Chapter 162: Death of biological mother, new hatred and old grudges
"I......"
Xiao Qingxu hesitated to speak.
Shang Yuwan tilted his head slightly and said, "If you can't say it, then there's no need to say it."
Xiao Qingxu opened his mouth and asked: "If, if we..."
Shang Yuwan: “?”
"What do you want to say?"
Xiao Qingxu found it difficult to speak, but he looked like he had to say it. Shang Yuwan was really curious.
Xiao Qingxu was silent for a long time before he asked cautiously, "On our wedding day, did you discover anything?"
Shang Yuwan raised her brows slightly, "What do you want me to discover?"
"I..." Xiao Qingxu was silent for a moment, then slowly lowered his head, "For example, for example, that person is not me..."
His voice became smaller and smaller, as thin as a mosquito's buzz.
Shang Yuwan said, "Oh, that's your stand-in, right?"
Xiao Qingxu raised his head suddenly, "You know?!"
"yes."
Shang Yuwan's eyebrows curved.
"You were so guilty that you almost burst out, how could I not know that?"
On the wedding day, "Xiao Qingxu"'s hands were shaking. Although Shang Yuwan was holding a fan, she could still see the guilt and nervousness of the man opposite her.
“…”
“…”
After a moment, Xiao Qingxu came back to his senses and hurriedly explained: "It's not that I don't want to marry you, that day -"
"It's something important, right?"
The hair on Shang Yuwan's temples was gently lifted by the night wind, and her peach blossom eyes looked more lively and gentle under the candlelight.
She supported her chin with one hand, without a trace of blame in her eyes.
"You're not the type to be impolite just because you dislike someone. You must have something important that prevented you from coming that day."
"Tell me, what is it that prevents you from even having the time to get married?"
Seeing this, Xiao Qingxu stopped hesitating.
"My mother didn't die in childbirth, but was murdered by a treacherous person."
Shang Yuwan suddenly had an idea and asked, "Queen Zhao?"
Not long after the first queen, Zhao Lan was promoted from imperial concubine to queen, and she was the first to benefit. However, Xiao Qingji was only a prince at that time, and was only named the prince after Xiao Qingxu was disfigured.
Xiao Qingxu nodded, stood up, walked to the frame, and reached out to pull the copper ring.
A slight noise came from behind the "Snow Scene and Cold Forest" painting hanging on the wall. Shang Yuwan glanced at Xiao Qingxu, and after getting a response, he stood up, reached behind the "Snow Scene and Cold Forest" and took out a wooden box.
"This is......"
Xiao Qingxu walked up to her and opened the box. "When my mother was pregnant with me, a scandal spread in the palace that she had an affair with a palace guard. Although the guard was beaten to death immediately, the rumors did not die down."
"Exactly ten months after his death, my mother gave birth to me. The midwife said she had a severe postpartum hemorrhage and died the moment she gave birth to me. Not long after, the midwife disappeared."
"Since then, the rumors have been unstoppable. My grandmother was devastated by my mother's death and almost died with her. My grandfather didn't believe my mother was that kind of person, so he sent people to track down the missing midwife overnight. As soon as they found any clues, she disappeared without a trace."
He took the box and handed the bloodstained silk handkerchief inside to Shang Yuwan.
Shang Yuwan flipped through it for a moment and said, "Qin's blood letter? The testimony of the midwife?"
Xiao Qingxu nodded.
"I sent people to track them down for years before I finally found them. That day, I rushed over in a hurry after hearing the news from my grandfather, so I didn't return in time. I could only ask [Cicada] to take my token and marry you on my behalf. However, by the time I found her, the midwife had already passed away. All I had was my grandfather and this testimony."
"There's more than that." Shang Yuwan looked up at him, "If you only had this unidentified testimony and Master Xu, you wouldn't be so sure."
To overturn the verdict, testimony alone was not enough. There was something fishy about the late queen's death, a rumor that would circulate from time to time in the palace. Although it was always suppressed by Zhao Lan or Emperor Chengming, the rumor never completely died out - presumably this was Xiao Qingxu's secret plot.
They used rumors to persecute a woman who was about to become a mother, attacking her at her most vulnerable moment. If it weren't for Emperor Chengming watching from above, Xiao Qingxu would have retaliated and used the rumors to kill Zhao Lan.
But this matter involves royal secrets and concerns the reputation of the royal family. If any one of these three things, testimony, evidence, and witnesses, is missing, it can be suppressed. At that time, Xiao Qingxu will not be able to avenge his mother at all.
Xiao Qingxu looked at her quietly.
"There's a rumor in the capital that Master Xu died at the hands of bandits." Shang Yuwan smelled something unusual. "From what you're saying, not only is your grandfather still alive, but there are others as well?"
Xiao Qingxu reminded him, "He's also your grandfather."
She was his wife, so his grandfather was naturally also Shang Yuwan's grandfather.
Shang Yuwan didn't refute and nodded, "Where did you place your grandfather? Besides the witnesses and the testimony, where is the evidence?"
"I found the midwife's son. They poisoned my mother back then, and the remaining poison was hidden by the midwife with her son. Don't worry, they are safe now." Xiao Qingxu chuckled, and his tense heartstrings relaxed a little.
The tension had dissipated a little, but when mentioning the biological mother whom he had never met, Xiao Qingxu's eyes could still hide the depression.
"Minshun" was the name Xu Zhiyao had chosen for him after discussing it with Emperor Chengming while she was pregnant. At the time, she was in the emperor's good graces, and Emperor Chengming accepted her proposal. Apart from this, Xiao Qingxu never received any relics related to his mother in the palace, and even the people around her had all died.
Xu Zhiyao was like a gust of wind within the deep palace walls, vanishing without a trace after a gentle breeze. If Xiao Qingxu hadn't deliberately spread rumors in the palace, Xu Zhiyao would have been forgotten by everyone long ago.
"When the state is righteous, the will of heaven is in harmony; when officials are clean, the people are at peace" comes from "Poems of a Child Prodigy," with "people in harmony" as the character. Every word is a blessing for Dayu and the people, but the mother's love and affection for him is missing.
......Why?
Xiao Qingji's name is "Anzhi", which means "knowing that it cannot be helped and accepting it as fate" in Zhuangzi. Every stroke is a blessing to Xiao Qingji.
Why was it only him? Why was the only thing his mother left him a blessing for Dayu and the people, instead of just for him?
Xiao Qingxu didn't dare to ask his grandparents, and could only toss and turn in the dead of night, but he still couldn't figure out why.
Shang Yuwan blinked, suddenly stood on tiptoe, and reached out to touch his head.
"It's okay, I'm here."
Xiao Qingxu was stunned.
Shang Yuwan smiled at him.
"We will avenge both old and new grudges together."
She did not ask Xiao Qingxu when he knew that his mother was murdered, nor did she ask how he had survived all those years.
Xiao Qingxu felt a pang of pain in his nose. He raised his hand, grasped Shang Yuwan's hand, which was about to be withdrawn, and placed it on his cheek.
Those gentle eyes were filled with a bitter smile, and he never mentioned the fact that he would not live long.
"When everything is settled, let's get married again, okay?"
Shang Yuwan laughed out loud, hiding the bitterness in his eyes.
"Then next time, don't use a substitute."
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