Chapter 136 - Acquaintance
Chapter 136: Acquaintance
At this moment, the guard who was delivering the letter saw Li Shouji and bowed to him.
Li Shouji straightened his body and nodded coldly. Although he was making a fuss earlier, he shouldn’t put his position on the line.
Jiang Danhe took the letter and tore open the envelope. He took out the note inside.
His eyes swept up and down the piece of paper, and his heart stopped with a clang. What followed immediately after was a racing heartbeat.
This… is this real?
Looking at Jiang Danhe, who looked like he had been struck by lightning, Li Shouji brazenly went closer to take a look. The letter was very short. In one single line, it said that the Jiang family had been settled in the palace.
“What family? Jiang Danhe’s family?”
Li Shouji looked up at Jiang Danhe. He was still wearing the look of shock on his face. What was this? He was missing his family day and night, but now that they were here, he was chickening out.
“Hey, hey, are you still with me?”
Li Shouji patted Jiang Danhe’s shoulder. The man was still in a daze.
The guard who delivered the letter left after completing his mission. Li Shouji didn’t wish to remain standing at the door with Jiang Danhe. After trying to drag him away but to no avail, Li Shouji turned around and returned to his room. Anyway, Jiang Danhe wasn’t in the mood now to force him to go to the military camp. He had better go back and have a good sleep.
Jiang Danhe did not know what to feel at this moment, but he was definitely not calm. He looked around, wishing to discuss things with Li Shouji, but there was no sign of him. He knew that he had run away again.
Gritting his teeth, he ran back into the house to find him.
Li Shouji had anticipated that Jiang Danhe would come and get him, so he had scaled the wall and left the residence while Jiang Danhe was still in a daze. What a joke. If he didn’t escape now, he wouldn’t be able to get away later.
Jiang Danhe was very emotional and couldn’t suppress his excitement. He got on his horse and made his way to the palace. But, he turned back in the midst of his journey.
The reason for him turning back was that he wasn’t suitably dressed. He was suited up in his armor as he was at the barracks earlier. It didn’t seem quite appropriate to meet his family in this outfit.
Jiang Danhe quickly returned home and changed into a new set of clothes. He even took a shower. He picked out a light blue robe and tied his hair with a headband of the same color. Jiang Danhe was good-looking to begin with, but on normal days, he always looked very solemn and unapproachable as he was usually dressed in armor and dark-colored outfits.
Now that he had changed into a light-colored robe, Jiang Danhe’s every frown, smile, and movement looked exceptionally charming and dashing.
Jiang Danhe carefully smoothed the folds on his robe. He had bought it a long time ago at the market. He never had the chance to wear it since he bought it and it had been kept at the bottom of his storage chest for a long time. At this moment, he felt a little uneasy. He did not know if this outfit would do. Why did it look strange?
After putting on the light-colored clothes, he really felt rather awkward and was not sure where to place his arms and legs. Should he change out of this?
Jiang Danhe looked back at the clothes on the bed. There was nothing else that caught his eye. Other than the outfit he was wearing, the rest of his clothes were all dark-colored. Would he look too solemn in those dark colors? He wondered if his whole family had come or if only two of them were here.
Feeling anxious, Jiang Danhe rode his horse towards the palace. He didn’t think about why they had suddenly come to the capital, nor did he think about how he could meet them as he was supposedly dead. He only had one thought in his mind. “I have to see them.”
In the palace…
“Where are we going now, Aunt Zhixia?”
The young prince followed behind a woman unwillingly.
The woman was wearing a navy blue robe with red patterns. She was holding the little prince’s hand. When she heard the question, she lowered her head and said softly, “Your Highness, we are going to the side hall of Yangxin Hall now.”
“To do what?”
The crown prince’s eyes widened in confusion. Wasn’t Yangxin Hall where that person was? He didn’t really want to go there.
Seeing that the little prince was reticent about going, Zhixia held his hand tightly and refused to let him retreat. “We are going to meet a child who is your age. You two can hang out and play.”
The crown prince, who was initially reluctant, immediately stopped struggling when he heard this. He even had a faint anticipation in his heart. “Could it be a little girl?”
Thump thump thump…
Xiaoguo was coaxing Zhuang Zhuang to wake up when she heard a knock on the door. Xiaoguo put the boy down and went to open the door.
When she opened it, she was shocked and happy to see a familiar face.
“Eh? Su Hui?!”
Wasn’t that Su Hui, who had disappeared for a long time?
“Xiaoguo?”
Su Hui was also very surprised. It was Xiaoguo!
Xiaoguo nodded excitedly. It isn’t easy to bump into someone familiar when one is away from home. She was absolutely delighted! “If Su Hui was here, was Tang Yi here as well?”
Xiaoguo looked down at the little boy outside the door. It was indeed Tang Yi.
Xiaoyi’s eyes widened as she stared at Xiaoguo in disbelief. He had not expected to see them here.
After her initial excitement, Xiaoguo looked at the two of them, and their attire, and wondered what was going on.
Knowing that this was not the place to talk, the few of them entered the room. Tang Yi was very smart. When he saw Xiaoguo, he deduced that the child that Zhixia mentioned must be Zhuang Zhuang!
Tang Yi let go of Zhixia’s hand and ran into the house. He saw Zhuang Zhuang who was still half-asleep. “Zhuang Zhuang!”
Zhuang Zhuang was shocked. He rubbed his eyes and when he saw who it was, his face lit up and his eyebrows raised. “Xiaoyi!”
The two children held each other’s hands tightly and jumped around in circles. Their laughter instantly rang across the room.
Su Hui was also very happy. She held Xiaoguo’s hand and sat down. At this moment, Tang Yi walked over with Zhuang Zhuang. “Aunt Zhixia, can I bring Zhuang Zhuang out to play?”
Tang Yi looked at the two of them with pitiful anticipation. Su Hui didn’t say anything. She just gave Xiaoguo a look.
Xiaoguo thought for a moment. Judging from Tang Yi’s attire, he must be of some status. With him bringing Zhuang Zhuang around, she wouldn’t have to worry about them getting into trouble. So she nodded and agreed.
After the two children left, Su Hui explained to Xiaoguo.
“Tang Yi is the son of the current emperor. His name is Shao Yi. Back then, because it was inconvenient to keep him by the emperor’s side, my husband and I took care of him on his Majesty’s behalf. He hid his identity and stayed by our side. We took care of him like he was our son. Now that the dust has settled in the palace, he has regained his identity.”
Su Hui—oh, no—Zhixia was being vague, but Xiaoguo understood the gist of it.
As the two of them continued to chat, Xiaoguo got a better understanding of everything. It was love at first sight for the current emperor, Shao Zhan, and Zhixia’s sister. However, because of the difference in status between the two of them, they could only hide their relationship. When Shao Yi was born, his mother passed away after a difficult birth. At that time, it was not appropriate for Shao Zhan to raise the child himself. Therefore he entrusted the child to Zhixia and Tang Zhu, who were his sister-in-law and brother-in-law, to take care of the boy. Now that Shao Yi had returned to the palace and become the crown prince, Zhixia and Tang Zhu came along with him to the palace as they were worried about him. Zhixia was appointed as an attendant and Tang Zhu was deployed to the Ministry of Labor to oversee construction matters.
From their conversation, Xiaoguo found out that Zhuang Zhuang and her were currently living in the side hall of Yangxin Palace Hall. When they arrived, they were brought directly to the main entrance of this place in the sedan chair. Therefore Xiaoguo didn’t know where she was at all. Now that she had spoken to Zhixia, Xiaoguo knew who had asked for her to come.