Du Zhimiao’s hand trembled as he held the envelope.
He also looked at An Ning in surprise, probably not expecting that his identity had been revealed.
He quickly replied, "Yes, my father is Du Jianghong."
"Give the letter," An Ning quickly said.
Du Zhimiao handed over the letter with both hands.
An Ning hastily opened the bloodstained letter, confirming that the handwriting was indeed Du Jianghong’s.
After reading it, An Ning couldn’t help but feel a heavy heart.
When they parted ways in Mobei, she had told Du Jianghong that Daxuan could accept him.
But Du Jianghong was unwilling to turn to Daxuan and chose to refuse.
An Ning always felt that Du Jianghong’s return would not be so smooth. In the end, she wrote down an address and a contact person. After all, it was difficult for Du Jianghong to et her directly at the Imperial Palace, but it was easy to et Yan Jinyao. Once Yan Jinyao received the ssage, he would naturally know how to contact her.
Now this letter contained the matter of the Du family being executed by the Emperor of Cang, and Du Jianghong probably did not expect that his firm loyalty would lead to such cruel retribution from Cang. To preserve the only lifeline of his family, Du Jianghong used all his strength to send his son Du Zhimiao out of Cang, telling him to co to Wenzhou to find her.
"This is the place you were ant to find. Why didn’t you go directly to seek Yan Jinyao, instead of choosing to beg?" An Ning asked suppressively.
Upon hearing the news that the Du family was executed, she still felt deep sorrow.
"I did co to look, but the guards at the gate drove away, saying not just anyone could et the Second Master and told not to co back!" Du Zhimiao replied. "I thought I might run into Yan Jinyao if I beca a beggar."
An Ning’s face darkened.
Uncle Zhang quickly understood and went to call the guards.
As soon as the guards entered, they recognized the little beggar at a glance and said angrily, "How did you get in here? Didn’t we say we don’t allow beggars and told you not to beg here?!"
"He already said he was looking for Yan Jinyao. Why did you drive him away?!" An Ning said angrily.
Thinking of the hardships Du Zhimiao must have endured, she beca even angrier at the guard.
The guard, frightened, quickly knelt down. "Miss... Miss, lately, because our An Residence’s business has been booming, beggars keep coming here for food. We used to help each one, but then more and more ca, lining up every day. So were not even real beggars but pretended to be one to beg. The Second Master said we couldn’t go on like this since we are not running a temple, so he instructed us not to deal with beggars anymore."
Yan Jinyao, standing by, also hurriedly said, "Yes, such a thing did happen before. I did ntion it to the guards. I didn’t expect soone would actually co looking for ."
An Ning pursed her lips.
She understood the guards were following orders, and she hadn’t separately told Yan Jinyao about this.
"Leave," An Ning ordered.
The guards quickly left.
"The rest of you leave too. I want to talk to Du Zhimiao alone."
Yan Jinyao quickly stood up, leading An Youyou out.
The room only had An Ning and Du Zhimiao left.
An Ning said, "I trust that if your father sent you to find , he must have already told you who I am."
Du Zhimiao hurriedly knelt and kowtowed, "This humble one pays respects to the Empress."
An Ning looked at Du Zhimiao’s humble and servile manner.
In Cang, with Du Jianghong being the Pri Minister, second only to one, Du Zhimiao, as the legitimate son, naturally held a distinguished status.
Now he had fallen to such a state.
"Stand up, please," An Ning quickly said, personally helping Du Zhimiao up.
Du Zhimiao looked extrely respectful.
"Your father..."
Du Zhimiao lowered his eyes, being a person who had lost his family and wandered around, yet was not as utterly defeated as one might imagine.
"My family was executed; I am the only one who managed to escape."
"I once advised your father to follow to Daxuan," An Ning said regretfully.
"Father ntioned it; that’s why he asked to find you. In this world, the only person my father could still trust was the Empress." Saying this, Du Zhimiao knelt again.
"Get up," An Ning helped him again, "Since your father entrusted you to , I will naturally take good care of you."
"Thank you, Empress."
"I will be returning to the palace the day after tomorrow," An Ning said, "You have two choices. First, stay in Wenzhou. Wenzhou is my private comrcial territory, with many businesses you can manage. If you stay, I can have Yan Jinyao teach you business. I will ensure your future will be free from material worries."
User Comments
0 comments from readers