Xue Chao swayed on his feet. Xue Yao seemed to be transported back to that desperate night again. While he was away on a military campaign, when he finally returned to the mansion after repelling the Nanzhao troops, all he saw was a bed full of blood, his dying wife, and his son wailing uncontrollably as if he knew he was about to lose his mother.
"If that's the case, how come I've never heard that the current Marquis's wife is a second wife? There's not a single whisper that Xue Chao isn't her biological son either."
[Because very few people knew about this matter. Later, fearing that he couldn't raise the child alone, Xue Yao finally married his current wife in the border town under the strong persuasion of others. She is a young lady from the wealthy Yang family in the border town.]
"Back then, Xue Yao was, after all, the future marquis. Even with a young child in tow, he didn't have to marry a merchant's daughter.
This era is different from modern times. In the hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, the union of a scholar and a merchant always makes one feel that there's something fishy going on."
[Even if there is something, only the Marquis and his wife of Pingyue know about it. It only took two months from the betrothal to the wedding of the two.
Xue Chao got a stepmother before he was even one year old.
At first, Yang Shi really took good care of Xue Chao until the family of three returned to the Marquis's mansion when the child was almost three years old.
After returning to the Marquis's mansion, as the eldest grandson, Xue Chao was directly taken by the Marquis's wife, who knew the truth, to her own courtyard to be raised.
Another year later, Yang Shi's brothers passed the imperial examinations and the whole family moved from the border town to the capital city. In the same year, Yang Shi became pregnant and gave birth to her first son the next year. In the following three years, she gave birth to Xue Yao's third and fourth sons in succession.]
"Little Zhuzi, since you've mentioned Yang Shi's natal family, have you forgotten to talk about Jiang Wan's family? She was also a young lady from a wealthy family. Haven't they come to see their grandson Xue Chao all these years?"
[Master, this brings us to Jiang Wan's background. When she first met Xue Yao, she was practically alone. Although she had servants and a considerable amount of wealth with her, she was truly the only master.
And her real identity was not from Dayan either.]
"From Nanzhao?" After all, they met at the border between Dayan and Nanzhao.
[Jiang Wan was not from Nanzhao, but from Nanyue. At that time, the old emperor of Nanzhao had just died, and there was a fierce power struggle among the upper - class. The Jiang family was purged because they took the wrong side.
Jiang Wan fled to Nanzhao with her family. Later, due to an informer, the Jiang family was still being hunted. She got separated from her family and servants and accidentally ended up in Dayan.
Before she could settle down, she met Xue Yao, fell in love at first sight, and got married on their second meeting.]
"Did Xue Yao know her identity as a Nanyue person?"
This was also what the emperor and his ministers of Dayan wanted to know, because Nanyue was one of the countries that destroyed Dayan.
In the past, if they heard such things, they wouldn't have thought much of it. There were not many inter - marriages between countries from top to bottom, but there were still some.
They didn't really care about it. But after learning that the destruction of Dayan was also related to spies and internal - external collusion, and the heavy blow it brought to Dayan, Emperor Mingxi and his ministers had to be more cautious.
Moreover, the territory of Dayan was said to have been infiltrated by these two young masters like a sieve, which made them even more suspicious.
At this time in the imperial court, even though Wei Ping slowed down his report, he had already said everything he needed to say.
Emperor Mingxi then looked at Marquis Xue Yao of Pingyue and said, "Lord Xue, I heard that your grandson was also abducted by child abductors. Why haven't I seen anyone from your mansion looking for him?"
Xue Yao quickly stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, my second grandson is indeed among the thirty - seven children who were rescued.
My son and I only found out that the grandson we thought was sent to his maternal grandfather's house had been abducted by child abductors when Lord Huo sent the child back to our mansion."
Emperor Mingxi nodded and said, "The inheritance of offspring is a major matter, both for a family and for a country. It cannot be ignored.
A young master of the Marquis's mansion was abducted, yet the head of the family didn't know. How can one govern the country if one can't even keep one's family in peace? You, as the grandfather and the father, should also reflect on yourselves."
Xue Yao bowed even lower and said, "Your Majesty is right. I will definitely conduct a thorough investigation."
Xue Chao also bowed and didn't dare to say a word.
[Master, what do you think Xue Yao's expression will be when he finds out that it was his own sons who colluded to do this?
He didn't know Jiang Wan's background at first, but when Xue Chao was six years old, Jiang's family came to the door. Only then did Xue Yao know that Jiang Wan was from a noble family in Nanyue.
He was afraid that if Xue Chao knew the truth, it would affect the already weak brotherly relationship among his sons. So he persuaded Jiang's family not to tell the truth and petitioned for Xue Chao to be made the heir apparent that year.
That year, Xue Yao's second son, Xue Yue, was not even one year old yet.]
"Jiang Wan is from a noble family in Nanyue? How noble is it?"
[The current Queen Mother Jiang Yu of Nanyue is her younger cousin.]
"Their family was purged for taking the wrong side, right? How come there's a Queen Mother cousin?"
[Indeed, they were purged because they supported the Prince of Wu. But her cousin and the then Prince of Cheng were in love with each other. When the Jiang family was in trouble, the Prince of Cheng took his cousin, Jiang Yu, into the Prince of Cheng's mansion as a concubine.
Later, there was too much infighting among the older brothers. The victorious Prince of Wu also died.
The Prince of Cheng picked up the throne without doing much. Jiang Yu became the Noble Consort De because of her son. Later, when her son ascended the throne, she jumped from the Noble Consort De to the Queen Mother.
It was this emperor who destroyed Dayan.]
Father and son of the Jiang family completely collapsed on the ground. Especially Jiang Chao, now this emperor of Nanyue was his cousin by marriage!
Emperor Mingxi was also stunned. He didn't expect that the Xue family had such a relationship with the emperor of Nanyue.
"Does Xue Yao know all this?"
[The Jiang family only showed up once when Xue Chao was six years old. At that time, Jiang Yu was still the Noble Consort De. But Xue Yao should be able to guess.]
The current situation of Xue Yao and Xue Chao was like having overseas relatives in a special period in Xia country. They were the key targets to be watched and investigated.
"Do the Xue brothers know about this?"
[It's not clear whether they know or not, but Yang Shi should know something. After all, as the wife of the heir apparent, she couldn't have been absent when the Jiang family came to the door.]
"So they didn't dare to kill Xue Chao directly, but instead targeted his son?"
[That's probably right. As mentioned before, Xue Chao's future infertility was also because they couldn't directly take his life, but wanted to make him childless.
In the future, he would either adopt a son from one of his younger brothers' families or the title would directly pass to his younger brother after his death.]
Childless!
Cold sweat broke out on Jiang Chao's forehead. If Xue Ju hadn't found his way home by himself, he might really have only these two options in the future.
[Xue Chao doesn't know yet. After he had the idea of remarrying, he was secretly given a child - lessening drug. Xue Ju and Xue Rui will be his only biological children.]
"Was it also his younger brothers who did this? After he married Lady Liu later, he didn't have any more children? Then why was his only biological daughter, Xue Rui, left by his side like a transparent person?"
[Hehe, because Xue Chao later had another son and a daughter! This really shocked his younger brothers who personally gave him the child - lessening drug.
Hahaha, they once thought that the expensive drug they bought was a fake. They almost got into a fight with the person who sold the fake drug.
The person who sold the drug repeatedly claimed that his drug was effective and even asked the brothers to try it themselves. He said it was free if it didn't work!]
