I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

Chapter 263 Finding a Substitute

But he was lying in the ditch, motionless, his face pale and his lips chapped.

"Help, please save my son."

The frail mother picked up the little boy and climbed out of the ditch, looking around bewilderedly. An old man passing by came forward to check and reminded him, "The child is hungry. Make something to eat quickly."

Tian's mother hurriedly put the little boy on the cabbage and urged Rushu to drive the carriage home.

Seeing this, Lu Mingyang and Ruying hurried forward to help.

A bowl of steaming hot noodle soup, made by Tian's mother, was brought to the bedside. The little boy had already opened his eyes after drinking the water, and his round eyes blinked, making him look even more like Tian Qing.

Tian's mother's nose was sore, and she picked up the noodles and fed them to the little boy. After a while, the noodles were eaten up cleanly, and the little boy's face gradually showed a trace of blood.

Tian's mother wiped the dirt off the little boy's face and asked, "Son, where are your parents?"

"My parents died, and the traffickers wanted to sell me to a black kiln, so I ran away secretly."

The little boy said, plopping to his knees. "Mom, you saved me today and gave me food to eat. You are my mother. Please keep me. I will work, I will be filial to you, and I will take care of you in your old age and see you to the end of your life."

As he said this, he kowtowed.

Tian's mother knelt down, picked up the little boy, held him in her arms, and began to cry.

From then on, there was a little boy in the small thatched courtyard. The little boy said he had no name, so Tian's mother gave him a name, Tian Xiaoqing.

Tian Xiaoqing's arrival brought a lot of laughter and joy to the lifeless thatched courtyard.

"Mom, whose big house is that? It's so beautiful." One day, Tian Xiaoqing was playing with a bamboo dragonfly in the yard. She pointed at the roofed house next to her and asked in a baby voice.

Tian's mother was washing clothes. She looked up and smiled slightly: "That's your house. When Xiaoqing grows up, you can use it to marry her off, okay?"

Tian Xiaoqing ran to Tian's mother and kissed her.

Tian's mother was in a trance, and this trance lasted until the evening. Seeing Tian Xiaoqing fall asleep, Tian's mother took the kerosene lamp and went to the east room. Tian Qing's house had three rooms in total, two bedrooms on the east and west sides, and a main room in the middle.

Originally, Lu Mingyang and Tian's mother slept in the same room, but later when Tian Xiaoqing came, Lu Mingyang had to share a room with Ruying and Rushu.

"Come out!" Tian's mother knocked on the door and walked out. Lu Mingyang put on his clothes and walked towards the dim light in the courtyard.

Hearing the sound, Tian's mother turned around and said coldly: "Hurry up and leave. You are occupying the house. My son has no place to live."

The cold wind made the lamp wick turn slightly blue, and also made Tian's mother's face blurry.

Lu Mingyang was surprised and pointed to the side: "The new house will be available for living soon!"

"You don't understand what I'm saying." Tian's mother was furious: "Get out of here right now, get out as soon as the sun comes up."

"Mom!" Lu Mingyang choked.

Mother Tian turned back to the house, took a few steps, then stepped back and stuffed a letter into Lu Mingyang's hand. "On the night of your wedding, Qing'er deliberately sent you away. He actually wanted to pack up and leave with me. He also left a letter for you, but I didn't expect that when I went back to the house to pack my things, he was murdered."

Seeing Lu Mingyang's strange expression, Tian's mother explained awkwardly, "At that time, I thought it was Prince Ningyuan who killed my son, so I hid the letter."

"What about now?" Lu Mingyang's hand holding the letter trembled slightly.

Thinking of everything the girl in front of her had done for her son these days, Tian's mother felt regret and hatred.

"Ever since my mother and I were buried alive in Xiangguo Temple, I realized we were just pawns. If I hadn't seen Qing'er was disabled and worried about him not being able to find a wife, I wouldn't have succumbed to that man's instigation and taken Qing'er to the capital."

"You caused Qing'er to lose a leg, but I killed him."

At this point, Tian's mother burst into tears. Lu Mingyang gently comforted her, "Mom, it's not your fault."

"Go now. I became a widow when Qing'er was five years old. I know how hard it is to be a widow. At least you don't have children yet, so you can still come back. Whether you are sincere or not, at least Qing'er was happy when she left."

Tian's mother wiped away her snot and tears with her sleeves, then turned around and went back into the house.

Lu Mingyang opened Tian Qing's letter under the dim light of a kerosene lamp.

Xier:

When I saw you in the capital, I knew I was no longer worthy of you. But I refused to accept this. I hated you for abandoning me for fame and fortune, for turning my love and the leg I lost into a joke.

Now I know that the girl I like is still so pure and innocent. I am content. Although I don't have that person's power and wealth, I am the one who loves you the most in this world.

As long as you are happy, I am willing to do anything, including leaving you.

That person said, as long as I let go, you will still be his princess. I don't believe it, but I am willing to give it a try. If you are happy, I don't ask for anything, I just hope you remember that I played a role in your happiness.

If not, I will wait for you forever under the willow tree at the entrance of Shangyang Village, just like when I was a child.

The signature is, Brother Qing who loves you the most.

At the back of the letter was a divorce certificate and the marriage certificate glued together.

But he will never know whether he wins or loses.

The next morning, Tian's mother, always an early riser, didn't get up, nor did Tian Xiaoqing. Lu Mingyang, Ruying, and Rushu finished cooking and quietly closed the gate.

At the entrance of the village, there were two carriages parked, and a familiar figure stood in front of the carriages, quiet and warm.

Lu Mingyang trotted over and asked, "Sister, why are you here?"

Lu Mingyuan touched the haggard face and said distressedly: "I'm here to take my sister home."

Lu Mingyang smiled, and all the fatigue of the past few days disappeared.

Lu Mingyuan asked, "Are you still going to Shangyang Village to visit your adoptive parents?"

Lu Mingyang shook his head.

"Okay then!" Lu Mingyuan took his sister's hand and led her into the carriage.

Having not seen each other for many days, Zhuxin knew that the eldest girl wanted to talk to the fourth girl, so she asked Ruying and Rushu to sit in the carriage at the back.

The carriage moved slowly.

Lu Mingyang asked, "Eldest sister, you found that little boy, right?"

Lu Mingyuan nodded. She had countless ways to bring her sister home, but only if Tian's mother let her go willingly would her sister feel relieved.

"He was an orphan whose parents had both passed away. I happened to see a human trafficker selling him to a black kiln, so I bought him."

What a coincidence! Such a similar face. I wonder how much effort it took to find it. Lu Mingyang leaned on Lu Mingyuan's shoulder and said softly, "Thank you, elder sister."

Lu Mingyuan gently rubbed his sister's head and sighed, "With that child by her side, she has something to rely on. She will love him well, and slowly, things will get better."

But the person who was supposed to be loved is gone forever. Lu Mingyang listened, feeling sad, and asked in a muffled voice: "Eldest sister, is it true that no matter how deep the love is, there is always a replacement?"

"Do you miss him?" Lu Mingyuan glanced sideways.