Chapter 165
Lu Hanzhi had originally been joking, but to his surprise, Zhong Yao asked with barely concealed eagerness, “You… do you really mean that?”
The look in his eyes was one of near-desperate longing.
That reaction immediately made Lu Hanzhi suspicious.
However, he concealed his doubts without showing them and smiled as he said, “Of course it’s true. Our Xiao Liuzi still hasn’t had a proper name until now. His master has been trying to come up with one for almost a year and still hasn’t succeeded. Don’t you think he’s suffering from procrastination? It’s just that giving Xiao Liuzi a teacher’s courtesy name might not be appropriate, right?”
Zhong Yao hurriedly replied, “No, no, it’s appropriate. I… Family Head, to be honest, I once had a son. His formal name was Ah Yao. Unfortunately, I lost him when he was still an infant.”
Back then, he had carried Ah Yao all the way from Jiangnan to the capital in search of his senior brother. Along the way, he encountered heavy rain and had to stay overnight in a dilapidated temple.
Overcome with exhaustion at the time, he had held Ah Yao in his arms and fallen asleep.
When he woke up, Ah Yao was gone from his embrace.
The moment he realized Ah Yao was missing, his heart had nearly shattered into dust. From that day on, his lifelong wish had become finding Ah Yao.
Lu Hanzhi immediately understood and asked, “Does Mr. Zhong think Xiao Liuzi looks like your son?”
Zhong Yao knew his identity was sensitive. He did not dare to acknowledge it, yet he desperately wanted to.
He remained silent, his heart tangled in turmoil.
Lu Hanzhi, however, spoke considerately. “Perhaps you’re unsure, sir? That’s understandable. After all, your son was only a few months old when he was lost. Coincidentally, when Xiao Liuzi was picked up by his Ah Man mother, he was also only a few months old. May I ask if your Ah Yao had any distinguishing marks?”
In the end, Zhong Yao could not resist his longing for his son and said, “He… had a red mole on his left wrist.”
Lu Hanzhi pulled Xiao Liuzi over, rolled up his sleeve, and asked, “Like this?”
Seeing that red mole again, Zhong Yao could not stop his blood from surging.
Even though he had already confirmed countless times that Xiao Liuzi was his son.
Even though he had repeatedly warned himself not to indulge in wishful thinking and that it would be enough just to watch him from afar.
But…
Seeing the child so close in front of him, he could not help wanting to hold him.
Lu Hanzhi, however, acted decisively and bluntly. He pulled Xiao Liuzi over and said, “Liu’er, look—your father has found you.”
Xiao Liuzi looked utterly confused and said, “Shi Die, don’t joke around. Xiao Liuzi has lived a lonely life and has no parents. You and Shifu are Xiao Liuzi’s parents.”
This Master Zhong was a good person, but he did not want to drag anyone else down.
More than once, people had said he was inauspicious and had brought death upon Ah Man Mother.
Lu Hanzhi laughed cheerfully and said, “Xiao Liuzi, you should know that the probability of two people meeting is only one in several hundred thousand. Great Zhao has hundreds of thousands of people, yet you and Mr. Zhong had this kind of fate. Even if you weren’t related by blood, it would still be an extraordinary connection. He lacks someone to anchor his paternal affection, and you lack a father to care for you. Since each of you needs what the other has, why not bring it together in one go?”
Everyone thought Lu Hanzhi lived far too casually. Acknowledging a father was not something that simple.
Only Yuwen Jue felt that Lu Hanzhi’s unrestrained and flamboyant way of living, though seemingly unreasonable, was actually the most reasonable of all.
Xiao Liuzi was forced to kowtow, offer tea, and was given the formal name Xiyao.
Lu Hanzhi made something up on the spot, saying that since Ah Chan was named Yuwen Lingxi, they were all of the “Xi” generation, so he might as well be called Xiyao.
As for the surname, Mr. Zhong did not even use the surname Zhong and was unwilling to reveal his true name, so they would just use Lu.
Lu Xiyao—freshly minted. Xiao Liuzi finally had a formal name.
Truly a cause for celebration!
What looked like a farce, however, was accompanied by Lu Hanzhi noticing Zhong Yao discreetly turn away to wipe his tears no fewer than three times.
When Lu Hanzhi pulled Xiao Liuzi over and had him call out “Father,” Zhong Yao finally broke down completely and hugged Xiao Liuzi, crying until he was soaked in tears.
A man who was usually calm to the extreme, as though indifferent to the entire world, released earth-shaking emotion upon finding his son again.
Everyone around was moved to tears. Only Ah Chan held a small handkerchief and went over to wipe Zhong Yao’s tears.
Ah Chan said, “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Be good, don’t cry.”
Everyone was amused by Ah Chan. This child was truly endearing. Even Zhong Yao, who had completely lost control, stopped crying.
He pulled both Ah Chan and Xiao Liuzi into his arms and said, “Thank you. You are all good children.”
Even Lu Hanzhi had not expected such an interlude.
On the way back, Yuwen Jue asked, “You just gave Xiao Liuzi away like that?”
Lu Hanzhi replied, “No, I didn’t. Our Liu’er won’t leave. He can’t live without Ah Chan.”
Yuwen Jue: …
That actually made a lot of sense.
Yuwen Jue asked again, “Then… shouldn’t we investigate this Zhong Yao’s identity?”
Lu Hanzhi said, “Is there even a need to investigate? Isn’t it obvious? He came here for Xiao Liuzi. At first, I found it strange that a Xiao Langjun would come alone to my place to be a kiln head. He has a master who looks exactly like Yin Pingwu, and he turns out to be Xiao Liuzi’s biological father. Second Sister-in-law, haven’t you noticed how stiff his face is?”
Zhong Yao… Zhong Yao… who exactly were you?
Was your master Yin Pingwu, who had supposedly died, actually alive again?
And were you the child who had been born during a difficult labor back then—Yuwen Cong?
If you truly were Yuwen Cong, then things would become very interesting indeed.
The emperor had set up a substitute to replace his white moonlight—yet the real white moonlight had now arrived in the capital.
Not only had they come to the capital, they had even brought along a true eldest imperial son in the literal sense.
Yuwen Jue’s thoughts were the same as Lu Hanzhi’s. Ever since he discovered that the Tree Lives Tomb was empty, he had been searching for Yin Pingwu’s whereabouts.
He never expected that after so many twists and turns over the years, Yin Pingwu would remain unfound—yet Yuwen Cong would instead deliver himself straight into their hands.
Yuwen Jue said, “If things are really as we’ve guessed, then Xiao Liuzi’s status would truly be noble.”
Although Yuwen Cong had become a Xiao Langjun, the children he fathered were no longer imperial grandsons but maternal grandsons, he would still be a commandery prince.
By that calculation, Xiao Liuzi and Ah Chan turned out to be maternal cousins.
Yuwen Jue said, “This matter must absolutely not be made public, lest unnecessary complications arise.”
Lu Hanzhi replied, “That goes without saying. This is no small matter—we’ll need to deliberate carefully over the long term.”
For a moment, these tangled and chaotic plotlines left Lu Hanzhi with a thousand thoughts and no clear way to sort them out.
But at least, there was now a rough outline.
He sorted through things with Yuwen Jue and said, “At present, what we can more or less confirm is that Mr. Yin is alive, Yuwen Cong was born and grew up safely, and he even fathered Xiao Liuzi. Su Wan’ning’s true identity is very likely Chou Nu, the personal maid by Ah Shu’s side. What we can’t yet confirm is what exactly the item in Su Wan’ning’s possession is, and Zong Yuan’s true identity.”
“Zong Yuan?” Yuwen Jue asked. “Isn’t he Zong Gan’s adopted son?”
Lu Hanzhi thought for a moment and said, “I feel that… his face doesn’t seem fake. It’s vivid and lifelike—he should be completely natural.”
With today’s advanced cosmetic techniques, even the best work still looked stiff.
Even Zhong Yao’s face appeared stiff, no wonder he never liked to smile.
But this Zong Yuan was different—he laughed, raged, and joked however he pleased, and when he rode a horse, he showed no hesitation at all.
Yuwen Jue said, “Oh? Then you mean Zong Yuan was actually carefully selected, chosen precisely because he looks exactly like Mr. Yin?”
Lu Hanzhi said, “It’s just a guess. Besides, the child is quite adorable—at a glance, he doesn’t look like someone with schemes. If they were picking from thousands, shouldn’t they have chosen someone smart and obedient?”
This Zong Yuan was hardly obedient. One look showed he would be difficult to control.
Moreover, when Lu Hanzhi first saw Su Wan’ning, he had immediately known she wasn’t as simple as she appeared.
Zong Yuan, on the other hand, was different—he looked exactly like a child, just with a somewhat stubborn temperament.
Yuwen Jue also largely agreed with Lu Hanzhi’s assessment. After thinking for a bit, he said, “Alright. I’ll further investigate Zong Gan’s original intention for adopting Zong Yuan, and at the same time look into Zong Yuan’s background.”
Lu Hanzhi nodded in agreement.
But he also knew it would likely be futile—unless Su Wan’ning’s system could be destroyed, yet that was far too difficult.
These past few days, Lu Hanzhi had been quite busy—busy recruiting students, busy setting up the academy, busy building school facilities.
Those investigative matters were thus left to Yuwen Jue.
Fortunately, Yuwen Jue had made rapid progress lately. From a refined gentleman who treated everyone with kindness, he had been tempered into someone who still retained a pure original heart toward the world, yet had also built up extremely strong defenses.
After days of hard work, Lu Hanzhi finally saw his Hanzhi Academy completed. At the same time, a system notification announcing mission completion sounded within his mental space.
“Congratulations to the host for completing the second mission of the first stage of the intermediate mission line. The system has evaluated the mission completion quality as qualified. Rewards are hereby issued. Congratulations to the host for obtaining fifty exchange points ×2 and intermediate exchange treasure chests ×2.”
Lu Hanzhi happily spun around in place. Although the missions were becoming increasingly difficult, the rewards were also growing richer.
He cheerfully collected the rewards. Seeing his exchange points become plentiful again, he first redeemed a magazine.
This was something that could save his life at a critical moment, so Lu Hanzhi did not dare be careless.
Immediately afterward, he accepted the third mission of the first stage.
He knew very well how important exchange points were to him and naturally did not dare slack off.
So he once again went to the mission distribution area and accepted the mission in front of the mission panel.
The system’s mechanical voice sounded again in his ears: “Congratulations to the host for successfully accepting the third mission of the first stage. The objective of this stage: recruit one thousand students and formulate corresponding teaching materials.”
With a thud, Lu Hanzhi dropped to his knees before the system.
He had already begun preparing for student recruitment when he first started building the school.
Yet even with the golden signboard of a royal academy in hand, plus the financial support of Han Ji Fragrance House, he had only recruited fewer than two hundred students.
He had originally planned to first teach these two hundred-plus little cuties properly. Once results showed after some progress, students would naturally come.
But… you suddenly asking me to recruit one thousand students in a single mission—don’t you think this is making things difficult for me?
In this backward era, how difficult it was to support even one student—only those living in it truly knew.
The capital was already considered a prosperous place, yet recruiting one thousand students was still extremely difficult.
These past two days, Lu Hanzhi had been so worried he was tugging at his own hair, when another even more troublesome matter came knocking at his door.
He looked at the veiled woman kneeling before him, who appeared gentle and virtuous, and frowned as he asked, “What do you… mean?” His lips twitched, his eyes filled with existential doubt.
Your favorite BL chaos wouldn’t be possible without coffee… lots of coffee….
Support Ciacia’s translation temple on Kofi—and if the cliffhanger demons are haunting you, join the Han’er Tier to purge them with advanced chapter access (up to 5!) before the masses even blink.
