Chapter 174 Your son is smarter than you

Chapter 174 Your son is smarter than you

Auntie wanted to say something more, but Shen Nanzi stopped her.

Xie Chengze remained quiet the whole time, as if he understood something, and didn't say a word the entire way.

Shen Nanzi said to the outside, "Come up here!"

Soon, the front curtain was lifted, and Ye Shuyin, dressed in white, stepped into the carriage.

Auntie moved Xie Chengze to the head seat, and then moved in herself, making room for Shen Nanzi in the seat opposite her.

Shen Nanzi gestured for him to sit down.

Ye Shuyin took a few more steps, looked at Xie Chengze, pinched his little face, and said to Shen Nanzi, "He looks just like his father. This is a good hand."

Xie Chengze stared at him, his clear black and white eyes filled with vigilance.

Seeing this, Ye Shuyin rubbed his head and said, "Don't be afraid, I'm a good person!"

Shen Nanzi had always been suspicious of Ye Shuyin's identity. "Didn't you say you came to find your family? Did you find them?"

Ye Shuyin sat down opposite him. "Imperial Censor Ye, do you remember the Ye family, whose property was confiscated and whose members were executed by the late emperor in the fifth year of Deyuan?"

Shen Nanzi knew, of course, that the Ye family, like the Xue family back then, had been a family of high-ranking officials for generations and a family that had been prominent for centuries.

Because of the embezzlement case, the men were executed and the women were exiled. It is said that the Ye family was too powerful, which aroused the emperor's suspicion, and thus they suffered this calamity.

Shen Nanzi raised her eyes: "It's been almost twenty years, and the Ye family no longer exists."

Ye Shuyin: "That's my aunt's husband's family. My aunt had only been married into the family for three years and was still a new bride when she was implicated."

"Because of my aunt's special status, the emperor was wary of her and dared not exile her, so he kept her and her child alone."

He lived in Luoyang City incognito.

Shen Nanzi listened quietly.

Ye Shuyin continued, "I came here to find my aunt, but unfortunately, she passed away three years ago."

"She was the last person who could prove my identity, but I never expected that she would also disappear."

Shen Nanzi saw a smile on his face, but there was bitterness and helplessness in that smile.

"Do you need me to prove your identity?"

Ye Shuyin smiled and said, "Not too stupid."

"What is your identity?"

"Ye Shuyin is just my alias. My surname is Mo and my given name is Lanxing."

Shen Nanzi's eyes flickered slightly, showing some surprise.

Xie Chengze spoke first, "The Mo family is the royal surname of Fangshuo Kingdom, and the surname of the monarchs who have ruled the Fangshuo royal court for generations."

Ye Shuyin looked at Xie Chengze with rare approval in his eyes, "At such a young age, you know a lot."

Shen Nanzi was very familiar with Fang Shuo, so how could she not know that Fang Shuo's family name was Mo?

"Mo Lanxing is the name of King Fang Shuo. If you are Mo Lanxing, then who is that Mo Lanxing?"

“My twin brother,” Ye Shuyin said. “Interesting, isn’t it!”

The royal family dislikes twins the most, firstly because they cause confusion regarding legitimacy.

Who is the eldest son? Who is the legitimate heir? The court and the people will be divided into two factions, with ministers each clinging to the rightful heir, directly sowing the seeds of a power struggle for the throne.

Secondly, it is an ominous sign, as twins share the same fate but different destinies.

There was even a saying that "twin dragons will inevitably perish," and court officials would use this as an excuse to oppose twins inheriting the throne.

Their mother, of course, knew of this potential danger and immediately sent her younger brother away in secret.

They were all their mother's children. Her mother didn't want her younger brother to suffer, so she secretly raised him in a small border town with Yunhan.

He never knew he had a twin brother.

After his father's death, just as he was about to ascend the throne, he was murdered and forced to fake his death to leave the palace. His twin brother then took the throne that he was rightfully entitled to.

He also married his crown princess, who is now Queen Fang Shuo.

After hearing his story, Shen Nanzi felt quite sympathetic towards his plight.

A dignified monarch was forced to flee to another country, just to prove his identity.

"Then what can I do for you?"

"Don't you have the identity of Lady Xue in Fangshuo? I need your identity to take me into the palace."

Shen Nanzi has false identities in many foreign lands to facilitate her business and earn money.

Fang Shuo's identity is indeed Madam Xue.

"How did you know my identity?" Her identity was not something that ordinary people could find out.

The fact that he knew this shows that he wasn't alone as he claimed.

“The Phantom Pavilion is mine,” he said.

Shen Nanzi was slightly surprised. She had suspected it at the time, but it really was the Pavilion Master, it really was him.

"Then aren't you working together with Xie Yan?" Shen Nanzi's chest heaved. "You also contributed to the intelligence gathering about my brother?"

Ye Shuyin said, "Xie Yan would never be controlled by me. He has his own moles. We are just trading information with each other, not what you think."

"If you're willing to pay, I'll sell you the information anyway."

Shen Nanzi never expected that they were already connected.

Does Xie Yan know your identity?

If they knew, wouldn't they be found wherever they went?

Ye Shuyin pursed her lips. "Whether he knows or not, I don't know."

"But now I need you, and even if he had ten thousand gold pieces, he couldn't buy a single piece of information about you."

After a moment's thought, Shen Nanzi realized that it made sense. He needed her identity as Lady Xue to help him regain his status as the king, so he would definitely not expose her whereabouts.

At least, she's safe until he succeeds.

"Then how will you get me out of Luoyang?"

Ye Shuyin looked at Shen Nanzi and said, "My identity is my aunt's son, Ye Shuyin."

"Your identity is Madam Ye, of the Wen family, and your given name is Li."

He looked at Xie Chengze and said, "He is our son, Ye Zixu."

"Your great-aunt is your wet nurse, and Qinghe will remain your guard."

After saying that, he took out his household registration book and identity document.

"These are all real identities, there was no falsification, the reason was to visit Fang Shuo's relatives."

Shen Nanzi held those identity documents, which indeed had all the official seals.

“I’ve given your sister-in-law and your three nephews new identities.”

"It's our sister-in-law; we're going to visit relatives together."

Shen Nanzi looked at everything he had prepared, "You knew we would take this path."

Ye Shuyin laughed, pointing to his head, "Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have been used by your second sister-in-law and sent to your side."

"You planned all of this in advance?" Shen Nanzi found it somewhat amusing, laughing at her own naiveté.

Sure enough, it was Xue Qingning who sent him to her side. She really went to great lengths, knowing that she liked beautiful things, and unexpectedly gave her an opportunity.

"So you can rest assured to follow me. I will protect you with utmost safety along the way and guarantee that Xie Yan will not be able to find you."

Ye Shuyin smiled.

Shen Nanzi stared at him, "It's not worth it for me to only make such a small profit from such a big deal."

Her business-like demeanor amused Ye Shuyin.

"What else do you want? Is one city enough? I'll guarantee your lifelong peace and well-being!"

"Mother, Father conquered all 101 cities of Fang Shuo back then," Xie Chengze reminded her.

Ye Shuyin laughed and scolded, "You brat, what are you worried about?"

"If my father were to ascend the throne and take so many of your cities, are you sure you wouldn't hold a grudge against us?" Xie Chengze asked indifferently.

"Although I am not my father's favorite son, once you ascend the throne, you can sacrifice us to appease the people's anger."

Shen Nanzi looked at Xie Chengze in surprise.

"Kid, that's all for later. You have no other choice right now."

Ye Shuyin smiled at Shen Nanzi and said, "Your son is smarter than you."

"So you've been dealt a good hand."

Ye Shuyin then looked at Xie Chengze and asked, "What do you want, kid?"

Xie Chengze's gaze was indifferent: "Once you sit on the throne again, give us three thousand soldiers and armor, send us back to Yunhan, and then sign a hundred-year non-aggression pact between the border cities."

"We will take the city ourselves."