The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 629

"Meng Qingyuan, Meng Qingyuan."

After the Imperial Guards left, He Er kept muttering Meng Qingyuan's name, then suddenly slapped his thigh and instantly realized Meng Qingyuan's identity.

Currently, who else in the court with the surname Meng, and who is also in the eye of the storm, besides Meng Ji?

Meng Ji is about to be sent as an envoy to the Yarkand Khanate. Presumably, His Majesty has instructed the Commander to handle his affairs after his death.

As the pacification commissioner of the Southern Garrison, He Er did not participate much in the investigation of officials, but he was well aware that most officials in the court had illegitimate children. Some of them took concubines openly and legitimately, while others had historical issues that could not be properly resolved.

He Er was already 80-90% certain of Meng Qingyuan's identity, but he wouldn't investigate. He knew very well that if he did, the Commander would find out, which would probably displease him.

He Er made up his mind that he would take good care of Meng Qingyuan in the future. This was not only for career considerations, but also out of respect for Meng Ji.

On the other side, Meng Qingyuan walked briskly and was almost at his doorstep when he was blocked by several people.

"Isn't this that bastard? How dare he show his face today?"

These men were none other than a group of local hoodlums around the same age as Meng Qingyuan, and also children from various families in the area.

When Meng Qingyuan was seven or eight years old, they often bullied him. At that time, Meng Qingyuan had not yet learned martial arts, so he naturally could not beat them. Not only could he not beat them, but he was also verbally insulted by these people. This led to Meng Qingyuan rarely going out later, and his personality became relatively simple.

Over the years, Meng Qingyuan would be careful whenever he went out, afraid of running into these people. If he did run into them, he would usually pretend not to see them and let them say whatever they wanted.

Because Meng Qingyuan's mother told him not to let his father know about these distressing things, Meng Qingyuan, though naive, was also sensible at a young age. He knew very well what the consequences would be if his father found out. He was afraid that this matter would escalate, because once it did, his father's legal wife would no longer be able to pretend not to see it.

Meng Qingyuan was actually quite satisfied with his life, both before and now. His parents doted on him, and he had no worries about food and clothing. He excelled in both literature and martial arts, and was good at everything. The only problem was some gossip. Meng Qingyuan's mother was a very strong-willed woman, and she never seemed to care, which led Meng Qingyuan to not care much either.

Despite not caring, Meng Qingyuan couldn't help but glare at them when he heard them call him a bastard.

"Oh! You've gotten bolder, haven't you? You even dare to glare at us now."

The leader was displeased to see that Meng Qingyuan dared to glare at them. He was the boss in the neighborhood, and no one his age dared to glare at him. Even the older ones had to call him "Master".

"Get out of my way, I don't want trouble, you can't beat me."

Meng Qingyuan didn't want to get involved with these people. His mindset was still stuck in the past. Even though he was now a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Meng Qingyuan didn't want to get into a fight on his very first day in the Southern Garrison. He felt that this would have a great impact on his future career and would make his superiors have a bad impression of him.

"Brothers, did you hear what this bastard said? He said you're no match for him."

The leader picked at his ear, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, and spoke to the others behind him in an exaggerated tone.

Upon hearing this, the others burst into laughter.

“This kid has probably had a few drinks and doesn’t know his place. Brother, I’ll teach him a lesson.”

A tall, burly man stepped forward from behind the crowd and spoke.

This person had always played the role of a henchman in this group of people, so it was natural for him to step forward now.