Chapter 83 The unknown inside story
Chang Suining looked at the cotton towel that fell to the ground.
Chang Sui'an was extremely puzzled and said, "Even my son has heard of the name of Princess Xuan'an, how could my father not recognize her?"
Chang Kuo choked and changed his words: "I mean I'm not familiar with him!"
He emphasized again: "How could I recognize that kind of vicious woman!"
Chang Suining was completely confused: "...Where did the talk of a vicious woman come from?"
Chang Kuo was filled with indignation: "This woman's behavior is absurd. Not only does she not observe the code of conduct for a woman, she also exploits the people in her fiefdom to feed her own extravagant pleasures. She is truly the most vicious of all vicious women!"
Chang Suining and Chang Sui'an were both stunned after hearing what they heard.
"Father...if you say that the Grand Princess is a bit romantic, I have heard that, but she bullies the people..." Chang Sui'an scratched his head: "Why did I hear that the people in Xuanzhou are very prosperous and happy under the Grand Princess's governance in recent years?"
Chang Kuo denied it outright: "It's just a rumor!"
Chang Sui'an saw it all and said, "You look more like the one who spread the rumor," but he didn't know whether he should say it.
Chang Kuo corrected him again: "What do you mean by romantic? That's called not keeping one's wife's chastity!"
Hearing him emphasize this point again and again, Chang Suining couldn't help but say, "But the eldest princess has been widowed for many years. She is not a wife to begin with. How can she abide by the so-called virtues of a woman?"
And according to her understanding, Old Chang was not such a pedantic person, and she had never heard him talk about women's chastity - why was he so obsessed with her aunt's hobby now?
She also couldn't remember any conflicts between the two worth mentioning in the past.
"...In short, this person is not a good person!" Chang Kuo directly used the perfunctory method of "what do children know": "You are still young, you will understand it later."
As he said that, he picked up his chopsticks and said, "Alright, stop talking about her. It's bad luck! Let's eat!"
He picked up a piece of lotus root with chopsticks, but felt that the holes on the lotus root slice looked like a weird human face, which made him sneer and feel very angry - it was really absurd! He threw the lotus root slice aside with a look of hatred, and then put down the chopsticks heavily with a "snap".
Chang Sui'an: "..."
If he was not mistaken, his father was actually angry with a piece of lotus root? Chang Kuo put his hands on his knees and looked at his daughter: "Come to think of it, why are you suddenly talking about Xuan An, that vicious woman?"
Chang Suining: “…”
Those powerful words, “Don’t mention her anymore,” are still ringing in my ears.
Chang Sui'an felt an impulse in his heart - he had never wanted to warn his father about the Rejuvenation Pavilion so much as he did at that moment!
But he didn't dare.
Chang Suining then told the story of how he met Princess Xuan'an's subordinates in the cemetery today.
Chang Kuo snorted coldly: "He is really seriously ill."
"Father...will I be okay?" Chang Sui'an was a little worried when he mentioned this again: "Although she was forced to swear a poisonous oath, if by some unfortunate chance the eldest princess or her adopted daughter sees me, I'm afraid I'll be in great danger...You have to hide me well!"
We can't blame him for being too confident. It was actually the female guard's stalking behavior that was too crazy and outrageous, and it revealed a dangerous signal that "this boy will definitely satisfy my master."
"Snatch my son, Chang Kuo? She doesn't have the guts!" Chang Kuo's voice was particularly powerful, and he glared at his son: "Why are you hiding? Be more courageous and put your heart back in your stomach!"
Chang Sui'an could only nod.
Chang Kuo picked up his chopsticks again and said, "Okay, let's eat. Don't mention this unlucky person anymore!"
Brother and sister: "..."
Chang Kuo moved the chopsticks in his hand to the plate of lotus root slices again. He took a closer look and felt that the whole plate of lotus root slices looked very weird.
This thing must be the old Yin-Yang lotus root grown by the old Yin-Yang man in the old Yin-Yang pond! "How can you put this lotus root on the table when it looks so unlucky!" Chang Kuo immediately said, "Take it away and feed it to the dogs!"
Everyone was speechless.
First of all, what did lotus root do wrong?
Secondly, dogs don’t like to eat vegetarian food.
But the maid had no choice but to do as she was told.
After the meal, as his stomach became fuller, Chang Kuo's anger finally subsided.
Chang Suining, who secretly observed him throughout the meal, came to the conclusion that Chang Kuo was prejudiced against the Grand Princess and was very resentful about it.
She originally wanted to take advantage of today's incident to ask Chang Kuo more about the affairs of the Grand Princess and Xuanzhou, but seeing that Chang Kuo was like a firecracker that would explode at the first mention, she did not rush to ask more.
Unable to ask about the Grand Princess, she carefully asked about another matter, which was more important to her.
"Father, I happened to hear Ah Dian mention today that it seems that the birthday of the late Crown Prince is coming soon?"
On the way back from the dining hall, Chang Suining asked casually.
Chang Kuo was slightly startled, and nodded after a while: "Yes, next month is His Highness's birthday."
"Will Daddy go to offer sacrifices?"
"I would like to go and see His Highness." Chang Kuo's tone sounded normal, "But when there is no grand ceremony at Jingshan Gongling, outsiders like us are not allowed to go there privately."
Chang Suining paused and said, "My father has been with Your Highness through thick and thin for many years, so he is not an outsider."
Chang Kuo smiled upon hearing this: "That being said, the rules cannot be broken. It doesn't matter. We don't necessarily have to go to Gong Mausoleum. It's the same if we pay tribute privately..."
Then he looked up at the night sky and said, "As long as Your Highness can hear it, that's fine."
Chang Suining nodded silently.
This, moreover, is quite secure.
She went on to say, "The late Crown Prince and Princess Chongyue were twins, so that day is also the Princess's birthday—"
Chang Kuo nodded: "That's natural."
And what they really want to worship is the latter.
"The former crown prince fought on the battlefield, and my father was his comrade in arms in the inner Xuan Ce Army, so there must be many people who miss him." Chang Suining seemed to be a little emotional: "But Princess Chongyue was weak and rarely interacted with others. After that, she was married to a foreign country... She has been dead for many years. I wonder if there are still people who were close to her in her lifetime who are commemorating her after her death?"
She knew that Lao Chang knew many things, but now she was Ah Li, so she had to pretend that Lao Chang knew them, and Lao Chang had to pretend that he didn't know them either... It's a bit confusing, but that's probably what it means.
"There should be..." Chang Kuo pondered and said, "In addition to the saint, Her Royal Highness the Princess has two old acquaintances. One is Lady Duan, the wife of Duke Zheng, who used to be Her Royal Highness the Princess's study companion."
"And the other one?"
"The other one is the maidservant of Her Royal Highness the Princess." Chang Kuo said, "This maidservant has been with the Princess since she was young, and later followed her to marry the Northern Di. Before the Princess decided to sacrifice her life for the country, she probably managed to settle this maidservant, allowing her to escape the Di army's pursuit. After our army won a great victory, a soldier found her..."
The above is all that Chang Suining has been able to find out in bits and pieces in recent days.
She only knew that Yuxie was still alive - as long as she was alive, that was good enough. This was what she wished for then, and what she hoped to see now.
Only those who are alive can give her the answer.
Chang Suining waited quietly for Chang Kuo to continue.
"Although she is still alive and not seriously injured, she may have become much more stupid because she had been hiding and fleeing in the extremely cold place for many days, and the death of Her Royal Highness the Princess was a great blow to her."
"Is he stupid?" Chang Suining frowned slightly.
Chang Kuo nodded: "Zuo is just a maid, and not many people know these details. The saint took into consideration that she had served the princess for many years, so he properly settled her. Now she is still in the old residence of Princess Chongyue, but because of this disease, she is in a state of dementia most of the time. It seems that she has never gone out in the past ten years."
Is he in a state of idiocy most of the time? Does that mean he is sometimes lucid? And it is hard to say whether this so-called idiocy is real or not - it is possible that he is pretending to be idiot to avoid something with such a secret in mind.
"Why did Sui Ning think of asking Her Royal Highness the Princess?"
"When I mentioned His Royal Highness the late Crown Prince, I thought of Her Royal Highness the Princess."
There was a subtle hint of depression in Chang Kuo's tone, and he said slowly, "Her Royal Highness the Princess is also a very respectable person."
But what His Highness received during his lifetime and after his death did not match what she gave.
He finally said, "On the anniversary of the death of the deceased, the wife of Duke Zheng should go to the Princess's residence to offer sacrifices... The Saint cannot let go of Her Highness the Princess, so he has kept the Princess's residence intact and does not allow anyone to enter or offend her on weekdays. Only on the anniversary of the death of the deceased, the wife of Duke Zheng, who was on good terms with Her Highness the Princess, is allowed to go and offer sacrifices."
Can't let go? Chang Suining lowered his eyes.
She couldn't believe this.
Or it would be more credible to interpret it as a desire to establish herself as a loving mother in the eyes of the world.
As they were talking, the fork in the road leading to the inner and outer courtyards appeared in front of them. Chang Suining said, "Dad, go to bed early," and then he parted ways with Chang Kuo and walked towards his own courtyard with Xier.
Above the night sky, a bright moon is almost full.
Many thoughts flashed through Chang Suining's mind, the most clear one being that she must meet Yu Xie.
There is a mystery in her heart, which may be solved by a piece of jade dust.
As everyone knows, twelve years ago, when Dasheng and Beidi were at war, Princess Chongyue "used some unknown method" to kill the Beidi commander.
People also know that after she carried the commander's head out of the military tent, she committed suicide in front of the Northern Di army to avoid being humiliated and being used as a hostage.
These are mostly true.
But behind her suicide, there is another unknown story——
At that time, when she was halfway through the fight with the Northern Di commander, she noticed something strange in her body - she was poisoned.
The only possibility she could think of was the cup of tea that the maid Yuxie had handed to her earlier.
Yuxie was her most trusted confidant, and because she had already made up her mind to die at that time, she gave Yuxie the opportunity to take advantage of her.
If the poison had not taken effect and she had not used up her last bit of strength to kill the Northern Di commander, leaving her with no strength to fight anymore, she would have killed a few more people to be buried with her. She would have bleed anyway, so not a single drop should be wasted.
She was a person who cared a lot about her reputation. Since she had no chance to fight again, she chose a way to die that she liked. Compared to dying under the swords of those northern barbarians, committing suicide was obviously a good choice.
But I think that after her death, the Northern Di people would not treat her body well.
She couldn't take care of what happened after her death, so she just tried her best to preserve her reputation during her lifetime.
As for Yu Xie's secret poisoning, she naturally suspected the Queen.
This move was obviously intended to prevent her from having the chance to return to Dasheng alive - and the person who needed to do this the most was the Queen, who was only one step away from the throne at that time.
Even if the other party promised to take her back later, it was just political rhetoric used to coax children, so just listen to it.
But now Yuxie is still alive and is being well placed in the Princess's Mansion... If the poisoning was indeed ordered by Queen Ming, why didn't she just kill her?
It can also be explained that, anyway, the person is dead, and no one will investigate the truth. A mere foolish maid can't cause any trouble. Besides, being in the Princess's mansion is equivalent to being under house arrest, and everything is under control. It is better to keep her and maintain the reputation of being kind to the old people around the Princess.
But Chang Suining always felt a little uncertain.
It's not that she still has fantasies about the Queen, but that she should always maintain the minimum caution in seeking the truth.
Just like blind trust, indulging in blind suspicion is also undesirable.
Who was the person who wanted to poison her twelve years ago? The answer must be Yu Xie.
She must find a way to meet Yuxie.
Chang Suining turned his head and looked far away in the direction of Princess Chongyue's old residence.
…
"General, I have something to say but I don't know whether I should say it or not..."
Manager Bai, who was accompanying Chang Kuo back, spoke after careful consideration.
"When did you learn this trick?" Chang Kuo glanced at him and said, "You can tell me if you want to."
Manager Bai coughed lightly to ease the embarrassment: "It's about the girl... I always feel that the girl's words, actions, and even temperament have changed a lot since she escaped death in Hezhou."
Chang Kuo: "Isn't this nonsense? If a girl were to face such a thing, wouldn't her temperament change tenfold or even a hundredfold?"
"That's the truth..." Manager Bai thought for a moment and said, "But the more I look at her these days, the more I feel that she has become a different person."
Chang Kuo suddenly laughed: "Why do you need to watch for so long?"
Manager Bai was puzzled.
Chang Kuo sighed, "Ever since I saw this child for the first time on the way back to Beijing with my army, before she even opened her mouth to speak and before I knew she had a brain injury, I already had this feeling."
Steward Bai was surprised: "General, can you tell the difference at a glance?"
Chang Kuo said, "He has truly become a completely different person, inside and out. That's true."
"Then General..." Steward Bai looked around and lowered his voice as low as possible: "Have you ever thought about the possibility that the girl is possessed by evil spirits?"
Chang Kuo shook his head: "That's not the case."
"Even if you don't believe in ghosts and evil spirits, General..."
"It's not that I don't believe in ghosts and gods." Chang Kuo interrupted Manager Bai and said slowly, "I felt that Sui Ning had changed a lot at that glance, but there was one feeling that hadn't changed - no matter how much this child had changed, when he looked into my eyes, he was still a family member."
He would not be wrong about the bond that only exists between family members.
After hearing this, Manager Bai smiled in relief: "That's right, after hearing what the general said, I also vaguely felt that although the girl has changed a lot, she has never made people feel unfamiliar."
"Yes." Chang Kuo raised his hand and twirled his beard, smiling, "No matter how much we change, we are still a family."
…
The next day, it was getting dark.
In Anyifang, outside the gate of Cui's mansion, every quarter of an hour, a servant who had been checking out the situation would return to the mansion and report the news to Cui Lang.
"Not back yet?" Cui Lang was a little anxious.
At this time, a maid came over and said, "My dear, the birthday banquet is about to begin. Madam urges you to go over quickly."
Cui Lang had no choice but to rush over, and as expected, he saw his father Cui Wei's expression which looked a little unhappy.
Thank you all for your monthly tickets and messages.
Happy Little New Year. I ate dumplings today (it seems like we eat dumplings regardless of the festival. Dumplings have endured too much.) (End of this chapter)
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