Chapter 446: Recognition
Chapter 446: Recognition
As soon as they stepped out of the courtyard, Liu Qingyun was about to shake off Lu Zhaoyan's hand, but he released it on his own.
"In the future..."
"Hmph!"
Liu Qingyun stormed off, fuming.
Cui Hu silently walked up to Lu Zhaoyan's side and watched Liu Qingyun's back as she walked away without acknowledging anyone. He couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, it seems like you've made a wasted trip. She doesn't appreciate your efforts at all."
Lu Zhaoyan coldly replied, "Is there something else you need to do?"
Cui Hu opened his mouth to speak, but then said, "I'll go find Ji Feng."
Lu Zhaoyan was still worried, so he called a maid and asked her to check on Liu Qingyun in the main courtyard.
Soon, the maid returned with a report.
Lu Zhaoyan furrowed his brows, "So soon? What urgent matter could have come up?"
The maid replied, "She's asleep."
Lu Zhaoyan: "..."
Tan'er asked Shang Wuyou to investigate the jade pendant, and to his surprise, Shang Wuyou found the information quite quickly.
The next day at noon, he brought the news to Yan Elder's courtyard.
Tan'er sat on a swing, eating grass.
Yes, grass.
She had eaten too many candied hawthorns, and Meng Qianqian had her chew a tooth-protecting herb to prevent her teeth from rotting.
Meng Qianqian was still drying medicinal herbs.
Shang Wuyou, puzzled, asked, "Does Yan Elder only have you dry medicinal herbs every day and not let you do anything else? For example, teach you martial arts?"
Where would you find such a master?
Meng Qianqian curved her lips slightly, "Is Wu You concerned about me?"
Shang Wuyou turned his face away, "I'm not worried at all!"
Tan'er swung on the swing, flying over Shang Wuyou's head, and asked, "Young Master, did you find anything?"
Shang Wuyou straightened up, "I did."
"Oh!"
Tan'er tapped her toes on the ground and stopped the swing, "Quickly, tell me!"
Shang Wuyou cleared his throat, "I'm thirsty."
Tan'er immediately poured him a cup of iced tea.
After taking a sip, he said, "I'm a little hungry."
Tan'er took out her hidden stash of candied hawthorns and reluctantly shared some with him.
Holding the candied hawthorn, Shang Wuyou said, "Today's sun is a bit..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Tan'er punched him, knocking him to the ground.
Shang Wuyou painfully got up, looking at Tan'er with resentment.
Tan'er blew on her small fist, "A bit what?"
"Nothing."
He didn't want to argue with a little girl.
He sat back down on the stone bench and shared the information he had found.
"This jade pendant belongs to the Prince of Qin's Mansion. His Majesty has given one to each of his sons, but in the year before Lu Yuan's birth, only two of them had left the Imperial City. One was the two-year-old Prince Ming, and the other was the eighteen-year-old Prince Jin, who is the eldest son of His Majesty."
Meng Qianqian smiled and asked, "Does Wu You know that I'm investigating Lu Yuan's background?"
Shang Wuyou scoffed, "I'm not an idiot."
Meng Qianqian smiled.
Wu You was slowly getting closer to her, perhaps without even realizing it himself.
"Is Prince Jin a good person? Is he impressive? Is his martial arts powerful?"
Tan'er asked three questions in a row.
Fortunately, Shang Wuyou had conducted a comprehensive investigation, "Prince Jin is the eldest son, talented in both literary and military arts, and is the most like His Majesty. However, he is a bit too decisive and abrupt. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of the Crown Prince, he should have been the rightful heir to the throne."
Tan'er sat down, propping her chin on her hands, "He doesn't sound too bad!"
Meng Qianqian thought for a moment and decided to first share the information she had gathered with Liu Qingyun.
Liu Qingyun slept until she woke up naturally.
The hunting falcon on the windowsill had almost turned into a sculpture from waiting.
It had endured the eagle-taming process, but never like this.
For three strips of dried meat, the falcon endured.
The falcon, bearing a heavy burden, extended its claws.
Liu Qingyun took the paper strip tied to its claws and read it thoughtfully, "Prince Jin?"
What a coincidence.
Prince Jin was visiting the mansion today, and the three brothers were having a small gathering.
After learning this news, Liu Qingyun hesitated but decided to go and take a look.
If the man she had slept with that night was indeed Prince Jin, then her son would have a powerful backer in Da Liang.
The young maid serving her was named Xi'er, a simple-minded girl who had been easily tricked into revealing information.
"Take me there."
"Yes, Madam."
Xi'er led Liu Qingyun to the pavilion where the three brothers were gathered.
She hid behind a fake mountain, sneaking around, "Which one is Prince Jin?"
Xi'er pointed to the man sitting opposite Lu Zhaoyan, "That one, and the one next to him is Prince Ming. But Madam, why are we sneaking around?"
"Because..."
Liu Qingyun's eyes flashed, "Because we can't let your master discover that I'm secretly watching him."
"I understand, Madam. You're shy."
"If you say so."
Liu Qingyun stretched her neck to catch a glimpse of the man she had slept with the night before, but Lu Zhaoyan was blocking her view.
She thought for a moment, took a detour, and quietly climbed up a large tree.
Just as she parted the branches...
Snap! The branch broke!
She fell sprawling, landing in the pavilion in front of the three men, making an undignified face-plant.
The three brothers: "..."
Prince Jin was the first to react, raising his hand in a defensive stance.
Lu Zhaoyan quickly said, "Big Brother, it's just us."
Prince Jin lowered his guard.
Liu Qingyun cleared her throat and, in an instant, quickly put on her veil as she got up.
Although it had been a dark and windy night, he probably hadn't seen her face clearly, but she felt guilty.
Lu Zhaoyan signaled to the servants in the pavilion.
A servant poured a cup of tea for Liu Qingyun.
Liu Qingyun sat down next to Lu Zhaoyan, directly facing Prince Jin.
Prince Ming already knew that another woman had arrived at the mansion, and she was the mother of that stinky brat.
There's going to be a good show to watch.
He opened his folding fan and said with a smile, "This lady must be my other sister-in-law, right? So, my sister-in-law likes to climb trees?"
Liu Qingyun replied with a straight face, "What? Can't I climb?"
Prince Jin frowned.
Not because Liu Qingyun was eavesdropping by climbing the tree, but because she was staring at him intently at that moment.
He was bewildered by her gaze.
Liu Qingyun raised her hand, blocking half of her vision, and only looked at Prince Jin's forehead and eyebrows.
Well, it did look a little similar.
Seeing her staring at Prince Jin all this time, Lu Zhaoyan's face darkened.
Prince Ming shook his folding fan and leaned back slightly.
This... was juicy.
Lu Zhaoyan spoke up, "Big brother, I understand what you said, and I'll do my best to handle it. Lao Liu, weren't you going to visit Lu Pingtian?"
"Was I?"
Not a single word was missed, nor a single breath taken.
Prince Ming was taken aback and glanced at Lu Zhaoyan, vigorously shaking his fan, "Oh, I was."
Lu Pingtian was Prince Jin's daughter, born to Princess Jin.
Prince Ming said to Prince Jin, "Big brother, I'll pay a visit to your residence!"
Prince Jin nodded and left with Prince Ming.
After they exited the pavilion, Prince Jin turned back and met Liu Qingyun's gaze directly.
Liu Qingyun didn't feel guilty for being caught; she just stared at him intently.
Prince Jin: "..."
Prince Jin and Prince Ming walked away.
Liu Qingyun, who had initially been sitting and watching, stood up and walked to the entrance of the pavilion to continue observing.
Lu Zhaoyan was furious, "Do you want to go to Prince Jin's residence to see for yourself?"
Liu Qingyun asked, "Can I?"
Lu Zhaoyan: "..."
"I'll take another look."
Liu Qingyun quickly descended the steps.
Lu Zhaoyan almost spat blood.
Liu Qingyun followed Prince Jin to the entrance of the Crown Prince's Mansion, watching as he and Prince Ming boarded the carriage.
Prince Ming asked, "Big brother, do you know Second Sister-in-law?"
Prince Jin sternly replied, "Don't talk nonsense. How could I possibly know Second Brother's wife? If Father hears this, do you want to harm me or yourself?"
Prince Ming closed his mouth.
"It looks... not that similar..."
"The eyebrows, forehead, and eyes... the gaze is different."
"The figure... doesn't match."
"The way of walking... doesn't match!"
Liu Qingyun muttered as she returned to the courtyard.
She changed into clean clothes, lay down on the bed, hugged the pillow, and gazed at the sky, "Is he really him?"
Huff, huff.
Strange noises came from the cabinet.
Liu Qingyun's eyebrows furrowed, and she walked over to open the cabinet door, catching a falcon that was stealing and eating her fried chicken.
The fried chicken was made in the kitchen for her.
While she was eavesdropping on the man, the falcon had taken the opportunity to snatch the food.
The falcon even knew to carry the food into the cabinet to avoid being discovered by passing servants.
"Are you bored to death?"
Liu Qingyun grabbed the falcon's wings and lifted it up.
The falcon's claws clung tightly to the cabinet, refusing to be caught.
Clang!
A hidden compartment was revealed by the falcon.
Something fell into the cabinet.
Liu Qingyun bent down and picked it up.
It was an old silver mask with signs of welding on the upper right corner.
"Isn't this Ah Yan's mask?"
Her memory was taken back to many years ago when she first traveled the jianghu and met a mute youth with a disfigured face in Miaojiang.
He was wearing this mask at the time.
Once, he took a knife for her and almost had his eyes gouged out.
The mask was damaged then, and she had personally welded it back together in a shop.
She had promised to protect him for life and never let anyone bully him again...
She thought she would never see him again in this life.
"Xier!"
"Madam, you called for me?"
Xier rushed into the room, panting.
Liu Qingyun asked excitedly, "Who did this room originally belong to?"
Xier replied, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Liu Qingyun smiled, "I mean, who lived in this room before?"
Of course, she knew that the entire Crown Prince's Mansion belonged to the Crown Prince.
Xier answered seriously, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Liu Qingyun's smile faded, and she asked with confusion, "Isn't this my son's room?"
Xier said, "Young Master Lin Yuan also lives here. He's afraid that someone might harm him, so he insists on sharing a room and meals with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Liu Qingyun asked in a daze, "Besides the Crown Prince and my son, has anyone else lived in this room?"
Xier shook her head, "No one else, not even the Marquis or the ladies from the Rose Garden."
Who cares if that mother and son stayed here or not? If this room belonged to Lu Zhaoyan, wouldn't that mean the person she met back then...
"Your Highness!"
Xier bowed to Lu Zhaoyan.
Lu Zhaoyan stepped into the room.
The room was a bit messy, with half-eaten chicken, a stealthy falcon, and a silver mask tightly held by Liu Qingyun.
A complex expression flashed in Lu Zhaoyan's eyes, "You can leave now."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Xier obediently left the room.
Liu Qingyun stared intently at Lu Zhaoyan, "Where did this mask come from? What did you do to the owner of the mask?"
Lu Zhaoyan took a deep breath and slowly said, "The mask is mine."
Liu Qingyun's voice turned cold, "Nonsense! The mask clearly belongs to Ah Yan!"
Lu Zhaoyan gathered his courage, "Xiao Bai, I am Ah Yan."
End of Chapter
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