Chapter 304: Chapter 304: Precious

Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

Su Chong and the others rode back on horseback.

Six people riding on horseback, full of grace and vigor, attracting attention.

A joyful spirit accompanies happy events.

The bruises on their faces didn’t affect them in the slightest.

But once they got off the horses, their spirits dampened.

A servant handed a brocade box to Su Chong, saying, “This is from the son-in-law for the young masters.”

“Do we have a share too?” asked the Heir of Marquis Beining.

“I wonder what it is?” Chu Shun curiously asked.

“Hurry up and open it,” Prince NanAn urged impatiently.

Su Chong opened the brocade box, saw a pile of papers inside, and frowned.

At a second glance, seeing they were case files, a look of disappointment appeared on his face.

After reading the note Xie Jingchen left them, he looked dissatisfied.

“We train in the morning and read in the afternoon. Is this asking us to investigate cases at night?” Prince NanAn exclaimed.

“This is just treating us like donkeys,” Prince NanAn protested.

“….”

Su Chong and the others looked at Prince NanAn.

Prince NanAn felt a chill run through his heart.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?” he said, trying to stay calm.

“Why do you always like to compare yourself to a donkey?” Su Chong asked.

“It’s one thing to make such a comparison, but you always include us in it,” Chu Shun said.

“Well, our Prince is the most sentimental. The donkey that abandoned him, he still remembers to this day,” the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo Mansion said, stifling a laugh.

Prince NanAn was infuriated.

Su Chong smelled a whiff of gossip.

Putting his arm around the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo’s shoulders, Su Chong asked, “The Prince was once abandoned by a donkey?”

The Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo nodded.

From behind, Prince NanAn threatened, “If you dare say, we will break off….”

He couldn’t finish the word “break” before Chu Shun covered his mouth.

Only muffled sounds were left.

The Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo laughed, “This happened before the Eldest Young Master of Duke Chong’s Mansion disappeared. According to Princess NanAn, once she took the Prince to Duke Chong’s Mansion and saw that the Eldest Young Master had a pony. The Prince also clamored for one, so Princess NanAn had no choice but to take him to buy.”

“Our Prince picked out the only little donkey among a bunch of ponies; he insisted on buying it back, and Princess NanAn agreed.”

“The Prince carefully raised it for a year, but the first time he took it out for a stroll, he didn’t hold the reins well and let the donkey run off.”

“According to Princess NanAn, the Prince cried terribly, and to comfort him, Prince NanAn bought a dozen donkeys back, but the Prince didn’t want any except his own.”

This gossip came straight from Princess NanAn’s mouth.

So it ensures the authenticity of the gossip.

Su Chong’s shoulders almost dislocated from laughing.

Hahaha!

In the distance, Young Master Su was laughing so hard he couldn’t straighten up.

Prince NanAn’s face was as dark as a pot bottom.

What kind of friends has he made?

They didn’t keep such a shameful event secret; instead, they wished everyone knew.

The most, most, most insidious of all is his mother, the Princess Consort, to set up her son like this?

Young Master Su came over and, seeing his gloomy face, generously said, “Let me tell you something about my elder brother when he was young.”

Prince NanAn raised his eyebrows.

Young Master Su said, “This is also from my mother. She said that once, when my elder brother was eating, he dropped rice onto his clothes without noticing, and our goose charged at him and knocked him over.”

“My mother said the first creature in the world to knock my elder brother down was our goose.”

Su Chong, “….”

This time it was Prince NanAn’s turn to laugh uncontrollably.

“How come I never heard about this?” Su Chong blushed deeply.

“Mother secretly told me,” Young Master Su said.

“….”

“Elder brother, do you have any money on you?” Young Master Su asked.

“What do you need money for?” Su Chong asked.

“Don’t worry about why I need money. Give me ten taels of silver, and I’ll sell you a secret,” Young Master Su said softly.

“What secret?” Su Chong asked curiously.

Young Master Su held out his hand.

Su Chong, “….”

Is this really his own brother?

Prince NanAn pulled out ten taels of silver from his pocket and placed it in Young Master Su’s hand.

Young Master Su, delighted, tucked it into his pocket and reminded, “Don’t tell my mother, or it will be confiscated.”

Prince NanAn, “….”

So young, and already knows how to stash private money.

He can’t even get out, so where would he spend it?

Young Master Su looked at Su Chong and said, “Elder brother, do you know how you lost your memory?”

“Wasn’t it from a beating?” Su Chong asked.

“No,” Young Master Su shook his head.

Su Chong frowned.

Young Master Su said, “Just a few days ago, I finally got it out of mother. She said once you fainted as a child, and father, being panicked, picked you up to see a doctor. On the way out, because he rushed too much, he didn’t notice and your head hit the door hard. That woke you up, and since then, you don’t remember much from before.”

Su Chong, “….”

This news gave him a headache.

Is this the real reason he doesn’t remember the past?

“That goose was bought by father to console you out of guilt after hitting your head,” Young Master Su said with a smile.

“….”

“Growing up in my father’s hands, it’s really not easy,” Su Chong said, feeling sorry for himself.

“Mother said, after that incident, you scared father into a psychological shadow. From then on, whenever you faint from exhaustion, father doesn’t dare to help you,” Young Master Su said.

“….”

The group walked to the residence, exchanging stories of their strange childhood experiences.

Su Chong put his arm around Zhao Xu’s shoulder and asked, “How about you in your childhood?”

Zhao Xu shook his head and said, “I was born prematurely, weak and sick when I was young, and raised in the temple until I returned home at seven. So I don’t have such exciting stories like yours.”

“Exciting?” Su Chong’s mouth twitched.

“Don’t you think it’s dark?” he asked.

Zhao Xu laughed, “I only envy.”

“You say that, and I feel like giving you a goose,” Su Chong said.

“….”

“Brother Zhao hasn’t said why he came to the Capital; maybe we can help you,” Chu Shun said.

Zhao Xu’s face grew serious. “I came to the Daqi Dynasty to find my mother.”

“Your mother?” Su Chong was shocked.

“Isn’t your mother the Right Minister’s Wife of Nanliang?”

Zhao Xu shook his head.

Agarwood Pavilion.

In the backyard, a bamboo house.

Su Jin was putting the medicinal herbs bought by the Hidden Guard into the drawer.

Xingxing came running in with a bundle, “Miss, something terrible has happened!”

“We’ve lost something!” Xingxing shouted.

Su Jin looked at her, “What did we lose?”

“The son-in-law’s jade pendant, the one you were wearing while disguised as a man today,” Xingxing said.

“Could it have fallen into the carriage when changing the brocade robe?” Su Jin asked.

“No, I just checked the carriage and didn’t see it,” Xingxing said.

Xingxing was agitated.

Su Jin said, “It’s just a jade pendant. Losing it shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”

“But I asked the Hidden Guard, and he seemed very anxious,” Xingxing said.

Su Jin put down what she was doing and asked the Hidden Guard, “Is that jade pendant very valuable?”

The Hidden Guard replied, “That jade pendant has been worn by the Master for over ten years, handed to the Eldest Young Master before his expedition. It was given to the Master by the Eldest Young Master’s birth mother.”

Before setting out on the expedition, the Master told me if the Eldest Young Master dies from poison, the jade pendant should be buried with him, as a farewell gift from his parents.

Su Jin, “….”

Xingxing, “….”

“Such a precious jade pendant, and your Eldest Young Master doesn’t wear it all the time; just leaves it in a drawer. I thought it was just an ordinary pendant,” Su Jin said, exasperated.

The Hidden Guard, “….”

The jade pendant worn by the Emperor was snatched by Dongxiang Marquis and given to the Eldest Young Madam.

The maid would have just hastily tucked it into a side pocket, right?

Compared to the Eldest Young Madam, the Eldest Young Master is already considered very careful.

He really didn’t expect the jade pendant to get lost.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep