Chapter 62
Hearing Yuwen Min say this, Lu Hanzhi felt warmth in his heart. He was holding Ah Chan in his arms when he suddenly realized that he had placed too much of his reliance and expectations on Ah Chan, which had become too heavy a burden for both of them.
Why do some mothers focus so much on spoiling their children, especially single mothers, who tend to raise children with incomplete personalities?
It’s because, as parents, they don’t have a complete personality themselves. Instead, they place all their emotional weight on their children.
For the child, this may not always be a good thing.
Lu Hanzhi sighed. Since he had entered this world, it was only because of Ah Chan’s company that he was able to walk forward so confidently.
It wasn’t just because he saw Ah Chan as his spiritual support. He bought milk powder for him, fed him, and exchanged various toys and snacks that he liked.
Why not use a wet nurse?
Why not choose toys made by carpenters?
Why did he prefer making up lies to tell the servants that Ah Chan was raised on food he had chewed for him, rather than letting someone else take care of him?
Thinking of this, Lu Hanzhi was suddenly shocked, realizing how frightening his own reaction had been.
If anything had happened to Ah Chan, he would probably have ended up as the dark empress beside Yuwen Min.
At this thought, Lu Hanzhi couldn’t help but glance at the sleeping Ah Chan in his arms, before raising his head and saying to Yuwen Min, “Then, can you love Ah Chan as much as your own son?”
After all, Ah Chan is your biological son.
Without hesitation, Yuwen Min replied, “Ah Chan is not only my biological son, but he is also the heir to the Prince of An’s estate. Tomorrow… No, tonight, you both should come with me to the royal manor. That estate is far too unsafe.”
He had never thought this much before. As a young master from a noble family, who would care about him?
Looking back, he had misunderstood.
Since he held the title of Prince An’s Wang Fei, it meant that Ah Chan was his son.
He might be safe, but Ah Chan would definitely be targeted.
This time, they failed, but next time, they would certainly try again.
If he didn’t protect them properly, he wouldn’t be able to focus on his own tasks.
This was exactly Lu Hanzhi’s point. Now the whole world knew Ah Chan’s identity, but there was no proper title to protect him.
Lu Hanzhi smiled at Yuwen Min and said, “Thank you, husband.”
Yuwen Min sighed helplessly. This person had just been on the verge of death, and now had recovered so quickly.
He realized his previous prejudices against him were unreasonable. He had always admired smart people.
Even though he had suffered many losses from him in his past life.
Looking back, those military strategies around the crown prince were probably planned by him.
On the other hand, the woman who later became Yuwen Min’s official wife hardly left any impression on him.
Her actions were rather baffling. All she did was glare at him and cry, which left him perplexed.
Back at the estate, Lu Hanzhi immediately ordered the servants to retrieve Ah Man’s body from the bottom of the cliff.
Ah Man had been sold into the estate as a servant, without any family or husband.
A master sold to another master, her life had been pitiful.
Now, all she had was an adopted son, who was her only family.
Her adopted son was only six years old, looking small and malnourished.
Yet, he was extremely obedient and sensible, learning a few characters from the accountant, and could already help with minor tasks around the estate.
Lu Hanzhi felt a pang of sorrow. He looked at Luan Feng, whose eyes were red from crying, and said, “Call Xiao Liuzi to my room. He will be the young master’s personal attendant and be promoted to an esteemed relative.”
Luan Feng kneeled and kowtowed to Lu Hanzhi, saying, “Thank you on behalf of Ah Man. She will be happy for little Liuzi. Xiao Liuzi was picked up by her from the wilderness when he was just a few months old. She fed him with rice soup, and not long ago, she asked if there was a school that would take him in. Master, Ah Man was a good person. You must avenge her.”
Lu Hanzhi’s eyes also reddened, and he said, “Don’t worry, I will avenge her, and Xiao Liuzi will be well taken care of. Ah Man won’t die in vain. Some people must pay the price they deserve.”
It’s just a matter of confronting them head-on, isn’t it?
Lu Hanzhi wasn’t afraid to confront them directly; he only feared they would play dirty tricks like last time.
After dealing with Su Wan’ning so many times, although he always outplayed her, her underhanded tricks weren’t always easy to defend against.
No one else would do something like this other than Su Wan’ning.
How much hatred did she have for Ah Chan?
Wasn’t it her who had planned to strangle him with her own hands since his birth? Now, with Ah Chan nearly half a year old, she was still scheming to kill him.
Did Ah Chan have some special significance to her?
Ah Chan had the foot of the Seven Stars, and according to his fate, he had great schemes ahead.
He wondered if Su Wan’ning’s presence was meant to stop a certain historical process.
Thinking about this was giving him a headache. He could only deal with the present matters first.
Soon, a few workers arrived, bowing to him. They hurriedly said, “Young master, we’ve searched everywhere but can’t find any trace of those people.”
Lu Hanzhi frowned, and Yuwen Min, standing beside him, spoke, “I’ve sent my secret guards to look. As long as they are alive, they won’t escape the capital.”
Yuwen Min’s secret guards were skilled and professional, so Lu Hanzhi believed they would have news soon.
Lu Hanzhi nodded slowly and turned to head back to his room.
Ah Chan had woken up, hungry and thirsty, and he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep much longer.
Lu Hanzhi had already prepared the milk powder, keeping it warm in the water, just waiting for him to wake up.
When Ah Chan woke up, Lu Hanzhi immediately stepped forward with a bottle and shoved it into his mouth.
This time, he was truly starving. Ah Chan clung to the bottle and drank greedily. He didn’t stop until he had consumed two full bottles of milk.
It was probably also quite a shock for him, having fallen from such a high place. Not only children but even adults could be deeply scared by such a fall.
Ah Chan stayed glued to Lu Hanzhi’s arms, unwilling to let go.
Lu Hanzhi, unusually patient, held him gently and hummed a lullaby: “Little rabbit, be good, open the door, hurry and open it, I want to come in. If you don’t open, I won’t come in, father hasn’t returned, no one can come in.”
Yuwen Min, watching this father-son scene, sighed and said, “Why not sleep for a while? You’ve had a long day.”
Lu Hanzhi shook his head. He had to wait for news about those people.
But it was probably in vain. How could Su Wan’ning leave any evidence of herself?
Lu Hanzhi gently patted Ah Chan, coaxing him back to sleep.
He then slowly laid him back in bed and put a teat, sterilized with boiling water, in his mouth.
Just then, someone outside came to report that there was news.
But Yuwen Min signaled for the soldiers to stay silent. Only after Lu Hanzhi had left the courtyard did he ask, “Where are they?”
The attendant answered, “There were six people in total. They all jumped off the cliff and ended their lives.”
Yuwen Min frowned and asked, “Ended their lives? Are you sure it was suicide?”
The attendant replied, “Yes, it was suicide. There were no signs of struggle, no marks from a fight. There were only single-file footprints, and they showed no pause— it was clear they had no attachments and ended their lives without hesitation.”
Lu Hanzhi nodded, looking unsurprised. He said, “I see, thank you. You all go and rest now.”
The attendants stood still, so Yuwen Min spoke up, “Wang Fei has told you to rest, so you should go and rest!”
The attendants finally bowed to Lu Hanzhi, saying, “Thank you, Your Highness!”
Lu Hanzhi realized he had overstepped. How could he order around the attendants of Prince An?
But then he heard Yuwen Min say, “From now on, my attendants will be under your command, and they will be responsible for your safety. For the Young Master, I’ll assign other people. You need not worry.”
Honestly, Lu Hanzhi felt deeply moved.
But he wasn’t the type of person who easily expressed gratitude.
He just cleared his throat, stepped forward, grabbed Yuwen Min’s sleeve, and whispered, “Thank you, husband. I have nothing to offer in return, but tonight I…”
Yuwen Min: …
He had just been worried and anxious for Lu Hanzhi, yet now the man was being unreasonable?
Lu Hanzhi noticed the familiar expression on Yuwen Min’s face, the one that seemed to say, “Do you want to fight?”
Unable to resist, Lu Hanzhi covered his stomach and laughed, saying, “Your Highness, why are you so easy to tease?”
Yuwen Min’s face darkened. “If Wang Fei has laughed enough, we can return to the palace now.”
Although Lu Hanzhi thought that no matter who the opponent was, if they failed to strike once, they wouldn’t come back for another round in a short time, the estate wasn’t safe for Ah Chan.
So, he went back to his room, took a small quilt, wrapped Ah Chan up, and carried him to the carriage, heading back to the Prince An’s residence in the capital.
The next day, news spread throughout the city that Prince An’s heir had been attacked.
Lu Hanzhi wasn’t particularly interested in who had spread this gossip, but he was more curious about another piece of news.
It was said that Princess Zhaoyun had returned to the princess mansion on the second day of her wedding, because the Crown Prince had secretly gone to a small side house during the wedding and had an affair with a maid.
The Emperor was furious about this incident, and the Crown Prince was punished with house arrest in the Crown Prince’s mansion.
The Crown Prince became the laughingstock of the capital. He dared not defend himself and couldn’t reveal the truth, which was incredibly frustrating.
He couldn’t understand what had possessed him to behave this way on the day of his wedding to Zhaoyun.
And Wan’er, who usually had proper manners, why did she act out of line yesterday?
Since yesterday, he had been hiding in the study in the front courtyard, not going to the bridal chamber to find Zhaoyun, nor to the back courtyard to find Su Wan’ning.
In his frustration, he threw a cup across the room, and a maid hurried in, reporting, “Your Highness, something bad has happened! Young Lady Wan’er… has ended her life in the other courtyard!”
The Crown Prince immediately abandoned his mess and rushed to the other courtyard.
After Lu Hanzhi returned to Prince An’s residence, he directly slept in Yuwen Min’s room, while Yuwen Min took the study.
The next day, the steward came personally to find Lu Hanzhi and said that the Prince had left the keys to the residence with him and that he could decide where to stay and how to arrange everything. The steward would follow Wang Fei’s instructions for all matters.
Lu Hanzhi felt a bit of a headache and told the steward, “You take care of it. I don’t have any preferences, just follow the usual routine.”
The stewardwent out, and Lu Hanzhi looked again at the still sleeping Ah Chan.
Yesterday felt like a nightmare. If it weren’t for waking up sore all over this morning, he couldn’t even imagine how close he had come to losing Ah Chan.
He exhaled gently, and just then, the steward returned, leading a eunuch toward him.
The eunuch was carrying a decree—he had come to deliver an imperial edict.
Lu Hanzhi was vaguely suspicious—was this edict for Yuwen Min?
Just as he was wondering, the eunuch arrived by his side and spoke, “Wang Fei Lu Hanzhi, you are to accept this decree on behalf of your young son, Yuwen Lingxi.”
Lu Hanzhi frowned. Was this decree really for Ah Chan?
A baby who hadn’t even been weaned, what could he do?
Though he thought this in his mind, Lu Hanzhi still stepped forward, kneeling and saying, “I, Lu Hanzhi, accept the decree.”
Author’s note: Some readers questioned why the reborn Prince didn’t harbor hostility toward the female lead but had animosity toward the male lead.
That’s because the male lead is the female lead’s target. She never got involved with him, but the male lead confronted him multiple times to pave the way for the Crown Prince.
Having suffered losses from the male lead, it’s natural for him to hold some grudges, but it’s only a minor grievance.
Here’s the translation, ensuring I captured every detail in natural English while keeping the essence intact:
As I briefly mentioned earlier, the prince had been repeatedly asking why Lu Hanzhi hadn’t been married into the Crown Prince’s mansion, as he found it puzzling.
Moreover, the female lead is someone who controls others through tools to do her bidding while keeping herself well-hidden, making it even harder to be detected.
Your favorite BL chaos wouldn’t be possible without coffee… lots of coffee….
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