Chapter 12 The garden path meanders, thank you...
The garden path meandered, and Xie Baoqiong walked quickly; in just a few breaths, his figure was almost completely obscured by the grass and trees.
But before he could leave, a figure hurriedly caught up with him from behind, and he heard Xie Zhuo's voice coming from afar.
"Qiong'er".
When a figure appeared blocking her way, Xie Baoqiong remained calm, not seeming angry. She didn't react much to Xie Zhuo's words, glanced at Xie Zhuo, and then prepared to take a detour.
He had just lifted his leg when he heard Xie Zhuo say:
"Qiong'er, if you want to know what happened back then, your father can tell you."
Upon hearing this, Xie Baoqiong stopped walking and turned back to cast a deep gaze at the speaker, Xie Zhuo, whose expression remained indifferent.
"It's not convenient to discuss this in detail here. Let's go somewhere else."
As he finished speaking, a hand with distinct knuckles was extended in front of him. His fingers, hanging at his side, were slightly bent, and he hesitated for a moment.
Xie Zhuo sighed and took his hand: "Dad wouldn't lie to you."
The warm hand completely enveloped Xie Baoqiong's hand. He let Xie Zhuo, who was holding his hand, pull him along, while he looked at the hand that was being held for a while.
A slender, long hand loosely grasped his, not too tightly, so as not to make him uncomfortable, but Xie Baoqiong was not used to this feeling and immediately tried to pull her hand away.
The hand he was holding suddenly tightened, gripping his hand tightly. He looked up sharply at Xie Zhuo, only to find that Xie Zhuo's profile remained expressionless until he felt his gaze and turned back to look at him with a puzzled expression.
Under that gaze, Xie Baoqiong felt inexplicably guilty, but the feeling of his hand being tightly gripped was also clear. He felt a little dissatisfied and lowered his eyes to squeeze back harder.
Hmph, his strength is far greater than that of ordinary people.
Once Xie Baoqiong realized that her grip was stronger than Xie Zhuo's, she stopped applying more pressure.
A soft laugh sounded from above, but before Xie Baoqiong could react, the laugh turned into a sigh and disappeared into the wind.
"Qiong'er, you must hold on tight. If you're still holding your father's hand when you're older, people will laugh at you."
It was clearly Xie Zhuo who took his hand. Besides, even a hundred years from now, he would still look the same as he does now. Xie Baoqiong looked up indignantly, only to see that Xie Zhuo's gaze had already shifted to the front, and there seemed to be surging sorrow in his eyes.
Xie Baoqiong felt even more guilty and silently loosened his grip. Could it be that his strength had injured Xie Zhuo? Mortals are not as strong as him.
Before he could get the information from Xie Zhuo, he couldn't let anything happen to Xie Zhuo. So he hurriedly shifted his gaze slightly to look at Xie Zhuo's hand. His fair, jade-like skin had a few finger marks on the area where Xie Zhuo was holding.
Before he could examine it closely, the grip on his hand tightened. He pouted angrily, realizing that he had worried for nothing; Xie Zhuo's hand was indeed very good.
—
After passing through the garden, Xie Baoqiong originally thought that Xie Zhuo would take him back to Biyuxuan, but after a fork in the road, Xie Zhuo led him directly in the opposite direction from Biyuxuan.
Just as he was wondering if Xie Zhuo was lying to him, Xie Zhuo led him into a courtyard.
Two days ago, when Xie Baoqiong was exploring the Marquis's residence, she came here. She only remembered that the courtyard was empty, and only the main house was filled with wooden signs with words written on them.
Xie Zhuo, who had been holding his hand tightly, let go and gently pushed him forward from behind. He followed this force into the room filled with wooden signs.
As soon as he entered the room, a faint scent of pine resin mixed with incense wafted into his nostrils. He looked up and surveyed the room. Last time he had only caught a fleeting glimpse, but this time he had time to observe it carefully.
There were no lights in the room, only two candlesticks on the rosewood altar. The faint flames flickered on the tops of the ever-burning candles, but did not serve any purpose of illumination.
Most of the indoor light came from the open door and the sunlight filtering through the mica window. With the help of the dim light, Xie Baoqiong turned her gaze to the wooden plaques placed behind the offering table, one by one disappearing into the darkness behind them.
The rising smoke from incense sticks blurred the wooden signs, whether new or old, and the words on them also became indistinct.
However, Xie Baoqiong didn't think she could recognize all the characters above.
Xie Zhuo, who had entered the house with him, remained quietly to the side. Xie Baoqiong withdrew her gaze from surveying the house and turned to look at Xie Zhuo beside her. Xie Zhuo was staring solemnly ahead.
He raised his hand and tugged at Xie Zhuo's sleeve. Now that it was just the two of them, Xie Zhuo should tell him.
Xie Zhuo patted him on the head, but didn't say anything.
He watched as Xie Zhuo stepped forward, took out a few incense sticks from one side of the offering table, lit them on the flame of the ever-burning candle, and bowed three times to the wooden plaque above.
Then she beckoned to him: "Xiao Bao, come here."
Xie Baoqiong didn't know what Xie Zhuo was going to do, but in order to find out information, she obediently stepped forward.
As soon as he reached Xie Zhuo's side, three lit incense sticks were stuffed into his hand. The moment his eyes met Xie Zhuo's, he inexplicably understood what Xie Zhuo wanted him to do.
Although he didn't understand why humans would burn incense for wooden plaques, he was now pretending to be human, and being part of a group would make it easier for him to disguise himself.
Following Xie Zhuo's previous actions, he bowed three times, inserted the incense sticks into the incense burner, and then turned to look at Xie Zhuo. He had already done as Xie Zhuo had instructed, so Xie Zhuo should tell him the information now.
Xie Baoqiong felt a gentle pat on the head and looked up, only to see that Xie Zhuo wasn't looking at him, but instead addressing the wooden sign above: "Father, Mother, Big Brother, this is Xiao Bao, and it's me and A Jin's..."
With each word Xie Zhuo uttered, the astonishment in Xie Baoqiong's eyes grew stronger.
Xie Zhuo is suffering from hysteria due to the stimulation; he's even started talking to the wooden sign.
He reached out and tugged at Xie Zhuo's sleeve. "Xie, Dad." He decided not to upset Xie Zhuo further. "Are you alright?"
After he interrupted Xie Zhuo, Xie Zhuo's eyes flickered slightly: "I should have brought you to meet me when you first returned to the manor."
Xie Baoqiong's eyes showed a hint of caution, as if she was afraid of upsetting Xie Zhuo, and she said in a low voice, "I came here a couple of days ago."
"Hmm." Xie Zhu responded softly, seemingly already aware of the matter, and added, "The ancestral tablets of the Xie family are placed above this..."
"Memorial tablet?"
Xie Zhuo's words were interrupted by two words that Xie Baoqiong blurted out.
Hearing Xie Zhuo's sudden pause, Xie Baoqiong raised her hand to cover her mouth, belatedly realizing that she had blurted out what was on her mind.
"What's wrong with Qiong'er?" Xie Zhuo asked, his gaze filled with doubt.
Xie Baoqiong swallowed, unsure if Xie Zhuo's doubts stemmed from suspicion, and stammered, "I don't recognize the words on it."
Xie Zhuo pursed his lips slightly, unsure whether he believed him or not, so he quickly tried to deceive him: "Father, you haven't told me about Mother yet."
Xie Zhu stared at him, remaining silent for a long time. The dim light in the ancestral hall made the air feel even more oppressive in the silence.
"father?"
Xie Baoqiong was worried that Xie Zhuo would think too much and discover his identity, so she was unwilling to tell him and interrupted Xie Zhuo's thoughts again.
"Father can tell you about what happened back then, but you have to promise Father one thing," Xie Zhuo said.
Xie Baoqiong nodded vigorously. Getting Xie Zhuo to speak was the most important thing now. As for the promise she made to Xie Zhuo, that was Xie Baoqiong's promise and had nothing to do with Lin Mushi.
"No private actions allowed, understand?" Xie Zhuo said.
"Okay, I got it," Xie Baoqiong said.
Xie Zhuo sighed softly and, meeting Xie Baoqiong's burning gaze, began to speak: "When your mother was pregnant with you, the situation in the capital was chaotic. His Majesty was seriously ill. Although a crown prince had been established, the Prince of Chu was ambitious and intended to compete for the throne."
Xie Baoqiong's gaze gradually became confused, as Xie Zhuo's words seemed to have nothing to do with the matter of Princess Huayang.
"The Xie family and the eldest princess also received visiting cards from both sides."
Xie Baoqiong understood what he meant and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Who did the Xie family and the Eldest Princess choose?"
"Your Highness." Xie Zhuo paused after speaking, "Then some troubles occurred in the manor. Your mother almost had an accident, so the Marquis's manor and the Princess sent some guards to take your mother to your grandfather's house to recuperate."
These words do match what Qiu Shuang said. Xie Baoqiong asked anxiously, "And then?"
Xie Zhuo's eyes flickered: "The Crown Prince won, but in the end, His Majesty's illness was cured."
Upon hearing this absurd result, even Xie Baoqiong, who wasn't particularly interested in the matter, couldn't help but widen her eyes, "What about Mother?"
"After this incident, the King of Chu was punished, and the matter should have ended there. However, before the King of Chu's accident, our household received a secret letter from the King of Chu's residence. In it, your mother was used as a threat to make the Xie family and the Eldest Princess act as spies, waiting to make a move at the last moment," Xie Zhuo said.
"Did you agree?" Xie Baoqiong asked.
“No, your mother is accompanied by guards sent by the Xie family and the Princess’s residence. The Prince of Chu’s men are all under our noses, and we can notice any slight movement.”
“But Mother still had an accident,” Xie Baoqiong said, stating the truth.
Xie Zhuo took a deep breath and said, "Yes, after the incident with the King of Chu, I received an urgent letter from Huaiyang County that your mother had been kidnapped."
Upon hearing this, Xie Baoqiong became completely dejected. The most suspicious person sounded like the King of Chu that Xie Zhuo had mentioned, but the King of Chu had already been dealt with. He spoke with his last glimmer of hope:
Is the King of Chu still alive?
Xie Zhuo's words shattered his last hope: "After His Majesty decreed that he be demoted to a commoner, he committed suicide in his residence."
The light in Xie Baoqiong's eyes gradually faded, and she said dejectedly, "Then how can I avenge my mother? How can I resolve the karmic debt and continue my cultivation at Sishui Mountain?"
Xie Zhuo's eyes flickered, and he ruffled Xie Baoqiong's hair.
"Father, you're not lying to me, are you?" Xie Baoqiong looked up, her bright eyes staring straight at Xie Zhuo.
"Why would your father lie to you? I will send someone to investigate this matter again."
Seeing that Xie Zhuo's gaze remained unwavering, Xie Baoqiong lowered her eyes to think, but still felt that something was wrong. Perhaps even Xie Zhuo only knew a little bit of the inside story, and the real murderer was someone else.
After figuring things out, Xie Baoqiong cheered herself up, her thoughts gradually returning to normal. She heard Xie Zhuo's voice beside her: "What are you still thinking about?"
"What do you think the words on the memorial tablet are?" Xie Baoqiong made up an excuse without thinking.
Unaware that Xie Zhuo beside him looked increasingly weary, he remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking:
"Although your father has no high expectations for your studies and does not expect you to pass the imperial examinations, you still need to learn to read. In the days to come, you will learn to read in the mansion."
A note from the author:
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