Chapter 32: Capture

  The empress dowager listened to Xia Zhao's words and looked at him steadily for a long time before nodding her head and saying, "Then tell me, how do you think they should be dealt with?"

  Xia Zhao had also considered this issue for a long time, and calmly said: "This family is not bad. They are kind and clever, the whole family is harmonious and affectionate, and Sunzi feels very down-to-earth living with them."

  "What?! The empress suddenly stood up, looking at the second prince Xia Zhao in astonishment. "You're saying... you want to live with them?! I've investigated their family, they've been snake catchers for generations in this Wangjia Village. The only one who's somewhat decent is probably their second son, Wang Erzhu. You want to live with them?"

  What kind of person is the Empress Dowager? It's a matter of minutes for her to get to the bottom of an ordinary commoner's household. Moreover, she is a very cautious person, if she doesn't get to the bottom of this family's affairs, she won't rashly leave the palace and personally come to persuade the Second Prince.

  Xia Zhao stood up, with his hands behind his back, and said firmly: "Yes, I've thought about it long ago. Besides, since I've made up my mind, I'll always need people by my side. This family can be considered the first batch of people I've chosen. In the future, the Empress Dowager has also said that you can't protect me for a lifetime. Let me try to see if I have the ability to recognize talent. To sit in the highest position, it's not about being able to do many things, but whether you have a pair of eyes that can recognize talent and a heart that can tolerate everything."

  The empress gazed deeply at Xia Zhao, her lips slowly curving upwards into a joyful arc.

  That little baby who used to babble in his own arms has finally grown up.

  He stood in front of the window, tall and majestic, no longer the awkward and green youth of that year. That year, due to the life-and-death separation from his loved one, he was disheartened and disillusioned, and retreated into the empty gate.

  He now stands quietly in front of the window, majestic and serene, calm and composed.

  Sunlight came in through the window and outlined his tall figure with a golden edge.

  The empress dowager discovered for the first time that this child's shoulders were already broad and strong, thinking that he should be able to bear this heavy burden.

  "Alright, alright, you have a good heart, and it's not in vain that I've been worrying about you. The Empress stretched out her slender jade hand, patted Xiaozhao's shoulder, and pulled him down to sit, "Come, let's think this through together, how to break the deadlock..."

  The Empress Dowager secretly left the palace to meet with the Second Prince Xia Zhao, who had sneaked back into the capital from Jiangnan, in Wangjiacun Village. Meanwhile, in the imperial palace of the capital city, a mother and son sat opposite each other, sipping tea and both feeling uneasy.

  In the western wing of Fengyi Palace, Empress Zhao and Crown Prince Xia Qi sat facing each other on a low-to-the-ground bed by the window, with a small yellow rosewood tea table in between them. On the tea table were two cups of fragrant tea, from which wisps of steam curled up into the air.

  "...Mother is gone, and Eldest Second Brother still hasn't been found." The crown prince said in a low voice, his face very gloomy.

  The queen's face didn't look good either, she quickly glanced around and saw that the empress dowager's attendants were not nearby, so she boldly said: "Continue searching. The living must be seen by people, the dead must be seen by their corpses. You can't slack off. If there are still not enough people, you can let your uncle show up..."

  The queen was born in Shandong Zhao family, although the Zhao family is not as good as the four big families of Zhou, Wu, Zheng and Sheng, but in the Great Xia Dynasty, it is also a second-tier team that ranks among the top two.

  Although women from the four great families were noble, according to ancestral teachings they could not marry into the imperial family. Not only could they not marry princes, but also they could not marry sons of the imperial clan.

  So those who can marry into the royal family are all from second-rate families and are well-bred ladies.

  After these women married into the imperial family, their families naturally rose with them and received titles and appointments from the court.

  However, the imperial relatives who were enfeoffed as marquises were executed after five generations. The national dukes of the four great families, on the other hand, held their titles by hereditary succession and could not be compared to these imperial relatives who rose to prominence through their daughters' marriage ties.

  The prince furrowed his brow after hearing the empress's words, "Uncle is just a deputy commander of the Imperial Forest Army, and above him are people from the imperial grandmother's side pressing down, I'm afraid it won't be easy."

  The queen listened and also made sense, followed by frowning and thinking for half a day, but still couldn't come up with a suitable solution, and couldn't help but complain, "...... The empress dowager is really something, the emperor isn't even her own son, why does she treat you and the second prince so thickly and thinly to such an extent? Is being partial really that biased?"

  The crown prince could only smile bitterly. He had heard the people around the empress dowager say that at first, the empress dowager had also wanted to take him to Cining Palace to raise him personally, but his mother was reluctant, or rather, she was unwilling for her eldest son, whom she had given birth to with great difficulty, to be taken away by the empress dowager so easily.

  The empress dowager also did not insist on taking him away.

  Only two years later, Jiang Jieyu gave birth to her second brother. As soon as he was born, the Empress Dowager also asked to take him away. Jiang Jieyu thought it was a good thing and didn't say another word. Supporting her body that had just given birth, she personally took the Second Imperial Son Xia Zhao to the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace. She kept telling people that this was the Second Imperial Son's good fortune, and as long as the Empress Dowager did not summon him, she absolutely would not run to the palace to hang out.

  Because of her merits, Jiang Jieyu was promoted to Guifei by Emperor Xiaoming after she came out of her confinement. Below the empress were four positions: Gui, Shu, Xian and De feis. Jiang Jieyu jumped three levels at once, skipping Bin and Fei, becoming a Guifei, which is the first person below the empress. The other three fei positions were vacant, so Emperor Xiaoming's inner palace became the domain of the empress and Guifei Jiang, who vied with each other for power.

  The second prince Xia Zhao was filial to the empress dowager after he came of age, but only had a superficial relationship with Concubine Jiang.

  As she was raised by the Empress Dowager herself and was filial, her eyes only had the Empress Dowager, without Jiang Guifei. Such a grandson, the Empress Dowager naturally doted on him.

  The crown prince knew it was for this reason, but the empress would definitely not admit it, so he could only awkwardly change the subject.

  "Your Majesty's imperial grandmother died early, otherwise how would she have become the empress dowager? Now she actually controls the court, a hen crows at dawn, confusing the imperial order..." The Empress continued to chatter on.

  The crown prince heard this and cold sweat broke out on his back, he couldn't bear it anymore, stretched out his hand to cover the empress's mouth and said in a low voice: "Empress Dowager, do you not want to live?!"

  The queen finally came to herself and broke out in a cold sweat, forcing a smile: "I was just seeing things earlier, I didn't say anything, did I?"

  The crown prince glanced around and shook his head, saying: "Your Majesty, remember that some words, once spoken, cannot be taken back."

  The queen nodded repeatedly with a gloomy face, "I understand. You can go now." She saw the prince out and reminded him at the door, "You must hurry..."

  The crown prince nodded in agreement and went out to make arrangements.

  The next morning, a group of soldiers came to Wangjia Village and said that an escaped prisoner had run away from the capital's prison. They were carrying out the orders of the Governor of Beijing and had come to capture the escaped prisoner.

  The people of Wangjia Village were all stunned.

  They had never seen such an array before.

  "This official, may I ask who you are?" The old village chief came over with his cane, bowing and asking.

  The leading officer and soldiers held a document in their hands and waved it in front of the old village chief, who hastily scanned it, turned pale with fear, and quickly stepped aside to let them pass. The armored cavalry rode into the village on their fierce horses.

  They stopped at Wang Erge's house, dismounted and went forward to knock on the door.

  "Come out! The census is here!"

  The royal family looked at each other in dismay, unsure of what to do.

  It's still early, and Wang Erge hasn't gone to school yet. He has always been the most decisive person in the Wang family, and this disaster was also caused by him, so everyone in the family is looking at him.

  Wang Ergou said in a low voice: "I'll go out and take a look."

  As soon as he pushed open the door, he was pinned down by a government soldier, his hands twisted behind him and pressed against the wall.

  "Everyone inside come out!" Another government soldier shouted into it.

  Sheng Siyan heard the noise from next door and rushed out to take a look.

  She saw Wang Erge being twisted by an official army, his arm was pressed against the wall of the courtyard, Wang Erge gritted his teeth, his face was extremely painful, and she worried that the official army would twist off Wang Erge's arm, her heart suddenly became anxious.

  How can I help Wang Ergou?

  Sheng Siyan looked down and saw that Xiao Cui also came out to watch the commotion.

  Sheng Siyan turned her eyes and took the little hedgehog back into the house, quietly closing the courtyard door.

  After a while, a grey and fat little hedgehog crawled along the wall of the Sheng family's courtyard towards the wall of Wang Ergou's courtyard. Halfway through, it suddenly rolled down, and a small yellow package tied to the hedgehog was pierced by the sharp quills on its body. The powder fell from the hedgehog's body, all over the faces of the government soldiers.

  "Damn it! What a stinky thing, filthy to death!" The government soldiers found that a dirty hedgehog had rolled down from the wall of the courtyard, and they didn't take it seriously, thinking it was a wild animal in the countryside, and kicked it flying with one foot.

  The little hedgehog drew an arc in mid-air, curled up into a ball, and flew over the wall back to the yard of the Sheng family next door.

  "Ah——what's going on? I'm itching to death! I'm in agony!" Before long, many big red boils appeared on the face and body of the government soldier, looking like the poisonous boils on a toad's back, very frightening.

  Don't forget to collect it, guys!

  ……