CHAPTER 682: CHAPTER 335: LIKE A PIG_2

"You’ll see your mother soon."

"My mother only has one son, and if I die, she won’t survive either..." Zhao Yao said pitifully, "My father has many wives, and he doesn’t like my mother. I am my mother’s hope for survival; if I die, she can’t live..."

Ling Qiao knew about Lady Liang and the situation with the Tenth Prince. He deliberately asked, "Does your father really dislike your mother and you so much?"

"My father has too many women and sons; my mother and I are not noticeable, and he often forgets about us." Zhao Yao said while lying on the bed, intentionally revealing his family’s situation to Li Qiao. "My family is relatively wealthy; my eldest and second brothers are fighting over the inheritance..."

What Zhao Yao described was just as Li Qiao knew.

"Why don’t you go and fight for the inheritance?"

"Huh, me?" Zhao Yao pointed to himself incredulously, "Brother Jiao, do you think I can fight for the inheritance?"

"Aren’t you your father’s son? Why can’t you fight for it?"

"Brother Jiao, you overestimate me. Neither my mother nor I are smart; we can’t outfight my brothers." Zhao Yao said with a bitter face, "It’s hard enough for my mother and me to live well in my family. How dare we fight for the inheritance unless we want to die."

"If you don’t fight for the inheritance, what will happen to you and your mother when it’s being divided?"

"Even if my father doesn’t like us, he will still give some money to my mother and me, right?" Zhao Yao said with a naive look, "After all, I am his biological son. He wouldn’t be so heartless as not to give us any money, right?"

Seeing Zhao Yao’s honest look, Li Qiao didn’t have the heart to shatter his hopes.

"Oh, I kept forgetting to ask you, why did you come to Jinling?"

"I came to Jinling for fun, and then I was about to go to Yangzhou to visit my grandfather when I got caught." Zhao Yao said, looking extremely aggrieved, "I’ve been caught for so long, I wonder if my father has sent someone to find me?"

"Your father must have sent someone to find you; maybe they’re working on a plan to save you." Li Qiao knew that the emperor hadn’t sent anyone to search for Zhao Yao but instead sent other sons to oversee the imperial exams in Jinling. It seemed that, in the emperor’s mind, the Tenth Prince was truly insignificant.

"I hope so." Zhao Yao said, then buried himself in the pillow. "Brother Jiao, what about your family?"

"My family probably doesn’t know that I’m missing; they think I’m studying at the academy." Li Qiao said, "It’s better they don’t know, so they won’t worry."

"Brother Jiao, you seem like a good student. Your family must hope you pass the imperial exams and become an official. Being locked up here, I wonder if you’ll have the chance to take the exams."

Li Qiao’s mouth curved into a bitter smile, "If I can’t take it this year, I can try again next year."

"Then we must get out of here." Zhao Yao said, showing a troubled expression, "I’m too stupid to think of a way to escape, Brother Jiao. If you have the chance to escape, you should go first and not worry about me."

"Not worry about you?" Li Qiao hadn’t expected Zhao Yao to say that.

"If only you can escape, then don’t worry about me. I’ll only hold you back." Zhao Yao said with self-awareness.

Li Qiao gently tapped Zhao Yao’s head, "What nonsense are you spouting? We must escape together."

"Brother Jiao, I..."

"Alright, don’t say anymore." Li Qiao comforted Zhao Yao, "Don’t think too much, we’ll definitely get out of here."

As they spoke, the door to the secret chamber opened, and a person clad in nightwear brought in tonight’s dinner.

"Let’s eat first."

Smelling the aroma of food, Zhao Yao’s stomach growled in response. He sat up abruptly, his spirits restored, "Eat, we need to eat to have the strength to escape."

Seeing Zhao Yao so eager to eat, Li Qiao chuckled, "That’s true; we’ll need to eat well to have the energy to escape."

Tonight’s dinner was still good, but it was still poisoned.

Every time after eating, Zhao Yao not only felt weak but also very sleepy. Zhao Yao pretended to fall asleep accordingly.

Whenever he fell asleep, Li Qiao would leave the secret chamber. Today was no exception.

"In a couple of days, we’ll be taken out and sold." Li Qiao said to the other person in the room.

"Not waiting any longer?" the other person asked.

Li Qiao didn’t answer that question but instead asked, "Any news from the capital?"

The other person knew what Li Qiao wanted to know and replied, "The emperor hasn’t sent anyone to look for the Tenth Prince but instead sent Prince Jing and Prince Wei to Jinling for the imperial exams and sent Prince Chu to Peng City."