Adoption brings disaster

I watched the luxurious carriage slowly driving down the street, feeling suspicious, and said to myself, "When did I get this carriage? How come I didn't know about it?"

"This carriage is not ordinary. It was given to you by my father when you were promoted to the rank of noble father." His Royal Highness Prince Yong boiled a piece of beef for me and placed it in my bowl. He said, "But Qianqiu usually uses grandfather's carriage when entering and leaving the palace, so you haven't noticed it."

After listening to Chongguang's explanation, I understood it. It seemed that the dignitaries in the capital especially liked to give others carriages. Whenever there was an important event, such as birthdays or the Spring Festival, I would receive at least three or five carriages.

Besides, I don’t like cars, let alone horse-drawn carriages, so when I received these carriages, I either gave them to others for a reason, or left them in the house to gather dust. Anyway, I hardly used them.

"Do you think the soldiers guarding the city will stop the carriage?" His Royal Highness Prince Yong said casually as he boiled another piece of lotus root for me.

"According to the rules, these city guards have no right to search your father's carriage." The lotus root slices were a little hot, so I blew on them while eating. "But now is different from the past. I'm afraid Qianqiu's father's carriage will be the focus of the inspection."

As expected, before the carriage reached the city gate, the officers and soldiers at the gate rushed up and surrounded the carriage, fearing that the carriage would grow wings and fly away.

I saw the soldiers pointing their weapons at the carriage, and I found it somewhat amusing. I said, "When the dust settles, I will punish them with this. Even if they were just following orders, I'm afraid they won't be able to defend themselves."

I'm just talking, of course I won't do such a thing, and I won't make things difficult for these little people who are being coerced.

But in the previous world, there was a security guard who did something according to the school regulations and ended up being expelled.

So this is the tragedy of the little people. It is wrong to do it, it is wrong not to do it, and it is wrong no matter how you do it.

The leading city guard was quite sensible. He just surrounded the city and did not do anything else inappropriate.

The city guard knew this was a difficult matter, so he respectfully saluted the carriage, leaving no room for criticism, and then said, "The rebel Yu Chongguang is on the run. For your safety, please allow me to search the carriage."

This was a clever remark, but the driver was actually quite arrogant and ignored it completely. He just said with his nose in the air: "How dare you, a blind dog, stop His Highness Qianqiu's carriage? Get out of my way quickly, or I'll break your dog legs."

The city guard knew that a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even if His Royal Highness Prince Yong fell, he could not afford to offend Qianqiu Qingfu, who was just a rich and idle man.

Naturally, he did not dare to show any disrespect, so he could only surround the carriage respectfully, looking to the side from time to time, as if asking someone for help.

The coachman was not only arrogant but also impatient. When he saw that the city guard refused to let him go, he jumped off the carriage and hit the city guard with one blow, sending him flying eight meters away.

I sent all the experts from the escort agency to attack the Eighty-Eight Villages. Since I moved into Prince Yong's Mansion, there are no more experts in the house.

Seeing the coachman's extraordinary skills, I thought he must have been arranged by His Royal Highness Prince Yong. I couldn't help but laugh and said, "You are really good at casting. For this coachman to appear, I'm afraid the Crown Prince must have someone of some importance."

As expected, just as the coachman was about to finish off the guards and drive the carriage out of the city, a man slowly emerged from the darkness and said with a smile, "They are also following orders. Why would you resort to such drastic measures, brother?"

As soon as the man came out, he started to use moral blackmail. The coachman had no idea how to use such words, so he was naturally no match for him in a verbal battle.

However, the coachman was not stupid. Since he couldn't win the argument, he stopped talking and didn't argue. He just snorted coldly and got back on the carriage. He ignored them and drove the horse towards the city gate.

The man naturally knew that the coachman was going to take advantage of Qingfu's noble status to force his way out of the city, so he didn't try to stop him. He just sneered and said, "I remember that according to the law, Qingfu can't marry or have children. You used Qingfu's carriage and took a girl out of the city so ostentatiously. I'm afraid you are trying to ruin Qingfu's reputation."

As soon as these words were spoken, the soldiers guarding the city had a reason to check, and they all clamored to check the carriage. They were determined not to let Qianqiu Qing's father suffer an unjust accusation.

For a moment, the situation was tense. The coachman refused to give in, and the city guard had to check because he had a responsibility. He was afraid that there was no way to escape from this fight today.

I picked up the cooked fish meatballs and ate them happily after they cooled down a bit. I said, "Although the coachman's martial arts skills are good, he seems to be no match for that man. Do you have any tricks up your sleeve?"

His Royal Highness Prince Yong chuckled and said, "He definitely can't win. Even if he could, what good would it do? Who knows how many people are hiding in the dark rooms. It's impossible for him to break out of the city gate by himself."

His Royal Highness Prince Yong saw that I liked fish balls, so he asked someone to bring some up.

While I was eating a fish ball, the coachman was pinned to the ground.

It was such a cold day and there was already snow on the ground. I had no idea how cold the coachman must be being pressed against the ground like that.

I couldn't help but shudder and asked someone to bring up another plate of pork belly.

The coachman was held down, and the city guard could not wait to lift the curtain of the carriage, only to see that there was indeed only a woman inside.

He did not recognize the woman inside, but he knew that although her clothes were very fine, they were the style of a slave's clothes.

Maybe there was a superior in the dark, and he had to show off. Anyway, that person had no mercy on women at all, and he grabbed the woman and threw her to the ground.

The fall hurt the woman so badly that she couldn't get up for a while and she was crying so pitifully.

"Chunyu has suffered a lot today. When the situation is settled, I will find her an excellent husband as compensation." His Royal Highness Prince Yong said as he took out the rotten cabbage from the pot and ate it.

"That's not tasty anymore, throw it away." I saw that His Royal Highness Prince Yong's bowl was full of cabbage and said, "Her status is so high that even if you arrange a marriage for her, people will look down on her. It's better for me to keep her."

His Royal Highness Prince Yong smiled and said, "That's fine. During the last imperial examination, there were several young men from humble backgrounds who were considered very capable. Let them get married first, and then recall them to the capital to be given important positions. That way, no one will look down on Xiao Tao."

In fact, I have already considered Xiao Tao as my bedmate in my heart, but because of my special status, I can never express this feeling.

After hearing what His Royal Highness Prince Yong said, I lost interest and didn’t want to talk to him anymore. I just looked at Xiao Tao on the ground with heartache.

Then the man grabbed Xiaotao's hair and forced her to show her face. He then looked at the portrait again and again. After looking for a long time, he found out that she was just a maid.

He was so angry that he slapped Xiao Tao hard, then asked someone to come over and take a look. After confirming that she was not disguised and was just a little maid, he became even angrier and cursed: "Damn it, I thought it was a big fish, but it turned out to be a shrimp. What bad luck."

Seeing how angry he was, the people below rushed up to take Xiaotao away. I felt very sad and didn't know how much suffering Xiaotao would have to endure after being taken away. However, I still had to consider the overall situation and could only wait and compensate her slowly later.

Just when Xiaotao was about to be taken away, a man suddenly came out and whispered something to the leader. I was so nervous that I wanted to rush out immediately, fearing that something might happen to Xiaotao.

After the two of them whispered, the man helped Xiao Tao up and was about to leave with him. Before he left, he looked in our direction. I looked carefully and found that it was Minister Wang. Now I had an idea in my mind.

I said happily: "This should all be arranged by you."

His Royal Highness Prince Yong's eyes were sinister as he said, "I did arrange for someone to pick me up, but he's in the prison. Besides, I'm not so shameless as to order a high-ranking official like me to rescue a lowly person."

Regardless of whether it was arranged by His Royal Highness Prince Yong or for some other reason, Xiao Tao is safe and sound now, and I am naturally happy.

It just so happened that Xiaotao had always wanted to go and see Chunyu’s child, so now was a good opportunity to go and take a good look.

His Royal Highness Prince Yong saw the joy on my face and said coldly, "Don't be too happy too soon. This man has evil intentions. It's not necessarily a good thing for Xiao Tao to be taken away by him."

This made me a little unhappy, and I said in a slightly sarcastic tone: "Yes, yes, yes, he came forward to save people with ulterior motives, and you are so noble that you let a little girl take risks. It's really clear who is better."

His Royal Highness Prince Yong did not argue with me. He just said that it would only take a few days and we would know the result when the time came. There was no need to hurt feelings for a lowly slave, so he didn't say anything more.

What annoys me most is that His Royal Highness Prince Yong has a lowly slave on his left and a pariah on his right. Although Miss Xiaotao is of humble origin, she is my person after all. When you beat a dog, you have to look at its owner. This is too disrespectful to me.

I looked outside again angrily. His Royal Highness Prince Yong didn't say anything. He just made tea for me and peeled melon seeds.

After Xiao Tao was taken away, the group of people disappeared into the darkness again. Outside, the snow was flying and the cold wind was howling. Even though I had excellent hearing and eyesight, I couldn't find them in this environment.

The soldiers guarding the city were still standing at the city gate with their necks hunched. Some of them who were wearing little kept rubbing their hands because they were cold. The city guard looked at them unhappily, and these people didn't dare to rub their hands anymore and had to endure it.

The days in the cold wind were hard to bear, but the days in the house were much better. The shopkeeper saw that I was bored, so he took out a new storybook for me to read. I drank tea, ate melon seeds and read the storybook. There was snow outside and a warm stove in the house. These days were really warm.

"Someone's coming again." His Royal Highness Prince Yong said suddenly.

I looked up and saw two thin figures leading a horse and pulling two coffins slowly walking towards the city gate.

The two men huddled together in the cold, their necks hunched over, yet they looked very familiar. However, it was impossible to tell who they were from their appearance.

"They are a small world." said His Royal Highness Prince Yong.

"Ah." I said in surprise, "I don't think I've seen them since I returned to Beijing. What are they doing here? Why are they dragging two coffins?"

"When you left the capital, Ah Er asked the two of them to come to the palace to work as servants, just like supporting them. They didn't need to do anything, and they could get the monthly salary of a first-class servant. But they refused. They said that because of Xiaoshan's matter, they had no face to serve the two princes anymore." His Royal Highness Prince Yong said.

"These two kids are really solid people," I said approvingly.

"They are quite loyal," Prince Yong said approvingly. "Since Ah Er saw that they were unwilling to come to the palace, he gave them a small farm in the suburbs of the capital to live on. This was considered a fulfillment of your master-servant relationship. Judging from their appearance, they should be returning to the farm. As for the coffin, what about it?"

Seeing that His Royal Highness Prince Yong didn't know, the shopkeeper who was serving nearby quickly said, "If something happened to these rootless people, no one would take care of them. They would just be thrown into a mass grave. So no matter where they go, they have to bring their coffins with them. If they die, their bodies won't be left exposed in the wilderness."

I looked at the two people shivering in the cold wind and felt very sad for them, but the city guards did not treat them well just because they were eunuchs. Instead, they treated them even worse.

"What's in your coffins?" the city guard asked viciously.

"Sir, there are only two empty coffins, nothing else." Xiaotian hurriedly stuffed a silver ingot into the sleeve of the city guard. The city guard looked at Xiaotian with disgust, but still accepted the silver.

"How dare you bribe me? There must be a criminal inside. Come, search this place thoroughly for me."

After saying that, he opened the coffins with a palm, and the other soldiers rushed forward, ignoring Xiaotian and Xiaodi's pleading. In a matter of a cup of tea, the two coffins were turned into wooden strips.

When I saw this scene, I was so angry that I wanted to fly out and give the city guards a few poisonous anacondas, but I couldn't do that. I could only grit my teeth and think hatefully about how to deal with this group of people in the future.

"So this is how you search for criminals! This is truly an eye-opener. I must record this so that future generations will know about it."

The soldiers defending the city were so excited that they didn't even notice when Chen Shiguan arrived. When they heard these words, their faces turned pale with tears.

The city guard said flatteringly: "Master Chen, you still want to leave the city in such a cold weather? Just give me a call and I will come to pick you up. Why do you have to brave such a heavy snow? What if you get frozen to death?"

"Hmph." Historian Chen ignored the city guard and looked at Xiaotian and Xiaodi and said, "You have served my father for a long time and are considered loyal and reliable. Let's go out of the city together."

When the city guard saw that Chen Shiguan was going to support the two men, he dared not stop him. He had to respectfully send the three men out of the city and did not mention it again.

Seeing the three people who had already left the city, I felt very upset and naturally didn't want to watch anymore. I just said that I was tired and took a nap to refresh myself. There was still a lot of trouble to do in the evening, so I didn't mention it anymore.

Predict what will happen in the future, and listen to the next decomposition.