Chapter 980: 459 The Truth About the Great Fire (First Update) Chapter 980: 459 The Truth About the Great Fire (First Update) Gu Jiao left the palace and went straight to Vermilion Bird Avenue.

The first treatment course for Princess Xinyang had ended, and the effects were not bad; now the second course was about to begin.

Gu Jiao took some medicine from the first-aid kit and put it into a small porcelain bottle to hand to Princess Xinyang.

Neither of them mentioned anything about the Imperial Palace.

In fact, Princess Xinyang had heard about it; after all, she had some old acquaintances inside the palace who would send her messages when necessary, like the time when the Imperial Guards arrested Long Yi, which was reported to her by her former subordinates.

Only at that time, she was drunk, and it was Xiao Liulang who had entered the palace to quell the Empress Dowager’s fury.

How he had appeased her could be imagined; it must have been by revealing his own identity to the Empress Dowager.

More and more people were learning of his identity, and this secret was bound to come out eventually.

“What is the princess thinking about?” Gu Jiao noticed Princess Xinyang’s distraction.

“Nothing.” Princess Xinyang regained her composure and glanced at the medicine bottles on the table. “Is this all? It seems like there’s one less bottle than last time.”

Gu Jiao explained, “The princess’s heart disease has improved, so there’s no need for the other medicine anymore.”

Princess Xinyang nodded.

Yujin came over and took the medicine bottles to store them properly.

Gu Jiao planned to rise to take her leave when Princess Xinyang hesitated and then called out to her, “What’s the deal with his leg?”

Gu Jiao looked at her and said, “Does the princess want to know how his leg was injured or if his leg can receive effective treatment?”

Princess Xinyang said, “Both.”

Gu Jiao put the small backpack she had lifted back onto the table: “He was injured while saving someone, about two years ago. At first, he didn’t receive proper treatment, which led to a disability in his right foot. Every step he took was as painful as a stabbing to the heart.”

Princess Xinyang’s hand tightened.

Gu Jiao continued, “Roughly a year later, he had surgery to correct the injury to his right foot, but due to limping for so long, the muscles in his right leg were weak and still incapable of walking. He spent another half a year in rehabilitation. The rehabilitation process was very arduous.”

Princess Xinyang’s eyelashes trembled slightly: “Then why hasn’t it healed?”

“The injuries on his body have healed.” Gu Jiao pointed to her own chest. “It’s here, where my scalpel is powerless to help.”

…

The demotion of Prince Ning caused a huge stir in the Capital City, and Grand Master Zhuang was intent on manipulating public opinion, attempting to launch a chorus of voices that could tarnish gold. However, the Empress Dowager was not someone who could be taken lightly either.

You, Grand Master Zhuang give as much silver as you like; I’ll give three times more!

—- At least she wasn’t as stingy as her brother.

The ultimate beneficiary of the manipulation of public opinion turned out to be the old Storytelling Master who, having received silver from someone, would write a whitewashing story for them, then sell it to Tea House waiters and Storytelling Masters.

His plots were logical and easy to understand; his choice of words was impeccable and highly engaging, which made him very popular among Tea House waiters and Storytelling Masters.

The Empress Dowager, with her utterly different nature of spending money like water compared to her brother, successfully defeated Grand Master Zhuang and obtained the ultimate whitewashing package from the old Storytelling Master.

Of course, the old Storytelling Master did not approach either side under his real name. He used the bookstore as a liaison point, playing two roles to deal with both sides using the identities of two writers.

The Empress Dowager thought the writer she had found was particularly talented when it was actually just a matter of her silver being in place.

The old Storytelling Master made a tidy sum.

He patted his bulging purse filled with banknotes, no longer worried about Zhuang Jinse coming to rob his private money! And then, as soon as he entered his house, he was robbed.

Old Storytelling Master: Wuu, my banknotes haven’t even warmed up—-
While the case of Prince Ning was boiling over, by contrast, the news that the Crown Princess had suddenly fallen ill and went to the villa to recuperate seemed rather calm. In reality, whether it was Prince Ning or Wo Linlang, their affairs had little to do with Bishui Alley; what concerned them most was the child Xiao Liulang.

Lately, that child seemed to have lost weight again.

Madam Liu came over to ask: “Madam Huo, what’s the matter with your Liulang? I’ve seen him looking deep in thought several times when I’ve visited.”

The Empress Dowager sighed: “Ah, he’s missing his mother.”

“Ah, he has a mother?” Madam Liu had never seen or heard this family mention it, and had assumed Xiao Liulang was a child without a mother. “Is his mother beautiful?”

His father certainly is.

Madam Liu thought of Marquis Xuanping, believing him to be even better-looking than Madam Huo’s son.

Actually, no one had told her that Marquis Xuanping was Xiao Liulang’s father, but no one doubted their relation when they stood together.

“Not bad,” the Empress Dowager said after some thought.

Princess Xinyang inherited the beauty of the late Emperor and Consort Yu, not even Ning An can compare to her.

“So, Hu Auntie, what do you think of me?” Liu Auntie struck a pose, “Not bad, right?”

Empress Dowager Zhuang glanced at her, “In the Capital City, you are the first to dare compare yourself to Princess Xinyang.”

Empress Dowager Zhuang greatly admired her courage and nodded, “Hmm, not bad.”

Liu Auntie straightened her back and huffed, “If his mother doesn’t want him, I’ll be his mother! If she dares to come, I’ll compare with her!”

As soon as she finished speaking, a carriage stopped in front of her, and a woman clothed in a green cloak stepped down slowly from the carriage.

Liu Auntie usually only looked at men’s faces, but now, she found herself stunned by the appearance and demeanor of the other party.

How could someone be this good-looking?

If Yujin’s looks had Liu Auntie gaping, then when Yujin stood firm and helped Princess Xinyang down from the carriage, Liu Auntie was completely petrified on the spot.

The Empress Dowager, who had always been commanding, remained calm and patted Liu Auntie on the arm, “There you go, the person you wanted to compare yourself to has arrived.”

Liu Auntie: “…”

When Princess Xinyang saw the Empress Dowager, she was mildly taken aback, not shocked by her presence in this place, but because she was dressed like an ordinary old lady sitting here.

She was also sitting with her legs crossed, leisurely cracking sunflower seeds as if it was nothing, showing no signs of composure or concealment upon seeing herself.

It was clear she was an old hand at this.

This was a side of Empress Dowager Zhuang that Princess Xinyang had never seen before; she always believed that those in power had two faces, yet such a discrepancy astonished her greatly.

Princess Xinyang quickly subdued her surprise and stepped forward, slightly bowing her body. With the neighbors present, she did not reveal the Empress Dowager’s identity.

She opened her mouth, “I…”
“West room,” said the Empress Dowager, cracking seeds without even lifting her eyelids.

The west room was easy to find.

Princess Xinyang thanked the Empress Dowager and stepped into the hall, then turned toward the west room.

The door to the west room was ajar; Xiao Liulang sat behind the desk, studying an arithmetic book from Yan Country. Initially, Gu Jiao had thought the book contained advanced math, but upon a closer look, she found it was not only about advanced math, its scope was very broad, some of it was content directly from the book, some seemed like notes the owner had scribbled in passing.

Xiao Liulang had not been to the Hanlin Academy these days; he had been immersed in studying this in the study room.

He was so engrossed that he didn’t even notice someone had arrived.

Princess Xinyang quietly entered the room, took in the furnishing of the space, which was nothing compared to the grandeur of Vermilion Bird Avenue or the Princess Residence, but there was a sense of cleanliness and simplicity mixed with a warm and scholarly atmosphere.

The warmth came from a few messy little boxes on the floor.

—- Little Jingkong has again messed with his things; he had nowhere to put them, and searching required rummaging through everything.

Yet it was this out-of-place disorder that added a hint of home to the otherwise silent and cold room.

Now, Xiao Liulang’s desk was divided into three parts.

The largest part was occupied by Little Jingkong; of the remaining two, one was Xiao Liulang’s private space, and the other was the common area he shared with Little Jingkong.

The little fellow had even drawn lines on the desk.

Merely looking at the lines on the desk, Princess Xinyang couldn’t help but imagine a scene where one large and one small eye were staring down each other in a battle for territory.

A wave of uncontainable bitterness surged in Princess Xinyang’s heart.

The young lord who could buy up all the desks in the world with a flick of his finger was willing to endure such a place, sharing a desk with a little tot.

But perhaps because of his previous cooking experience, her acceptance was higher than before.

It wasn’t until Xiao Liulang finished the arithmetic problem in his hands that he looked up, and by then, two full quarters of an hour had passed since Princess Xinyang had entered the room.

Xiao Liulang’s eyes swept with a trace of astonishment when he saw Princess Xinyang sitting quietly across the desk from him.

“Can I… speak with you for a few moments? Once I’ve finished, I’ll leave,” Princess Xinyang said in her usual tone.

Xiao Liulang’s gaze flickered slightly; he paused before saying, “Sure.”

Princess Xinyang turned and shut the door before sitting down opposite Xiao Liulang.

The quiet afternoon sun spilled outside the window; the courtyard was filled with the gossiping voices of the neighbors about whose daughter-in-law was going to give birth, and whose cat was lost, making the west room seem all the more tranquil.

It had been four years since they had sat together like this; both felt somewhat ill at ease, but this discomfort stemmed more from their fractured mother-son relationship. Neither knew the other’s thoughts, nor whether they should or could continue to maintain their bond.

In the end, it was Princess Xinyang who broke the silence first: “Tell me about your experiences, where did you go after you left the Capital City?”