Chapter 600: A Gift for Your Hard Work
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
After hesitating for a moment, Yuwen Chu carefully placed his index finger between Zhuangzhuang’s gums. As soon as he touched it, Zhuangzhuang quickly bit down, and he didn’t let go. His little face turned red from exertion, clearly using all his strength to bite.
Though it was just a baby’s bite and didn’t hurt much, Yuwen Chu couldn’t help but inhale sharply from the pain. If it were anyone else, he would have shaken them off immediately, but this was his son, so chubby and innocent. While he bit down, he innocently looked at Yuwen Chu with his big, bright eyes. All Yuwen Chu could do was keep saying, “Let go, let go…”
Mingzhu clapped her hands vigorously from the side. “Zhuangzhuang, bite harder!”
Zheng Momo and the others couldn’t help but laugh. They all smiled kindly: “Wangfei, you’re too much, how can a mother do this?”
Zhuangzhuang finally bit until his teeth was sore, reluctantly releasing his grip.
Yuwen Chu finally managed to pull his finger out and, upon inspection, saw two small tooth marks on it. He couldn’t help but smile. “This little guy, he’s quite strong.”
Mingzhu looked at him and smiled. “Truly worthy of Your Highness’s son, right? Just as strong as Your Highness, with a healthy body.”
*ss Kisser! Yuwen Chu’s mood was good. “Your skill at flattery is getting better and better. Letting my son bite me first, then saying he’s like me, should dissipate any anger I might have, right?”
Mingzhu asked him, “Did it dissipate?”
“I wasn’t angry to begin with.” Yuwen Chu handed Zhuangzhuang over to Mingzhu to hold and stood up to walk around the plum tree. He carefully plucked a half-bloomed plum blossom from a high branch and carefully pinned it into Mingzhu’s hair. “The first plum blossom of the year, a gift for your hard work.”
Mingzhu blushed and glanced at Su Lan and the others discreetly. Seeing them all pretending not to notice anything, she whispered softly, “I don’t deserve Your Highness’s kindness.”
Yuwen Chu looked down at her. “No, you work hard. Not only do you work with me, but you also raise our children and share the risks. I think you’re the one who works the hardest, and you’re very brave and strong.”
Mingzhu thought about it and felt she deserved his praise. She accepted it calmly. “I think I’m not bad either. At least among the people I know, there aren’t many who can do better than me.”
Su Lan and the others lowered their heads, their faces twitching. Yuwen Chu smiled slightly. He liked Mingzhu’s proud demeanor.
Wei Tiande hurriedly arrived, so excited that he was stuttering: “Your, Your Highness, there’s, there’s urgent news to report.” Despite being busy, he couldn’t help but praise Zhuangzhuang: “The little master is growing up so well.”
It was a good thing that he had the mood to praise the child. Mingzhu took Zhuangzhuang and prepared to leave with Zheng Momo and the others. They hadn’t gone far when Yuwen Chu called out to her, “Zhu Zhu, come back.”
Even his tone was filled with joy. Mingzhu turned around and saw him standing under the plum tree, his eyebrows raised, lips curled into a smile, looking very cheerful and content. She handed Zhuangzhuang to the wet nurse and asked her to take the child back to the house. Then she walked briskly toward Yuwen Chu with a smile, “Does Your Highness have more good news?”
Yuwen Chu whispered softly, “We caught Zhu Wenhan. Do you want to come with me to see?”
“Zhu Wenhan was caught?” Mingzhu never expected it to be such a big matter. Yuwen Chu and Fu Mingzheng had been trying to catch Zhu Wenhan for a long time. It was not an exaggeration to say that they had set up a net to capture him. But Zhu Wenhan was very cunning. Several times when their people received news and went after him, they just missed him. Today, they actually caught him!
There was a gleam in Yuwen Chu’s eyes. “Of course. He’s already been identified by Liansheng. Liansheng said it’s him.”
“Then, of course, I want to go. Such a formidable figure, maybe I’ll only get to see one in my lifetime.” Mingzhu paused and then looked at Yuwen Chu affectionately, “Of course, he can’t be compared to Your Highness.”
Wei Tiande’s teeth ached from the sweetness. He hurried ahead to lead the way, preferring not to see the lovey-dovey scene.
The two entered the dark room of the prison together. Jing Song reported, “We received intelligence early this morning that he was drinking soy milk and eating fried dough sticks at a snack stall on the west side of the city. They rushed over and actually caught him. It was a bit difficult because he had many skilled men with him, carrying things like hidden sleeve arrows and thunderbolt pellets. Our casualties were quite heavy.”
Mr. Meng was also trembling with excitement. “Worth it! One Zhu Wenhan is worth an army.”
Yuwen Chu whispered to Mingzhu, “Later, have them prepare a list. You get the necessary compensation and medical expenses ready. Also, find out which families need help beyond money and do your best to assist them.”
Some things couldn’t be solved with money. Often, the things that could be solved with money weren’t real problems. Helping these people solve their difficulties was what really mattered, showing that they were cared for and allowing the deceased to rest assured and the injured to feel at ease. This was also important for boosting morale. Mingzhu immediately instructed Jing Song, “Later, Yang Dianjun, please bring the list to me.”
Mr. Meng’s mood was extremely complicated. His Highness consciously left the matter of compensating the families of the fallen and other similar matters to Wangfei because such things were the easiest way to build reputation and goodwill. Was he really trying to cultivate a virtuous Empress? Could it be that there would only be one woman in the entire palace? He couldn’t imagine such a big palace with only one Empress. His Highness was truly too willful!
Mingzhu felt Mr. Meng’s gaze and squinted at him, saying, “Mr. Meng, do you need something?”
Mr. Meng immediately withdrew his gaze, chuckled tremblingly, and said, “I just feel that Wangfei has become more steady and capable lately.”
Jing Song looked at Mr. Meng with a smile that was not a smile, indicating his welcome to join the team of pleasing the Wangfei.
Mr. Meng chuckled awkwardly and touched his goatee.
But it was thoughtful of Yuwen Chu to tactfully change the subject: “How did Liansheng recognize Zhu Wenhan?”
“We first let her listen quietly in the outer room to the voices of ten people, including Zhu Wenhan. She accurately recognized Zhu Wenhan’s voice. Then we let her find Zhu Wenhan among more than ten people, first by looking at their backs, then their faces. She recognized Zhu Wenhan at first glance.” Jing Song fumbled on a painting on the wall of the dark room and asked Yuwen Chu and Mingzhu to come over and see.
There were two ingeniously designed small holes on the wall. Mingzhu pressed her eyes against them and could see the scene in the interrogation room clearly.
A man sat on the iron chair Teacher Lin had originally sat on, calmly looking ahead, wearing only a blue shirt. He had an ordinary appearance and even temperament, as friendly as a street food stall owner.
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
