Chapter 115 The Truth 4 Is the current ending what you want?

Zeng Yidao gazed at the light outside the hall and breathed a sigh of relief. "Last year, I discovered that Junior Sister's daughter had become a servant of the Li family's daughter. So, I painstakingly planted a spy within the Li family. This spy revealed that Junior Sister's daughter had been sold off by the Li family's daughter when she was banished to the other courtyard, and her whereabouts were unknown. Furthermore, the Li family's daughter's personality had changed drastically since returning to the capital from the other courtyard. Not only was she no longer domineering, but she often showed kindness and favors to the servants. As the saying goes, it's easy to change a country, but difficult to change one's nature. I didn't believe someone could be so easily transformed, so I approached several servants at the Li family's other courtyard and inquired. From this, I deduced that Junior Sister's daughter had successfully entered the Li family, replacing the Li family's daughter's identity, and that the real Li family's daughter might have been killed."

Xie Wuhen was speechless. He didn't want to refute anything, nor did he want to reveal anything.

He just felt powerless, as if a bunch of holes had grown in his heart, making his chest "whoosh" with wind and air leaking out.

The emperor couldn't contain his emotion, his eyes ablaze with excitement. "It seems... she is indeed my daughter. I have indeed seen my own daughter." He paused, a hint of doubt crossing his face. "If she is my daughter and looks like Duofu, how could she have impersonated the Li family girl? Could it be that Li Taian doesn't recognize his own daughter?"

Zeng Yidao replied, "It is said that Junior Sister's daughter and the eldest daughter of the Li family look quite similar. I wonder what method they used later to make their appearances so identical."

The emperor nodded hurriedly: "I see, I see."

Then he asked, "Do you know where the princess is now?"

Zeng Yidao lowered his head and replied, "I don't know."

The emperor then asked Xie Wuhen, "Zi Yu has been investigating for quite some time now. Has he found anything?"

Xie Wuhen lowered his head, shook his head, and said nothing.

He was like a broken tree, suddenly losing all vitality.

The emperor noticed his unusual behavior and ordered Zeng Yi, "That's all for today. You may leave first. If you have any news about the princess in the future, you can come to the palace to see me at any time."

Zeng Yidao stopped talking nonsense, clasped his fists, bowed, and left.

He walked slowly out of the Weiyang Palace. When he reached the palace gate, he looked up at the sky. The sky was covered with thick clouds and there was no sunlight.

He said to himself facing the sky: "Junior sister, is this the ending you want?"

No one answered him.

The sky is still the same sky.

He sighed deeply and walked down the stairs.

In the cold autumn wind, his back looked increasingly lonely and resolute.

Inside the Weiyang Palace, Xie Wuhen's expression was still a little hesitant.

The truth overwhelmed him, making him unable to control himself for a while - making him question himself and the world around him.

The emperor gently advised: "Zi Yu, you must cheer up, you must find the princess for me, and you must find your wife for yourself."

Xie Wuhen bowed his body and knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty, I... never thought that my wife is... a princess..."

The emperor bent down to help him up. "There are always some unexpected things in this world. Go back today and rest for a night. Tomorrow, come to the palace to discuss the search with me."

He murmured "yes" and then stood up and left Weiyang Palace.

He couldn't remember how he walked out of the palace or how he got on the carriage. Even when the carriage arrived at the gate of Xie's house, he was still leaning against the wall of the carriage in a daze, not moving at all.

Wu Sheng reminded: "Boss, we're here, it's time to get off the bus."

He ignored him and didn't get out of the car.

Wu Sheng was a little puzzled: "But what decree did the emperor issue to make the boss so depressed?"

He always felt that ever since he left the palace, he seemed to have been drained of his energy and spirit, and he became listless.

Xie Wuhen murmured, "Nothing." Then he stood up and got off the carriage.

It was mid-afternoon, and everyone in the mansion was taking a break. The corridor was completely silent.

The cold wind blew, making his clothes rustle and his heart ring.

He remembered that he had walked on this corridor with Su He countless times, sometimes they walked hand in hand, sometimes they walked side by side.

Sometimes they played and joked with each other; sometimes he sulked and she comforted him.

It was in this corridor that she told him her nickname was "Niuniu", and later said that she didn't want him to call her "Niuniu", but wanted him to call her "Hehe".

He was unable to control his emotions for a moment, and he fiercely suppressed the memories in his mind and quickly returned to Chunhuayuan.

Chunhuayuan still looks the same as before.

Everything is normal except that the hostess is missing.

Although she left, she did not take anything with her, not even a piece of clothing in the wooden cabinet was missing, and not even the last set of headwear he gave her was moved.

She doesn't want to get any benefit from him, right?

Or do you not want the truth to be exposed so that the real Li Shuli can get away with it?

Did she really want another woman to be his wife and take her place?

Thinking of this, endless grief and resentment surged in his heart.

Chunlan came into the room and asked tentatively, "Sir, are you ready for lunch? Would you like to ask the kitchen to prepare some food?"

Ever since the false alarm at the gate of the mansion last time, Xie Wuhen never let her go back to the woodshed, so she stayed in Chunhua Courtyard to serve.

He leaned back exhaustedly in the rose chair and replied hoarsely, "No thanks."

Chunlan asked again, "Would you like some snacks, sir?"

He replied coldly: "Get out."

Chunlan was frightened and quickly lowered her head and left the room.

After a while, he stood up from the rose chair and took out a bottle of peach blossom wine from the antique shelf. It was the leftover wine he and Su He had drunk before.

His mind was filled with too many past events. He didn't want to recall them but couldn't control them. He wanted to get drunk and have a deep sleep. Maybe he would feel more relaxed when he woke up.

He drank the whole can of peach blossom wine, which made him confused and dazed.

In a trance, he seemed to see his wife calling him "husband" again and persuading him to drink less.

The wife asked, "If my husband catches that murderer, will he behead her?"

He shook his head: "No, I will not behead my wife."

The wife asked again: "I have deceived my husband, will he hate me?"

He still shook his head: "No, I can't bear to hate my wife, I can't bear to..."

He prided himself on being extremely intelligent, but he never imagined that the person he was looking for had been right under his nose, living in the same room and sleeping in the same bed with him.

He even nearly discovered her several times, for example, he knew she had left the city gate on the night Liu Dazhong was killed; for example, he knew she had met her in a teahouse on the south bank of the Qingshui River when Zhou Yuanze was killed...

But he never suspected that she was a murderer or an imposter.

He never doubted that she was the princess he had been looking for for months.

If he had recognized her in time, she would not have left him, right?

He drank it down, mouthful by mouthful.

Grief and regret were like two sharp blades, slicing back and forth on his chest.

Wu Sheng walked into the room with a worried look on his face: "Why did the boss get himself drunk?"

He added, "If the boss misses the young lady, I will send more people to look for her tomorrow. Even if I have to turn Liang State upside down, I will definitely find the young lady."

Xie Wuhen was drunk, staggered, and fell on the soft couch in the room.

He seemed half asleep and half awake, mumbling, "You said... am I incompetent?"

Wu Sheng replied, "The leader is wise, brave, intelligent, and even the emperor praises him highly. How can he be incompetent?"

He sneered: "This is just an illusion... Everything is an illusion..."

Wu Sheng was puzzled: "What happened to the boss today?"

He replied dazedly: "Nothing, I just... feel uncomfortable..."

I feel bad for my incompetence and regret for my stupidity!

Wu Sheng stretched out his arm to support him: "It's getting late, boss, you should go to bed and rest."

The drunk man shook off his arm and buried his face in the cotton cushion of the couch, which seemed to still have the scent of Su He.

Wu Sheng sighed helplessly, "Since the boss doesn't want to sleep on the bed, then just sleep on the couch." After he said that, he took off his master's shoes, socks, and outer clothes, then carried the bedding on the bed to the couch and covered his master with it.

Xie Wuhen slept very soundly and woke up the next day when the sun was already high in the sky.

Knowing that he was drunk, the servants did not dare to wake him up, for fear of accidentally bringing bad luck. Wu Sheng even went to the Dali Temple in advance to ask for leave for him.

The weather is fine and my mood is slightly relaxed.

He got up from the couch, changed his clothes and washed himself.

Wu Sheng led Chunlan into the house with breakfast in hand. "Boss, go back to sleep after dinner. Liu Qinian has already granted you leave."

Xie Wuhen regained his usual stern expression: "No need, I'll prepare the car and go to the palace later."

Wu Sheng was puzzled: "We just went to the palace yesterday, and now... we're going again?"

Something must have happened when we went to the palace yesterday, that's why the boss acted so abnormally. I wonder what will happen when we go to the palace today, and I wonder how abnormal the boss will be.

Xie Wuhen said in a cold and hard tone: "Just go and prepare the car."

Wu Sheng lowered his head and replied "yes".

Breakfast consisted of corn cakes, chestnut cakes, and millet porridge made by Chunlan.

Xie Wuhen was stunned when he looked at the plate of chestnut cake. He remembered that she loved eating chestnuts.

He murmured, "Did your young lady also like to eat this chestnut cake in the past?"

Chunlan replied: "Yes, the young lady likes all cakes made with chestnuts."

He then asked, "Were you able to eat these when you were at the Li family before?"

Chunlan shook her head, then nodded: "After Li Shuli beat the maids, she would give them a plate of cakes as a reward. Occasionally... I could have some of them."

Xie Wuhen was silent for a while, then ordered: "I'll give you this plate of chestnut cake today." After saying that, he put down his bowl and chopsticks, got up and left the house.

In the thin morning mist, his back also carried a sense of loneliness and determination.

When Xie Wuhen arrived at Weiyang Palace, the emperor had been waiting for him for a long time.

The emperor immediately said, "I will send you more people so that we can find the princess faster."

Xie Wuhen's face was solemn and his eyes were deep.

After a night of drunkenness and a night of deep sleep, he looked thinner but also more steady, as if some kind of power to survive from death was supporting him.

He said, "I remember the emperor once mentioned bone shaping to me."

The emperor frowned: "Why do you suddenly bring this up?"

He replied, "The princess's face must have been shaped by her bones."

The emperor paused, a hint of panic in his eyes. "The only person currently familiar with the art of bone shaping is Bai Jin'an."

He asked, "Who is Bai Jinan?"

The emperor replied, "It is the man who has the same appearance as me and is obsessed with seeking power and usurping the throne."

Xie Wuhen's chest tightened. "In other words, the princess might have fallen into this person's hands?"

The emperor's face turned pale, and then he pursed his lips and said fiercely: "I will take you to a place."

He asked, "Where to?"

Huang Da replied coldly: "You will know when you go there."

That day, the emperor rode in a sedan chair out of the palace and took Xie Wuhen to a secret prison.

The two walked through the dark and damp corridor of the prison and came to the door of a cell.

Through the solid iron gate, Xie Wuhen caught a glimpse of the prisoner in the cell. He was an old man with white hair and beard and a vigorous spirit...