Grand Commander Luo blinked and cleared his throat with a dry cough. “Having served as Commander of the Jinlin Guard for so many years, I naturally know quite a few secrets. How did you come to know about the Zhuque Guard, Sheng’er?”

Luo Sheng’s eyebrows rose slightly.

So he didn’t want to reveal it to her.

She wasn’t one to force others into difficult positions, especially when that person was her current father.

Luo Sheng quickly replied, “Because my younger brother knows about it.”

Grand Commander Luo’s expression changed drastically, and he began coughing violently.

Luo Sheng poured a cup of tea and handed it over. “Father, drink some tea to ease yourself.”

Grand Commander Luo took it and gulped down the entire cup without tasting a single note of flavor.

At this moment, his heart was experiencing tremendous shock.

What did she mean by “because my younger brother knows about the Zhuque Guard”? What exactly was Sheng’er trying to say?

After a long while, Grand Commander Luo stared intently at Luo Sheng. “Sheng’er, you learned about the Zhuque Guard because Chen’er knows about it?”

Luo Sheng nodded calmly. “The Commander of the Zhuque Guard approached my younger brother, saying he was the youngest son of the Prince of Zhennan—”

Grand Commander Luo shot to his feet.

“Father?”

Grand Commander Luo slowly sat back down, suppressing the tumultuous waves in his heart, his face stern. “Sheng’er, you’re both young and naive—don’t be deceived by all sorts of dubious people. How can you believe such nonsense? If Chen’er were the youngest son of the Prince of Zhennan, then what about the child at the Prince of Zhennan’s mansion in the capital?”

“That one’s fake, obviously.”

Grand Commander Luo: “…”

After a good while, Grand Commander Luo finally recovered and said seriously, “What I mean is that it’s all nonsense—you mustn’t believe it!”

The corner of Luo Sheng’s mouth twitched.

If she hadn’t been so thoroughly familiar with the Prince of Zhennan’s household, seeing Grand Commander Luo this serious would have almost convinced her.

“But the ones secretly helping us are indeed the Zhuque Guard.”

Grand Commander Luo wanted to cough again.

Luo Sheng continued, “My younger brother traveled south with Uncle and the others, but didn’t return to Jinsha—he went to Heyang instead.”

“What?” Grand Commander Luo felt that the shocks he’d received in this short span of time were even greater than during that harrowing nighttime escape.

Steadying himself, Grand Commander Luo pressed on, “What’s he doing in Heyang?”

“Heyang is the Zhuque Guard’s hiding place. My younger brother went to take command.” Luo Sheng smiled cheerfully as she suggested, “Father, let’s head straight to find my younger brother when we go south.”

Grand Commander Luo’s expression instantly contorted, though he maintained a gentle tone with his daughter. “Sheng’er, it’s not a question of whether or not to go to Heyang. Of course we must go to Heyang—your younger brother is there, after all.”

Thinking this through, Grand Commander Luo felt suffocated again.

These two wretched children had acted first and reported later—they were going to be the death of him!

Calming himself down, Grand Commander Luo frowned and asked, “How did the Zhuque Guard find your younger brother?”

“When my younger brother was sorting through old belongings, he accidentally broke open a rattle drum and discovered a token inside. Finding it interesting, he carried it with him, and then Uncle Xing saw it—”

“That’s the uncle of the accountant?”

Luo Sheng nodded. “Uncle Xing is precisely the Commander of the Zhuque Guard. He recognized it and produced the other half of the token to verify. The two pieces of the token matched perfectly.”

Grand Commander Luo’s expression kept changing—he could no longer maintain his composure.

The accountant’s uncle was the Commander of the Zhuque Guard? What kind of people were working at Sheng’er’s wine shop?

“My younger brother has already accepted his true identity.”

Luo Sheng’s calm statement extinguished Grand Commander Luo’s desire to continue denying it.

He remained silent for a long time, then looked at Luo Sheng and asked hoarsely, “Has Sheng’er also accepted it?”

Luo Sheng smiled gently. “No matter how his background changes, to me Luo Chen will always be my younger brother, so Father needn’t deny it out of consideration for this.”

Grand Commander Luo smiled bitterly. “It’s not only out of consideration for that, but because your younger brother’s identity is too shocking—”

“Father, given our current circumstances, must we still worry about this?”

Grand Commander Luo froze, then understood.

That’s right. For so many years, the idea of keeping Chen’er’s identity tightly concealed had been ingrained in his very bones, making denial his first instinct.

But now that they’d already escaped from the capital, what was there left to fear?

Chen’er was ultimately the child of the Prince of Zhennan. If there was an opportunity for him to return to his ancestral roots, he would welcome it.

Grand Commander Luo let out a long sigh. “You’re right. Chen’er is indeed the orphaned heir of the Prince of Zhennan.”

“Then how did he end up in our family? Father, can you tell me about it?”

Looking at his beloved daughter whose eyes sparkled with curiosity, Grand Commander Luo’s emotions were indescribably complex. His thoughts drifted back to many years ago. “Back then, I was following imperial orders to hunt down and kill the household of the Prince of Zhennan. I received the Prince of Zhennan’s dying wish to protect his youngest son, secretly rescued him, and quietly brought him home. At that time, your mother had just given birth, so we kept him under the pretense of being your twin brother who had died young.”

Luo Sheng’s heart ached as she listened, and she couldn’t help asking, “My brother—”

Grand Commander Luo smiled bitterly. “I didn’t have the fortune to have a son. Your brother was weak from birth and didn’t survive. Your mother also passed away from excessive grief…”

Luo Sheng softly consoled him, “Father, you still have us.”

Now that things had been laid bare, from this day forward Luo Chen would be Bao’er, the youngest son of the Prince of Zhennan.

Then she would forever remain Miss Luo.

Grand Commander Luo reached out and rubbed Luo Sheng’s head. “Yes, I still have you.”

Once Grand Commander Luo had recovered his emotions, Luo Sheng asked, “Father, why did you risk such tremendous danger to accept the Prince of Zhennan’s dying wish to protect his child?”

This was something she’d wanted to know ever since discovering that Luo Chen was actually Bao’er.

Grand Commander Luo was silent for a moment before speaking. “One year, I traveled south on official business and met your mother… When your mother was to be married, I personally went to Jinsha to escort her. Passing through Nanyang, she suddenly felt unwell, so we had to stay there. Unexpectedly, your mother’s illness grew worse and worse—within just a few days, her life was in danger. I paid handsomely to bring renowned physicians from hundreds of miles around to treat her, but saw no improvement whatsoever…”

Recalling that brief period, Grand Commander Luo felt both heavy-hearted and somewhat sweet. “Later, I heard that a divine physician resided at the Prince of Zhennan’s mansion, so I secretly went to petition the Prince of Zhennan. I’d thought that given our respective positions, the Prince of Zhennan wouldn’t readily agree, but unexpectedly, he not only agreed without hesitation but also generously gifted rare medicinal materials when the divine physician diagnosed your mother and stated they were needed.”

Grand Commander Luo looked at Luo Sheng, his tone serious. “When one receives even a drop of kindness from another, one should repay it with a flowing spring. The Prince of Zhennan helped me so greatly back then, yet I had no choice but to lead troops to hunt down and kill his entire family. Being able to preserve his bloodline could be considered repaying that debt of gratitude…”

Luo Sheng listened quietly, tears hidden in her eyes.

So Miss Luo’s mother had once stayed briefly in Nanyang—there was this secret connection.

As if arranged by fate itself, this made the saying about repaying a drop of kindness with a flowing spring become the most beautiful expression.

“Father, let’s go to Heyang to find my younger brother.” The young woman smiled as she suppressed her tears.

Grand Commander Luo smiled. “Of course we must go find Chen’er. What kind of family would we be if we kept staying apart?”

The great ship sailed swiftly on the river as dawn approached.

At this moment in the capital, the brutal slaughter that had occurred at the Grand Commander’s mansion had passed its most savage phase.

Scanning the corpses strewn everywhere, Grand Commander Lei said coldly, “Search for me!”