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Princess Xinyang gritted her teeth and said, "Those four words again! What else can you say except "I don"t believe you?’"
Marquis Xuanping thought seriously for a moment and responded, "Just admit it already."
Princess Xinyang: "…!!"
Princess Xinyang felt she couldn"t stay there any longer. If she wasn’t angered to death by him, she would end up making herself sick to death.
—-seemed there wasn"t much difference between the two.
With a huff, Princess Xinyang stormed off.
She really had come to see her son, but Marquis Xuanping had angered her so much she had forgotten why she came here in the first place. Right now, she just wanted to get as far away from him as possible, so she headed straight for her carriage and went back to Zhuque Street.
Watching her leave, Marquis Xuanping clicked his tongue, "She still claims she wasn"t here to see me."
……
The successive deaths of Old Liang w.a.n.g and Old Liang w.a.n.gfei had caused quite a stir in both the imperial capital and the Prefectural City of Pingle.
It was said that Old Liang w.a.n.g was murdered out of revenge. But considering his good reputation for being gentle, kind, and charitable, how could he have enemies?
As for the death of Old Liang w.a.n.gfei, it was even more suspicious, reportedly struck by lightning.
Ancient people were superst.i.tious. What kind of sin would one have committed to be struck by lightning?
"Could it be that Old Liang w.a.n.gfei hired someone to kill Old Liang w.a.n.g?"
In a teahouse, people were discussing the matter.
A young man asked, "Old Liang w.a.n.gfei? Where did this talk come from?"
A middle-aged man replied, "Haven"t you been married yet? Many couples appear loving but are secretly enemies. I bet the one who wishes for my death the most is my wife!"
Many in the teahouse could relate, especially the women who came to buy tea for their husbands. Indeed, they often felt they could strangle their spouses.
But venting anger was one thing, and actually doing it was another.
If Old Liang w.a.n.g had truly pushed Old Liang w.a.n.gfei to the point of killing him, he must have done something she could no longer bear.
A disheveled scholar in his thirties stumbled over, half-drunk, half-awake. He sat down next to a group of people at a table, saying, "Hey, I heard that Old Liang w.a.n.g favors his illegitimate son and wants to strip his eldest son of his t.i.tle, making the illegitimate son the Liang w.a.n.g."
"Is that true?" The young man from before asked.
Taking a sip of wine, the scholar fanned himself with a folding fan and dramatically said, "Old Liang w.a.n.g and his original wife had a strained relationship. For another woman, he even raised his hand against his eldest son. Remember Princess Xinyang? She lived in Liang w.a.n.g Mansion as a child. Because of a disagreement between her and the eldest son, Old Liang w.a.n.g beat him half to death. Can Old Liang w.a.n.gfei not resent this? Can she not hate it? You think he is standing up for Princess Xinyang? No! He is humiliating Old Liang w.a.n.gfei!"
"Is that true?" The middle-aged man also asked.
The scholar closed his fan and responded seriously, "Absolutely true! If it weren"t for Old Liang w.a.n.gfei protecting him over the years, the mother and son would have died many times!"
The young man asked, "So, is Old Liang w.a.n.g a good person or not?"
The scholar replied, "He is a good person but not a good man. He favored his concubine over his wife! He fell seriously ill ten years ago and, on his deathbed, was still plotting to pa.s.s his t.i.tle to his illegitimate son. I also heard that he secretly summoned the steward of his residence while Old Liang w.a.n.gfei was in the capital with the eldest son, and had the steward draft a letter to request the stripping of the eldest son"s t.i.tle, making the illegitimate son the Liang w.a.n.g. Old Liang w.a.n.gfei accidentally found out about this, and in a fit of anger and humiliation, she hired someone to kill him!"
Another middle-aged merchant said, "That makes sense. If it wasn"t someone familiar with the Liang w.a.n.g Mansion who did it, how could they leave no trace?"
Others immediately agreed, "Exactly!"
The teahouse buzzed with chatter. The story about Old Liang w.a.n.g became more and more exaggerated. Upstairs, even Old Chief, who was about to hand over a script to the storyteller, was stunned.
You guys are so imaginative, you can even make up stories better than me!
I suddenly feel my script is so mediocre!
The storyteller held onto the other end of the script, pulling it but failing to retrieve it. He awkwardly said, "My Lord, do you still want to sell this script?"
Old Chief quickly pulled back the script about Old Liang w.a.n.g, "No, nevermind, I won"t sell it!"
The crowd"s wild speculations had simply ruined his business!
……
Due to lack of evidence, Old Liang w.a.n.g"s case was closed.
To put it bluntly, the Emperor was also influenced by the groundless rumors circulating among the people.
How could a person who had done nothing wrong be struck by lightning?
Could it be that it was really done by Old Liang w.a.n.gfei?
The Emperor then ordered a thorough investigation of the Liang w.a.n.g Mansion. Not investigating was fine, but once investigated, all of Old Liang w.a.n.g"s misdeeds over the years, including accepting bribes, colluding with local officials, illegally mining, and forcibly taking women from the people, were uncovered.
Great, just great! This was a terrible blow to the imperial family’s reputation!
The Emperor seized the Liang w.a.n.g Mansion, and Old Liang w.a.n.g"s descendants were all stripped of their t.i.tles and became commoners, severing any ties with the imperial family.
On that day, Gu Jiao was drying medicinal herbs in the courtyard when several soldiers arrived together with a married couple in their twenties.
The soldiers were from the Prefectural City of Pingle and the leader bowed to Gu Jiao, "Is this Physician Gu"s residence?"
"Yes, what can I do for you?" Gu Jiao paused her work.
The leading soldier quickly said, "Physician Gu, this humble one’s surname is Liu. Just call me Liu Quan."
Another Liu Quan.
"Who called me?" Liu Quan, holding a ladle, walked over from the newly opened kitchen next door.
Gu Jiao turned and said, "No, Uncle Liu, he has the same name. He is also called Liu Quan."
"Oh." Liu Quan was unfazed. This name was indeed common, and over the years, he had encountered many people with the same name.
He went back to cooking.
Perhaps because of this amusing name confusion, Soldier Liu Quan felt somewhat friendly and familiar. He smiled and led the couple forward, "They are from Xishui Village. They reported to the yamen that their child was missing. We checked their child"s situation, and it matches the child rescued from the well by Marquis Xuanping and Lord Xiao. The yamen recorded that the child was taken to Bishui Alley and treated by you, Physician Gu."
Gu Jiao nodded, "I did treat him, but we are short-staffed here. After he recovered, he was taken to Princess Xinyang"s place. Wait here, and I"ll have someone send a message to Princess Xinyang."
Hearing this, the couple almost kneeled down.
Their son was taken to be raised by a princess?
A princess?
A princess!
My G.o.d!
Was smoke rising from their ancestral graves?
The couple were still young, but they had already had five children due to early marriages in ancient times. The missing baby was their youngest.
The child was not abandoned out of cruelty but due to a misunderstanding.
The woman explained the situation to Gu Jiao with remorse, "That day, the yamen officials came in a hurry, saying there would be a torrential rain that might wash down the hillside and cause floods..."
It was a mudslide, but never mind, no need to explain that.
Gu Jiao patiently listened to her explanation.Raz P."s Thoughts
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