Divorced woman with child travels through time

"Yes, Your Highness, please accept my condolences!"

"My lord, my condolences!"

Several colleagues immediately helped up the two people who looked grief-stricken and were crying as if they were about to collapse.

"I'm fine!" He Tianxia wiped away his tears and slumped casually onto the bed. "Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! What exactly happened? How could a perfectly healthy person suddenly disappear like that!"

"That's right, my dad was still full of energy yesterday, scolding me. How could he be dead overnight..." Zhao Guangjun bent over and started crying again. He didn't dare to cry sitting down, waiting for someone to see that he had no tears. Thinking of this, he secretly rolled his eyes at the person next to him. Unlike the person next to him, he was too good at acting. It wasn't his father, so why was he crying so earnestly?

"General," the guard said softly, lowering his voice, "several imperial physicians in the palace have examined him, and they say it's a stroke from a moving vehicle."

He Tianxia and the other person were stunned.

Zhao Guangjun secretly curled his lip again. This old bastard always says he's a womanizer, but isn't he the same? It's all in the same vein. Who can he blame? It's not surprising. It's worth dying like this.

"Ah! So that's how it is." He Tianxia sighed dramatically. "What about the two little maids who look after the prince?"

"Seeing that things were not going well, the two of them seemed to have run away, and people have already been sent to look for them."

"That's good. We must find it. Otherwise, it would be too lonely for the prince to leave alone." He Tianxia nodded, looking regretful.

"Your Excellency is so good to the Prince! Such care is more like that of a son than a son!" A low-ranking official flattered.

"Lord He has always been concerned about the Prince. It was Lord He who intervened in the assassination attempt by the singing girl last time; otherwise, the Prince would have been in grave danger."

"Lord He is truly loyal to the Prince!"

A bunch of officials immediately started showering him with compliments.

He Tianxia waved his hand modestly and smiled, "Not at all. I am originally the prince's personal guard. I was entrusted with this important task by the prince's favor. It is only right that I protect the prince."

"Oh, Lord He is right." Zhao Guangjun sat up straight, his face without a trace of tears, as if he wasn't the one who had just burst into tears.

"Lord He has always been a personal guard of our Zhao family. Now that my father is gone, shouldn't he also be my personal guard?" Zhao Guangjun, dressed in a bright purple robe, leaned back in his armchair, raised his chin, and looked at him with a half-smile, his eyes full of unreadable meaning.

"Why is Prince Zhao acting like this? He's not sad at all." Some voices rang out from outside the courtyard at just the right moment.

"You don't know yet, do you? I heard that the prince has several sons, and they all want to come over after receiving the news."

"Such a thing is true! No wonder." Several subordinates outside whispered, their voices just loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Bang!" Zhao Guangjun slammed the coffee table over, his face ashen as he roared, "Shut up!"

The area outside the courtyard suddenly became quiet.

He Tianxia smiled faintly from inside the room, lowered his eyebrows so that no one could see his expression, and then looked up with the same respectful smile. "Young Prince Zhao is right. Your father is my master, so you are naturally my young master. No matter what, I am still a person from the Prince Gong's Mansion."

Zhao Guangjun picked up the folding fan beside him with satisfaction, glanced at him sideways, and tapped the table. "Alright, then you can arrange the rest. Don't bring any of those irrelevant people into the manor. As for the rest, you can handle it. I'm leaving!" With that, he got up happily and left.

"Yes, Your Highness!" He Tianxia still had a smile on his face, bowed and watched him leave, even though Zhao Guangjun had not yet succeeded to the throne.

He Tianxia knew exactly what Zhao Guangjun wanted, so he never refused. Just like the woman Zhao Guangjun sent last time, he knew the woman's background, but he still let Zhao Guangjun send her to Prince Gong so that she could assassinate him. In fact, if it weren't in front of him, or if Zhao Changrong hadn't been so ruthless and hadn't let him know about secretly cultivating Wang Erniu, He Tianxia wouldn't have minded Zhao Changrong always being above him.

After all, with him around, he could withstand a lot of storms. Now that Zhao Changrong is gone, Zhao Guangjun has come along, and he can still hold his own.

He Tianxia made proper arrangements for Prince Gong's funeral, which was extremely lively and grand. He treated Prince Gong like his own son, wearing mourning clothes, and wanted everyone to know what a good personal guard he was.

In the palace, Zhao Jian looked at the memorial that had been delivered to him, puzzled, and summoned Song Wujin, the Imperial City Guard Commissioner, to the palace.

"What happened? Zhao Changrong has always been in good health, how could he suddenly have a stroke?"

"Your Majesty, according to the news from Prince Gong's residence, it was indeed a fatal accident, and the two maids did indeed run away. However, I have investigated the matter further, and those two are under Commander He's command. So, I'm afraid there's something causing them to fight amongst themselves," Song Wujin said carefully.

"Could it be that Zhao Changrong found out about supporting Wang Erniu? Otherwise, given He Tianxia's personality, he wouldn't have gone to such extremes. He has such a good reputation." Zhao Jian leaned on the table, stroking his chin in thought. There was still an uneaten lunch on the table, just a few pieces of coarse flour pancakes, which had long since gone cold.

“Very likely.” Song Wujin glanced at the table and couldn’t help but say, “Your Majesty is too thin. You should take better care of your health.”

"It's alright. How's the investigation into the Empress Dowager's matter going? Who's behind it? Is it Zhao Changrong or Zhao Su? Hmm, Zhao Changrong is already dead, so it shouldn't be him." Zhao Jian nonchalantly picked up a pancake and started eating, having finally taken the information to heart.

“Then, all the relatives of the deceased palace servants have also disappeared without a trace. However, the person in charge of the Ministry of Revenue is a retainer of Prince De’s mansion, so it is highly likely that he is Zhao Su.” Song Wujin said cautiously.

“Zhao Su hasn’t left the manor for half a year. Who could have arranged this? Zhao Lue certainly wouldn’t have done it. He has cooperation with both us and them. Zhao Qi, that spoiled brat, doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would do such a thing. Could it be that he has cooperation with the man surnamed He?” Zhao Jian paused and spoke intermittently.

"Could it be one of those old ministers? After all, although the Empress Dowager dislikes the Empress, she still supports you in court, which is a slap in the face to them."

“Very likely. Have you heard anything lately? Things aren’t peaceful in the north! Once the ice thaws in spring, these Liao people will start to stir. Have your spies keep an eye on things. If they need money, just let me know.” Zhao Jian chuckled, looking quite pleased with himself for finding some money.

"When did Your Majesty become so generous? Could it be that the national treasury has received some income?" Song Wujin looked at his rare smile, and his tone also became slightly amused.

“Yes, Wang Erniu is a good man. Look, this is a report from Ouyang. Quanzhou is getting much better!” Zhao Jian handed him the report that he had already read several times.

Song Wujin glanced at him briefly, then couldn't help but kneel down and exclaim loudly, "Congratulations to Your Majesty on acquiring such a fine general! Our Great Song Dynasty will surely prosper!"