Chapter 74 Suspicious Identity
Zhao Tong thought Xiao Ji was concerned about his wife and wanted her to wear more comfortable clothes. After agreeing, he went to look for the washed and dried shoes. He also took out the embroidered shoes from the box in the room and placed them on the table with silk cloth.
When several pairs of shoes were put together, the differences became apparent. The shoes Qingwu often wore were actually slippers, which were mostly worn in the boudoir at home. They had soft and loose soles and were more comfortable. The shoes hidden in the box were all pointed-toe shoes and heavy-top shoes. These shoes were exquisite in style and were all worn when going out. They had high and stiff soles.
"Master, I'm saying that Madam is wearing these shoes because they are inconvenient. Otherwise, why would Madam choose to wear slippers?"
Xiao Ji did not comment, but looked at the shoes carefully. Finally, he picked up one pair of shoes himself and observed them in front of him. He picked up one worn pair and one unworn pair. The worn slippers were obviously deformed, while the ones that had not been worn much still basically maintained their original appearance.
He did not think that the slippers were deformed due to wearing. These shoes were custom-made by the embroiderers from the palace manufacturing bureau. They must have been made to fit the feet well and look beautiful. He had only worn them for a month, and when he was in the East Palace, he went in and out of the palace in sedan chairs and carriages. How could they be deformed so badly?
And most importantly, Zhu'er said she "couldn't wear them." How could she not wear the shoes that the manufacturing bureau had tailored for her? If there was such a mistake, why didn't she tell her when she was in the East Palace?
"Are all the madam's shoes here?"
"All the shoes drying under the wall are here."
Xiao Ji nodded, and his eyes swept across the row of shoes one by one again, and finally stopped on a pair of light green shoes. The shoes were extremely ordinary among the pile of brocade shoes. They did not have complicated toes, and the materials were not expensive, just ordinary silk.
He picked up the pair of light green cloth shoes with his slender fingers and stroked the silk surface with his fingertips. Why was there only one pair of shoes made of silk in this pile?
The pair of peach blossom eyes suddenly flashed, and Xiao Ji picked up a slipper, turned over the sole, and matched it with the bottom of the silk shoe in his hand, and then aligned the heels of the two pairs of shoes.
Watching his master's movements, Zhao Tong leaned over and said with a smile, "Could it be that shoes are made in different sizes..."
The unfinished words stopped abruptly when he saw the small extra circle on the toe of the shoe. "...are they really different sizes?"
Xiao Ji still said nothing and compared the other shoes with these silk shoes one by one. The results were all the same. This pair of green silk shoes was just half a millet longer than the other shoes.
Why is this pair of shoes bigger than the rest in a pile?
There was silence for a while, except for the tinkling of rain bells on the eaves blown by the wind.
Xiao Ji slowly put the shoes back on the table, and looked at the other pairs of slippers and brocade shoes. An incredible thought came to his mind: these shoes are not Madam's...
Or does it mean that apart from this pair of silk cloth shoes, the others do not belong to the lady?
It should be the latter. Only feet that fit these silk cloth shoes can stretch out those pairs of slippers, and only feet that fit these silk cloth shoes cannot wear those exquisite brocade shoes that are tailored to the body.
Then...why can't the current lady wear the shoes made for her feet?
Almost in an instant, all the abnormalities on Qingwu's body appeared in Xiao Ji's mind one by one: unusual strength, a personality that was not very similar to before, no habits of a noble lady, some knowledge of pharmacology, and a smell that was very similar to that of Xi Er Niangzi.
Is it a resemblance? Or is... the lady really her?
This thought exploded like thunder, and Xiao Ji felt his temples throbbing. All the details of the past surged and reorganized in his mind. Those things that had confused him now had explanations, and the fog in front of him dissipated instantly!
Madam is Lady Xi Er? The Lady Xi Er who had given him first aid?!
Is this the girl he first fell in love with?
"It's her..." A whisper escaped his throat, trembling with an uncontrollable tremor. Xiao Ji gripped the wheelchair armrests tightly, his knuckles turning white. The figure running across the racecourse in his memory and his current wife finally overlapped at this moment, becoming one and the same person.
The guilt and entanglement accumulated in my heart collapsed, and were replaced by surging ecstasy, and my arms were shaking slightly.
So he wasn't a playboy, and the two women he was attracted to were actually the same person? So he'd been attracted to the same person from the beginning to the end?
The corners of Xiao Ji's lips lifted uncontrollably, the ecstasy surging in his chest almost bursting through his throat, even his breathing became rapid and hot. However, in an instant, the surging emotions were extinguished by cold doubts.
If that was true, why was his wife, the second lady of the Xi family, here? And where was his former concubine?
Why did the twin sisters exchange identities?
In fact, when doubts surfaced in his mind, Xiao Ji already had a vague answer. His Adam's apple rolled violently twice. He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm his mind, and forced his wandering thoughts to gather: "Zhao Tong."
His voice was so hoarse that even he felt unfamiliar with it. "Do you know the second lady of the Xi family?"
Zhao Tong had already noticed the change in his master's expression. In just a few breaths, he was surprised and happy. When he was guessing what his master was thinking, he suddenly heard this question.
"Of course I know. Isn't this our Madam's twin sister?"
Speaking of Madam Xi Er, Zhao Tong couldn't help but mutter, "Haven't these twin sisters come to visit for all this time?"
Xiao Ji tapped the table lightly with his fingers, and Zhao Tong quickly told him the news he had heard, "I heard that the second lady of the Xi family was lost at the age of four and was found when she was fourteen. She later married a cousin of the Xi family. Oh, this cousin seems to be the new top scholar of the imperial examination."
"During those days... we in the East Palace couldn't take care of these things, so we didn't say anything..."
The Eastern Palace was a desolate place at the time, so how could anyone pay attention to this matter? The more Zhao Tong spoke, the more depressed he became. He lowered his head and didn't notice the flash of anger and realization on his master's face.
With this information, Xiao Ji could already deduce the general situation. He had lost his leg and was deposed as Crown Prince. His former concubine, who was famous throughout the capital, disliked him and refused to stay with him, so she left the palace to seek the protection of her family.
Niang Xi Er was lost at the age of four and was not found until she was fourteen. During this crucial ten-year gap, it was obvious who her parents loved more. They could not bear to see their eldest daughter suffer, so they ordered the two daughters to be swapped, so that the daughter who was raised in their care could still become a decent wife of a third place scholar.
Thinking about all this, even though Xiao Ji was an outsider, he felt a sudden pain in his heart. How could there be such a cruel family member in this world? But as soon as the thought came to him, he thought of his father again. In an instant, the pain in his heart turned into pity for each other.
Is she the same as him?
But this emotion only lasted for a few breaths, and Xiao Ji then remembered that his wife had a husband, that cousin, the newly crowned third place winner...
Zhao Tong looked up and saw such a dark face. He was immediately frightened and shuddered, "Master, Master, what's wrong with you?"
"How long has the second lady of the Xi family been married?" Xiao Ji suddenly spoke, his voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
Zhao Tong was shocked by his appearance and stammered, "It seemed like... years ago? Eh, now it's strange, how come the younger sister got married before the older sister?"
However, Xiao Ji could no longer hear the second half of the sentence. The only word in his mind was "New Year".
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