Palace Fighting Naive Concubines’ Ascent to Power
Chapter 583: This Person is Your Third Brother

Chapter 583: Chapter 583: This Person is Your Third Brother

Perhaps it had been too long, but when she had left home, her third brother was about thirteen years old, good-looking enough to make the girl next door blush every time she saw him.

Many years had passed, but no matter how much time had changed, he should not have transformed into this appearance, right?

No, that’s not right!

Lian Hua thought and shook her head, feeling that something was off.

The Emperor followed her gaze and, after a moment’s thought, suggested, "Perhaps your third brother altered his looks?"

He had previously overlooked something, the key witness brought back by the Shadow Guard from the south was intercepted by Dead Soldiers, and initially, someone had also wanted to capture her Clan Uncle.

After much verification, it became clear that her family’s enemies were in the Capital, which explained why her third brother needed to disguise himself, probably for fear of being recognized by the enemies there.

This reason alone could account for the strange and unusual behavior of the rattan weaver.

The Emperor felt a surge of excitement; he had an intuition that he was very close to the truth, just one step away from grasping it.

Her family was in the Capital, and the reason for their presence here was likely for revenge and, furthermore, to find her.

The person weaving rattan in this portrait was indeed her third brother.

As long as he was here, he would not be hard to find.

"Could it be that Third Brother has turned into a thief?" Lian Hua muttered to herself, confused, "That shouldn’t be, it would be more suitable for Second Brother to be the thief. Uh, not quite, Second Brother would fit as a bandit, but a bandit is still a thief, they are all thieves, Third Brother joining them is also possible."

Although the Emperor felt a mix of amusement and exasperation at her monologue, he took her hand without further ado, "Nannan, I am quite confident, this person is indeed your third brother, he has just disguised his appearance."

Upon hearing this, Lian Hua stopped her self-doubt immediately, her eyes brightened, and she grew progressively more excited, "Really?"

When she was sure, she somewhat could not believe it.

The Emperor nodded, feeling a fervor in his heart.

Lian Hua’s spirits soared, overwhelmed with excitement, she trusted His Majesty.

Holding that portrait and looking at it again, she couldn’t help but spin around excitedly, "Ah, Your Majesty, oh, what should I do, Brother Zhao, I... oh my..."

There was a fiery ball inside her, burning fiercely, making her restless and unsure of what to say, yet wanting to say something, otherwise she felt she might burst.

Excitedly pacing around the Side Hall, nearly bursting into a dance, and at one moment, she was so thrilled she felt like screaming out loud.

Fearing that the portrait would be damaged by her excitement, she restrained her fervor, carefully placed the portrait and rattan on the dressing table, and sat down straight to look at it, occasionally looking back and smiling at the Emperor, "This is Third Brother."

Smiling naively.

The Emperor watched her, his eyes smiling as he responded to each of her remarks with a smile, "Hmm."

He could feel her overwhelming excitement and joy, after so many years of hardships, she had buried her pessimism and concern for her family deep in her heart, so upon hearing it really was her family, how could she not be overjoyed?

She smiled broadly, showing all her teeth, "Brother and everyone are doing well, they have repaid their debts and returned."

Thinking of this, she couldn’t sit still again, excitedly rubbing her hands, rising to her feet and circling around the Emperor excitedly.

At last, she was so excited that she couldn’t contain herself, throwing herself into the Emperor’s arms, rubbing her face against his chest and venting her exhilaration, "Your Majesty, it’s Brother Zhao, hahaha, it’s Brother Zhao, it really is him..."

The Emperor held her, feeling the slight tremble of her excited, delicate body in his arms, and tenderly responded, "Yes, it’s your Brother Zhao, Nannan be assured, I will definitely find him."

"Right, find him!" Lian Hua lifted her head, her eyes already moist with tears, as if she were overwhelmed with joy or as if a long-suppressed outburst had finally erupted.

Her lips trembled as she tried to hold back her tears and she said fiercely, "Find him, and then find father, and mother, and eldest brother, and second brother. I want to ask each of them, why didn’t they want me? Why? Nannan is really good..."

As she spoke, her throat choked up and tears streamed down her face.

She had tried countless times to understand why, and Clan Uncle had told her it was because they had a lot of debts, they didn’t want her to suffer.

But being without them was real suffering.

Every day was an agony, sometimes she would wake from dreams crying, longing for them, but she held back the tears and did not cry.

Sometimes, she even despondently thought that maybe her parents deliberately didn’t want her.

The years before she met His Majesty were the darkest years of her life, the mundane day-to-day life of a Palace Maid, numbly passing day after day, life seemed endless, with no hope, no meaning.

In her dreams, she had promised her mother, she would live well and happily, so she kept them in her heart, only daring to think of them occasionally.

She struggled to survive, dreaming of the day she could proudly tell them that she had been well-behaved, that she had obediently eaten her meals and slept well, living a good life, smiling every day.

She had learned a lot, learned to protect herself, she could live independently, even without her mother’s supervision, she managed her own well-being and wasn’t mischievous like when she was a child, she wasn’t going to make her mother angry anymore, she wouldn’t.

The dense clouds in the sky were swept away by the cold wind, revealing the high-hanging bright moon.

In the Yongding River, Wang San, covered in injuries, slowly emerged from beneath the water, warily watching the shore, like a piece of driftwood floating silently in the water.

The men of Guo Neng on the shore pursued relentlessly, and the swimmers in the water chased after him, the water and the shore closing in on him. Luckily, their swimming skills weren’t as good as his, and after a while, they couldn’t hold on and went ashore.

Only then did he catch his breath, able to follow the escape plan Young Master had instructed, when Guo Neng’s men thought he would keep fleeing downstream, he cleverly dived back into the water, straining every muscle to swim upstream.

After watching for a long while and making sure there were no men of Guo Neng on the shore, he swam toward the shore.

At this moment, he was a sorry sight, using his last bit of strength to climb onto the shore, collapsing onto the ground to catch his breath, his chest heaving uncontrollably.

Thinking of Uncle Ma, he felt both grief and pain, wracked with guilt, if only he hadn’t been greedy for that last bag of silver, perhaps they would have left earlier, and Uncle Ma wouldn’t have been captured.

Once he rescued Uncle Ma, he would atone with his life.

Struggling to get up, he wanted to meet up with his brothers immediately, but he had no strength left in his body, and stumbled, falling to the ground.

Soaked in the water for a long time, his skin was all wrinkled and soft, and the constant fleeing had drained him of his strength, coupled with his injuries, he was very weak now.

He was incredibly anxious, his body and mind tortured, but he had no strength.

He had to lie back down, repeatedly telling himself in his mind, Young Master’s lesson, haste makes waste, must not rush, definitely must not rush.

After resting for a while, he finally regained some strength.

He got up and immediately started running, but just a few steps in, he suddenly stopped, as if he remembered something.