Chapter 982: 461 Recognition (Third Update) Chapter 982: 461 Recognition (Third Update) The mother and son inside the house were overcome with such sorrow that it felt like a river flowing in reverse, yet outside, a merry gathering of eavesdroppers was taking place—-heads stacked upon heads, all of them leaning over the crack of the door, wishing they could gouge out their ears and eyes to thrust them through.

Little Jingkong was the shortest, so he was at the very bottom.

Above him were Gu Xiaoshun and Gu Yan, and then above them was their aunty.

The aunty wasn’t as tall as the two of them, but she had a commanding aura, so they had no choice but to obediently crouch lower.

The Yao Family also came to join in on the fun.

Yujin’s purpose in standing at the door was to prevent people from eavesdropping, but with the old and young unable to be swayed by force or persuasion, they simply wouldn’t admit that it was because the Empress Dowager was inside.

Eventually, Yujin gave up resisting.

If you’re going to listen, let’s all listen together!

Long Yi walked over and saw a group of people with their heads pressed against the door crack. He fell silent for two seconds, then pressed his head there too.

His was, of course, a bit higher up.

All at once, everyone looked up: You’re blocking the light!

Long Yi: “…”

Aside from Little Jingkong, who lacked worldliness and thus couldn’t understand the whole story despite catching every word, everyone else more or less figured out the relationship between the mother and son as well as the ins and outs of the past events.

Little Jingkong: So the bad brother-in-law really is Aheng (Hen)! And he won’t even admit it!

Alright, that was the only piece of information he truly understood.

Gu Yan: So my brother-in-law turns out to be the young Libationer of Zhaodu and the young lord!

Gu Xiaoshun: They always say, ‘Be careful with fire in dry weather,’ the Guozijian’s wood materials are not fireproof enough.

The Yao Family: My son-in-law is so unlucky, what kind of sins did he commit? I should ask Mama Fang to stew a pot of pig heart soup.

Yujin: The princess and the young lord have really endured so much.

Long Yi: …Mumble mumble mumble!

The Empress Dowager couldn’t stand listening any longer. The two inside were going round and round in their conversation without getting to the point, hesitating and vacillating, driving her mad!

Surely a single sentence could clear up this misunderstanding, but they just wouldn’t say it! They just wouldn’t say it!

To hell with not saying it!

If you two won’t say it, I will!

The Empress Dowager shot everyone a look: Rush in?

Everyone nodded in unison: Rush! We must rush in!

The Empress Dowager, with her phoenix might, flung open the door with a swish!

She planned to lead her Bishui Alley troops and storm in, but when she turned around.

Thud, where did everyone go?!!!

All, including the Yao Family who was heavy with child, instantly flashed to the side of the door, pressing tightly against the wall.

The Empress Dowager, who had charged ahead, ended up taking on all the responsibility alone…

The commotion caused the atmosphere inside to come to a sharp halt. Princess Xinyang and Xiao Liulang quickly adjusted their auras, synchronizing as mother and son—-their brows relaxed, shoulders loosened, backs straightened, eyes calm and cold.

As if nothing had happened at all, and they were simply discussing how the weather was that day.

The Empress Dowager: Heh, if not for those two eyes swollen like walnuts, I would have really believed you!

Well, now that I’m here, I, the reigning Empress Dowager who can handle hundreds of officials, will certainly be able to resolve the issues between these two stubborn individuals.

Xiao Liulang brought a chair for the Empress Dowager.

She sat down in a carefree manner, first looking towards Princess Xinyang on her right hand side: “You! Yes, you! Were you the one who rescued him from the fire four years ago?”

As she said “him,” she glanced at Xiao Liulang.

Without waiting for Princess Xinyang to answer, the Empress Dowager continued: “You had better think carefully before answering. I am not asking as Liulang’s aunt but as the reigning Empress Dowager. I hold real power, and you’d better not deceive me, as it would be tantamount to the crime of deceiving your sovereign!”

Having real power means being this forthright!

After hearing his aunt’s words, Xiao Liulang instantly turned into a primary school student anxiously waiting for the teacher to announce exam results, full of hope and nervousness.

Princess Xinyang was one who would rather suffer than lose face, something in which Xiao Liulang was very much like her. She was already close to stepping down, and now the Empress Dowager had offered her a way out, she naturally wouldn’t kick the opportunity away.

But she still had to maintain appearances.

It wasn’t that she wanted to speak; the Empress Dowager was forcing her to.

Princess Xinyang spoke in a low voice: “Yes.”

Xiao Liulang’s eyes flickered ever so slightly.

The Empress Dowager asked: “Is there any evidence?”

This was something Princess Xinyang truly hadn’t planned on revealing, but her body language had already betrayed her.

The Empress Dowager caught a glimpse of her hand instinctively reaching for her left arm, although it was only a symbolic gesture, it was enough for the penetrating gaze of the Empress Dowager to see through everything.

The Empress Dowager lifted her sleeve in one swift motion, revealing her left upper arm covered with ferocious and ugly scars that spread up to her shoulder.

Princess Xinyang was caught off guard by how sharp the Empress Dowager was; she suddenly exposed her wounds to Xiao Liulang’s eyes.

The Empress Dowager felt quite… surprised. She knew Princess Xinyang must have been injured, but she had never imagined such severe wounds.

Had she known, she would not have let Liulang see them.

No mother in the world wants her child to see herself in such pain.

How did she manage to escape the fire while carrying Liulang on her back?

Xiao Hen at fourteen was almost the same height as Gu Yan, it would have been very difficult for Princess Xinyang with her slender build to carry him.

The fire in the room was mostly extinguished by her, but as a beam crashed down she lifted an arm to block it, stumbled, and fell right into the nearly extinguished pile of embers, causing the sleeve of her left arm to catch fire.

From the conversation they had just now, both Empress Dowager Zhuang and Xiao Liulang couldn’t figure out how many people had set the fire. Empress Dowager Zhuang thought it was only Prince Ning, Xiao Liulang thought it was only Princess Xinyang, but the fire that actually burned Xiao Su’s brother to death was the third major one.

It completely destroyed Minghui Hall at the Guozijian, and during the more than three years that the Guozijian was closed, almost half the time was spent repairing it.

The arsonist’s intent was too obvious.

They wanted Xiao Hen dead, dead to the extent of no return.

Princess Xinyang once suspected the offenders were retaliating against herself or Marquis Xuanping, but the more she investigated, the more she felt something was off. The people they had offended were either in Zhan Country or Chen Country, and among both countries, there was no power she couldn’t investigate.

There was only one possibility, that the offenders were very likely from a Shang Country.

The two of them had no dealings with people from Shang Country, and naturally, there was no enmity either, so the offenders might really have been targeting Xiao Hen.

Xiao Hen had never offended the people of Shang Country, his only connection to it was that his mother was a Yan Country slave girl.

Could this matter be related to her? Was she really a slave girl?

Princess Xinyang, reminded of the past by her own scar, became distracted for a moment, not noticing that Xiao Liulang was kneeling before her, lifting her sleeve again to look at the interwoven scars running up her delicate arm.

“I’ll have Jiaojiao think of a solution later,” said Empress Dowager Zhuang patting Xiao Liulang’s shoulder.

Xiao Liulang looked down and silently let go of the hand that had lifted her sleeve.

A hot tear fell onto the back of her hand, so scalding it made her heart skip a beat.

She snapped back to reality and realized her injuries had been seen by Xiao Liulang once again.

Sorrow indescribable filled Xiao Liulang’s eyes.

He had always been like this as a child; a minor injury on her would make him cry out of concern first.

Even though she was fine, he would cry like a little rain spirit.

Princess Xinyang reflexively said, “It doesn’t hurt anymore, Mother is fine.”

The moment the word “Mother” slipped out, both of their bodies stiffened.

Empress Dowager Zhuang: Suddenly felt like I’m a bit superfluous here…

Empress Dowager Zhuang quietly rose to leave, making sure to take the preserved fruit from the table with her.

Indeed, at this special moment, no one noticed her taking the preserved fruit!

However, just as she reached the doorway, she bumped into Gu Jiao, who had just returned from the Medical Hall.

The Empress Dowager who had her preserved fruit snatched: “…”

The wheel of karma turns; none are spared by heaven!

Some truths, once revealed, there’s no point in trying to cover them up anymore.

Princess Xinyang chuckled through her sobs, as if remembering something, and said, “Xiao Yi.”

“What?” Xiao Liulang was confused, not understanding why the subject had suddenly changed to this, and what was Xiao Yi? Were there a Long Yi and also a Xiao Yi?

“Yi as in to rely on a fragrant blooming,” said Princess Xinyang with a smile, her eyes brimming with tears but her lips bearing a smile, “I had already thought of the name for the child when I was pregnant. If it was a girl, I would have named her Xiao Yi.”

Xiao Liulang murmured, “Like a fragrance without rank, but with a place to rely on.”

“That’s right,” smiled Princess Xinyang lightly.

“If it was a son, was he supposed to be named Xiao Hen?”

Isn’t that a silly question?

Wasn’t he already named Xiao Hen?

Why ask about a name that was prepared long ago?

Xiao Liulang’s gaze darkened.

“No,” Princess Xinyang said with a smile, shaking her head, “If it were a son, I planned to name him Xiao Qing.”

Xiao Liulang asked, “Qing, as in everlasting reign, joyful through the ages?”

Princess Xinyang smiled, “With your interpretation, the name doesn’t seem so common after all.”

Xiao Liulang didn’t understand the meaning of Princess Xinyang’s words, did she initially intend to give her son a common name?

Continuing, Princess Xinyang said, “The longevity lock was already made, and then he was gone.”

This was the first time in eighteen years that Princess Xinyang openly talked about her son’s death.

Somehow, she suddenly felt at peace, and realized that speaking about it wasn’t as painful as she had imagined.

Princess Xinyang wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, caressed his cheek with her hand, looking into his reddened eyes, and said with a choked voice and solemnity, “Xiao Hen is Xiao Hen, Xiao Qing is Xiao Qing, I’ve never confused the two of you. You didn’t steal his life, Xiao Hen’s life is your own, I’ve always been clear that you are Xiao Hen, and I’ve known it all along.”

And loved you deeply ever since.

A bittersweet emotion surged in Xiao Liulang’s heart, his hands tightened anxiously, his eyes reddened and shimmered with unshed tears, his throat ached as he said, “I am… Xiao Hen?”

Princess Xinyang held his cheeks with both hands, smiling through tears, “Yes, you are Xiao Hen, my child.”

The name he had lost, was finally reclaimed.

He was Xiao Hen.

The child of his mother.