Chapter 999 – Battle in the Northern Frontier (Thirty-Six)
Liu Zhao silently gazed at Aunt Die.
When he looked at others with such seriousness, outsiders would notice that his eyes bore a striking resemblance to Jiang Pengji’s.
“Auntie—” Liu Zhao lowered his voice, his tone serious, “I know what I’m doing in my heart—”
“What could you possibly know!” Aunt Die seemed to be provoked by something, her hands unsteadily gripping Liu Zhao’s shoulders, her expression driven to the point of distortion, “Your mother used to say she knew what was in her heart, and how did that end?”
She died!
Just yesterday, the person who was smiling while teaching her how to manage the household and brew pear blossom wine dropped dead the next day!
Aunt Die clearly wanted to scream, but she kept her composure and forced herself to hold back.
Liu Zhao felt as if his shoulders were being clamped by a pair of pliers.
It hurt so much that tears were welling up, but he stubbornly remained silent.
Aunt Die held herself in, managing to calm her emotions somewhat.
“Look at your reaction; you must have learned the truth from some source, right?”
Liu Zhao hesitated for a moment, then gently nodded after a while, “That person told me… The brocade box you entrusted to me led me to my mother’s relics. I also found her letters among them…”
Before Liu Zhao came to Chongzhou, Aunt Die, who usually didn’t care for others, had unexpectedly visited him in the dead of night, nearly giving him a fright.
She hadn’t wasted time with unnecessary words, instead handing him an exquisite brocade box, said to be his mother’s relic.
“[Take a peek secretly; no matter what’s inside, you must keep it to yourself. Tell no one.]”
That’s what Aunt Die had said to him.
Although Liu Zhao felt doubtful inside, he couldn’t resist the temptation of curiosity and eventually opened the brocade box quietly.
Inside was a uniquely shaped key, along with a neatly folded piece of paper that had yellowed edges, depicting a map.
Avoiding everyone, Liu Zhao stealthily went to the location indicated on the map, where he discovered a treasure that would allow any normal person to live a life of ease.
However, those riches weren’t the important part; the crucial thing was that among them lay a relic from his biological mother.
Since Liu Zhao had memories, he had always thought of himself as the lowest of the lowly, a bastard son.
His mother was lowly, and his father treated him coldly.
Being able to eat in the Liu Residence was already a stroke of great fortune for him.
Yet that relic from his biological mother shattered his former understanding—
“Don’t listen to that nonsense!” Aunt Die stated decisively, “Don’t trust a single word that person says. If you really can’t make a decision, you can trust Lan Ting. Trust Lan Ting; even if you lack skills, you’ll at least become a carefree prince later on—”
Liu Zhao blushed; he hadn’t thought that far ahead.
He was used to being timid and comfortable.
He just wanted to strategize to protect those he wished to keep safe.
“The letters from my mother also said that Eldest Sister is absolutely trustworthy.” Liu Zhao seemed to recall something and added, “And you too.”
Aunt Die stiffened at his words.
Her beautiful face filled with sorrow, and her eyes seemed to cry silently.
“She really said that?”
Liu Zhao held up against Aunt Die’s blazing gaze and nodded with difficulty, “Yes, my mother said so.”
“Hmph, then at least she had a conscience.”
Aunt Die let out a soft huff, but her lips couldn’t help but curl up slightly.
“I just don’t understand—why does Auntie insist on me marrying early?”
Liu Zhao felt depressed thinking about it. Being forced into marriage had him climbing walls; he was frankly exhausted.
“Marry early, so you can part ways sooner.” Aunt Die replied, “That Eldest Sister of yours, regardless of her background, do you really think she has genuine sibling feelings for you? Do you think Liu Zhi truly cares for you? If you become too much of an eyesore, Liu Xi’s people can easily deal with you.”
Liu Zhao nervously swallowed, feeling a chill creeping down his neck.
Aunt Die was right; if he got in Eldest Sister’s way, even if she didn’t act, her people could secretly take action.
He didn’t have that many lives to evade such cunning schemes.
“Parting isn’t a long-term solution—”
Aunt Die scoffed, pointing at a pile of materials concerning young maidens on the table.
“The candidates Auntie has picked for you, aside from being pretty and shapely, their backgrounds are not impressive at all.”
Without a strong maternal family, Liu Zhao, with his unimpressive facade, wouldn’t attract much attention.
Upon closer inspection, Liu Zhao indeed found that the girls depicted were all stunningly beautiful, but their family backgrounds were lacking.
“Auntie, let’s wait for Eldest Sister to return and let her help choose.”
Liu Zhao stood firm in his opinion.
Aunt Die’s earlier quelled anger flared up again, and Liu Zhao quickly pacified her. He grasped Aunt Die’s wrist, saying, “Auntie, if what my mother wrote is true, I think you might be misunderstanding something. It’s not that I covet power; I have no desire to seize the future wealth that Eldest Sister builds. I merely trust my judgment to fulfill my mother’s wishes as much as possible.”
“And what are her wishes?”
“What do you think?” Liu Zhao countered.
Aunt Die’s stunning cheeks turned icy, and a murderous gleam ignited in her eyes as she glared at him, making Liu Zhao feel as if his neck were about to freeze solid.
“She was killed, yet she still won’t forget that man—while I tolerate marrying as a concubine, why doesn’t she consider me?”
Liu Zhao: “…”
No, this information is huge—
“Liu Zhao, remember, you can’t outplay those two!” Aunt Die warned, her eyes flickering with fear, “What a soul in one body, I don’t believe it at all; they are clearly unknown lonely spirits—As for the other one—”
Liu Zhao gently patted Aunt Die’s shoulder, calming her restless emotions.
He stared into her pure dark eyes, softly saying, “Auntie, I know. But it seems that some things can only be done by me.”
Liu Zhao was no fool; ever since he learned about the societal position of bastard sons, he knew how to hide his abilities.
The things taught by the master, he could learn in one go, yet he pretended to struggle, insisting on repeating them dozens of times.
Because he couldn’t overshadow his legitimate brother Liu Xi—
Well, it turned out to be his legitimate sister in the end.
Ultimately, for a bastard son to live well, he absolutely must not be more outstanding than the legitimate offspring.
At such a young age, no one had taught Liu Zhao these things, yet he intuitively understood, showing just how clever he was.
However, there was one thing he surely didn’t know—
If you pretend to be a pig to eat a tiger for too long, you will eventually start to lean towards the pig.
While pretending to be a slacker, Liu Zhao found it quite nice to be carefree, paying no mind to anything.
Coincidentally, his reborn Eldest Sister was an all-rounder, destined to unify the world in the future.
Whose leg could be thicker than his?
Don’t say Liu Zhao was ungrateful or that he forgot his original legitimate sister’s goodness.
He had barely met that legitimate sister and spoke only a few words; what feelings could he possibly have?
“What can you do?” Aunt Die scoffed coldly, “Even if you don’t hide your talents, who can you compete against?”
Liu Zhao: “…”
He couldn’t outdo anyone; no need to remind him of this sad reality over and over again.
“Wait, Aunt Die—” Liu Zhao looked around and beckoned her closer, whispering confidentially, “I suspect that person is fake!”
“Fake?” Aunt Die widened her eyes in shock.
“Considering the contents of my mother’s letter, the possibility is extremely high.” Liu Zhao explained, “I already have one reborn sister by my side… My mother acknowledged in her letter that she too was reborn from who knows where… Encountering such bizarre occurrences twice isn’t surprising at all…”
