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墨書 Inktalez
"Brother." The younger brother's voice was weak, but it carried the unique clarity of a child's tone. Seeing this, Xiao Yao let out a long sigh of relief and couldn't help but smile, "Alright, it's good that you're awake. Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?"
The boy looked at Xiao Yao with his big, shiny eyes, filled with curiosity, unlike his brother's initial resistance and suspicion. Xiao Yao could tell at a glance that this brother had protected his younger sibling quite well; the child clearly had much lower defenses against strangers.
However, this was just what Xiao Yao thought. The child glanced around and heard Xiao Yao's question, then nodded decisively. Xiao Yao asked Yun Yue to go to the kitchen and bring up the porridge that had been prepared earlier. The porridge was made with mushrooms and tender chicken, cooked with glutinous rice until it was crystal clear and very appetizing.
With his brother's help, the child drank more than half a bowl of porridge. When the brother wanted to feed him more, the younger brother shook his head, "Brother, I'm full."
"Then that's enough," Xiao Yao said as he noticed Boys stubbornly insisting that his brother eat more. "You haven't eaten for a while. If you eat too much, your stomach won't feel good. The food is always in the kitchen; when your brother is hungry again, you can go get more."
Upon hearing this from Xiao Yao, the boy stopped insisting that his brother finish the remaining half bowl and carefully set the bowl aside. He stood at the bedside and refused to leave.
The bond between the brothers was really quite good, Xiao Yao thought. Smiling at the younger brother, he said, "Your brother bumped into me on the street, so I brought both of you back and called a doctor to treat you. Luckily, it was not too late."
"Thank you, ma'am," the younger brother said earnestly to Xiao Yao, word by word.
Although this child was bedridden, Xiao Yao noticed that he sat up straight, and his brother standing by the bed also had a straight back; they clearly had received good training.
Xiao Yao continued to ask casually, "What are your names? How old are you this year?"
The younger brother looked at Xiao Yao and then at his brother. Seeing his brother nod slightly at him, he cautiously replied, "My name is Zhong Yiyuan, courtesy name Zi Xi. My brother's name is Zhong Yiliang."
"So you really are biological brothers?" Xiao Yao observed these two children closely; there were indeed some similarities between them, like their noses.
Zhong Yiyuan nodded. "We are biological brothers; we just don't share the same mother."
Oh. Xiao Yao understood.
In that case, if they had the means to take concubines, then their family conditions must not be too bad; how could two children end up in such a situation? After thinking for a moment, Xiao Yao finally asked.
As soon as he finished speaking, both children's faces turned pale; veins bulged on Zhong Yiliang's forehead. It seemed they were both trying hard to suppress something. Finally, Zhong Yiyuan looked seriously at Xiao Yao and said, "If we tell you, will you help us take revenge?"
Revenge?
Xiao Yao shook her head, "No, because that is your matter. However, you are too young. If you really have enemies, they must still be looking for you. I think I can provide you with a safe place to grow up. As for revenge, that will depend on when you have the ability to choose for yourselves."
Zhong Yiyuan lowered his head. In that moment, Xiao Yao caught a glimpse of the disappointment in the child's eyes. But this was Xiao Yao's way of handling things; she was not a saint. Even her own prince was walking on a tightrope high above, how could she care for others?
"My parents were originally vassals of the Southwest King..." Zhong Yiyuan said slowly with his head down, "I am the legitimate son; my brother's mother is my mother's younger sister. I actually don't know why, I just know there was a loud argument coming from my father's study, and then that night our whole family was... killed..."
As he spoke, Zhong Yiyuan's face turned pale, but his eyes were as red as blood. Standing beside him, Zhong Yiliang could no longer hold back and climbed onto the bed, tightly hugging his younger brother as if drawing strength from each other.
The room fell into silence, and Xiao Yao did not urge them but quietly waited.
She wasn't very knowledgeable about court politics, but she seemed to recall hearing He Yu mention something about it recently; the Southwest seemed to be unstable, and the emperor wanted him to lead troops to suppress bandits. Was it not just a simple bandit suppression? With this thought, Xiao Yao felt she began to understand something.
After a long while, Zhong Yiyuan continued, "Later that group of people set fire to our home and burned everything down. My brother and I were hidden in a secret cabinet behind the house during the demolition and thus escaped disaster. However, my brother's voice was ruined by the thick smoke in that house, and he can no longer speak."
Xiao Yao looked at the fair-skinned boy before her and suddenly asked, "You two have a good relationship, right?"
"Yes," Zhong Yiyuan nodded. "My brother and I have always been very close; he has always taken care of me. If it weren't for him protecting me so I could escape from the house safely, perhaps it would have been different."
Zhong Yiyuan looked guilty. "Brother, I'm sorry."
Zhong Yiliang pursed his lips and shook his head to indicate it was nothing. Then he pointed at Zhong Yuyuan and then at himself before hugging him again to show they were brothers.
Xiao Yao felt heartbroken; these children should have been enjoying life at home but had encountered such a family tragedy. She thought for a moment and said, "Then I suppose those people must still be looking for you, right?"
Indeed, upon hearing this, both children's faces turned pale again. The fear and worry in their eyes were unmistakable. Zhong Yiyuan hurriedly said, "Yes, but they don't know what we look like, so they haven't found us."
"How do you know they don't know what you look like?"
"Because we encountered them..." Zhong Yiyuan's voice trailed off. "After we escaped from home, we originally wanted to take the official road out but unexpectedly ran into those people; they saw us but didn't recognize us..."
"Then how do you know what they look like?"
"...because they set the fire in the woodshed..." If it weren't for the fire in the woodshed, her own brother wouldn't have been choked into silence by the thick smoke.
Xiao Yao nodded silently. Since the fire in the woodshed allowed these two children to escape, it must mean that the master had spared their lives. After thinking for a moment, Xiao Yao didn't say anything immediately; she just patted the heads of the two children and said, "Don't think about that for now. Focus on getting better first. Everything can wait until you're well. Don't worry, you are safe here."
"Thank you, Madam, for saving our lives."
"It's nothing. Oh right, how old are you?" Xiao Yao suddenly realized she had forgotten to ask.
"I'm eight years old, and my brother is ten," Zhong Yiyuan replied.
Hearing this, Xiao Yao smiled and said, "I also have two sons who are very much like you. They are five years old this year."
The two children were taken aback, but Xiao Yao had nothing else to say and simply went outside.
After stepping out, she instructed Yun Yue, "Prepare some food for them, but let them go to the kitchen to get it themselves. Just make sure everything they need is ready for them."
"Yes," Yun Yue replied with a bow.
"Good," Xiao Yao nodded. "Once you have everything prepared for them, come back and attend to me. The rest they can handle on their own."
"Understood."
As Xiao Yao left the side room, He Yu was accompanying the emperor on a visit to the Weaving Bureau and hadn't returned yet. Xiao Yao pondered over Zhong Yiyuan's words; they were quite coherent, indicating that he had received a good education.
He must have read quite a bit, and Zhong Yiliang's quick reactions could also be explained by some training. If they were ordinary beggars, they wouldn't have reacted so swiftly when He Yu caught them. Xiao Yao gradually pieced together the information the two children provided her.
She felt as if she had discovered something significant but lacked a clear understanding of it. However, one thing surprised Xiao Yao: there was actually a fiefdom here.
This was something Xiao Yao had never considered before; after all, there were no fiefdoms in Jiangnan; it seemed that fiefdoms only existed in more remote areas. Thinking about this, Xiao Yao called Yun Zhu in and asked, "How many fiefdoms like Southwest King do we have in Dafeng?"
Yun Zhu thought for a moment before replying, "Replying to my master, currently there are only two princes with fiefdoms: Southwest King and Qingnan Wang."
"Which areas are under their control?"
"The Southwest King mainly governs the Yunnan-Guizhou region, while the Qingnan Wang primarily oversees Fujian and Ryukyu."
Indeed, it was similar to what Xiao Yao had speculated; essentially, the entire Central Courtyard was under the control of the court, while the remote areas surrounding it were mostly inhabited by barbarians, which is where the feudal lords were established. In these regions, the court had no time to manage them, and over time this led to the restlessness of these lords. It was likely that the rebellion of the Southwest Army was due to this reason.
Xiao Yao pondered for a moment and then looked up at Yun Zhu, saying, "I understand now. You can go back."
"Yes."
After He Yu went out, he returned in the evening, and Xiao Yao shared this matter with him.
"The Zhong Family?" He Yu thought for a moment and then realized, "That's right. I heard before that the Southwest King had a retainer with the surname Zhong, who was quite favored by him. I only heard that he died suddenly some time ago; I didn't expect it to be like this."
"Yes, what should we do? I feel like we've stumbled upon a significant secret." Xiao Yao leaned against He Yu. "Could this cause you any trouble?"
"What trouble could two kids cause? You're overthinking it," He Yu said with a smile as he embraced Xiao Yao. He then raised his head and squinted his eyes, taking a while before slowly saying, "This might actually be a great advantage for us to turn things around."
He Yu said so. (To be continued)
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