Chapter 14: This Palace Does Not Dare to Say

Xiao Zhen froze. In his past life, he had even investigated the fact that the Prince of Liang had a daughter who died in infancy at the age of three or four, yet he had absolutely no idea that the Prince of Liang actually had an adopted daughter.

The surname Zhao belonged to the imperial clan. Even if she were an adopted daughter, without permission from the Clan Manor, this Zhao Xiao Si could not have taken the name Zhao.

If there had been an adopted daughter named Zhao, there was no way his past self could have failed to find her; therefore, in his past life, such a person simply did not exist.

In his past life, the Prince of Liang had no adopted daughter, so no one unmasked the assassin, and his parents died under a wrongful accusation;

In his past life, the Prince of Liang had no adopted daughter, so Xiao Su died in that sudden torrential rain—a day that was still a month away from his seventeenth birthday;

In his past life, the Prince of Liang had no adopted daughter, so everyone blamed the deaths of the Grand Princess and her husband, as well as Xiao Su, on the Prince of Liang's manor. The Xiao family clashed with the Prince of Liang's manor in a life-and-death struggle, eventually being branded as rebels and executed in their entirety; and Zhao Yunnuan, because of this, was caught by the Emperor and forced into marriage in the capital, only to die amidst the schemes of several women in the inner chambers.

Xiao Zhen quickly pieced together the connections. His heart raced like a thousand galloping horses. Just a moment ago, he had been self-righteous, believing that everything was changing because he had been reborn, but now, with the facts laid bare, Xiao Zhen felt ashamed. What truly changed these things was not his rebirth, but the Prince of Liang's adopted daughter, Zhao Shiqing!

But why? Why was there no adopted daughter in his past life, yet there was one in this life?

Was it because in his past life, the Prince of Liang had not personally gone to catch the troublemaker?

Then why had he not gone in the past life, but had gone in this one?

This was what Xiao Zhen could not fathom, but it no longer mattered. What mattered was that his parents and cousin had undoubtedly survived because of Zhao Shiqing.

The Princess was not wrong; Zhao Shiqing was indeed the savior of their family.

At this moment, Xiao Zhen could never have imagined that it was because of a single act of kindness from his childhood that the Prince of Liang had encountered Zhao Shiqing, felt compassion, and brought her back to the manor.

Had it not been for the events of his past life, the young Xiao Zhen would never have had that strange dream, would never have gone to Baifeng City to look for that so-called distant uncle, and would never have met the little blind girl rescued by wild dogs.

Ultimately, the cause of the past life was the effect of the present; his saving Zhao Shiqing was the cause, and Zhao Shiqing saving his parents and cousin was the effect.

Of course, Xiao Zhen did not know this yet, nor could he have guessed it.

Grand Princess Jiayi had been watching Xiao Zhen closely, and she had discovered one thing: her dear son was different from before.

Not only had his face become something neither human nor ghost-like, but more importantly, his expression had changed. Grand Princess Jiayi blinked hard; she had not misread him. She actually saw a sense of world-weariness in the eyes of her eighteen-year-old son.

This level of world-weariness was something even her forty-year-old Consort did not possess.

After all, the greatest hardship the Consort had faced in his life was becoming her husband; beyond that, he had no worries, and thus lacked the weariness expected of a forty-year-old.

Yet, her dear son was world-weary.

Grand Princess Jiayi's almond eyes widened. *Fine, fine, fine. Once I return to the capital, we shall see. Those who harmed me and my son will not have it easy. If I don't turn their lives into chaos, I'll write the character 'Zhao' upside down! Hmph, everyone is surnamed Zhao, but the shame will fall on the men of your Zhao family!*

Far away in the capital, Consort Dowager Li suddenly sneezed several times in succession. She did not yet know that the woman she detested most was about to return.

Consort Dowager Li was the biological mother of Emperor Yongjia. By rights, she should have been titled Empress Dowager, but since the Retired Emperor would not speak, her son, despite being Emperor, could only allow her to hold the lower title of Consort Dowager. If she wanted to be Empress Dowager, she could only wait until the Retired Emperor passed away.

Consort Dowager Li was still waiting for news of Grand Princess Jiayi's death, while Grand Princess Jiayi was already calculating how to throw the inner palace into turmoil.

However, a single sentence from her dear son gave her a sudden shock.

"Does the death of the Prince of Liang actually have anything to do with you?" Xiao Zhen asked.

Grand Princess Jiayi froze, then slapped Xiao Zhen on the head. "I suffered so much to raise you, and you actually doubt me? If I had known this, I would have been better off giving birth to a vegetable!"

Xiao Zhen thought: *When I was little, I had three wet nurses, over a dozen maids and old nannies, plus a physician specializing in pediatrics. When exactly did you suffer to raise me?*

Of course, Xiao Zhen only dared to say this in his heart. After all, it was indeed hard for the Princess to carry him for ten months and give birth.

Grand Princess Jiayi covered her eyes with a handkerchief, making a show of crying. Just as she was about to let out a third sob, Consort Xiao hurriedly comforted her in a soft voice, "Dear, don't cry. If your eyes swell up, you won't be beautiful. Ah Zhen is being immature; I will punish him by making him kneel in a moment."

Grand Princess Jiayi's crying stopped abruptly. She pushed Consort Xiao away and said fiercely, "He has a limp, and you still want to make him kneel? Even a stepfather isn't as ruthless as you!"

Consort Xiao smiled apologetically. "It's all my fault. Fine, fine, fine, I'll listen to you. We won't punish him then."

Grand Princess Jiayi immediately turned from anger to smiles. "That's more like it."

Beside them, Xiao Su was staring blankly. When the Grand Princess was at the Xiao residence, she was high and mighty, maintaining such an air that none of them knew she was not only overbearing but also quite unreasonable.

*Sigh, I used to think Zhao Xiao Si was the most difficult woman in the world, but now I realize that compared to my eldest aunt, Zhao Xiao Si is at least occasionally reasonable.*

Compared to Xiao Su, Xiao Zhen was much calmer; this was how his parents actually interacted.

But he did not intend to let them off that easily. He continued, "Mother, do not change the subject. Does the death of the Prince of Liang actually have anything to do with you?"

Seeing that Grand Princess Jiayi was about to explode again, Consort Xiao quickly spoke up, "I cannot say there is absolutely no connection. At the very least, that jar of wine was indeed brought by me. But your mother and I certainly had no intention of harming anyone. Besides, your mother and I both drank that wine, and we are both fine."

Xiao Zhen glanced at him and said provocatively, "Perhaps you secretly took an antidote?"

Consort Xiao: "..."

As Grand Princess Jiayi's palm swung up, Consort Xiao grabbed her hand. "For the sake of him only having half a life left, let's forgive him this once."

Grand Princess Jiayi: "Yan-ge, fine, I'll listen to you. Save it for him; wait until his injuries are healed and hit him all at once."

Xiao Su thought: *Thank goodness. Even though my mother is naggy, she moves on once she's done nagging. She won't hold a grudge. It really wasn't easy for Big Brother to grow up this large.*

Xiao Zhen did not want to move on either. He wanted to teach these two a lesson, otherwise, there would be a next time.

"Father, did you two secretly take an antidote?"

Xiao Su closed his eyes. *If you don't seek death, you won't die.* Big Brother's beating was truly not in vain. Forget it, he should prepare more medicinal salves for his brother.

However, Xiao Su did not expect that this time, Grand Princess Jiayi would not jump up in anger, but would instead fall into a daze. Even his eldest uncle, Consort Xiao, who loved to play peacemaker, remained silent.

The air in the room seemed to freeze. Xiao Su couldn't help but want to peek out the window for some fresh air.

Just then, Xiao Zhen spoke: "Are you feeling the fear now? I am the one asking the questions, and you are already feeling fearful. What if it were the people from the Prince of Liang's manor? If we were not here in the Star-Gazing Tower, but in the Golden Throne Hall facing the civil and military officials, would a single sentence like 'I drank that wine too' be enough to convince them? Would anyone believe you?"

Grand Princess Jiayi said aggrievedly, "We had no grudge or enmity with the Prince of Liang. Why would we harm him? If one were to harm someone, there must be a reason, right?"

Before Xiao Zhen could speak, Consort Xiao cleared his throat and said, "If you ask for a reason, others may not have one, but you do. I remember you telling me that when the Prince of Liang was still the Heir Apparent living in the capital, you had a fight with him that even reached the Retired Emperor, resulting in a three-month confinement. When you told me about it, you were gnashing your teeth, saying that if you ever saw him again, you would tear him into pieces. Is that true? Since you told me such things, you must have told others as well, right?"

Grand Princess Jiayi's mouth opened and closed. After a long while, she whispered, "Those old, dusty matters... if you hadn't mentioned them, I would have forgotten. That was how many years ago? Over twenty years! Who would remember?"

Consort Xiao: "I remember, and there must be others who remember. Oh, and I seem to recall that when the Retired Emperor punished you, the Emperor himself pleaded for you. Do you think the Emperor would forget this?"

Grand Princess Jiayi looked at Xiao Zhen pitifully. "Son, you must believe me. I was only speaking; I truly did not kill him."

Xiao Zhen looked at Consort Xiao, then shifted his gaze to Xiao Su's face. "Forget my mother; let's talk about you two, or the Xiao family. The main branch of the Xiao family is in Qingquan, which belongs to the Liang territory. The Prince of Liang is the lord of the Liang territory. Every official appointed to Qingquan is appointed by the Prince of Liang's manor. What is the first thing those officials do upon taking office? Xiao Su, you tell them."

Xiao Su had already guessed what Xiao Zhen was going to say. He said listlessly, "In Qingquan, the first thing every official does upon taking office is to send a calling card to the Xiao family to curry favor. That way, they can have a smooth career. Otherwise..."

Xiao Zhen let out an "oh" and looked back at Consort Xiao. "As the saying goes, two tigers cannot share one mountain. Moreover, the Prince of Liang is the lord of the Liang territory. If I were to say that the Xiao family harbors malicious intent to usurp his position, would the civil and military officials, or even most of the people in the Liang territory, believe me?"

Consort Xiao fell silent, and the atmosphere in the room grew even more oppressive.

It was Grand Princess Jiayi who finally broke the silence. "No matter how we explain, others won't believe us. So what do we do now? Son, I don't care if others believe me, but you must believe us. We truly never thought of harming the Prince of Liang. Besides, if we were to kill him, we wouldn't do it ourselves, right?"

Xiao Zhen's voice was cold. "Whether I believe you or not is irrelevant. I can only help you this once. In the future, be more careful and stop being used as a tool. If you are a guest, be a guest. Why send wine? If you haven't prepared a gift, you can buy one. Why send something meant to be consumed? Have you forgotten the matter between Emperor Xiaokang and Heir Wu? Mother, don't look at Father—I am talking to you. You grew up in the palace; do you really need someone to remind you of such things?"

Grand Princess Jiayi shuddered. *Who can tell me why, after only three months without seeing my son, he seems like a completely different person? He used to be a bit proud, but he never used to lecture people with such gravity, especially not me! Waaaah, my son is so scary, but I don't dare say it.*

After lecturing the Princess, Xiao Zhen began to question the Consort. "Father, I remember you didn't used to have the habit of bringing your own wine when visiting. What made you think of sending wine to the Prince of Liang this time?"

Consort Xiao did not wallow in self-pity like Grand Princess Jiayi. Ever since he heard the tragic news of the Prince of Liang's heart ailment following the wine, he had replayed the event in his mind repeatedly.

Therefore, when Xiao Zhen asked, Consort Xiao replied, "I did indeed think of sending other gifts. The Xiao family is on the Prince of Liang's territory, so naturally, I wanted to build a good relationship with him. Thus, for this trip to the Liang territory to visit relatives, I prepared a gift in advance: an original painting by the Sage of Painting. Originally, upon arriving in the Liang territory, we should have visited the Prince of Liang before going to Qingquan. But that day, the Prince happened to be away from the capital, stationed at a military camp a hundred miles away. So, we only sent a calling card and did not visit in person; the original painting remained in my luggage.

However, when we returned from Qingquan and intended to visit the Prince of Liang's manor, we found that the painting had been eaten by insects, leaving a hole. Such an ancient painting must be taken back to the capital to find a master to repair it. Although we had other things with us, sending them to someone of the Prince of Liang's status would be seen as disrespectful. I even went to several antique shops in the capital but could not find a suitable gift.

As luck would have it, after leaving the antique shop, I went to a restaurant for a meal. I was traveling light and no one here knew me. Besides, that restaurant was a place of old memories for me, so I did not go to a private room but chose a table I used to sit at in my youth.

At the table next to me were two scholars. I happened to overhear their conversation; they were in the capital to seek a master, and they were discussing what gift to give. They couldn't afford anything expensive, and anything cheap would be beneath them.

Since I was also worrying about a gift, I became interested.

The two discussed for a while, and then a waiter brought the wine they had ordered. The wine was in a flask, and one of the scholars slapped his thigh and said to the other, 'I've got it! Let's give wine. We'll say it's wine brought from our hometown. I know a wine shop where the owner is a fellow townsman, and his wine is transported from our region.'

When I heard this, my heart stirred. It was quite a coincidence; when I left Qingquan, I had brought several jars of wine brewed by your grandmother. Although I was reluctant to give it to the Prince of Liang, there was no more suitable gift. The Prince of Liang is a high-ranking Prince; he lacks nothing. Instead, a jar of home-brewed wine can better bridge the distance between us. I returned from the restaurant in high spirits, discussed it with your mother, and we both felt that sending wine was very appropriate. So, we took the wine to the Prince of Liang's manor."