Chapter 612 Not the real royal bloodline?
Jiang Nuanzhi and Li Rong shook off the group and left the palace at the end of Hai Shi (9-11 PM). It was completely dark. They only breathed a sigh of relief when they stepped outside the palace gates.
"Arong, it was a close call today. Fortunately, His Majesty's health held up and he pulled through."
Jiang Nuanzhi sighed.
Li Rong paused involuntarily as he helped her tie the sash of her cloak, looking down at her. But before he could speak, Jiang Nuanzhi suddenly released his hand and strode quickly toward Lin Chun, who was waiting at the door.
"Master." Lin Chun quickly stepped forward to greet him: "Are you alright? I brought you some food, please have a bite. It's hand-shredded rabbit meat that I had specially ordered from Yunshang Pavilion earlier."
As Lin Chun spoke, she couldn't help but untie the ugly ribbon tied at the front of Jiang Nuanzhi's cloak, carefully retiing it and making a neat love knot. After settling her in, she smiled and said, "You don't know who I just saw."
As soon as she finished speaking, she vaguely felt a chill run down her spine. Lin Chun was startled and turned her head sharply to look, only to find no one beside her. The general seemed to be looking at his wife, not at her. Why was she suddenly shivering?
He shook his head, figuring that he had probably caught a chill from waiting outside for too long. Then, he smiled and took Jiang Nuanzhi's arm again, and together they walked towards the carriage.
Behind him, Li Rong's gaze fell on Jiang Nuanzhi and Lin Chun's intertwined wrists. He then quickly boarded the carriage and reached out to Jiang Nuanzhi.
After grabbing the person under the armpits and leading them onto the carriage, he turned around and went into the carriage, closing the door tightly.
Lin Chun, who had wanted to follow behind, barely managed to pull her neck back to avoid getting a slap in the face, and for a moment she was stunned.
Jiang Nuanzhi was stunned for a moment when Li Rong carried her into the carriage like a child. She knew that Li Rong was much taller than her, but she never knew that his arms were so long. He was in the carriage, grabbing her under the armpits and carrying her directly into the carriage. Wait, is this normal?
I don't even hold Baozhu like that anymore.
An eerily quiet atmosphere descended, and Jiang Nuanzhi looked at Li Rong with a strange expression.
"Ah Nuan, we..."
"You've forgotten about Linchun!"
The two people spoke at the same time.
Before Li Rong could react, Jiang Nuanzhi had already opened the car door and pulled Lin Chun inside: "Who did you just say you saw?"
After Linchun entered the carriage, she glanced at the general, feeling that he seemed angry.
But since the general didn't look at him, was that just a coincidence?
Yes, what kind of person is the general? How could he possibly be angry with me? You must be overthinking it.
Then, chuckling to himself, he said to Jiang Nuanzhi, "Master, I just saw Zhao Yuniang and Zhao Niuniu."
As she said this, Jiang Nuanzhi turned around from Li Rong's side and sat down next to Lin Chun, hugging her arm: "What exactly happened?"
Lin Chun spoke of this with great excitement: "They deceived the royal family, and now that they've been exposed, Zhao Niu Niu's fine clothes have been stripped off, and Zhao Yuniang has been subjected to the punishments of shaving her head and tattooing. The old lady who came to the capital with the Zhao family before, and Zhao Niu Niu's father, were so frightened that they even pretended not to know Zhao Yuniang and her father on the way and simply abandoned them in the capital."
Jiang Nuanzhi was surprised to hear this: "Shaving the head? Tattooing?"
"The punishment of shaving one's head involves shaving off all the hair. Since our bodies and hair are gifts from our parents, this punishment primarily targets the mind. The punishment of branding involves branding the face. When I saw Zhao Yuniang, there was a large, bloody patch on her forehead with the character for 'lowly' branded on it."
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned: "Where is Zhao Niuniu?"
"Zhao Niuniu looks alright, but her face is deathly pale, and she's been unconscious the whole time, so we can't see her clearly," Lin Chun said, with a hint of regret. "Zhao Yuniang brought this upon herself. Although Zhao Niuniu is a bit arrogant, she was ultimately dragged into such a sordid affair for no reason. But she's also lucky. If the Emperor hadn't fallen seriously ill and the Empress Dowager hadn't been celebrating her birthday, I imagine not only her and Zhao Niuniu, but the rest of the Zhao family would have been beheaded."
Jiang Nuanzhi nodded: "That's right."
As she said this, Jiang Nuanzhi's brows furrowed tightly. For some reason, she vaguely remembered the wounds on the wrists of the Eldest Princess and Xiao Xuan Yue.
"However, even though His Majesty is so ill, he is still so eager to find the princess. He values her so much, it seems that this princess holds a special place in His Majesty's heart."
Upon hearing Lin Chun's words, Jiang Nuanzhi felt her heart sink with a thud.
"Linchun, explain yourself clearly. How do you know the Emperor is urgently looking for the princess?"
Without hesitation, Lin Chun said directly, "The commander of the Imperial Guards and I are old acquaintances. We just ran into each other and chatted briefly. He was the one who was sent out to search for people. According to him, all the children born at Huguo Temple have been investigated one by one. To be honest, this is not a rare thing. After all, several groups of people have been sent out. The one who has been in charge of this is probably the Jiang family. The Jiang family has always been loyal to the Emperor, and the current head of the family is none other than Minister Jiang Ren of the Court of Judicial Review."
"Jiang Ren?" Jiang Nuanzhi thought about it carefully. If it were the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, she should have seen him in the court, but she had no impression of him at all.
"Anuan, would you like a chestnut?" Suddenly, a pair of large hands appeared beside her, offering her a sweet chestnut.
Jiang Nuanzhi pushed him away casually and said, "Okay, we'll eat later."
Then he continued looking at Lin Chun: "What else do you know? Tell me all at once."
Lin Chun lowered her voice slightly as she spoke: "My lord, I also heard from my friend that the Jiang family has actually brought back several children, but His Majesty has seen them all and it seems that, like Zhao Niu Niu, they are not of true royal blood, so they have all been sent away."
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned: "Really?"
Lin Chun nodded: "We've been through thick and thin together, and I wouldn't lie about something like this."
After pondering for a while, Lin Chun muttered to herself, "Speaking of which, our Miss Baozhu was also born in Huguo Temple. If this investigation continues, it won't be long before it reaches us."
As Lin Chun spoke, she noticed Jiang Nuanzhi's tightly furrowed brows: "Master? Are you worried about Miss? It's alright, she's probably just going to the palace. We'll go with her, and Miss shouldn't suffer any hardship."
Li Rong was secretly chewing on chestnuts as if he had a grudge against them. When he heard this, he paused, and his dark eyes slowly fell on Jiang Nuanzhi's slightly pale face: "Nuanzhi, are you worried? Why?"
(End of this chapter)
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