prince’s consort, and Wei Lan with his wife also came to the palace deliberately, waiting for him and Wei Xuan. 

Entering the Yongchun Hall nervously, Wei Mao cultivated his emotions and adjusted his expression to the most pitiful look before dropping to his knees and bowing his head, saying, “This child and subject pays respect to Mother Empress, wishing Mother Empress a thousand years of happiness.”

Jun Feili sighed and allowed his son to get up. Wei Mao’s pitiful appearance was a pretence, Jun Feili knew it, but the dangerous things Wei Mao experienced outside were all true. Jun Feili had been so worried about him that he didn’t have the heart to scold him. 

Wei Mao was mentally prepared to be severely scolded by the empress. Unexpectedly, Jun Feili was extremely gentle today and didn’t say a heavy word to him, which made Wei Mao very uncomfortable. He even was distracted from time to time when he answered. 

Xie Xiang and Shangguan Cha noticed this and made fun of him, which eased the atmosphere a bit. Wei Lan laughed and said: “Third Brother, it was thanks to Fourth Brother that you came back safely, but I heard that you stabbed him with a knife?”

Wei Mao dropped his head in embarrassment and said in a small voice, “I don’t know what happened. It was as if I couldn’t control my body at that time, my head was blank and I unconsciously stabbed him. Fortunately I didn’t hurt Fourth Brother’s vital points.”

It was not that Wei Mao didn’t know everything that had happened in the Valley of Ecstasy, but his memory was confused, disjointed, not connected at all. However, he still had a vague idea about what he had done. 

Seeing Wei Mao’s apologetic face, Xie Xiang persuaded him: “There was a reason for that and it was not your intention. I don’t think Fourth Brother will be angry with you.” Xie Xiang was not only Wei Mao’s eldest sister-in-law but also their cousin, and among the several cousins of the Wei family, the one she liked the most was Wei Chongrong. 

Shangguan Cha smiled and said, “”Qin Wang’s Shizi is credited with rescuing Third Brother and Father Emperor will definitely reward him generously. There is no reason for Fourth Brother to feel wronged.”

Wei Mao frowned slightly and didn’t answer. These were also the words of comfort but why didn’t his second sister-in-law sound as good as his eldest sister-in-law when she said it? Was Wei Chongrong an outsider? He was the son of Fourth Uncle and was risking his life to save him… for the sake of his father’s reward? What a joke. 

Wei Lan looked concerned and added: “I wonder how Fourth Brother’s injury is. Is it necessary to summon an imperial doctor?…”

Before Wei Lan finished speaking, Wei Mao waved his hand and said, “Don’t worry, Fourth Brother’s resilience is incomparable to ordinary people’s. With such a deep wound, he was alive and kicking when in Yao’an, and nothing was wrong.”

“Oh.” Wei Lan responded quietly and lowered his head. No one could see the expression on his face at this moment. 

Since Wei Mao returned to the palace, Jun Feili asked Wei Lan and his wife to stay in the palace for a couple of days, just in time for the whole family to get together. However, when Jun Feili thought of Wei Kou, the daughter who was married to Nanyue far away, there was a little regret on his face. Maybe he could find a chance to let his daughter come back to Yujing to visit relatives. 

Wei Lan’s residence in the imperial palace was Yongshou Palace, which belonged to the Six East Palaces, just behind Wei Zhao’s Yongfu Palace. 

Returning to the sleeping hall of Yongshou Palace, Wei Lan put away his previous gentle expression. There was a bit of dark haze in his eyes. 

Shangguan Cha didn’t even look at him, walked to the soft couch and sat down: “Your Highness seems to be very concerned about the situation of Wang Qin’s Shizi?”

Wei Lan snorted coldly: “Wangfei, you don’t have to take care of my affairs. We agreed to mind our own business, didn’t we?”

Shangguan Cha turned away and lay down on the soft couch, ignoring Wei Lan. Wei Lan flung his sleeves and went to the study. 

Whether it was Wei Chongrong or the Shangguan family, one day he wouldn’t let them go. 

Wei Zhao didn’t think for too long and agreed to Wei Chongrong going to Lingzhou. However, he didn’t order Huo Qingyang to come to the capital at once. Instead, he asked Wei Chongrong to give Huo Qingyang a hand first so that he could get familiar with everything before talking about the future. 

Wei Chongrong was very satisfied with the result. While handing over the affairs in the Eastern Camp and making arrangements to go to Lingzhou, he wrote a letter to Jun Hua. The letter said two things, one was the true identity of Qingcheng so that Jun Hua could pay attention, and the other was that he was going to Lingzhou.  

Wei Chongrong didn’t plan to bring too many people to Qingjia. It was enough to have Tuoba Xianhan and Dongfang. 

Considering that Tuoba Xianhan and Huo Yingying were already talking about marriage, he kindly asked if they wanted to get married first. In this case, Huo Yingying could also follow them there without the two being separated. 

Huo Yingying was a little moved by Wei Chongrong’s offer, but Tuoba Xianhan refused. He said that he was not successful or famous now, and Huo Yingying was already very wronged marrying him. How could the marriage be fast and simple? They had to do it seriously. 

Wei Chongrong just offered; if the parties were unwilling, he naturally wouldn’t insist. Fortunately, Huo Yingying was still young. She was only fifteen years old this year. It was not too late to wait another two years. If Tuoba Xianhan had military achievements, the marriage between the two would be more lively. 

Between returning from Yizhou and setting off for Lingzhou, Wei Chongrong stayed at home for a month, and half of it was spent in the Eastern Camp. 

Even so, blood relatives couldn’t be ignored. On the day Wei Chongrong set off, the little fat girl didn’t let him go, tugged at his sleeves and cried so much that even Wei Zhao himself couldn’t persuade her. 

In the end, Wei Chongrong resorted to the “killing trick”, saying that he would play hide-and-seek with the little girl, and took the opportunity to escape. 

After leaving the city quickly, Wei Chongrong said to Tuoba Xianhan and Dongfang, “What should I do? I feel like I can still hear the little fat girl crying. Do you think I should go back and take a look?”

“Of course not.” Tuoba Xianhan and Dongfang said in unison. If Wei Chongrong went back at this time, would he still be able to leave? The same trick could only be used once to deceive a child, and it wouldn’t work the second time. 

Wei Chongrong was right. The little fat girl couldn’t find her brother all over the courtyard. She finally understood that she had been deceived. She cried so hard that she wetted all the clothes on Wei Zhao’s chest, making everyone who looked at her feel distressed. 

Jun Hua’s reply was a step late; Wei Chongrong had left Yujing three days before the letter arrived at Wang Qin’s residence. 

Because Wei Chongrong said that Jun Hua’s letter might contain things about Li Jing, Wei Zhao opened the letter. 

As a result, Jun Hua only said in the letter that Li Jing had no information to send back for the time being, and he would continue to observe. The rest were little trivial things about Jun Hua’s everyday life. 

Wei Zhao didn’t finish reading Jun Hua’s letter, re-sealed it and sent it to Wei Chongrong. 

However, since Wei Chongrong only brought Tuoba Xianhan and Dongfang along, the three of them galloped all the way and the messenger couldn’t catch up with them. By the time Wei Chongrong received the letter, it was already the fifth day after he arrived in Qingjia City. 

Wei Chongrong laughed at the things Jun Hua mentioned. But in the end Jun Hua wrote that two years later, he would come to Lingzhou to find him, hoping that Brother Rong would wait for him. He had something very important to tell Brother Rong in person. 

Translator’s note: You know, the main character has a gu inside him, and there is another gu that allows someone to control the main character’s mind… so I was reading the rest of the story waiting for the other shoe to drop. Guess what? It never drops. It’s basically that: Wei Chongrong went far away and Wei Lan couldn’t control the gu inside him and use Wei Chongrong for what he wanted to use him for. So, Wei Chongrong escaped the catastrophe…

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