Chapter 1249: Chapter 760: Drowning (Second Update)

Du Zhimiao’s hand trembled as he held the envelope.

He also looked at An Ning in surprise, probably not expecting that his identity had been revealed.

He quickly replied, "Yes, my father is Du Jianghong."

"Give me the letter," An Ning quickly said.

Du Zhimiao handed over the letter with both hands.

An Ning hastily opened the bloodstained letter, confirming that the handwriting was indeed Du Jianghong’s.

After reading it, An Ning couldn’t help but feel a heavy heart.

When they parted ways in Mobei, she had told Du Jianghong that Daxuan could accept him.

But Du Jianghong was unwilling to turn to Daxuan and chose to refuse.

An Ning always felt that Du Jianghong’s return would not be so smooth. In the end, she wrote down an address and a contact person. After all, it was difficult for Du Jianghong to meet her directly at the Imperial Palace, but it was easy to meet Yan Jinyao. Once Yan Jinyao received the message, he would naturally know how to contact her.

Now this letter contained the matter of the Du family being executed by the Emperor of Cang, and Du Jianghong probably did not expect that his firm loyalty would lead to such cruel retribution from Cang. To preserve the only lifeline of his family, Du Jianghong used all his strength to send his son Du Zhimiao out of Cang, telling him to come to Wenzhou to find her.

"This is the place you were meant to find. Why didn’t you go directly to seek Yan Jinyao, instead of choosing to beg?" An Ning asked suppressively.

Upon hearing the news that the Du family was executed, she still felt deep sorrow.

"I did come to look, but the guards at the gate drove me away, saying not just anyone could meet the Second Master and told me not to come back!" Du Zhimiao replied. "I thought I might run into Yan Jinyao if I became a beggar."

An Ning’s face darkened.

Uncle Zhang quickly understood and went to call the guards.

As soon as the guards entered, they recognized the little beggar at a glance and said angrily, "How did you get in here? Didn’t we say we don’t allow beggars and told you not to beg here?!"

"He already said he was looking for Yan Jinyao. Why did you drive him away?!" An Ning said angrily.

Thinking of the hardships Du Zhimiao must have endured, she became even angrier at the guard.

The guard, frightened, quickly knelt down. "Miss... Miss, lately, because our An Residence’s business has been booming, beggars keep coming here for food. We used to help each one, but then more and more came, lining up every day. Some were not even real beggars but pretended to be one to beg. The Second Master said we couldn’t go on like this since we are not running a temple, so he instructed us not to deal with beggars anymore."

Yan Jinyao, standing by, also hurriedly said, "Yes, such a thing did happen before. I did mention it to the guards. I didn’t expect someone would actually come looking for me."

An Ning pursed her lips.

She understood the guards were following orders, and she hadn’t separately told Yan Jinyao about this.

"Leave," An Ning ordered.

The guards quickly left.

"The rest of you leave too. I want to talk to Du Zhimiao alone."

Yan Jinyao quickly stood up, leading An Youyou out.

The room only had An Ning and Du Zhimiao left.

An Ning said, "I trust that if your father sent you to find me, he must have already told you who I am."

Du Zhimiao hurriedly knelt and kowtowed, "This humble one pays respects to the Empress."

An Ning looked at Du Zhimiao’s humble and servile manner.

In Cang, with Du Jianghong being the Prime Minister, second only to one, Du Zhimiao, as the legitimate son, naturally held a distinguished status.

Now he had fallen to such a state.

"Stand up, please," An Ning quickly said, personally helping Du Zhimiao up.

Du Zhimiao looked extremely respectful.

"Your father..."

Du Zhimiao lowered his eyes, being a person who had lost his family and wandered around, yet was not as utterly defeated as one might imagine. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"My family was executed; I am the only one who managed to escape."

"I once advised your father to follow me to Daxuan," An Ning said regretfully.

"Father mentioned it; that’s why he asked me to find you. In this world, the only person my father could still trust was the Empress." Saying this, Du Zhimiao knelt again.

"Get up," An Ning helped him again, "Since your father entrusted you to me, I will naturally take good care of you."

"Thank you, Empress."

"I will be returning to the palace the day after tomorrow," An Ning said, "You have two choices. First, stay in Wenzhou. Wenzhou is my private commercial territory, with many businesses you can manage. If you stay, I can have Yan Jinyao teach you business. I will ensure your future will be free from material worries."