She Holds the World After Being Reborn
Chapter 269 - 268: When I die, you take him away.

Chapter 269: Chapter 268: When I die, you take him away.

Imperial Tutor Zhang, who should have died in the great fire, had somehow come back alive.

Half of his face was burned, rendering him unrecognizable.

The Empress Dowager looked at him, then glanced at the child in the swaddle.

She suddenly burst into laughter.

"Indeed, heaven doesn’t seal off all exits."

The opportunity Yan Wanqing spoke of had indeed presented itself.

With this child, she would have a chance to negotiate with Yan Wanqing.

Wasn’t that much more stable than relying on the seventh Prince, who was locked in the dungeon, his fate unknown and his sanity in question?

"Since I have been captured, I have nothing more to say, you may kill or beat me as you wish." Zhang closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate.

The Empress Dowager released her grip and slowly stood up: "After all, we are old acquaintances. Back in the day, you helped a lot with my dozens of treasures; wouldn’t letting you die so easily be too kind to you?"

"Someone, take him away for me," she commanded.

With a wave of her hand, the Palace Maids moved to take Zhang away.

However, the Imperial Secret Police didn’t let go: "This person was hidden deep within the palace and there’s also a child, they should be handled by the Imperial Secret Police now."

"All handed over to you?" the Empress Dowager scoffed with a cold laugh. "So, after all my efforts, the credit goes to you, the Imperial Secret Police?"

She was still hoping to use this child to bargain with Yan Wanqing.

Handing him over to the Imperial Secret Police would mean exposing everything to the Emperor, sealing her fate.

She wasn’t that foolish.

"After all, I am still the Empress Dowager. If you really think I’m as good as dead, go ahead and take him."

With that said, all the Imperial Secret Police knelt down.

After all, they were merely servants of the Imperial Family.

This Empress Dowager had stirred up so much trouble yet still lived well.

She was not someone those of such low status could afford to provoke.

Realizing this, the three agents of the Imperial Secret Police remained silent and left.

Seeing that they had left, the Empress Dowager clapped her hands, and the Palace Maids quickly took Zhang to a hidden room.

Holding the child that looked like a little mouse in her arms, her face full of disdain.

"So ugly."

The child, dirty and ragged, had survived so long in the palace following Zhang, skipping meals, and it was remarkable.

"Looks like he’s been drinking cat’s milk," one Palace Maid said. "No wonder we always heard a cat meowing; it turns out Zhang had found a mother cat to feed him."

"How can this animal’s milk nourish a person? Look how starved he is. Aren’t you going to hurry and find an Imperial Physician to get a wet nurse?" the Empress Dowager frowned and said.

Everyone had to wait for her explicit instructions before they would act.

Using them was not smooth at all.

They were nothing compared to her previous attendants.

Those could understand what she wanted just from a glance.

The more the Empress Dowager thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt, and her displeasure with the child only grew.

Seeing the wet nurse come over, she directly handed the child to her.

The wet nurse, seeing the child, felt a deep sympathy and quickly took him to be fed.

But the Empress Dowager had somehow procured such a large child, and the wet nurse was very uncertain about this matter.

This matter must be a profound secret of the Imperial Family, of great significance, and she dare not speak carelessly.

Thinking this, the wet nurse clamped her lips tight, and other than nursing and caring for the child, she said nothing else.

Zhang was confined in the inner palace by the Empress Dowager, who would torment him occasionally when she thought of him, and he was more out of breath than in.

Fearing that she would kill her plaything, the Empress Dowager had the Imperial Physician treat him.

Before they knew it, five days had passed.

By now, the little "mouse" had grown quite plump, his little cheeks much rounder.

Sometimes, the Empress Dowager would see her and find her more pleasing to the eye than before, and she would be willing to spend some time holding her.

However, she had always been unsure how to discuss bargaining chips with Yan Wanqing.

"Eunuch Zhang, this coward, dared to steal the Imperial Consort’s child," the Empress Dowager followed the thoughts in her mind.

There was indeed a child in the palace of Imperial Consort Sun, which meant that either someone had given someone else’s child to Imperial Consort Sun, or she herself, fearing to be held accountable by the Emperor, had found a child on her own.

Whichever it was, both constituted the crime of deceiving the sovereign.

As the legitimate eldest daughter of the Sun Family, Sun Lianyi called Sun Qinglian of the Yan Family ’Aunt,’ which made her sisters with Yan Wanqing—it was no wonder she was so concerned.

"Interesting, truly very interesting," the Empress Dowager, now with a bargaining chip, was even less hurried.

She needed to carefully consider how to completely control Yan Wanqing and the Yan Family.

At this moment, at the Yan Family residence.

Yan Li’an opened his eyes again, and the first thing he saw was his family.

Yan Xiaoliu carefully stored the silver needle away, looking at him with eyes full of hope, "Big brother, how do you feel?"

Yan Li’an’s eyes heated up, and he nodded, "I remembered, I remembered everything."

He finally remembered who he was, his name, and where his home was!

"Very good, very good!" Sun Qinglian, upon hearing this, was very happy, "Today is truly a joyful day."

"Yay, yay, yay! Big brother has finally regained his memory!" Yan Zizhuo jumped three feet high in excitement, and immediately rushed into his brother’s arms, "Big brother, let’s go out and play!"

During the period when the big brother had lost his memory, he had always been very cold.

He had not dared to approach him to play.

Now that he had returned to his former self, Yan Zizhuo couldn’t be happier.

Yan Li’an, now always responsive to his family’s needs, directly carried Yan Zizhuo out.

Watching their backs, Yan Wanqing stood next to Sun Qinglian, linking arms with her, "Mother."

Hearing her daughter’s voice, Sun Qinglian patted the back of her hand, "These times must have been hard on you; you’ve lost quite a bit of weight."

"Not hard at all." Where could it be hard?

Learning the news that her big brother had been resurrected from death,

Yan Wanqing was overjoyed to death.

If it weren’t for her age and considerations of the proprieties of gender, she would also have liked to lie on her brother’s back and circle around playing like Yan Zizhuo.

"Today I’ll personally cook and make chicken soup for you to drink," Sun Qinglian, evidently very happy today, rolled up her sleeves and headed towards the kitchen.

The sisters walked to the courtyard, hand in hand, laughing as they watched their big brother and Xiaoqi play.

"Fifth sister would definitely be overjoyed to know that big brother has regained his memory," Yan Lingzhen remarked.

Mentioning Yan Hongzhao, a dark cloud flashed across Yan Wanqing’s eyes.

In the time before she returned to the capital, she had led a group of people out of the capital to fight the grassroots; it had already been ten days, and they had not yet returned.

That truly made her somewhat anxious.

But this was the path Yan Hongzhao had chosen herself, and there was nothing she could do to interfere.

Since her fifth sister wished to become stronger, as an elder sister, all she could do was support her fully.

After playing with Yan Zizhuo for a while, Yan Li’an waved toward Yan Lingzhen, "Xiaoliu, take your younger brother and play for a while; big brother has something to discuss with Wanwan."

Hearing this, Yan Wanqing felt slightly ill at ease and moved her hands behind her back.

The inevitable could not be avoided.

She coughed lightly, "What would you like to ask, big brother?"

Yan Li’an pursed his lips, "You should know."

Yan Wanqing gave a bitter smile, "Not to interfere with each other, perhaps that is a better choice for you all."

Forcing connections again would be unfortunate for everyone.

Yan Li’an clenched his fists, "I just want to know if she came that day..."

"She came," Yan Wanqing answered, "She came with a big belly in the deep of night, then left crying."

"She..." Yan Li’an suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart, his chest constricted painfully, and his eyes began to moisten, his voice caught in his throat, "You’ve been frequently entering the palace recently, have you seen her, is she alright?"