028 Visiting my parents' home
Li Yang didn't laugh like him.
On the contrary, she looked at her with sympathy: "The Sixth Princess must have had a very difficult time these past few years."
Song Xi could no longer maintain his smile; his lips twitched, and the muscles in his jawline formed a stiff and eerie smile.
Song Xi said, "It must be quite difficult. The struggles in the palace never stop, and he's just a sacrifice. Who cares about his true identity? Everyone only cares about the title of 'Sixth Princess'."
He smiled dismissively and looked at Li Yang as he continued, "Actually, the Sixth Princess was not born to the Emperor and Consort Jia. Consort Jia did give birth to a daughter, but she didn't survive. The Sixth Princess who has now usurped the throne is the illegitimate child of the current Empress Dowager."
This news was too shocking. Even though the palace, the Empress Dowager, the princesses, and others were far removed from Li Yang's life, she still felt uneasy and worried about them.
Seeing Li Yang's interest, Song Xi continued, "Before entering the palace, the Empress Dowager had a childhood sweetheart who was an imperial physician. However, her maternal family looked down on the physician's family background and sent her to the palace. Surviving in the harem is not easy. The Empress Dowager suffered a lot in the palace intrigues, which damaged her health and caused her to be infertile. It was only because she had good judgment and asked the late emperor to adopt the current emperor that she has her current status."
"After becoming Empress Dowager, her life became truly free. Once, when she went to Mount Wutai to pray for blessings and worship Buddha, she met the imperial physician. The two had not seen each other for many years, and their feelings were instantly rekindled. Under the physician's care, the Empress Dowager became pregnant. Later, she gave birth to their son in a temple on the mountain. However, she was, after all, an Empress Dowager, and a year of traveling to worship Buddha and cultivate herself was the limit. She had no choice but to return to the palace with her palace servants, separating from the imperial physician and her son."
Li Yang listened intently, and when he stopped, she couldn't help but ask, "What happened next? How did their son become the Sixth Princess?"
Song Xi said, "After the Empress Dowager returned to the palace, she learned that her niece from her maternal family had entered the palace and given birth to a daughter for the Emperor. Unfortunately, the daughter was not blessed and died of illness not long after the Empress Dowager returned to the palace. The Empress Dowager missed her son so much that she devised a way to switch the two women, having her son disguise himself as a little girl and keep her by her side. Fearing that she would be discovered, she poisoned her niece and drove her insane, and also killed a group of palace servants, and made the Sixth Princess never see outsiders, thus concealing the news."
These two simple sentences encapsulate the lives of countless people and the hardships endured by the Sixth Princess throughout her life.
Li Yang sighed, "The Sixth Princess is completely innocent. Why did you have to drag him into this?"
“Who knows,” Song Xi chuckled. “Perhaps it was the Empress Dowager trying to find a place for her overflowing maternal love.”
Seeing the mockery in his eyes, Li Yang's heart skipped a beat, and a terrible thought arose in her mind.
I'm the sixth child in my family, so Yangyang, you can call me Sixth Brother~
'The Sixth Princess is actually a man in disguise.'
'Song Xi's skill in disguise is such that ordinary people cannot easily see through it.'
Li Yang shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the chaotic thoughts.
Probably not.
This absurd past is like a wound with a scab on the surface but rotting underneath; no one would willingly peel it off to expose the bloody flesh and bones inside.
Definitely not.
Li Yang avoided his gaze, somewhat afraid to look at him. But seeing his lowered head and the overwhelming sorrow around him, she said, "Everyone has their own troubles, it's just that we are in the midst of it and cannot think calmly. Young Master Song, one should not be too sad about everything and ignore the beauty in it."
Song Xi's lifeless eyes flickered with emotion. He looked up at her and said, "That's exactly what I wanted to tell you. If you can so calmly advise me, why can't you tell yourself the same thing?"
Li Yang sighed, tilted her head back against the chair, and stared blankly at the roof beam above her head: "Yes, why can't I?"
***
Inside the kitchen, watching Yuan Chongjing calmly brewing medicine and tending the fire, Bei Hai paced anxiously in circles.
"Are you done yet? If you can't help, get out of here and stop getting in my way," Yuan Chongjing said impatiently.
Bei Hai stopped and looked at Yuan Chongjing with anger at his lack of ambition: "Second Young Master, I'm not trying to criticize you, but yesterday it was raining so hard, and you went to see the Young Madam, and your wound got infected from the rain. Why didn't you tell the Young Madam? You let the miracle doctor take all the credit."
The medicine pot had been bubbling for a while; it should be ready by now. Yuan Chongjing pulled out the burning firewood underneath: "What can I say? It was Song Xi who found her and saved her. Would I pretend to be her savior?"
"You're so great. The young mistress must be angry with you now. I just saw her chatting happily with the divine doctor in the main hall," Beihai muttered.
Seeing that Yuan Chongjing was about to pour out the medicine, Beihai took out a porcelain bowl from the cabinet and placed it on the table: "And that Madam Biyun, why are you bothering with her? It's one thing to bother with her, but of all the clinics, why did you have to send her to the Divine Doctor? If the young mistress sees this, it'll be another problem."
Yuan Chongjing glanced at him coldly: "Shut up, or I'll make you regret it. Clean this place up, and I'll take this medicine to Li Yang."
Beihai lowered his head timidly and replied casually, drawing out the last syllable, "Yes~~"
"Lord Yuan!" A woman's urgent voice came from the doorway. Xu Biyun ran to the kitchen door and saw Yuan Chongjing anxiously. "Song'er has vomited again, Lord Yuan, please go and take a look for me."
Upon hearing this, Bei Hai spoke first, in a voice loud enough for all three of them to hear, before Yuan Chongjing could: "If you've vomited, go find a doctor. Why are you looking for my young master? He's not a doctor."
Xu Biyun said awkwardly, "I did look for one, but this courtyard is too big, and I can't find the young doctor."
“Alright,” Yuan Chongjing put down the medicine bowl and said to Beihai, “I’ll go take a look. You take the medicine to Li Yang; she’s in the main hall. If you run into the Divine Doctor and Qiuqiu, ask them to go and see Song’er.”
Hokkaido: "Why don't you go and deliver the medicine, Master Bu? I'll go check on Young Master Luo."
Yuan Chongjing thought it was a good idea, but seeing the timidity on Xu Biyun's face, and considering that she was not familiar with Beihai and that Beihai was hostile to her, he gave up: "It's okay, I'll go. You go find Qiuqiu quickly."
Bei Hai pouted, secretly glaring at Xu Biyun, before carrying the medicine out. It seemed the young mistress was right; Xu Biyun was definitely doing it on purpose, deliberately trying to ruin the relationship between the second young master and the young mistress. Once their relationship broke down, the second young master certainly wouldn't be in the mood for daily acupuncture, thus preventing him from regaining his memory.
He carried the medicine the whole way, still thinking about how to deal with the situation. When he arrived at the main hall, he saw Li Yang lying on a small couch under the window, covered with a black men's cloak, his eyes closed as if he were asleep.
Bei Hai gently called her name, and seeing that she had opened her eyes, he carefully said, "The medicine is ready, young mistress. Drink your medicine before you go to sleep."
Li Yang hummed in agreement, got up and leaned against the round pillow. Touching the rim of the bowl, which was still a little hot, she said, "Wait a bit."
Bei Hai placed the medicine bowl on the small table beside him and looked around, not seeing Song Xi. "Young Madam, has the divine doctor left?"
Li Yang said, "He's been gone for a while. He has some things to take care of at home, so he doesn't have much free time today."
"Good riddance, good riddance," Bei Hai muttered to himself. Seeing that Li Yang was somewhat puzzled, Bei Hai explained, "Young Madam, have you heard? There are other people living in this courtyard."
Seeing his mysterious expression, Li Yang said, "It's Xu Biyun and her son Luo Song. Brother Jing brought them in yesterday, I already know."
Hearing her calmly say these words, Bei Hai's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but then he realized that his reaction was a bit too much. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Young Madam is really well-informed."
“It’s not that I’m well-informed,” Li Yang said. “It’s that someone couldn’t wait to let me know.”
She was quite surprised that these people could even bribe her with a simple request.
When Song Xi left just now, he said he had taken control of Qiuqiu and would discuss it further after questioning her. Additionally, a new doctor was assigned to the courtyard to specifically monitor Xu Biyun and Luo Song.
Li Yang said, "Since this has happened, I'll just play along with their plan. Beihai, after I've rested, I'll leave here and go back to the Li residence for a couple of days. You and Jing-ge can stay here for now. I'm worried Xu Biyun might make a move, so be careful in private. If necessary, you can stop hiding it from Jing-ge."
"Okay." Bei Hai nodded in agreement. Looking at Li Yang's calm and composed expression, Bei Hai suddenly felt like he had shot himself in the foot. He didn't know if Li Yang's behavior was just an act, or if she had truly lost faith in Yuan Chongjing. He was afraid that in the end, the two of them might really part ways.
After Li Yang finished drinking the medicine, Bei Hai, still unwilling to give up, explained, "Young Madam, actually, the Second Young Master did go up the mountain to look for you yesterday. He almost slipped and fell down the mountain, and his wounds got infected from the rain. It's just that he felt that it was the Divine Doctor who found you in the end, and he didn't get any credit, so he was embarrassed to say it. Young Madam, he does care about you, but maybe he's just shy, and your relationship wasn't good before, so he didn't know how to express it."
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