After hearing my inner thoughts, the ancestors in the Dream of the Red Chamber went berserk.

Zhen Chenyao solemnly instructed:

"Remember this well: do not touch anything unless absolutely necessary. You should also hide some of your own things if you can."

Seeing his two children looking terrified and helpless, Zhen Chenyao felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He had always wanted to escape the Zhen family, but in the end, he could not escape it.

“Listen to me, possessing troops without authorization is a capital offense. We were unaware of this, but we don’t know how the Emperor will sentence you. If the Emperor is merciful and spares the child, you two must live strong lives from now on. Remember, we have something with the Seventh Prince.”

Zhen Chenyao then took out another letter from his pocket and handed it to his wife, saying:

"This is the letter of divorce. Keep it safe. If nothing happens, that's fine. But if it really comes to that, show it to show that I have already divorced you. That way, you might be able to save your life."

He had written the letter of divorce long ago, just in case.

Madam Zhen refused to go to pick them up, and instead held her two children, weeping uncontrollably.

Zhen Chenyao shoved the divorce papers into her hand.

“Madam, I know your intentions, but you cannot act rashly at this time. If the Emperor is angry, the Zhen family will cease to exist.”

"If you're alive, you can still take care of the two children. But what will happen to them if we both pass away?"

Inside the main house, Madam Zhen was relentlessly berating Zhen Chenhao.

"You must have a death wish! How could you do something like that? Now you've implicated our two children, what are we going to do?"

The two children were already terrified. One was studying hard for the imperial examinations this year, while the other was learning palace etiquette. In an instant, everything vanished like bubbles.

Jia Zhen and Situ Minghe waited anxiously at the door until the Emperor and his entourage finally returned. The Emperor saw his grandson waiting for him at the door.

He dismounted with a smile and said:

"Did you come here specifically to welcome Grandfather, knowing he was returning?"

Just as Jia Daishan and Jia Daihua dismounted, Jia Zhen rushed over and grabbed their legs.

Jia Daihua was startled, and Jia Zhen hugged his grandfather's leg and began to cry.

Jia Daihua raised his hand, picked up his grandson, and asked:

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Seeing that Jia Hu was nowhere to be seen, Jia Daishan's heart skipped a beat, and he asked:

"Hu'er, where is Hu'er?"

Jia Zhen cried out:

"My brother is missing."

Jia Daishan and Jia Daihua were shocked. They were gone! How could they have disappeared?

Jia Daishan asked anxiously:

"Zhen'er, what are you saying? How could Hu'er be missing? What happened?"

Meanwhile, Situ Minghe, clinging to the Emperor's leg, recounted the story of Jia Hu's disappearance.

The emperor was furious and immediately sent people to search for him.

Situ Minghe said that the young imperial uncle had already led people to search for him, and locked Zhen Chenhao up before leaving.

The Emperor immediately roared in anger:

"Bring him up; I want to interrogate him myself."

Jia Daishan was completely panicked. Hu'er was in danger again, and he, as her grandfather, was not by her side. If he had known that Hu'er would encounter danger one after another, he would not have agreed to bring Hu'er on the southern tour, even if it meant disobeying the imperial decree.

They ate lunch on the mountain, and one of them even gave Jia Hu a steamed bun.

Jia Hu wasn't hungry, but he had no choice; he had to eat. If he didn't, he wouldn't even have the strength to run away.

He was completely tied up, and even though the steamed bun was thrown next to him, he couldn't eat it.

Jia Hu said:

"How am I supposed to eat with you tied up like this? Untie one of my hands."

The eldest brother saw that it was indeed true, and he didn't want to feed the child bite by bite, so he ordered that one of his hands be loosened and tied back after the child finished eating.

Jia Hu ate his steamed bun, noticing that they were eating the same thing—steamed buns.

“You’ve accomplished such a great thing, you shouldn’t be living the high life, you should at least be eating steamed buns.”

The skinny guy next to him, eating a steamed bun, was already incredibly annoyed and said irritably:

"If it weren't for you, you brat, we would have gone down the mountain long ago to enjoy the good life, instead of being stuck here eating these hard buns."

Jia Hu, munching on a steamed bun, said weakly:

"I thought the master you were talking about must be a very powerful figure, but it turns out he can only let his subordinates eat steamed buns."

I'm different. My servants all eat and drink well. Even the lowest-ranking servant in my courtyard gets two dishes per meal.