Chapter 228 1/3

Lu Qingxi told Qi Jun the story he had discussed with Concubine Liu.

That night, Concubine Liu actually gave birth to a son and a daughter.

The daughter was born first but was killed by someone arranged by the late Empress, and everyone rushed to catch the person who killed the little princess…

The delivery room was chaotic at the time. In her emotional turmoil, Concubine Liu fainted.

The son was born during this commotion.

“Your Majesty, I searched for a long time to uncover this matter! The young prince was taken away shortly after birth. There was a young palace maid by the Empress’s side who saw it happen, but she couldn’t stop it in time. By the time she regained her senses, the child was gone. She thought the child had also been killed and was afraid to speak up for fear the Empress would blame her, so she didn’t dare to reveal this…” Lu Qingxi said, “As for who took the child and where he ended up, we haven’t yet figured out, as it has been over twenty years.”

“Where is that young palace maid?” the Emperor asked.

Lu Qingxi replied, “I have already captured her.”

Lu Qingxi brought in a woman in her forties or fifties, who indeed had served by Concubine Liu’s side back then.

After the daughter’s death, Concubine Liu inevitably vented her anger on those around her.

Having been a palace maid herself, she understood the plight of these people and hadn’t done anything excessive, but she had them transferred away from her.

This woman had originally served by Concubine Liu’s side but was reassigned to the imperial kitchen to help out. Later, as she grew older, she left the palace to marry.

Her husband passed away early, and now she was struggling to raise several children alone, making life very difficult. Because of this, when Lu Qingxi approached her and offered silver to assist with tasks, she agreed.

Following Lu Qingxi’s instructions, this woman began recounting the events of that year.

After a few more questions from Qi Jun, she started repeatedly kowtowing and begging for mercy: “Your Majesty, spare me, spare me! I can’t remember many things…”

Qi Jun felt helpless about this but suddenly remembered something and asked, “Did you get a clear look at the young prince’s appearance? Did he have any distinctive marks?”

The woman said, “Well… The young prince was just born, very skinny and red, as for distinctive marks… He had a mole on his body!”

Qi Jun asked, “Where was it located?”

“It was on his shoulder blade, on this side.” The woman pointed to her left shoulder blade.

The Emperor instinctively reached out to touch his own left back, but he only felt thick clothing.

On his left shoulder blade, there was indeed a mole!

His child, did he have a mole just like him?

Most importantly, Li Qingzhi had mentioned that he had a mole!

Qi Jun instructed Lu Qingxi to continue investigating this matter while he himself was filled with excitement, wishing he could leave the palace immediately.

Although there was no evidence, he believed firmly that Li Qingzhi was his son.

The bond between father and son couldn’t be faked!

The first time he saw Li Qingzhi, he felt that Li Qingzhi resembled him. As they spent more time together, he grew even fonder of Li Qingzhi.

Not just Li Qingzhi, he liked everyone in the Li family’s courtyard! Well, except for Li Laogen.

Qi Jun couldn’t wait to acknowledge his son.

“Your Majesty, I haven’t yet found out the whereabouts of the young prince, but I will continue to investigate…” Lu Qingxi said.

“That child must be Li Qingzhi! When I took a medicinal bath, he saw the mole on my back and told me that he had a mole in the same place on his body.” Qi Jun said.

Lu Qingxi once again marveled at how smoothly things were progressing.

He understood Qi Jun very well. With Qi Jun’s current attitude… Qi Jun already firmly believed that Li Qingzhi was his son!

Even Lu Qingxi was almost convinced that Li Qingzhi was Qi Jun’s son!

At the time, Lu Mingshan said that after finding his son, the Emperor’s health would improve. Now, indeed, the Emperor’s health had improved somewhat!

Even if Li Qingzhi turned out to be a fake prince, Qi Jun would be willing to treat him as a true prince!

Although he thought so, Lu Qingxi still said, “Your Majesty, the matter is not yet clear…”

Qi Jun completely ignored Lu Qingxi’s words and instead asked, “Axixi, do you have any way to see Li Qingzhi’s back?”

Lu Qingxi said, “Your Majesty, would you like to take Li Qingzhi to bathe in the hot spring?”

“Okay!” Qi Jun thought the idea was excellent.

Lu Qingxi continued, “Your Majesty, please don’t be in such a hurry. You must be careful. Think about the young master. He was originally a healthy child, but now his face is ruined and he’s blind…”

Qi Jun’s heart, which had been burning with determination to acknowledge Li Qingzhi, was suddenly extinguished upon hearing Li Qingzhi’s words.

He needed to be careful and not rush into acknowledging him.

His health was poor, and he hadn’t confronted the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yan head-on, so these two men had considerable power.

If they discovered Li Qingzhi’s identity, they might harm him!

Qi An had been burned, which had caused him great distress. If Li Qingzhi encountered such a thing… No, absolutely not!

Qi Jun said, “We must be careful and prioritize Li Qingzhi’s safety above all else.”

Even if he acknowledged Li Qingzhi as his son, he couldn’t rush to give Li Qingzhi an identity.

He had to wait until it was absolutely safe before he publicly acknowledged Li Qingzhi’s identity.

Recently, his spirits had improved somewhat, and it was a good time to find time to deal with the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yan!

He wanted to give his son a clean and honest court.

Qi Jun suddenly had many things he wanted to do, but before that, he planned to take a look at the mole on Li Qingzhi’s back.

That night, Qi Jun fetched a bronze mirror and carefully examined his own back.

The mole was black, about the size of a soybean, and had a shape similar to a soybean, slightly raised.

Although Qi Jun had known about the mole on his back before, he had never paid much attention to it. It was only now that he examined it carefully.

After looking at it for a long time, he put on his clothes and went to bed.

Although Qi Jun had a good relationship with Concubine Liu, his poor health had kept him from sleeping well. Most of the time, they slept separately.

Concubine Liu had recently been caring for Qi An, so their time together had been even less.

He also hadn’t rushed to tell Concubine Liu about Li Qingzhi’s situation and intended to wait and see.

The next day, Qi Jun woke up earlier than the previous days. When he arrived at the gate of the Li family’s house, it was still dark outside.

However, the Li family’s door was already open, slightly ajar.

Because he came every day, after Zhang Zao and the others woke up, they would open the door first thing.

Qi Jun pushed open the door and saw the familiar courtyard.

Before breakfast every day, Li Qingzhi would lead several children in early reading. At this moment, the children hadn’t yet gotten up, so he went to the kitchen to see Zhang Zao and the others cooking.

Upon hearing movement, Li Qingzhi came out of the kitchen and saw Qi Jun: “Old Master Liu, good morning.”

“Good morning.” Qi Jun smiled upon seeing Li Qingzhi.

“Old Master Liu, it’s cold outside. Would you like to come to the kitchen to warm up?” Li Qingzhi smiled and asked.

Li Qingzhi knew that Qi Jun was the Emperor. When they first interacted, he was quite cautious.

But after two days of getting along, he became more relaxed.

Qi Jun was indeed the Emperor, but also a somewhat lonely old man.

His children were not by his side, and because he was the Emperor, he didn’t have a bunch of friends like the old people in Qingshi Lane to chat and argue with.

On ordinary days, the only people he could speak freely with were Concubine Liu and Lu Qingxi, but these two also had their own tasks to attend to.

Moreover, Qi Jun’s poor health and eyesight… he practically stayed indoors every day!

If Qi Jun didn’t like socializing, he would have welcomed this situation, but the key was that Qi Jun actually enjoyed making friends.