642 Untitled
The next day, Shangguan Yan woke up early. At this time, Xiao Zhenting had already gone to practice, but she estimated that the children were not awake, so she planned to do embroidery for a while and visit them when they woke up.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she found the embroidered basket, she realized that something was wrong.
Coincidentally, Xiao Zhenting returned after practicing. The moment he crossed the threshold, his wife was already up. She was holding her stomach and looking around in the embroidered basket.
The more Shangguan Yan searched, the stranger her expression became.
“Eh? Where’s the needle?”
It broke.
“Where’s the bead?”
It shattered.
Xiao Zhenting felt guilty, but after thinking about it, he felt that he could not be blamed. He did not use much strength at all. Who knew why those embroidery needles broke when he held them? Who knew that the bead broke when he pinched it? It must be because the quality of the things was not good.
The people of Nanzhao were really bad. They bullied them because of their foreign accent and even gave them such bad stitches and beads!
After all, he was a man who had been to the battlefield. He still knew that after causing trouble for the needles and beads, he would clean up the “battlefield”, leaving not a single “corpse” behind.
Shangguan Yan did not suspect that Xiao Zhenting had done it. This man was an expert at wielding knives and spears, but Shangguan Yan did not dare to imagine that he would sit quietly on a small stool, bending his stocky body and threading needles like a little wife.
If this thing was placed in her room, the little maidservant, Xingzhu, would not touch it casually. After thinking about it, Shangguan Yan took the blame.
Pregnancy made her stupid for three years. After she got pregnant, she was more forgetful than before. Perhaps she had accidentally left it somewhere last night, she had no impression of it.
Grand Marshal Xiao successfully escaped a disaster and heaved a sigh of relief! However, before he could finish heaving a sigh of relief, a heavy hammer smashed over—
Shangguan Yan said, “I’ll go next door to borrow some stitches.”
Although it was said to be next door, it was actually opposite.
Grand Marshal Xiao wanted to cry as he watched his wife borrow a needle and thread from Prince Yan.
Prince Yan had always woken up early. The three little fellows were still sleeping soundly on his bed, but he was already busy in the courtyard.
The courtyard door was open.
Shangguan Yan called out softly, “Your Highness.”
Prince Yan said, “So early.”
“I’m here to borrow some stitches,” Shangguan Yan said.
Xiao Zhenting: You don’t have it, you don’t have it, you don’t have it…
Prince Yan put down his half-washed brush. “Wait a moment, I’ll go get it.”
Xiao Zhenting’s face darkened. Why would a man have needles and thread in his courtyard?
Prince Yan handed the sewing kit to Shangguan Yan.
“Thank you.” Shangguan Yan returned to the house with the needle and thread.
Xiao Zhenting followed her resentfully. “Wifey, what do you want to eat? I’ll go buy it.”
Shangguan Yan thought for a while. It was early in the morning, and she really didn’t know what she wanted to eat. After she got pregnant, her taste had changed a lot. She had to eat a few times a day. Xingzhu’s culinary skills couldn’t satisfy her appetite, and most of the time, Xiao Zhenting went to buy it on the streets.
Before Shangguan Yan could answer, Prince Yan slowly said, “I made yam chicken soup. Do you want a bowl?”
Shangguan Yan originally didn’t know what to eat, but when she heard the word chicken soup, she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.
Prince Yan’s lips curled up slightly. “I’ll go get some.”
Shangguan Yan bowed. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
Prince Yan stewed a lot and sent it over with a jar full. “This is my first time cooking. It was originally stewed for the children. I don’t know if it suits your taste.”
Xiao Zhenting blew at his beard and glared. The soup made by the spoiled prince must be terrible! His wife was so picky, she would not be able to drink it!
Shangguan Yan sat down and tasted it. She hummed and said to Xiao Zhenting, “Try it too.”
So be it!
Xiao Zhenting took a sip and his eyes instantly widened! What happened to never cooking before? Why was it so delicious?!
It was true that Prince Yan had never cooked before. He had bought a recipe and studied it himself. The first pot was stewed badly, and this was the second pot. In his opinion, it was not good enough. However, Xiao Zhenting had eaten dead people’s meat before. He was not picky. So-so things were delicious to him.
Shangguan Yan drank a large bowl and was full.
On the other side, the three little black eggs woke up.
Xiaobao walked out barefooted. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Pee pee.”
Prince Yan brought Xiaobao to the toilet. After a while, Dabao and Er’bao also woke up. Er’bao wanted to cry when he didn’t see his parents. Dabao held his hand and went to look for their parents. Prince Yan, who was carrying Xiaobao back, bumped into him.
It was as if the heavens wanted to double the time he had missed to compensate him. He had missed a young Yan Jiuchao, but there were suddenly three little Jiuchao. Prince Yan was flustered and did not have the time to mourn.
Yu Wan wanted the children to accompany Prince Yan more and heal the trauma in his heart, so she decided to stay here for the next few days.
On the Helian family’s end, she had asked Shadow Six to send news to her father and mother. He did not say that Xiao Zhenting and Shangguan Yan had come and only said that they would stay here to accompany Prince Yan. However, she thought that her father and uncle should be able to guess that the person who came to visit that day was Xiao Zhenting.
However, guessing was one thing, revealing it was another.
As long as they pretended that nothing had happened, Xiao Zhenting would not leak the news.
Yu Wan had long heard about Nangong Li’s military pledge. He must have long discovered that Xiao Zhenting was no longer in the camp and could roughly guess that Xiao Zhenting was here to look for Prince Yan and Yan Jiuchao. However, did he dare to make it public? The military pledge he had made back then clearly stated: If he did not obtain Xiao Zhenting’s head, he would not return to the Capital.
Right now, Xiao Zhenting was in the Capital. If Nangong Li wanted to take his head, he had to return to the Capital first. However, without his head, he could not return to the Capital openly.
This was really difficult for him.
With Yu Wan’s understanding of Nangong Li, he would most likely come back quietly. After taking Xiao Zhenting’s head, he would pretend to return from the border.
Yu Wan’s guess was right. After Nangong Li missed the camp, he quickly found Xiao Zhenting’s whereabouts. It turned out that Xiao Zhenting did not go south alone. He brought his family with him. That family was pregnant and had a close relationship with Xiao Zhenting.
It was impossible for a clean man like Xiao Zhenting to bring any woman along.
That person was Shangguan Yan, the former Princess Consort of the Great Zhou, and the current Mrs. Xiao!
After Xiao Zhenting was not in the military camp, she disappeared.
Nangong Li could guess that Shangguan Yan was here to look for Prince Yan and Yan Jiuchao. The father and son were now in the Imperial Capital. If they wanted to find them, they had to infiltrate the Imperial Capital.
Nangong Li brought Asura back to the Imperial Capital. He did not dare to appear in front of others, nor did he dare to return to the Princess Manor. After some thought, he dressed up as an attendant and entered the palace.
He saw the Empress with a haggard face.
“Grandmother!”
The Empress was sitting in her room feeling sad. When she heard a familiar voice, she hurriedly turned around. “Li’er? Why are you back? Why are you even dressed like this?”
He was wearing the clothes of an attendant. It was obvious that he had sneaked into the palace.
The Empress did not have the time to ask him what had happened at the border. She pulled her grandson’s hand and let him sit on the stool beside her. She stroked his face with her much older hand and said, “You’re back at the right time. I was thinking of sending someone to look for you.”
“Did something happen?” Nangong Li asked.
“It’s your mother,” the Empress said sadly.
Nangong Li’s heart tightened. “What happened to Mother?”
The Empress closed her eyes. “Go in and take a look yourself.”
Nangong Li was stunned. Wasn’t his mother locked up in the Dali Temple? He hadn’t heard that she was acquitted. Why was she staying in the Empress’s palace? An ominous feeling surged in Nangong Li’s heart. As expected, when he went around the screen and saw the withered woman, his face turned pale!
“What happened to Mother? How did she become like this? Did someone torture her in prison?”
The Empress said, “She’s my daughter after all. She’s the Princess of Nanzhao. Who would dare to torture her?”
Nangong Li was stunned. “That’s…”
“She was pregnant and exchanged her identity with my female envoy before leaving the Dali Temple. She went to look for the Prince Consort and wanted to tell him that she was pregnant. Who knew…” The Empress said resentfully,” He completely ignored the relationship between husband and wife and aborted your mother’s fetus! ”
Nangong Li punched the bedpost!
The Empress said with heartache, “At her age, pregnancy is a very risky thing. She’s been taking pregnancy medicine. Even in her dreams, she wants to give birth to another child for the Prince Consort. Who knew that the Prince Consort would be so heartless… The coachman didn’t send her back to the Dali Temple and directly sent her to me. I kept her. Your grandfather doesn’t know yet. Don’t leak the news.”
“I won’t.” He couldn’t either. He had secretly sneaked back to the Capital. He couldn’t let the Emperor discover his existence at all. Why would he tell the Emperor about his mother?
Nangong Li clenched his fists coldly. “I’ll avenge Mother!”
He returned to the Imperial Capital to assassinate Xiao Zhenting.
But now, he has changed his mind. Xiao Zhenting had to be killed, but there was someone who deserved it more than him!
Wasn’t Prince Yan treating his mother like this for that woman called Zijun?! Alright, he wanted to see if he could get that woman!
Nangong Li left the Empress’s bedchamber and went to the imperial garden.
“Asura.”
Asura turned around in a daze.
“Kill Shangguan Yan! Cut out the piece of meat in her stomach!”
