The Beauties of the Song Dynasty - Chapter 100
Zehua was so reckless, how will the Imperial Uncle view this?
If she showed up now...
"The King of Qin searched day and night for his wife, whose fate was likely unknown, and asked the Emperor for permission to resign. This caused a great uproar. In order to quell the ministers and people who supported the King of Qin, the Emperor had to fabricate the excuse that the King of Qin's wife had disappeared in Hongman, which drove the King of Qin to the brink of madness, in order to explain why the King of Qin asked for permission to resign."
"He resigned from his post?! At this time?!"
Wanlan exclaimed in surprise. Their original plan was just to travel around under the guise of a vacation, and they would never return to the capital unless absolutely necessary. She knew that Zehua could not let go of the important people and things that had been weighing on his mind, so she did not expect him to resign from his post one day.
Prince Zhao Defang of Qin never left the capital until his death...
But now...
Was it because of her accident?
She tried her best to avoid affecting this world, but from the moment she appeared in this world, she couldn't possibly remain detached from it, could she? What's more, she even fantasized about changing Zehua's fate.
Zehua has requested to retire. What is the Emperor's attitude? Will he allow it? Will this cause the Emperor to misunderstand and suspect Zehua? Is she being overly arrogant? Zehua's life... must not be ruined in her hands!
However, she has no regrets about taking Zehua out of the capital. She only regrets that she should not have let Zehua leave a month ago and should not have let him return to the capital.
...If she dies...
Since Zehua has made such a decision, he would never return to the capital before finding her. Moreover, the Imperial Uncle has lied to the world that she has encountered danger and is in grave danger. Therefore, she absolutely cannot appear in the capital now.
Therefore—"I cannot go to Zhengzhou." And I absolutely cannot let Lord Li see her.
Xue Weiji nodded knowingly, "So what does Madam intend to do?"
"I'll have to trouble Lord Xue to help with this matter."
Wanlan took a few steps forward, staring blankly at the only road leading out of the town. "I originally planned to return to Rongyang and try to contact Zehua again. Although I was thinking of changing my mind and going directly to Lord Li, I can't now. If the Emperor asks about the outcome of your trip, just say that you haven't received any news." Let her really be dead!
Turning back to meet Xue Weiji's gaze, she said, "I will return to Rongyang as planned. I will ask Lord Xue for help with contacting Zehua."
Xue Weiji cupped his hands and smiled faintly, "Your humble servant obeys."
"I wonder how he is..."
The final separation that Zehua spoke of still came suddenly.
Hopefully... this really is the last time.
The next day, Wanlan bid farewell to the He couple and, before parting ways with Xue Weiji, instructed him to send someone to deliver some silver to the He family, saying it was from her relatives in the capital to thank the couple for saving her life.
The journey back to Rongyang was very smooth, and the weather was quite good. She hadn't seen any rain since she woke up, and she believed that such good weather was very beneficial for building the river embankment and reassuring the people.
Rongyang is only thirty miles from Rongze, but surprisingly it did not suffer from any floods. However, many people moved away because they were worried about the floods. Those who stayed behind were people who were unwilling to leave their homes or their hometowns.
When Wanlan entered the city, the remaining people stared at her strangely, probably wondering why she would run to the disaster area. Everyone else was running away, but she was running in. As she watched the people sitting resignedly at their doorsteps, their crops flooded and rivers overflowing, with no source of income, Wanlan felt a pang of sorrow. She only hoped that Lord Li's disaster relief funds and grain would reach these people as soon as possible.
Upon entering the city, she went straight to the courtyard house where she had only stayed for one night, but the figure standing at the door made her turn around and leave on the spot.
She never expected that this person would be waiting for her in Rongyang—no, perhaps he wasn't waiting for her on purpose, because apart from Xue Weiji and Lan Wu, no one knew that she had returned to Rongyang.
Zhao Dezhao, you really are a persistent ghost! Zehua hasn't even come back, what are you doing here?
"stop!"
The cold shout from behind only made Wanlan purse her lips, but her feet, which were moving forward quickly, did not stop for a moment.
She returned to Rongyang, not to see this man.
Volume Five, A Fleeting Interlude: Passionate Yet Seemingly Heartless (Part One of Zhao Dezhao's Story)
Zhao Dezhao never dreamed that he would fall in love at first sight with a ten-year-old girl.
Watching her silently walk behind a palace maid, her face expressionless, clearly still a child, she forced herself to put on a cold and aloof expression, yet a hint of timidity betrayed her in her clear eyes.
This discovery softened Zhao Dezhao's cold and hard expression.
He took a step toward the little girl, but his clothes were immediately tugged at by the boy behind him.
"Big brother, where are you going? We're already late, we'll be late if we don't hurry." Nine-year-old Zhao Defang raised his head slightly, looked at his older brother who had a faint smile on his face, and blinked in confusion.
Today, the Emperor held the ceremony for establishing the Empress in the Zichen Palace, and tonight he will host a banquet for the officials in the Yuhua Palace. They are on their way to the Yuhua Palace now, but the eldest brother suddenly turned around and walked back.
"Defang, you go first." After saying this calmly, he took a step and approached the two people who were about to go around the corner, successfully intercepting them at the corner.
His sudden appearance clearly startled the two girls. The palace maid knelt down in terror, crying, "Your Highness!"
Zhao Dezhao ignored her, but looked down at the girl in front of him whose bright eyes were staring straight at him. He smiled faintly, his face softened, and asked softly, "Tell me, who are you?"
"And who are you?" the girl retorted, her pretty face chillingly indifferent. She glanced at the palace maid kneeling beside her before looking away and saying, "Sister Xiahe calls you Prince? Are you a prince? I heard from my godmother that the Emperor only has two sons, one of whom is the same age as me! Are you the other one?"
Zhao Dezhao raised an eyebrow, looking at the outspoken girl with great interest. "Your godmother?" Could she be one of the emperor's concubines?
Before he could hear a reply, a gentle voice called from behind: "Brother, we're running out of time."
With a composed expression, Zhao Dezhao turned around and frowned slightly. "Didn't I tell you to go first?"
"She is... Miss Jiao?" Zhao Defang looked at the girl in front of him in surprise. "What are you doing here? The banquet is in Yuhua Palace."
“I know, my godmother told me to come back and put on some clothes, it’s a bit chilly.” Princess Deqing nodded slightly, glanced at Zhao Dezhao, and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry, I have to go back to Funing Palace.” After saying that, she called Xia He, who was still kneeling to one side, and turned to leave.
That girl is so arrogant!
"Defang, do you know her? Who is her adoptive mother?" She just said she wanted to return to Funing Palace... Could it be...?