Chapter 14 I dare not say

Xiao Zhen was stunned. In his previous life, he had even found out that King Liang had a daughter who died at the age of three or four, but he had no idea that King Liang actually had an adopted daughter.

Zhao is the royal surname. Even if she is an adopted daughter, without the permission of the clan office, this Zhao Xiaosi cannot have the surname Zhao.

It is impossible for him not to find out about the adopted daughter with the surname Zhao in his previous life, so such a person did not exist in his previous life at all.

In his previous life, King Liang had no adopted daughter, so no one could identify the assassin, and his parents died unjustly.

In his previous life, King Liang had no adopted daughter, so Xiao Su died in that sudden heavy rain, a month before his seventeenth birthday.

In his previous life, the King of Liang had no adopted daughter, so everyone blamed the death of the eldest princess and her husband and Xiao Su on the Liang Palace. The Xiao family and the Liang Palace were in a fierce dispute and were eventually convicted of treason and their entire family was executed. The emperor also caught Zhao Yunnuan in a swindle and she was forced to marry into the capital, where she died at the hands of several women in the harem.

Xiao Zhen sorted out the connections as quickly as possible. His heart was like a thousand horses galloping. Just now, he was self-righteous and thought that all this had changed because he was reborn. But now, with the facts in front of him, Xiao Zhen felt ashamed. The one who really changed all this was not his rebirth, but the adopted daughter of King Liang named Zhao Shiqing!

But why did King Liang not have an adopted daughter in his previous life, but had one in this life?

Was it that in his previous life, King Liang did not personally catch the kidnapper?

Then why didn’t he go in his previous life, but went in this life?

This was something Xiao Zhen couldn't understand, but it didn't matter now. What mattered was that his parents and cousin were truly able to survive because of Zhao Shiqing.

The princess was right in one thing: Zhao Shiqing was their family's savior.

At this moment, Xiao Zhen would never have thought that it was because of his good deed when he was young that King Liang met Zhao Shiqing, felt pity for him, and brought Zhao Shiqing back to the palace.

If it weren't for all the things that happened in his previous life, young Xiao Zhen wouldn't have had that strange dream, wouldn't have gone to Baifeng City to look for that so-called cousin, and wouldn't have met the little blind girl who was rescued by a wild dog.

In the final analysis, the cause in the previous life is the result in this life. He saved Zhao Shiqing which was the cause and effect, and Zhao Shiqing saved his parents and cousin which was also the cause and effect.

Of course, Xiao Zhen didn’t know this at the moment, and he couldn’t imagine it.

Princess Jiayi had been watching Xiao Zhen, and she discovered one thing, that is, her eldest son was different from before.

Not only did the face become half-human, half-ghost, but more importantly, his expression. Princess Jiayi blinked hard. "I wasn't mistaken. I actually saw the vicissitudes of life in the eyes of my eighteen-year-old son."

Even my forty-year-old prince consort does not have such vicissitudes of life.

After all, the biggest hardship that my prince consort has ever experienced in his life is being my prince consort. Apart from that, he has no worries, and of course he has not experienced the vicissitudes of life that a forty-year-old should have.

But my good eldest son has grown old.

Princess Jiayi opened her eyes wide and said, "Okay, okay, I'll talk to you after I return to the capital. Those who have harmed me and my son will never have a good life. If I don't make their lives miserable, I will write the word Zhao backwards. Humph, we all have the surname Zhao, and the only shame is for the men of the Zhao family!"

Concubine Li, who was far away in the capital, suddenly sneezed several times in succession. She didn't know that the woman she hated the most was about to come back.

Concubine Li was the biological mother of Emperor Yongjia. Normally, she should have been named Empress Dowager, but the retired emperor did not ask for it. Even if her son became emperor, she could only condescend to be a concubine. If she wanted to be Empress Dowager, she could only wait until the retired emperor passed away.

Concubine Li was still waiting for the news of Princess Jiayi's death, but Princess Jiayi had already begun to plan how to disturb the harem.

However, a word from her eldest son gave her a wake-up call.

"Do you have anything to do with King Liang's death?" Xiao Zhen asked.

Princess Jiayi was startled and slapped Xiao Zhen on the head. "I raised you with so much hardship, and you actually doubted me. If I had known this would happen, I would have been better off growing a vegetable!"

Xiao Zhen: When I was a child, I had three wet nurses, a dozen maids and old women, plus an imperial physician who was good at pediatrics. When did you ever raise me with all the hardship?

Of course, Xiao Zhen only dared to say such words in his heart. After all, it was very difficult for the princess to be pregnant for ten months and give birth to him.

Princess Jiayi covered her eyes with a handkerchief and pretended to cry twice. When she was about to cry for the third time, Prince Consort Xiao quickly comforted her in a soft voice, "Be good, don't cry. If your eyes are swollen, you won't be pretty anymore. Ah Zhen is ignorant. I will punish him by making him kneel down later."

Princess Jiayi's sobbing stopped abruptly. She pushed Prince Consort Xiao away and said viciously, "He's limping, and you're still forcing him to kneel. Even my stepfather isn't as cruel as you!"

Prince Consort Xiao smiled and said, "It's all my fault. Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. I won't punish him then."

Princess Jiayi immediately turned her anger into a smile: "That's more like it."

Xiao Su on the side was dumbfounded. When the eldest princess was in the Xiao family, she was so high and mighty and had such an air of arrogance that none of them knew that the eldest princess was not only domineering but also unreasonable.

Alas, he used to think that Zhao Xiaosi was the most difficult woman in the world, but now he realized that compared to his aunt, Zhao Xiaosi was at least reasonable occasionally.

Compared to Xiao Su, Xiao Zhen is much calmer. This is how his parents get along.

But he didn't want to let them go just like that. He continued, "Mother, please don't talk about other things. Does the death of King Liang have anything to do with you?"

Seeing Princess Jiayi about to explode again, Prince Consort Xiao quickly spoke up, "I can't say there's absolutely no connection. At least I did bring that jar of wine, but your mother and I definitely didn't mean to harm anyone. Besides, your mother and I drank all the wine, and we're all fine."

Xiao Zhen glanced at him and said suically, "Maybe you secretly took the antidote."

Prince Consort Xiao...

Princess Jiayi swung her hand, but Prince Consort Xiao grabbed her hand and said, "Since he only has half his life left, please forgive him this time."

Princess Jiayi said: "Brother Yan, I will listen to you. I will save it for him and fight him back all at once after his injury is healed."

Xiao Su: It's okay, it's okay. Although my mother nags me, she will forget about it after she's finished nagging. She won't keep it in his mind. It's really not easy for my brother to grow up to this age.

Xiao Zhen didn't want to turn the page. He just wanted to teach these two people a lesson, otherwise there would be a next time.

"Dad, did you take the antidote secretly?"

Xiao Su closed his eyes. If he didn't seek death, he wouldn't die. The beating from his elder brother was not in vain. Forget it. He should prepare some more gold medicine for his elder brother.

However, Xiao Su did not expect that this time Princess Jiayi did not jump up in anger, but was stunned. Even his uncle, Prince Consort Xiao, who loved to smooth things over, did not say a word.

The air around him seemed to be frozen, and Xiao Su couldn't help but want to stick his head out the window to get some fresh air.

At this moment, Xiao Zhen said, "You're scared now, aren't you? I'm the one asking the question, and you're still scared. But what if it were someone from the Liang Palace? If this wasn't in the Observatory, but in the Golden Throne Hall, facing all the civil and military officials, and you just said, 'I drank that wine, too,' would you be able to convince them? Would anyone believe you?"

Princess Jiayi felt aggrieved: "We have no grudge against King Liang, so why would you harm him? If you really want to harm someone, there must be a reason, right?"

Before Xiao Zhen could speak, Prince Consort Xiao coughed dryly and said, "As for the reason, others don't have it, but you do.

I remember you told me that when Prince Liang was still the crown prince and lived in the capital, you had a fight with him and even brought the matter to the Emperor, who punished you by confining you to your home for three months.

When you told me about this, you were gritting your teeth and said that if you ever saw King Liang again, you would cut him into pieces. Is that true?

Since you've said this to me, you must have said it to others as well, right?"

Princess Jiayi opened and closed her mouth for a long time before she whispered, "If you hadn't told me about those trivial things, I would have forgotten them. They happened so many years ago, over 20 years ago. Who would still remember?"

Prince Consort Xiao: "I still remember it, and there must be others who remember it too. By the way, it seems that when the Emperor Retired punished you, His Majesty even pleaded for you. Do you think His Majesty would not remember this?"

Princess Jiayi looked at Xiao Zhen pitifully and said, "Son, you have to believe me. I was just talking. I really didn't kill him."

Xiao Zhen looked at Prince Consort Xiao again, then shifted his gaze to Xiao Su's face. "Let's not talk about my mother anymore. Let's talk about you, or the Xiao family. The Xiao family's main branch is in Qingquan. Qingquan belongs to Liangdi, and the King of Liang is the lord of Liangdi. Every official in Qingquan is appointed by the Prince of Liang's Mansion. What is the first thing those officials do after taking office? Xiao Su, tell me?"

Xiao Su had already guessed what Xiao Zhen was going to say. He said listlessly, "In Qingquan, the first thing every official does after taking office is to submit a visiting card to the Xiao family. If they make friends with the Xiao family, they will have smooth sailing. Otherwise..."

Xiao Zhen uttered an "oh" and looked back at Prince Consort Xiao: "As the saying goes, there can't be two tigers in one mountain. Moreover, the King of Liang is the king of Liang. If I say that the Xiao family harbors evil intentions and wants to replace him, most people in the court, including the civil and military officials, and even the people of Liang, will believe it, right?"

Prince Consort Xiao stopped talking, and the atmosphere in the room became even more depressing.

Princess Jiayi was the first to break the silence. "No matter how we explain, no one believes us. What should we do now? Son, I don't care whether others believe us or not. You have to believe us. We really didn't intend to kill King Liang. Besides, if we really wanted to kill him, we wouldn't do it ourselves, right?"

Xiao Zhen's voice was cold: "It's useless whether I believe it or not. I can only help you this time. In the future, you should be more careful and don't let others use you as a knife. Just be a guest. Why send wine? If you don't have any gifts, you can buy them. Why send something edible? Have you forgotten the matter between Emperor Xiaokang and Prince Wu?

"Mom, don't look at my dad. I'm talking about you. You grew up in the palace. Do you need someone to remind you of this kind of thing?"

Princess Jiayi shuddered. Who could tell me, I haven't seen my son for only three months, how come he is like a completely different person? Although he was a little arrogant before, he would never scold others in a condescending manner, especially not scolding me. Oh, my son is so scary, but I dare not say it.

After scolding the princess, Xiao Zhen began to question his father, the prince consort: "Father, I remember that you didn't have the habit of bringing your own wine when visiting guests before. Why did you think of sending wine to Prince Liang this time?"

Prince Consort Xiao did not indulge in self-pity like Princess Jiayi. Ever since he heard the bad news that Prince Liang had a heart attack after drinking, he had been replaying the incident in his mind over and over again.

Therefore, when Xiao Zhen asked, Prince Consort Xiao said, "I did think about sending other gifts to King Liang. The Xiao family is in King Liang's territory, and I naturally want to be on good terms with him.

Therefore, when I went back to Liang to visit my relatives this time, I prepared a gift for King Liang in advance. It was an authentic painting by the Saint of Painting. Originally, I should have visited King Liang first and then went to Qingquan when I arrived in Liang. However, it happened that King Liang was not in Liangdu that day. Instead, he went to the military camp a hundred miles away. So we only sent an invitation and did not visit him in person. The authentic painting by the Saint of Painting was also kept in my luggage.

But when we came back from Qingquan and wanted to visit Prince Liang's Mansion, we found that the painting had a hole eaten by insects. This kind of ancient painting must wait until we return to the capital to find a famous artist to repair it.

Although we have other things with us, they can be given to other people, but for someone of Liang's status, it would be too light. I even went to several antique shops in Liangdu, but couldn't find a suitable gift.

Coincidentally, after leaving the antique shop, I went to a restaurant for dinner. I was traveling light and no one knew me here. Besides, that restaurant was an old place I was revisiting, so I didn't go to the private room and chose to sit at the table where I had sat when I was young.

There were two scholars sitting at the table next to me. I happened to overhear their conversation. They came to Liangdu to become a disciple. They were discussing what gift to give to the famous teacher. They couldn't afford expensive ones, and they couldn't afford cheap ones.

Because I was also worried about the gift, I became interested.

The two men discussed for a long time. At this time, the waiter brought the wine they asked for, which was in a wine pot. One of the scholars slapped his thigh and said to the other scholar: Got it, send the wine, and say that it is the wine we brought from our hometown. I know there is a wine shop, the owner of which is our fellow villager, and his wine is shipped from our place.

When I heard this, my heart moved. What a coincidence, when I left Qingquan, I brought with me a few jars of wine brewed by your grandmother. Although I was reluctant to give them to King Liang, there is no more suitable gift than this.

Prince Liang is a noble prince, and he has everything he needs. A jar of homemade wine would bring him closer to Prince Liang. I returned from the restaurant excitedly, and after discussing it with your mother, we both felt that sending wine was appropriate, so we took it to Prince Liang's mansion."

(The author of this chapter has something to say. Voice-reading readers, please open your big, dreamy eyes and take a look.)