"But if he dies, then you will be the one sent to the court as a hostage?" Ren Yaoqi frowned.
Xiao Jingxi nodded. "Yes, after he died, it was naturally the turn of the King of Yanbei's second son. My mother had just lost her first child and was devastated. To cheer her up, Nanny Gong and Nanny Xin came up with an idea. They told her to tell everyone that the child was alive. They found a newborn baby to replace him, and after a few years, they would send him to the capital as a hostage. This way, her second son could be saved."
"I see, no wonder..." Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment, "The rumor that you gave away your mother's sister's child is actually not hers. Could it be that the prince is your cousin?"
Xiao Jingxi twitched his lips and shook his head when he heard this: "That rumor is pure nonsense. The 'prince' is the child of a maidservant who came with my mother as a dowry."
Ren Yaoqi blinked: "Then... is this 'prince' really dead?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingxi looked at Ren Yaoqi in surprise, then smiled and said, "Why do you say that?"
In fact, Ren Yaoqi was just asking casually, because she always felt that this prince died at a "very timely" time, whether in this life or the previous one, which made her think too much.
"It just feels like something is wrong." Ren Yaoqi said.
Xiao Jingxi gently tapped the tip of Ren Yaoqi's nose and said with a smile, "Could it be that you smelled something wrong?"
Ren Yaoqi slapped Xiao Jingxi's hand away and glared at her. Don't think she can't hear it just because you're calling her a dog in a roundabout way!
Xiao Jingxi sighed and shook his head, then said in a half-serious, half-sincerity tone, "Luckily I married you. If you were left out like this, no one would be safe. This 'prince' is indeed not dead. He completed his mission and retired with honor. I originally thought this matter was foolproof, even the court hadn't noticed, but I didn't expect you to 'feel' it. Tell me, do you have a good nose?"
Ren Yaoqi ignored Xiao Jingxi's teasing and steered the conversation back on track: "Then what about the poison in your body?"
The smile on Xiao Jingxi's face faded a little. "My mother died in her womb when she gave birth to my first child. She was poisoned. Although she was rescued by Madam Gong, the poison was not completely eliminated. So I was born with the poison."
Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but be astonished. Xiao Jingxi had actually been poisoned when the princess was pregnant with him! She knew some medical knowledge and naturally understood that this kind of poison brought from the mother's womb was the most difficult to cure. No wonder Xiao Jingxi had been ill for so many years. He must have suffered a lot in his childhood.
Thinking of this, Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but feel a little distressed.
Seeing the look in Ren Yaoqi's eyes, Xiao Jingxi took advantage of the situation and hugged her in his arms, gently rubbing his chin against her head: "It's nothing, actually. I'm fine now, and it's a blessing in disguise. No poison will work on me now."
Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi felt even more distressed for Xiao Jingxi and nestled in his arms without saying a word.
"Then... have you found out who poisoned him?" Ren Yaoqi said sullenly.
Xiao Jingxi was silent for a moment before he said, "Although the Yanbei Palace cannot rival the gates of Jiajingguan, it's not something anyone can enter to poison someone."
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