Pang Hongying picked up the jar filled with osmanthus wine and asked Zhao Huanxi for a wine glass.

Zhao Huanxi went to the kitchen to find four cups and gave them to them.

"Sister! Why is my cup so small?"

Looking at my own cup, it was much smaller than others' cups, and I looked as small as the children in the other cups.

"Your alcohol tolerance is limited to what this cup holds. If you don't have enough, just refill it. This is something I prepared especially for you, so don't waste my effort."

Zhao Huanxi didn't want to treat her differently, but Hongying's alcohol tolerance was so high that she didn't even want to talk about it...

Yu Yan beside her chuckled: "Hongying, have you ever made any jokes because of drinking?"

Zhao Huanxi took the jar, filled everyone's glass, raised his glass and said to them:

"I'm so grateful for you guys coming. Without further ado, I'll drink this glass of wine first."

After saying that, he drank it all in one gulp.

This osmanthus wine tastes sweet, a bit like glutinous rice wine, and has a strong osmanthus fragrance that is intoxicating.

"Thank you, Brother Xu, for the fine wine."

"Hmm~ It's delicious, it's delicious. This wine is good. Let me have another glass." Hongying finished her small cup, feeling a little unsatisfied.

There was no way Zhao Huanxi could seal the wine, so he had to smile bitterly and follow Hongying.

"Hongying, drink less." Yu Yan reminded her.

"Xiao Yu'er, it's okay, it's okay, believe me." Hongying also refilled Yu Yan's cup.

The few of them chatted casually while drinking, and Yu Yan's eyes were observing Xu Qingzhao's reaction from time to time.

After three rounds of drinks, Pang Hongying began to feel drowsy and sleepy, just as Huanxi had expected.

"Sister Huanxi, I'm so sleepy... Can you take me back?"

She wanted to eat the melon in front of him, but seeing Hongying's blurry eyes and yawning, she guessed that she was sleepy.

Sighed to myself.

He said to the other two, "You two drink first. I'll send Hongying back first."

"Sorry for the trouble, Miss Huanxi." Yu Yan didn't stand up.

Zhao Huanxi helped Hongying up. This greedy girl was full of muscles and was not light at all.

However, Hongying always eats with relish, and I feel motivated to cook for this girl.

He helped her into the guest room, put the confused Hongying on the bed, and covered her with a quilt. At this moment, Hongying suddenly opened her eyes, and there was a hint of clarity in her eyes when she looked at Huanxi.

"Hongying, are you sober?"

Hongying looked at Huanxi and suddenly murmured aggrievedly, "Mother, are you here to pick me up?"

What the hell? Zhao Huanxi was confused. Before, she came to their house and said that Miss Yu was a stepmother or something. I guess Hongying's biological mother must have passed away. Now that she sees him calling her mother, could it be that he looks like her mother?

"Hongying, do you want to wash up?" Zhao Huanxi wanted to leave, but Hongying grabbed her skirt.

At this time, the two people at the dinner table were so quiet that you could hear a pin drop on the floor.

It was Xu Qingzhao who spoke again: "I guessed right, Miss Pang should not be drunk."

Yu Yan knew that this little trick could not fool Xu Qingzhao. After all, she had always been very smart.

"Mr. Xu, don't you have anything to say to me?" He picked up the wine glass and took a sip.

"I don't understand what Miss Yu means."

Seeing that Xu Qingzhao was unmoved, Yu Yan could only release some bombshell news.

"Sister Jinchu is still alive... did you know?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Xu Qingzhao's eyes were filled with joy. Jinchu's full name was Xu Jinchu, and she was Xu Qingzhao's second sister.

When her father was still in Beijing, he married her second sister to a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination). Later, the Jinshi became an official in the imperial court, and her father provided him with many assistance.

Later, when her father met with an accident, the Jinshi, who had already reached the rank of a third-rank official, cruelly divorced her second sister and sent her back to the Xu family, intending to completely sever ties with the Xu family.

After receiving the divorce letter, his second sister jumped into the river in despair, and in the end, not even her body was recovered. Now that he heard that his second sister was still alive, how could Xu Qingzhao not be excited.

"She...where is she..."

In the end, she couldn't help it. Her parents and elder sister were all gone, and she thought she would be alone and helpless. Now that she had news about her sister, she couldn't help but want to find this last relative.

Yu Yan looked at her, then looked around to see if there was anyone around. She sighed softly and said, "On my way to Jiangnan with my father, I happened to see her at the Ciguang Temple in Fanjing Mountain, Donglin Prefecture."

"Has something happened in your family?"

Yu Yan smiled bitterly: "Our two families are old friends. Do you think the one above will let my family go?"

The current emperor has been on the throne for nearly seven years. Upon ascending the throne, he named the country "Jinyang." At the time, the court officials all assumed the then-crown prince would ascend the throne smoothly. The sudden and unexpected arrival of the then-unknown Fourth Prince was a surprising outcome.

The late emperor was already over sixty when he passed away, and the fourth prince was almost forty. At the time, several princes were vying for the throne, causing panic throughout the capital.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, he confiscated the property of ministers who had previously supported other princes, exiled some, or demoted some. Now, apart from a few neutral ministers, the court consisted of the Fourth Prince's former confidants.

However, this fourth prince truly possessed the talent of an emperor. In the seven years since he ascended the throne, he not only repelled foreign enemies, securing twenty years of peace for what is now the "State of Jinyang," but also issued numerous decrees that benefited the nation and its people. He also cracked down on corrupt officials. Unfortunately, these corrupt officials, like termites, are inexhaustible; no matter how many are killed, another crop appears.

Xu Qingzhao hated Chu Ye, who caused her family to be destroyed, but not Emperor Jinyang, who worked hard for the country and the people.

He shook his head with a wry smile: "He was cruel and ruthless, that's what he did."

She had been taught from a young age that "I wish I had thousands of mansions to shelter the poor and bring joy to the world." Her mother, who ran a porridge shop and charity every year, never deserved to end up like that. For years, every night she woke up in her dreams, she wanted to kill Chu Ye to avenge her parents and sisters. But she couldn't do it, and there was no way she could do it.

Yu Yan paused. "When your family was in trouble, my father wanted to help, but he couldn't save himself and was demoted to Ning'an Prefecture, where he only became a county magistrate."

After saying that, he poured another glass of wine and drank it all. The moonlight set off the candlelight, and the remaining smoke at this time looked particularly desolate.

"I wanted to look for you at that time, but they all said you were dead. The emperor was furious, and who could stop him? I went to the prison to see Concubine Jiang for the last time. She told me not to look for you, but the more she said that, the more I felt that you were still alive... Lanlan... We have no home anymore..."

After she finished speaking, two lines of tears began to flow down her face.

When Xu Qingzhao heard her call out his real name, he coughed twice and said, "Miss Yu Yan, my name is Xu Qingzhao now. Don't forget it."

Yu Yan's eyes were filled with tears, and she stared at her blankly: "I know...Xu Qingzhao..."

--------

At this time, the capital. The Imperial Palace. The Qinzheng Hall.

"Your Majesty...there is news..."

A rather majestic voice sounded: "Present it."

--------

Zhao Huanxi came over from the guest room, and they both looked normal. Hongying was really a child at heart, having kept her in the room for almost half an hour.

At this time, a strong wind blew. Zhao Huanxi stretched out his hand to feel the moisture of the wind. "It's windy. It looks like it's going to rain. This rain came just in time. It started raining right after I built my house. God is really kind."

At this time, the strong wind swept up the sand, transformed into a brutal beast, and blew violently towards everything it could defeat.

He quickly cleaned up the leftovers on the table. Just then, the rain poured down like beans, almost soaking Zhao Huanxi.

Zhao Huanxi remembered the vegetable garden he had worked hard in for two months, and quickly put on his straw raincoat and picked up the lantern to go out.

Xu Qingzhao and Yu Yan wanted to stop them, but a flash of lightning appeared and a violent thunder roared as if it was going to split the sky open.

Zhao Huanxi: Forget it, life is more important, I’ve been honest…

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