Chapter 225 1/3

In the jewelry shop, everyone was praising their jewelry, and Li Zhu was in a good mood.

As she left the jewelry shop, she happened to see the neighboring shopkeeper Qian Fugui, with a troubled expression and graying hair, looking extremely elderly.

The two glanced at each other. Afterward, Qian Fugui entered his shop, while Li Zhu departed in a sedan chair.

Passersby observed this scene and began to gossip: “Shopkeeper Qian is quite unlucky. Just as he finally opened his shop, he encounters Shopkeeper Mu.”

“Shopkeeper Mu has snatched all of Qian’s business!”

“I heard Qian stocked up a lot of goods, but now he can’t sell them at all.”

“Those jewels may be fine, but after a while, the makeup and powders won’t be as effective as they were at first…”

…

These people looked sympathetically at Qian Fugui and then went into Shopkeeper Mu’s store to make purchases.

People in the capital all say that Shopkeeper Mu’s goods are excellent. If they buy from Shopkeeper Qian, others will laugh at them.

In the palace, after Qi Jun got up and washed his hands with soap, he said to Concubine Liu, “Ah Man, I want to go and meet Taoist Lu.”

“Your Majesty, I’ll accompany you,” Concubine Liu said.

After talking with Lu Qingxi yesterday, Concubine Liu learned that Lu Mingshan’s words at the Qingyun Tower were not instructed by Lu Qingxi but were from Lu Mingshan’s own feelings.

Could it be that Li Qingzhi is really a gift from God?

Regardless, this is advantageous for herself. Concubine Liu pondered over it and decided to mention Li Qingzhi more frequently in front of the Emperor these days.

When the Emperor learned that Concubine Liu also wanted to meet Lu Mingshan, he went together with her in a sedan chair to find Lu Mingshan.

During the journey, the Emperor couldn’t help but speak, “Ah Man, do you think… we really have a child?”

“It should be true, Taoist Lu is so miraculous!” Concubine Liu said, “Your Majesty, I thought about it all night yesterday… Do you remember? My belly was very big at that time, much larger than usual.”

It had been more than twenty years since then, plus Concubine Liu was alone during her late pregnancy… the Emperor no longer remembered how big her belly was at that time.

But since Concubine Liu said so,

it must be true.

“I remember… Ah Man, your belly was very big back then. Maybe you were carrying twins,” Qi Jun’s gaze fell on Concubine Liu’s belly.

“Yes, I was so shocked when I saw Bao’er being harmed that I fainted. I don’t remember what happened afterward…” Concubine Liu half-truthfully recounted the events of that year.

Concubine Liu used to be unwilling to talk about that night’s events. Qi Jun didn’t know much about what happened that day either.

When he returned to the capital, the servants who harmed his daughter had already been killed, and the Empress Dowager behind the scenes didn’t face any consequences. His father even told him not to investigate…

Until now, Qi Jun finally understood what had happened back then.

The mansion was chaotic at that time. The Crown Princess didn’t care, and Ah Man didn’t have many people under her. Although Lu Qingxi was in charge, he didn’t have much authority either…

Perhaps someone really did steal his child!

Concubine Liu started speaking and then began to cry, “Your Majesty, if we really had a son, he must have endured a lot over these years. Taoist Lu said his early life was full of twists and turns, only turning fortunate in his twenties. I wonder what kind of life he had in the beginning.”

“Yes…” sighed the Emperor.

As they were talking, they arrived at the palace where Lu Mingshan resided.

Lu Mingshan was treated well in the palace, after all, he was a guest invited back by the Emperor.

When Qi Jun and Concubine Liu arrived, he was having tea.

Qi Jun approached him, and Lu Mingshan stood up, supporting Qi Jun, “Your Majesty, please have a seat.”

“Taoist Lu, how is your health?” Qi Jun looked at Lu Mingshan’s snow-white eyebrows, speaking very courteously.

Lu Mingshan replied, “This humble Taoist is well, thanks to Your Majesty’s concern.”

Qi Jun chatted with Lu Mingshan for a while and couldn’t resist asking about his own son again.

Lu Mingshan said, “May you be blessed with infinite blessings, Your Majesty, you and he are father and son by fate.”

After saying this, Lu Mingshan didn’t want to say more.

The Emperor could only leave with a sense of disappointment and went to Concubine Liu’s palace.

Concubine Liu held Qi An and spoke of Li Qingzhi, “Your Majesty, you don’t know. Mr. Li has twin sons who look exactly alike and are very adorable. They also like An An very much, calling me grandma while calling An An little brother…”

Concubine Liu was older than the Emperor and looked much older than Madam Qian. When she was at the Li household, she had Li Damao and Li Ermao call her grandma.

Thinking of those two children, Concubine Liu smiled, “I told them An An is my child, but when I asked them to call An An uncle, they were reluctant and later refused to call me grandma, opting for auntie instead. They even raised several chickens themselves, reportedly hatching them after reading Lone Wanderer’s book…”

Qi Jun had someone read to him from Lone Wanderer’s books, including “The Lonely Travels”.

Some people thought the book was not good because its world lacked an emperor, even petitioning for it to be banned. However, Qi Jun paid it no mind. It was just a book, and there had been articles written about a utopian world before. Should “Record of the Peach Blossom Spring” also be banned?

Qi Jun had a favorable impression of the Lone Wanderer and didn’t listen to those officials.

Now, hearing Concubine Liu talk about Li Qingzhi’s two sons and learning that these children regarded their hatched chickens as their own, the Emperor couldn’t help but smile.

As he grew older, Qi Jun liked children more and more. Hearing interesting stories about children always amused him.

Thinking of Li Qingzhi, he had liked the man from their first meeting!

Wait a minute! The Emperor suddenly remembered something.

Lu Qingxi once said that Li Qingzhi looked somewhat like him!

Lu Mingshan said that he and his son were destined to meet. Could Li Qingzhi possibly be his son?

After learning that he had a son, Qi Jun had been pondering who his son might be.

Lu Mingshan, after expending his energy, concluded that the matter of the white eyebrow was likely true, so his son had an excellent destiny. Li Qingzhi was indeed outstanding, wasn’t he?

The more Qi Jun thought about it, the more excited he became. He said to Concubine Liu, “Ah Man, let’s go see Li Qingzhi tomorrow. I want to thank him in person.”

Concubine Liu was surprised. She had wanted to suggest that Qi Jun go see Li Qingzhi, but before she could speak, Qi Jun had already volunteered.

Qi Jun continued, “This Mr. Li, from the moment I saw him, I felt a connection.”

Qi Jun wanted to talk about his suspicion that Li Qingzhi was his son, but he was afraid that if it turned out to be false, he would needlessly sadden Concubine Liu, so he didn’t mention it.

Thinking back to how Qi Jun had immediately liked Li Qingzhi the first time he saw him, Concubine Liu smiled and said, “Alright, we’ll go see him tomorrow, quietly.”

“Okay,” Qi Jun agreed.

Having made their plans, Concubine Liu started thinking about other matters.

Lu Qingxi had collected Li Qingzhi’s writings and books to read to the Emperor. Just then, Qi Jun said, “I heard he wrote a book for children to read? Ah Man, have someone come and read it to An An.”

Qi Jun took the initiative!

Concubine Liu took out the storybook written by Li Qingzhi and said, “Your Majesty, I’ll read it.”

Qi Jun knew that Li Qingzhi had written some books. Concubine Liu had mentioned it to him before, but he didn’t know what those books were about.