No need to guess, this procession is coming to her house.
After all, her family is hiding a ticking bomb.
It’s just unknown whether this male protagonist from a previous life can still use his protagonist’s aura to turn the tide.
In situations like this, even if it’s unfavorable to the protagonist, usually the protagonist can survive due to their strong aura, but the people around the protagonist might not be so lucky and often end up as cannon fodder.
Tong Huaqiong cursed in her heart, she didn’t want to be cannon fodder.
Deal with it later.
Tong Huaqiong instructed Man Er and Yaozu to hide Xiao Long in the cellar.
The cellar had been prepared on the first day Xiao Long arrived at Qinghe Bay. Tong Huaqiong had Gu Dahuan set it up just in case this day came.
Xiao Long was stubborn and didn’t want to go into the cellar, so Tong Huaqiong pushed him in.
Before things are clarified, it’s best not to act rashly.
After hiding the person, Tong Huaqiong quickly thought things over.
If they were really here for the remnants of traitors, why make a big show of it? Why not just send a killer at night to deal with it?
Tong Huaqiong felt it was likely that the old emperor, like Liu Xiaozhu in his later years, suddenly recalled the executed Crown Prince amidst his loneliness, and, in his imagination, cast a flattering lens on the Crown Prince.
The deceased Crown Prince once again became the old emperor’s favorite son, and then a minister who knew about Xiao Long’s whereabouts disclosed that the Grand Prince was still alive, thus the old emperor impulsively wanted to fetch him.
Tong Huaqiong hoped it was this likelihood.
Village Chief Liu, upon hearing the news, hurried over, and seeing the armored and armed guards heading straight for Tong Huaqiong’s house, was scared out of his wits.
He thought maybe Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe had offended the emperor in Shengjing, and the emperor sent people to confiscate the house.
Looking at this setup, it seemed they wanted to wipe out nine generations.
Village Chief Liu’s knees trembled with fear. It was over; the entire Qinghe Bay might be implicated.
Since there was no escape, he decided to face it together and, with a determined look, headed to Tong Huaqiong’s house.
The procession arrived at Tong Huaqiong’s doorstep.
Tong Huaqiong opened the main door.
Standing at the forefront of the procession was a familiar face.
Su Chengmin.
Seeing Su Chengmin, Tong Huaqiong felt a stone in her heart dropping.
If she had known earlier, she wouldn’t have hidden Xiao Long.
A eunuch stepped out of the carriage within the procession and took out a yellow imperial edict.
The villagers, initially too afraid to gather around, followed when they saw the village chief arriving.
Despite that, they were still apprehensive.
Especially the older generation, with lingering memories of wartime, remembered how the rebel army swept through like locusts.
But seeing that the team’s demeanor was like that of a regular army and that they did not disturb the civilians or trample the crops,
The village chief, upon seeing the yellow imperial edict, waved his hand to signal everyone to kneel down. After all, they had all knelt the last time an edict was delivered to Tong Huaqiong, so kneeling upon seeing an edict was appropriate.
The villagers followed suit and knelt.
As a modern person, Tong Huaqiong truly didn’t want to kneel, but you can’t raise your head in Dasheng. She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and knelt down.
The eunuch took two steps forward and began to read the imperial edict.
After the reading, the surrounding area was as quiet as if the entire world ceased to exist.
The villagers were stunned.
They couldn’t grasp the elegant document’s full content, but they understood one thing: the so-called illegitimate child of Gu Dahuan, Gu Xiaolong, was the Grand Prince.
They knew about the Crown Prince’s execution due to rebellion, after all, it was reported back then. The news explicitly documented the emperor’s critical assessment of the Crown Prince, to the point of verbally lashing him thoroughly.
Now the old emperor was enacting a grandparent-grandchild emotion play again.
"Sui Feng Village Lady, please accept the decree." The eunuch handed the decree toward Tong Huaqiong.
Tong Huaqiong felt weak all over, as the might of imperial power in this era could crush people like ants.
"Is the Sui Feng Village Lady scared by the news of the Grand Prince’s identity?" The eunuch joked when he saw Tong Huaqiong didn’t accept the decree.
Indeed, who wouldn’t be frightened by such an event?
Tong Huaqiong thought to herself, she already knew!
Su Chengmin stepped forward and called out "Aunt Tong," helping Tong Huaqiong up.
Then Gu Dahuan and Chen Sufen also stood up together.
The village chief stood up, finding his entire back soaked in sweat.
His head was saved.
He thought Gu Dahuan didn’t seem like the type to have an illegitimate child and had once suspected Xiao Long’s origin, but he had never imagined Xiao Long was the son of the late Crown Prince.
Fortunately, the emperor was wise enough not to get children involved in adult business; otherwise, the entire Qinghe Bay would have been slaughtered.
The villagers all looked at Tong Huaqiong with various mixed feelings, some with envy in their eyes.
The Gu family sure got lucky, a kid suddenly appearing out of nowhere turned out to be the Grand Prince.
Looks like the Gu family is about to reach great heights; considering the news of Tong Huaqiong going to Shengjing, everyone was increasingly convinced of this conclusion.
Some even frowned, wondering if they had offended Xiao Long before.
A few kids who had called Xiao Long a bastard turned pale with fear.
"Where is the Grand Prince?" the eunuch asked.
The Grand Prince was in the cellar.
Tong Huaqiong signaled with her eyes for Gu Dahuan to bring him out from the cellar.
No need for Gu Dahuan to act; the Grand Prince had already crawled out from the cellar.
"Greetings to the Grand Prince," the guard crowd knelt down in unison.
The eunuch delivering the edict was tearful.
The Grand Prince approached Tong Huaqiong and tightly grasped her hand.
His small face showed no trace of joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness.
The villagers, seeing the scene, were abuzz with discussions.
"I told you, Xiao Long didn’t seem like one of our villagers; turns out, he’s royalty."
"It’s not Xiao Long anymore; now it’s the Grand Prince."
"Do you think he’ll become the emperor?"
"Don’t talk nonsense; who becomes emperor isn’t our concern."
The village chief felt the topic was too sensitive and sternly reprimanded the person who spoke.
"No matter who becomes the emperor of Dasheng, we are all citizens of Dasheng," said the village chief with wisdom.
But obviously, no one cared.
Tong Huaqiong noticed from the eunuch to the guards, the gaze upon Xiao Long was full of excitement, fervor, and tears.
No wonder Xiao Long could bypass other sons of the old emperor in the previous life; he had a solid foundation laid by the late Crown Prince and left behind loyal fervent followers.
"Everyone, rise." Xiao Long’s voice was clear and carried maturity beyond his age.
Soon, Tong Huaqiong’s house was surrounded.
Even the trees were filled with people; for the Grand Prince’s safety, Tong Huaqiong guessed there were more hidden guards yet to show themselves nearby.
Now that the Grand Prince was found, they needed to depart promptly.
Xiao Long was unwilling, furrowing his little face, wanting to travel with Tong Huaqiong to Shengjing.
The officials from the Ministry of Rites initially objected, but Su Chengmin convinced them.
"What is the old emperor thinking?" Tong Huaqiong privately asked Su Chengmin.
"He has cleared the Crown Prince’s name and plans to raise the Grand Prince under his care," Su Chengmin replied.
Tong Huaqiong feared the old emperor might change on a whim, dragging them into disaster.
Su Chengmin said, "Accompanying a sovereign is like accompanying a tiger; we can only take it one step at a time."
Tong Huaqiong nodded.
She never expected that in this era, she wanted to be a hardworking, prosperous commoner, yet was still entangled with the Royal Family.
Chen Sufen began to weep.
As Xiao Long’s adoptive mother in name, she had poured her heart and soul into him over the years, developing feelings no less than those for her biological child.
Thinking of Xiao Long, so young, having to return to the imperial palace to stay with an unpredictable emperor made her heart ache.
With Xiao Long’s identity as the Grand Prince exposed, there would now be a barrier in status between him and the Gu family, making it difficult to see each other in the future.
Xiao Long sensed Chen Sufen’s reluctance and sadness, sat beside her, and rubbed his head against her.
"Is the imperial palace fun?" Man Er curiously asked.
Xiao Long shook his head, then nodded, saying, "You want to come with me?"
Chen Sufen and Gu Dahuan were taken aback.
Oh heavens, their daughter couldn’t go to a place like the imperial palace, where freedom of movement was restricted.
After some thought, Man Er said, "Sure."
Hearing their daughter say this, Chen Sufen and Gu Dahuan felt stifled.
Yaozu said, "I want to go too. I don’t want to study anymore. Xiao Long, appoint me as your guard."
Yaozu thought the armed guards who came to Qinghe Bay looked awfully imposing.