It was already an hour later that the two little cubs were put to sleep.

Qin Xiaoxiao covered them with quilts, gave instructions to the nannies, and then returned to the room with Jing Heng.

Seeing his depressed expression, she suppressed a smile and comforted him: "They are just giving in. You just need to spend more time with them these days."

Jing Heng nodded: "I'll be a little busy these days. When I'm done, I'll take you out to play."

Tomorrow he will go into the palace to report the military training situation to Emperor Yuan He, and also go to the Maritime Trade Department to handle official duties. After being away for more than half a year, there must be a lot of things waiting for him to deal with, and he will not have much time to stay at home with his children.

After washing, the couple went to bed and lay down. Being considerate of Jingheng's busy schedule, Qin Xiaoxiao didn't ask him why he changed his face when he was just playing with the child. He just told him to go to bed early and get up early tomorrow.

Jingheng slept for nearly two hours in the afternoon and didn't feel sleepy now. He held her in his arms and started chatting.

Qin Xiaoxiao hesitated for a moment and tried to steer the topic in that direction: "Brother Li, do you still call me daddy when you are making such a fuss in silence?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she could clearly feel that his embrace had become stiff. She felt a sudden regret in her heart and regretted asking this question, and changed the subject before he could speak: "Nao Nao already knows how to call me mother, but I don't know when I will call you father.

"

Jing Heng hugged her tightly, his eyes clear and frightening in the darkness: "You and I have known each other for more than ten years, but I don't seem to have told you why my surname is Jing."

Qin Xiaoxiao knew that he had seen what she was thinking, and moved her buttocks closer to him: "It would be false to say that you are not curious about this matter. It's just that you don't want to mention the reason, and I won't either.

I force you to tell me, who doesn’t have a secret yet?”

Jing Heng seemed to smile, and his hand under the quilt caught hers, interlocking his fingers with hers: "Oh, so you have a secret to hide from me?"

Qin Xiaoxiao was stunned, wondering why she was suddenly involved. She raised her head and glared at him, and said angrily: "You watched me grow up, don't you know my secret?"

This guy has obviously known her secret for a long time, but he brought it up at this time. If he doesn't want to tell his secret, just tell him. She has already found a step for him, and if he doesn't follow it down, he will attack her.

, what a bully!

Hearing that she was annoyed, Jing Heng hugged her even tighter: "My last name was Zhang before I was three years old, and I am the grandson of the rebellious minister Zhang Qingtian."

Qin Xiaoxiao listened silently, and was no stranger to the name Zhang Qingtian.

Zhang Qingtian was born in the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion. His ancestors followed Emperor Taizu in the southern and northern campaigns and made great military exploits. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was personally conferred the title of Zhenbei Marquis by Emperor Taizu. This was a hereditary and distinguished family.

Zhang Qingtian showed his extraordinary side when he was young. He was praised by the late emperor for his "literary, Taoist and military strategy, and he did not fall into the style of his ancestors." He was quite famous in Beijing. When he was fifteen years old, there was a chaos in the north, so he volunteered to ask for help.

Go out to quell the war.

The old Zhenbei Marquis wanted to train him, so he put him into the army to suppress the rebellion. Unexpectedly, it took him three years to go there, and he climbed from a small soldier to the position of deputy general. After returning to the court, he even got the honor of the late emperor.

reuse.

When he was eighteen years old, Zhang Qingtian inherited the title and became the Marquis of Zhenbei. After that, any war that broke out in the border areas was indispensable for his role in quelling the chaos, but he was never defeated and soon became the general.

, holding one hundred thousand troops and horses, guarding the peace of one place.

But it was such a person who rebelled in the third year of Yuanhe and brought chaos to the country. In the end, he was defeated and committed suicide, and his entire family was executed. From then on, there was no Zhenbei Hou Mansion in the world.

Qin Xiaoxiao accidentally guessed that Zhang Qingtian was related to Jing Heng from a few words leaked by two female guards during the autumn hunting season, and went to the Xu Mansion to find out from Xu Ze on the pretext of asking for advice on the article.

She could guess that Princess Protector and even Queen Mother Jing changed his surname to protect him, but she didn't know why he never mentioned his father. Even the title "Dad" seemed to have become a taboo.

Combined with what he said when he was drunk, he resented his father in his heart and had a deep shadow on his father. However, this resentment had nothing to do with the Zhang family's rebellion. This was what she was puzzled about but did not dare to ask.

"...He...he is Zhang Qingtian's legitimate youngest son. Unlike his two elder brothers who were engaged in martial arts, he liked to study since childhood. When he was named a high school Jinshi on the gold medal list, he was granted a marriage to his mother by the late emperor, and they had me a year later.

"

At this point, Jingheng's mood was already a bit wrong, and the hand intertwined with Qin Xiaoxiao was trembling slightly.

"Brother Li, let's not talk about it, okay?" Qin Xiaoxiao let go of his hand and hugged him tightly: "Since saying it makes you so uncomfortable, I won't say it again, and I will never ask again.

!”

Jing Heng shook his head and hugged her tighter: "These things have been buried in my heart for a long time. There is nothing wrong with saying them."

When Qin Xiaoxiao heard this, she no longer stopped him. If possible, she would even want to take this opportunity to help him completely get rid of the shadow of the past.

In the third year of Yuanhe, the largest war broke out in the border area after the founding of the dynasty. Zhang Qingtian was ordered to quell the chaos, but he never thought that he would collude with the enemy to invade Tianyuan's territory.

He holds an army of 100,000 people, and nearly half of Tianyuan's troops and horses are in his hands. Together with the enemy's 30,000 cavalry, the DPRK has little chance of winning. The most terrifying thing is that thousands of people will be caught in the flames of war, and the people will have no way to live.

At this critical moment, the daughter-in-law Princess Protector seized the power of the army and led the army to suppress the rebels, turning the situation around. However, Zhang Qingtian took advantage of the chaos to escape, and then gathered the remaining troops to continue causing trouble on the border.

While Princess Protector led the army to resist vigorously, his men left in the capital attacked the prince, intending to use the prince to negotiate with Emperor Yuan He. However, the prince was not caught, but instead killed the queen and her youngest son who were shielding the prince from the sword.

At that time, the princess mansion was guarded by guards at all levels, and Xiao Jingheng and the prince-in-law were placed under house arrest on the orders of Emperor Yuanhe. When the queen and her youngest son died, Emperor Yuanhe was furious and threw them into the sky prison.

"...After my mother returned to the court, she knelt in front of the palace for a day and a night, exchanging military exploits for my life and his. Unexpectedly, he drew a sword and held me hostage, forcing my mother to save his two nephews..." In the darkness

, Jingheng’s eyes were bloodshot, and his body was as tense as a string that could break at any time.

When his biological father, who always loved him, pointed a sword at his neck, the three-year-old was not only afraid, but also sad and confused.

He didn't understand why his father, who had held him in his arms and whispered comfort to him a moment ago, telling him that he would protect him with his life, suddenly changed his mind and wanted to exchange the life of his biological son for the lives of his two cousins.

The feeling of being deceived and hurt by a loved one is far more painful than being stabbed by a stranger.

He matured earlier than other children of the same age since he was a child. At that time, he was already enlightened and studied under the guidance of his father. Compared with his strict mother, he had a deeper affection for his father Zhang Qingning. In the year when the Princess Protector went to the border to quell the rebellion,

Dori, he is the one he relies on completely.

Zhang Qingning's persecution failed to achieve the desired results, and Emperor Yuanhe could not let anyone in the Zhang family go. In desperation, he actually wanted to take revenge on his wife, Princess Protector, and stabbed his biological son in the chest with his sword.

In the end, the guards on the palace wall shot him with random arrows.

"Brother Li..." Qin Xiaoxiao burst into tears, feeling so heartbroken that she could hardly breathe: "It's over, everything is over, can you let yourself go?"

Jing Heng's arms hugging her tightened unconsciously, and he said in a tearful voice: "I don't understand, I don't understand why he did this to me! Yes, that's his nephew, and it's not wrong for him to want to save them, but

Why did you give up on me so easily?"

Qin Xiaoxiao held back the pain and tried her best to comfort him: "Brother Li, have you ever thought that he did this just for you?"

Jing Heng trembled: "Impossible!"

Qin Xiaoxiao patted his back, lowered his voice and said, "I have never met him, and I don't know him well, but if it hadn't been for this, Brother Li wouldn't have doubted his love for you, right?"

?”

Jingheng fell silent.

Qin Xiaoxiao hesitated, not knowing whether to express her suspicions. She was afraid that telling him would cause another, greater harm to him.

As if he knew what she was thinking, Jing Heng's voice became even more depressed: "Xiaoxiao, just say it."

Qin Xiaoxiao gritted his teeth and continued: "Brother Li, anyone who can be favored by mother is definitely not a fool. Doesn't he know that it is impossible to achieve his goal by doing this? But he still did it."

A man became a Jinshi at a young age and rose through the ranks in just a dozen years, reaching the position of a third-rank official. Although his status was a blessing, the most important thing was his own ability.

He held Brother Li hostage and forced his mother to rescue his two nephews. Anyone with a brain would know that the Holy Spirit would never agree. What he did was more like paving the way for Brother Li with his own life, preventing him from becoming a thief.

subsequent identity.

In addition, both his father and brother died at the hands of his mother, and the rest of his close relatives were about to be executed. He simply could not convince himself to continue to be the consort and live under the same roof as his mother, so he chose to embark on this desperate path.

What he did made Brother Li completely hate him, and he no longer wanted to recognize him as his father. However, this fulfilled his wish and would only make his mother and grandmother pity Brother Li even more, and also reduce the Holy Spirit's love for Brother Li.

Brother's anger and vigilance.

If not, she couldn't think of a reason for him to be "stupid".
Chapter completed!