"That man is already dead."
After finding the person, Yi Shuihan went to find Xiao Qingyin.
"He died from poisoning."
Xiao Qingyin was taken aback.
"Did he commit suicide out of fear of punishment, or was he murdered to silence him?"
"He left a suicide note, condemning my mother for abandoning her husband and daughter after starting a relationship with him, and saying that he used the poisonous dye he accidentally made to take revenge on my father and mother because he was filled with hatred after love turned to hate."
Yi Shuihan replied.
"Cough cough—"
Xiao Qingyin almost choked to death on her own saliva.
"What did you say? Abandoned husband and daughter? Where did this daughter come from?"
"There was a girl of about sixteen years old living in the home of that down-on-his-luck scholar. She looked exactly like my mother when she was young."
"!!!"
Xiao Qingyin was stunned.
She had only ever heard of husbands with illegitimate children coming to their door, never of wives with illegitimate children coming to their door.
Even if a wife cheats on her husband, she would still give birth to the child at home, not outside.
It's impossible to hide it from them.
Physiological conditions simply do not permit it.
Has your mother seen this girl?
Yi Shuihan pursed her lips.
"She saw him, and was shocked. She left him at the manor."
Xiao Qingyin: "..."
She asked cautiously, "She admitted it?"
"No, she said she didn't know any down-on-his-luck scholars, nor had she ever had a child with anyone, but her attitude towards that girl was very different."
"How are they different?"
"They gave her the best empty courtyard in the mansion, and assigned eight maids and servants to serve her. Her food, clothing and daily necessities are better than mine."
Isn't that treating her like a young lady from a noble family?
Could that girl really be Princess Zhaoyang's illegitimate daughter?
Xiao Qingyin couldn't help but give Yi Shuihan a sympathetic look.
The family of three had lived happily together for so many years, but suddenly an illegitimate younger sister appeared, and the harmonious atmosphere was gone forever. It must have been very upsetting for them.
Of course, the one who must be feeling even worse is the Marquis of Yong'an.
He was the top scholar in the imperial examinations, achieving the highest honors in all three levels of the imperial examinations. Giving up a promising future to marry a princess was undoubtedly true love.
As a result, when he reached middle age, an illegitimate daughter fell from the sky.
What a tragedy.
However, no matter how much Xiao Qingyin thought about it, she couldn't understand how Princess Zhaoyang had managed to keep it a secret back then.
So he asked, "Do you think this is possible?"
Yi Shuihan turned his face away, looked at the osmanthus tree in the courtyard, and brought up a past event.
“My mother has a habit of going to her third maternal uncle’s place in Guanbei for half a month after the spring imperial examinations every year to pay respects to her fourth aunt.
Her fourth aunt was very close to her when she was alive, and she died saving her, which she never forgot.
In the spring of the year I turned three, my family of three went to Guanbei as usual.
My mother caught a cold on the way and fell ill when she arrived at my third uncle's place.
Just then, a messenger arrived from the manor, saying that news had come from Jiangnan that my grandfather was seriously ill and probably didn't have much time left, and that we should go back home.
My mother couldn't go, so my father told us to stay behind and he would go back alone.
He returned to Jiangnan and cared for my grandfather for two months before he passed away. No sooner had my grandfather passed away than my grandmother fell ill and died a few months later.
It was a year later when they returned to the capital after handling these two funerals.
During that time, my mother was bedridden and it took her almost half a year to recover. Seeing that I was having a great time on the Guanbei Grassland, she was reluctant to go back, so she postponed her return for a while and returned to Beijing around the same time as my father.
I was too young to remember these things; they only came to me later when I visited my great-uncle.
Xiao Qingyin understood immediately.
Princess Zhaoyang did commit a crime—no, she had an affair and gave birth to a child.
The couple had separated for exactly one year, and the girl happened to be around the same age; the timing made perfect sense.
However, if someone intends to design something, they can take advantage of this.
We cannot conclude that Princess Zhaoyang committed adultery simply because they look alike and the timing matches.
"Did you know that although no two leaves in the world are exactly the same, there are two people who look exactly alike and even have similar life trajectories?"
Xiao Qingyin comforted her.
She had seen news like this in her past life: someone saw someone on social media who looked exactly like them and thought they were a long-lost sibling, but a DNA test revealed that they were not related at all.
"It's possible that this girl was deliberately brought here by someone else."
Yi Shuihan sighed.
"That's because you haven't seen her yet. You don't know how much she looks like my mother. My father painted many portraits of my mother when she was young, and she looks like she stepped out of the portraits."
Therefore, even if he had doubts, he couldn't say anything harsh to her, let alone resort to torture.
Xiao Qingyin's curiosity was piqued.
Princess Zhaoyang was still stunningly beautiful even in middle age, so one can only imagine that she must have been incredibly beautiful in her youth.
She really wanted to see such a beauty.
He then asked Yi Shuihan, "May I see her?"
"sure."
Yi Shuihan replied.
"I came to you because I wanted to ask you to come over and see if you could cure her voice."
"Is her voice damaged?"
"Yes, she can't speak. The royal physician examined her and said she's naturally mute and there's no cure."
Born mute?
Xiao Qingyin, filled with doubts, went to the Marquis's residence with Yi Shuihan.
The girl that Princess Zhaoyang and Yi Shuihan were talking about was sitting in the glass greenhouse drinking tea.
Speaking of which, this glass greenhouse was ordered by Marquis Yong'an from their Colorful Glass Workshop.
After learning that large panes of glass could be used to build greenhouses, he placed an order.
They said they wanted to build a greenhouse so that Princess Zhaoyang could enjoy flowers even in winter.
Xiao Qingyin thought it was incredibly sweet at the time.
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