Chapter 609 Having a Child (First Update)
Princess Xinyang gritted her teeth and said, "Those three words again! What else can you say besides 'I don't believe you'?"
Marquis Xuanping thought about it seriously for a moment and said, "You're being stubborn."
Princess Xinyang exclaimed again: "...!!"
Princess Xinyang felt she couldn't stay there any longer, or she would either be driven to death by him or vomit herself to death.
It seems there's not much difference between the two.
Princess Xinyang stormed off in a huff.
She did come to see her son, but she was so angry with Marquis Xuanping that she forgot what she had come for. She just wanted to get as far away from him as possible, so she turned around and got into the carriage on Zhuque Street.
Marquis Xuanping watched her departing figure and clicked his tongue, "Still saying you didn't come to see me."
...
The case of the successive deaths of the old Liang King and his wife caused quite a stir in the capital and Pingluo Prefecture. It is said that the old Liang King was murdered in a revenge killing. Considering that he had a very good reputation, was gentle and charitable, how could he have had enemies?
As for the death of Princess Liang, it was even more mysterious; she was actually struck by lightning.
People in ancient times were very superstitious. What kind of terrible sins must a person have committed to be struck by lightning?
"Could it be that Princess Liang hired someone to kill the old Prince Liang?"
In the teahouse, people were discussing the matter.
A young man said, "Princess Liang? What makes you say that?"
A middle-aged man said, "Haven't you ever been married? How many couples appear loving on the surface but are actually enemies in secret? If you ask me, the person in this world who most wants me dead is definitely my wife!"
Many people in the teahouse felt the same way, especially the women who came to buy tea for their husbands; they felt like they wanted to beat their husbands to death every day.
However, being angry is one thing, but actually doing it is another.
If the old King Liang truly forced his wife to kill him, then at the very least, the old King Liang must have done something that she could not tolerate.
A down-on-his-luck scholar in his thirties, carrying a jug of wine, walked over half-drunk and sat down at the table. "Hey," he said, "I heard that the old King Liang favors his illegitimate son and wants to depose his eldest son from the throne and make his illegitimate son the King of Liang."
"Is that so?" the young man asked.
The scholar took a sip of wine, fanned himself with a folding fan, and said with an air of seriousness, "The old King Liang and his first wife have a strained relationship. For an outsider, he even beat his eldest son. Do you all remember Princess Xinyang? She lived in the King Liang's mansion when she was young. Because of an argument with her eldest son, the old King Liang beat him half to death. How could the old Queen Consort not resent it? How could she not hate him? Is he standing up for Princess Xinyang? No! He's slapping the old Queen Consort in the face!"
"Really?" the middle-aged man asked.
The scholar closed his folding fan and said solemnly, "It's absolutely true! If it weren't for Princess Liang always being wary of him all these years, the mother and son would have died countless times over!"
The young man asked, "Was the old King Liang still a good person?"
The scholar said, "He was a good man, but not a good one. He favored his concubine over his wife! He fell seriously ill ten years ago, and even when he was terminally ill, he was still scheming about how to pass the throne to his illegitimate son. I also heard that while the old Queen Consort of Liang was in the capital with her eldest son, the Prince of Liang, he secretly summoned the steward of the manor and asked him to write a letter requesting that his eldest son be deposed and that his illegitimate son become the Prince of Liang. The old Queen Consort of Liang found out about this by chance, and in her anger and shame, she hired someone to kill him!"
Another middle-aged businessman said, "That makes sense. If it wasn't someone familiar with the Liang Prince's mansion who did it, how could they not have found any clues?"
Others immediately chimed in, "That's exactly right!"
The teahouse was bustling with noise as the story of Old Liang Wang became increasingly outlandish. The old priest, who was about to hand a book to the storyteller upstairs, was stunned.
You guys have such vivid imaginations! You can even make up stories better than me!
Suddenly you feel like your storytelling skills are incredibly weak, don't you?
The storyteller grabbed the other end of the script and tried to pull it over for a while without success. He chuckled awkwardly and said, "Old sir, are you selling this script or not?"
The old priest swiftly snatched the old Liang Wang unofficial history from his hand: "No, I won't sell it!"
These imaginative onlookers have ruined everyone's livelihood!
...
Because there was no evidence, the case of Old Liang Wang was dropped.
To put it bluntly, the emperor had also begun to believe some of the unfounded rumors circulating among the people.
How can someone who has done nothing wrong be struck by lightning?
Could it really have been Princess Liang who did it?
The emperor then ordered a thorough investigation of the Liang Prince's residence. As a result, the investigation uncovered all of the Liang Prince's scandalous deeds over the years, including accepting bribes, colluding with local officials, operating mines without authorization, and abducting women.
Now look what's happened, he'll be infamous for eternity.
The emperor confiscated the Liang Prince's mansion, and all of the old Liang Prince's descendants were stripped of their titles and reduced to commoners, thus severing all ties with the imperial family.
That day, Gu Jiao was drying medicinal herbs in the courtyard when several soldiers brought a couple in their twenties to her door.
The officers and soldiers came from the government office in Pingluo Prefecture. The leader bowed to Gu Jiao and asked, "Is this Doctor Gu's home?"
"Yes, is there something you need from me?" Gu Jiao stopped drying the herbs.
The leading officer quickly said, "Dr. Gu, my surname is Liu. You can call me Liu Quan, Dr. Gu."
Here comes another one named Liu Quan.
"Who called me?" Liu Quan walked over from the newly opened passageway next door, holding a spatula.
Gu Jiao turned around and said, "No, Uncle Liu, we have the same name. He is also called Liu Quan."
"Oh." Liu Quan was not surprised. This name was common, and he had encountered countless people with the same name over the years.
He went back to cooking.
Perhaps it was the misunderstanding caused by the name, but Officer Liu Quan actually felt a bit more familiar with the child. He smiled, led the couple behind him over, and said, "They are from Xishui Village. They reported to the yamen that their child was missing. We asked about their child's situation, and the child looks very similar to the child that Marquis Xuanping and Lord Xiao rescued from the ancient well. The yamen recorded that the child was taken back to Bishui Hutong and handed over to you, Doctor Gu, for treatment."
Gu Jiao nodded: "I am the one treating him, but we don't have enough manpower here. After he recovers, I will take him to Princess Xinyang. Please wait a moment, I will send someone to deliver a letter to Princess Xinyang."
Upon hearing this, the couple almost knelt down in awe.
Their son was given to a princess to raise?
Princess?
Princess!
Good heavens!
Did their ancestral graves emit auspicious smoke?
The young couple were both quite old, but in ancient times they married young, so they already had five children, with the baby being the youngest.
The reason they left the child in the village wasn't because they were heartless and abandoned him, but because they misunderstood the situation.
The woman, filled with remorse, explained the whole story to Gu Jiao: "The government officials came in a hurry that day, saying that a torrential rain was about to fall, which might wash away the hillside and cause flooding..."
It was a mudslide, but never mind, no need to bother explaining it.
Gu Jiao listened patiently as she continued.
"They said to evacuate as soon as possible, the faster the better."
The carrier pigeon arrived at the post station at noon that day. The post station then reported to the local government that there would be a natural disaster the next night and that the villagers should be evacuated immediately.
The officials in the government office didn't really believe in the authenticity of the natural disaster, but because it was an order from the emperor, they dared not neglect it.
The officials went to the village in the afternoon to persuade the villagers to leave, by which time the rain had already started to pour.
The villagers initially refused to leave, especially the elderly, who said they would rather die here than move away.
The officials used both soft and hard tactics, and finally managed to persuade the entire village to evacuate in the middle of the night.
As darkness fell and torrential rain poured down, the officials escorted the villagers to safety and evacuated overnight.
Their son was lying next to a large winter melon. They took the melon and left their son behind...
"It was just so chaotic... They picked him up and put him in the basket, thinking he was their son... Our family has elderly parents and young children, three houses in total. After arriving at the resettlement point, the houses were separated. The basket was taken by the child's grandparents. We thought the child was with his grandparents, and the grandparents thought the child was with us... Later, when I said I wanted to bring the child over, his grandparents were old... We only found out when we got there..."
By this point, the woman was already sobbing uncontrollably.
Gu Jiao was at a loss for words.
He's lucky to be alive, having such confused parents.
The child must have woken up and found his family missing, and crawled around looking for them, accidentally climbing onto the manhole cover.
A one-year-old child can stand up and walk a few steps. The well opening isn't high, so climbing up isn't difficult.
The guards were very fast and soon informed Princess Xinyang.
Surprisingly, Princess Xinyang personally brought Yu Jin and the child with her.
The child was held in Yu Jin's arms.
"This is Princess Xinyang," Gu Jiao introduced.
The group hurriedly bowed to Princess Xinyang.
The couple looked at the child in Yu Jin's arms and were so excited that they wanted to rush over to him immediately.
Princess Xinyang asked the two what had happened, her expression somewhat indifferent: "Are you sure it's your child? What does your child look like?"
The couple mentioned several characteristics of their child, including that his toes were curled up more tightly than those of a typical infant.
Yu Jin nodded to Princess Xinyang, confirming that she hadn't said a single wrong word.
Princess Xinyang had cared for the child for many days and naturally understood that what they said was accurate. There was no need to ask any further questions; a mother's gaze towards her child could not be faked.
Princess Xinyang looked calmly at the couple, whose eyes were red-rimmed, and said with an air of authority, "Don't be so careless again. You even managed to switch your own children. First, he fell into the well, then he got pneumonia. What if no one came to your village? No one heard his cries, no one could cure his illness, and you—"
Halfway through her speech, Princess Xinyang seemed to realize that her words had carried emotion. She stopped in time, glanced at the child one last time, and restrained herself from reaching out to hug him. She simply said to Yu Jin, "Take him away."
"Yes," Yu Jin replied, and walked over to hand the child to the woman.
The child is asleep right now and isn't responding.
Princess Xinyang glanced at the child several times without making it obvious, perhaps hoping he would wake up.
The couple were overjoyed to have their child back. After thanking the officials repeatedly, they left with their child in their arms.
Gu Jiao continued drying the medicinal herbs, with Yu Jin helping her.
Princess Xinyang went to see her son.
In fact, the child was rescued by Marquis Xuanping and Xiao Heng. The couple wanted to express their gratitude, but neither of them liked such scenes and stayed inside the house.
As soon as Princess Xinyang entered the main hall, she saw Marquis Xuanping's wheelchair blocking her way.
Princess Xinyang gets angry whenever she sees this man and is extremely unwilling to face him.
Marquis Xuanping raised an eyebrow and said, "What? You can't bear to part with that child?"
Princess Xinyang ignored him and continued walking forward.
Marquis Xuanping's eyes followed her as he said, "If you want a child, you can have another one."
Princess Xinyang chuckled and said, "With whom? You?"
Marquis Xuanping said shamelessly, "I am not very interested in you now. It won't be so easy for you to have a child with me."
Who wants to have a child with you!
I was being sarcastic!
Do you understand irony?
Princess Xinyang took a deep breath. She was a princess; she couldn't lose her composure. She had to stay calm. He was a pumpkin; he was farting.
Princess Xinyang walked forward without looking back.
Marquis Xuanping, in a despicable manner, stretched out one of his legs, which was in a cast.
Huh? I'll block it.
Princess Xinyang: "...!!"
Princess Xinyang's temper flared up instantly. Just then, Gu Jiao's small medicine box was placed on the table next to Marquis Xuanping. She grabbed the medicine box and threw it at Marquis Xuanping!
Marquis Xuanping raised his two arms, which were in casts, and steadily held the small medicine box between them.
Huh? I'll block it again.
Princess Xinyang tried to pull out the small medicine box, but couldn't get it out after two tries.
The thief of Xuanpinghou was proud.
Princess Xinyang was so angry that she kicked him!
Unfortunately, Marquis Xuanping's entire body, including his neck, was in a cast, so she couldn't find a suitable place to put her feet.
Suddenly, her gaze fell on a certain unspeakable part of him.
Marquis Xuanping's brow twitched, and he quickly lowered the small medicine box to block it!
Princess Xinyang's kick knocked over the small medicine box, causing the medicine inside to spill out.
Princess Xinyang was caught off guard by this incident. Her expression changed, and she quickly squatted down to pick it up.
These medicinal herbs are very precious; we mustn't let her ruin them.
The medicinal herbs spilled all over Marquis Xuanping, and Princess Xinyang had to pick them up one by one from his clothes.
Marquis Xuanping gave her a deep look and said righteously, "Qin Fengwan, can you please stop using such methods to take advantage of me?"
Princess Xinyang: Give me a knife, and I can really kill you right now!
After packing up her small medicine box, she stood up and looked down at Marquis Xuanping. In the end, she decided not to lower herself to argue with such a person!
After Gu Jiao finished drying the medicinal herbs, she returned to the main room. Marquis Xuanping and Princess Xinyang were no longer there. She took the small medicine box back to the east room to check the medicines.
Then she noticed something was wrong.
What kind of medicine are these little blue bottles?
It looked like the calcium gluconate oral solution she had given to Xiao Jingkong, but when she picked it up and took a look, she almost smashed the medicine box!
Psychedelic Number One!
This is the kind of drug developed by the research institute... commonly known as an aphrodisiac!
The entire psychedelic series is like that, but Number One has the top-tier effects!
"Who needs this kind of thing?"
"I...I...Do I really need this to pounce on my husband?!"
"If you keep acting so indecently, I'll really burn you!"
A gentle evening breeze blew by, and the small medicine box remained as quiet as a chicken.
(End of this chapter)
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