Chapter 61: Reunion

Yu Lingxi casually inquired about Ning Yin’s situation, thinking she was quite restrained. Unexpectedly, even Tang Buli noticed, and that wasn’t a good sign.

Yu Lingxi slowly swallowed a piece of pear, and her tongue, numbed by the medicine, could no longer distinguish between sweet and sour. She smiled lightly, “Suddenly, a new prince appeared in the court. Who wouldn’t be curious? Not to mention me, a patient recovering from a serious illness.”

“True. But for some reason, the emperor doesn’t seem to favor the recovered Seventh Prince. It’s been so long, and he hasn’t even been given a title. Few people have seen his appearance.”

Tang Buli, after taking a bite of pear, rested her cheek on her hand. “In my opinion, the Seventh Prince would be better off living as a commoner! Why bother stepping into this muddy water by returning to the palace?”

Yu Lingxi lowered her eyes.

She knew why Ning Yin had returned; his blood and hatred were buried there.

A stifling sensation began in her chest, a dense and pulling pain. Yu Lingxi quickly took a peppercorn and salted plum to distract herself.

In the past two months, she had enjoyed a lot of leisure and sweetness, and it had been a long time since she had a craving for spicy food. She was choked momentarily, her throat hurting, and she changed the topic, saying, “By the way, Ah Buli, you mentioned you’re engaged. Who is the groom from?”

Bringing up this matter, Tang Buli’s eyebrows drooped, seemingly indifferent. “It’s the grandson of Minister Chen, Chen Jian.”

Upon hearing the name “Chen Jian,” Yu Lingxi’s heart skipped a beat.

She remembered that in her previous life, Tang Buli also married Chen Jian, a man who looked refined on the outside but was corrupt inside. After marriage, his lecherous and two-faced nature became evident. Once, when he was drunk, he insulted Prince Regent Ning Yin behind his back and had his tongue cut in public…

Fate seemed to be circling back. Would she return to the starting point again?

“Ah Buli, congratulations on your engagement. I should be happy for you.”

Yu Lingxi carefully chose her words, reminding her, “But I’ve heard that Chen Jian is a passionate and arrogant person with a questionable reputation. You should think twice.”

“Really? Then why did the people my grandmother sent to inquire all say that Chen Jian is a gentle and elegant gentleman…”

Tang Buli suspected that the Chen family had bribed the matchmaker. With doubts in her mind, she became even more resistant to this marriage.

Considering Yu Lingxi was still in poor health, Tang Buli didn’t want to trouble her with these matters. She pretended not to care and took out a square, golden-yellow cloth bag. Inside was a thick stack of handwritten scriptures.

Yu Lingxi knew that Tang Buli usually hated reading and writing, but today she had willingly copied a thick pile of scriptures for her to pray for blessings. This act of friendship comforted her a lot.

“Thank you, Ah Buli.”

Yu Lingxi took the cloth bag with both hands and placed it under her pillow, smiling, “And your book-copying servant, where is he?”

“What servant?”

Tang Buli was stunned for a moment before realizing she was talking about the scholar they saw on Qiqiao night. She sighed and said in a low tone, “Oh, you mean Zhou Yunqing! I don’t have the money to keep him around for book copying. I sent him away after Qiqiao.”

“Who?”

Yu Lingxi suspected she had misheard the name. “What did you say his name was?”

“Zhou Yunqing! ‘Yun’ as in ‘hidden,’ ‘qing’ as in ‘gentleman.’”

Tang Buli scrutinized Yu Lingxi’s expression suspiciously and asked, “What’s wrong?”

It really was him!

Yu Lingxi was stunned for a moment, then grasped Tang Buli’s hand with great solemnity. “Ah Buli, can you bring back Zhou Yunqing? Find him and take good care of him.”

She vaguely remembered that in her previous life, Chen Jian, drunk, insulted Prince Regent Ning Yin, and had his tongue cut off in public. The one in charge of the case was one of Ning Yin’s trusted subordinates—the talented scholar from the fifteenth year of Tianzhao, known as the “stern judge” and the newly appointed Deputy Minister of the Grand Court, Zhou Yunqing.

There couldn’t be two Zhou Yunqings in the capital!

Tang Buli, completely unaware, placed down the half-eaten pear, reached out to check Yu Lingxi’s forehead temperature, and said, “Are you okay, Sui Sui? Your words sound a bit strange.”

After Tang Buli left, another servant came to report that the Xue family had sent ginseng, bird’s nest, and other items. According to the maidservant, Xue Cen had also visited twice, sitting silently for a long time each visit before leaving with red eyes.

At that time, Yu Lingxi was delirious from illness, and she didn’t know if the servant had exaggerated the situation.

However, she vaguely remembered several times half-awake, feeling that someone was sitting far away outside the curtain, observing her. Could it be that her intense mental distress mistook Xue Cen, who came to inquire about her health, for Ning Yin?

Yu Lingxi lay back on the bed, touched the jade hairpin on her head, feeling as if there was a hole in her heart, empty and windy.

She wondered about Ning Yin’s current situation.

She closed her eyes and sighed lightly, feeling like she was going crazy.

…

Eastern Palace.

A eunuch brought an old palace maid with white hair and forced her to kneel on the ground, holding down her hunched back.

Ning Tan lifted his drunken eyes, glanced at the trembling old woman muttering words, and frowned. “This crazy woman?”

The eunuch said, “I’ve confirmed. Among those who served the empress back then, only this old palace maid is still alive.”

Someone who had been missing for twenty years after leaving the palace. Only recently had they unexpectedly resurfaced. But if there were no hidden secrets from that time, why did these palace maids die, and why did some escape?

Ning Tan’s face darkened, and he dismissed the eunuch. This investigation used soldiers from the Forbidden Army, and neither Cui An nor the Empress were aware of it.

Ning Tan staggered to his feet, kicked the frightened old woman with the tip of his shoe, and gruffly said, “Old hag, do you know who I am? I’m the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. I have something to ask you…”

He didn’t bring up the matter himself. As soon as he heard the words “Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace,” the old woman suddenly bounced up.

She widened her cloudy eyes as if seeing something terrifying, waving her thin, branch-like hands. “I didn’t say anything! I don’t know anything! Don’t kill me, don’t kill me…”

Ning Tan was nearly scratched, instantly losing his patience. “Speak! What happened back then? Who wants to kill you?”

“Go to the mother, leave the son… go to the mother, leave the son…”

No matter how he pressed, the old woman only mumbled this sentence.

“Go to the mother… leave the son?”

Ning Tan chewed on these words and suddenly pushed the woman forcefully to the ground, shouting in panic, “You witch, talking nonsense! I am the Empress’s biological son! I am the legitimate heir!”

“Mercy, Your Highness, please calm down… Qing Luo has already drowned in the well; they are all dead!”

The old woman trembled, raised one finger, made a hushing sound, and almost humbly said, “No one knows the Second Prince’s origin, no one knows. This servant won’t say anything…”

As the Crown Prince is the second son, it was obvious who the “Second Prince” referred to.

Shocked and furious, he twisted the old woman’s collar, forcing her to answer, “Who is Qing Luo? Speak!”

Being strangled, the old woman’s eyes bulged, and she spoke intermittently, “Qing Luo… was… the Empress’s personal palace maid, the birth… birth mother of the Second Prince… The Empress couldn’t bear children, so she let Qing Luo… uh!”

Under the stimulation, the old woman convulsed, drooling, and collapsed to the ground, unable to provide any more information.

Ning Tan felt as if thunder had struck him, sitting down on the ground with cold hands and feet. When rumors spread earlier, he was determined to understand everything. Now, hearing the testimony of the midwife, all that remained was endless panic.

If he was not the Empress’s legitimate son but a child born to a lowly palace maid, a pawn the Empress used to solidify her position…

The Xue family’s covert support, his position as the Crown Prince, would all turn into nothing. The old woman was dragged away, and Ning Tan poured a pot of wine down his throat, then smashed the wine jug on the ground.

Should he kill this woman?

No, he couldn’t. He had to leave himself a way out. If the Empress wanted to depose him in the future, this old woman would be the best bargaining chip.

Ning Tan revealed a twisted smile that was uglier than crying, feeling extremely clever.

…

When Yu Lingxi could move around, the once scorching sunlight had become cool and gentle, and the leaves under the eaves showed a faint yellow. 

By the lotus pond and the bridge of the plank walkway, a few withered lotus plants stood alone. No one was carelessly feeding the koi or trying to lure her into a conversation.

The grand imperial autumn hunt had left, and Yu Lingxi had not participated. One reason was that she really had no energy, and the other was that she didn’t know how to face Ning Yin.

In recent dreams, she always dreamed of Ning Yin’s silent, ice-cold eyes that stabbed into her heart every time she waved goodbye.

Resting in the mansion for several days, she began to analyze the current situation calmly.

Since the Emperor had briefly mentioned splitting her father’s military power, the Yu family had been living cautiously and faced considerable hardships.

As the Emperor couldn’t catch any evidence of collusion between the Yu family and the princes, his attention gradually shifted. He began to use a more conciliatory approach to appease the father and son of the Yu family.

As for Ning Yin…

Forget it; she still needed to find a way to delay the marriage.

Lost in thought, Yu Lingxi didn’t realize that her brother, Yu Huanchen, and sister, Yu Xinyi, had returned a day early.

“Brother, sister.”

Hearing the return of the horses, Yu Lingxi hurriedly went out to greet them, asking, “Weren’t you accompanying the Emperor on the autumn hunt? Why did you return early?”

She was worried that something might have gone wrong during the hunting.

After all, even though Ning Yin was not a legitimate heir, his presence would undoubtedly disrupt the current political landscape and irritate some people.

Yu Xinyi didn’t have as sharp a mind as Yu Huanchen. She sighed and said briskly, “The Emperor suddenly caught a cold wind, and his body was a bit unwell, so he decided to return to the palace early.”

Yu Lingxi exclaimed, “Oh,” and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Seeing his younger sister’s subtle emotions, Yu Huanchen dismounted and said, “By the way, Sui Sui, the Empress’s birthday is approaching. Just now, a court lady from the Palace delivered an imperial decree, inviting you to the palace to celebrate together.”

Sure enough, the ease in Yu Lingxi’s expression vanished, and her brows furrowed lightly.

Yu Huanchen couldn’t bear to see his younger sister like this, but compared to letting her get involved with Ning Yin and the dangers it might bring, he could only harden his heart and say, “Your sister will accompany you. Prepare well, Sui Sui.”

On the ninth day of October, the Empress’s birthday, a grand banquet was held in the palace.

As soon as dawn broke, Yu Lingxi began dressing and changed into an exquisite and elegant ceremonial gown. There was still some time before the events of her previous life’s upheavals. If she remembered correctly, at this moment, Ning Yin should be keeping a low profile, rarely appearing in front of courtiers.

Would Ning Yin participate in the Empress’s birthday banquet?

She vaguely remembered that among the banquets attended by the influential figures her uncle tried to please in her previous life, there was no sign of Ning Yin… Yu Lingxi couldn’t quite discern whether to feel happy or worried.

At the Empress’s birthday banquet, the hair accessories and attire of every lady and noblewoman were of high quality. To avoid complications, Yu Lingxi thought for a moment and removed the Ruyun hairpin from her bun, carefully placing it in a drawer.

From the morning, the area outside the palace gates was bustling with luxurious carriages and valuable horses.

Yu Lingxi, along with her sister, got off the carriage and saw a refined and handsome figure approaching. Jingling with his accessories, he called out cheerfully, “Second Sister.”

Xue Cen had been waiting here, and Yu Lingxi wasn’t surprised. After all, the two families were known to be engaged, arranged by the Emperor and Empress themselves, with a different nature than the other political marriages. Therefore, attending such an event together to express gratitude for imperial favor was appropriate.

Yu Lingxi showed a polite smile and returned the greeting, “I apologize for the delay.”

The young girl in front of him today had a fairylike bun, revealing a slender and fair neck. Wearing a light crimson ceremonial gown, she looked even more enchanting as it fluttered in the gentle breeze, outshining the sunlight.

In Xue Cen’s eyes, there was a mixture of amazement and satisfaction, having achieved what he desired. Even if Yu Lingxi’s eyes were as calm as autumn water at this moment, without a trace of romantic ripples, he smiled warmly, “Second Sister, please. Miss Yu, please.”

As Yu Lingxi and Xue Cen entered, it caused a small stir.

Whether by the Emperor’s command or for some other reason, even though the Yu and Xue families were clearly distinguished in civil and military matters, the banquet tables were arranged together.

Well, Yu Lingxi frowned slightly, but she had no choice but to sit next to Xue Cen. Just as they took their seats, a louder commotion came from the banquet.

Someone whispered, “Look, Seventh Prince has arrived!”

Yu Lingxi’s hand, pouring tea, trembled, spilling a few drops.

Why was he here?

Could it be that her memory was mistaken?

In a daze, a eunuch announced in a shrill voice, “Seventh Prince has arrived—”

In the background of the vermilion palace walls, within the fragrance of clothes and the shadow of beautiful hair, a familiar figure, holding a folding fan and wearing a purple robe and jade crown, leisurely walked over.

In that instant, Yu Lingxi’s heart skipped a beat, as if she had seen her past life again.

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