As she was too exhausted from the acupuncture treatment the previous day, Princess Jingning took a rest in the princess mansion today. Meanwhile, she prepared a medicinal bath for Xu Yunmiao.
Imperial Physician Liu was sitting leisurely beside her. Since the emperor assigned him to the princess mansion, his days had been extremely relaxing and enjoyable.
He would get up slowly every day. First, he did morning exercises, then went out to buy some groceries and returned home to help his wife cook. After lunch, he would stroll back to the princess mansion with his hands behind his back, read medical books or just wander around. By the time the sun was setting, he would carry some food from the mansion's kitchen back home and come back again in the middle of the night.
At this moment, he had just returned from his morning exercises. Seeing Princess Jingning preparing the medicinal packs for the bath, he sighed, "It's really hard work."
Princess Jingning stopped what she was doing and stared silently at Imperial Physician Liu tidying up his things. "You prepare the medicinal bath," she said.
Imperial Physician Liu kept quiet and quickened his movements. But then he heard Princess Jingning say, "If you slack off, I'll go to the palace and ask His Majesty to transfer you back to the Imperial Hospital."
Just thinking about the busy days in the Imperial Hospital made Imperial Physician Liu shiver. He quickly turned around and flattered her, "Is Junior Sister preparing the medicinal bath for Xu Yunmiao? Leave this small matter to me. You should rest quickly."
Imperial Physician Liu moved his lounge chair beside Princess Jingning and politely invited her to sit down.
Princess Jingning glanced at him. "Your days are quite easy," she remarked.
Although she handed the medicinal packs to Imperial Physician Liu, Princess Jingning didn't stop. She opened a brochure and began to pick out medicinal herbs for the retired soldiers of General Mu's army according to the list.
Imperial Physician Liu exclaimed in surprise, "With a daughter like you, it would be impossible for Uncle not to become a great general."
Princess Jingning ignored Imperial Physician Liu and concentrated on picking the herbs.
After a while, a little head popped out from the door. "Mother, are you busy? Baozhu wants to complain," the little girl said.
"There's a bad guy bullying Brother Mingli. They said he looked like a thief... and even beat him. Brother Mingli was so wronged that he cried," Shen Baozhu said.
Halfway through, Yan Mingli covered Shen Baozhu's mouth. "Kiddo, don't talk nonsense. When did I cry? Godmother, don't listen to Baozhu. Let me tell you what happened."
Yan Mingli walked out with Shen Baozhu boldly. He recounted how he accompanied Gao Shan to search for her relatives and said indignantly, "Godmother, the servants of the Gao Mansion really judge people by their appearance. How could they say I was a thief? Where do I look like a thief?"
Hearing this, Princess Jingning was more concerned about the details of the information Gao Shan and Lady Gao had exchanged. "Tell me again. What information did Gao Shan and Lady Gao compare?"
"Gao Shan's mother told her before she died that her father had three moles on his left arm, like three mountains. And his eyes were very beautiful. Gao Shan got her eyes from her father... There were also some other small details, but I only remember these. Godmother, why do you ask?" Yan Mingli tried hard to recall and only managed to come up with two details.
Princess Jingning put down the medicinal herbs in her hand, took a deep breath, and asked, "Do you still remember what Lady Gao said?"
Sensing that there was something behind this, Yan Mingli tried his best to recall. "Lady Gao said she remembered that General Gao didn't have moles on his left arm and his eyes were completely different from Gao Shan's. Oh, she also said that General Gao liked gentle and elegant ladies from prominent families, but Gao Shan's mother was a hunter. General Gao would never like her mother."
Yan Mingli's retelling was much more euphemistic than what Lady Gao had actually said.
Lady Gao had directly said that since Gao Shan's mother was a hunter, even if General Gao was desperate for a woman, he wouldn't take a fancy to a hunter. Yan Mingli thought this was too much. He was even afraid that Gao Shan would get angry and hit her.
Hearing that Gao Shan's mother was a hunter, Princess Jingning suddenly looked up. She finally knew why she felt that Gao Shan looked familiar. Her eyes were so much like Gao Guangying's.
Princess Jingning had seen Gao Guangying before he lost his arm. At that time, he was just a junior soldier, highly trusted by General Mu. His task was to deliver things to Princess Jingning for General Mu. In fact, he met his wife on the way of delivering things.
Once, Gao Guangying bought two sugar-coated haws for Princess Jingning and told her that one was bought by himself and the other was bought by his wife. He and his wife were very grateful to the general and the princess. It was because of the task of delivering things that they had met each other. They planned to get married again in the future and invite the general and the princess to sit in the main seats.
Thinking of these past events, Princess Jingning couldn't hide her sadness. "Lady Gao is not General Gao's wife. She is the younger sister of General Gao's wife. She is just guarding the Gao Mansion for General Gao. The steward of the mansion is actually her husband," she said.
Prince Rui walked in from outside. He asked curiously, "So she is the younger sister of General Gao's wife. Since it was just a misunderstanding by an outsider, why didn't General Gao explain?"
Regarding the family affairs of Gao Guangying, Princess Jingning didn't know much. But she was sure that Lady Gao was not General Gao's wife. "I don't know about this either. But Gao Guangying only had one wife, Lin Qingqian."
"Mingli, go and call Gao Shan here. General Gao lost his left arm. I once saw that there were three moles on his left arm."
Yan Mingli was quick-witted. "So General Gao might really be Gao Shan's father? I'll go and call her right away."
...
At the Gao Mansion.
A woman dressed in gold and silver was extremely anxious. She had had a nightmare all night, dreaming that Lin Qingqian was choking her neck and asking her to pay with her life.
There was also a wealthy-looking man in the room. Seeing the woman pacing back and forth anxiously, the man said impatiently, "Aren't you tired of walking back and forth like this?"
The woman saw that the man didn't realize the danger. Her voice was panicked. "That bitch has climbed up to a high position and come back. And you're still sitting there calmly. I heard that there was a great victory in the border war. If Gao Guangying meets that bitch, we're both finished!"
The man put his arm around the woman and said calmly, "What are you afraid of? Even if Gao Guangying comes back, what can a disabled man do? Back then, we just mistakenly thought that Gao Guangying was a deserter, and Lin Qingqian just happened to overhear the news."
"It was Lin Qingqian who was afraid that her unborn child would be involved, so she hid in the deep mountains by herself. What does it have to do with us?"
"Moreover, I've inquired about the youngest son of the Minister of Revenue. Guess what? Yan Mingli is engaged, and his fiancée is a female marquis. It's just Lin Qingqian's bad luck. She gave birth to another unlucky little bitch who climbed up to a thorny high branch."
"Qingwan, calm down."
Lin Qingwan was the Lady Gao that Yan Mingli had met. She was also Lin Qingqian's younger sister. The man beside her was the steward of the Gao Mansion, Lin Qingwan's real husband, Zhao Qing.
"Lin Qingqian hid in the mountains by herself? Then why did she let her daughter search for her relatives!" Lin Qingwan was far from as calm as Zhao Qing. Her tone was sarcastic. "Do you think Gao Guangying is a fool? Fine, let's assume that Gao Guangying is a fool. But do you know Mu Lanyue? She's not an easy person to fool."
"We can only hide the truth for a while, not forever! As long as one servant in the Gao Mansion gets sick and Mu Lanyue comes to deliver medicine, she will know what happened yesterday and then investigate carefully! In the end, she will find out about us!"
Zhao Qing looked at Lin Qingwan's crazy appearance. A trace of impatience flashed in his eyes. He emphasized, "Yan Mingli is engaged to a female marquis. I heard that she has a very high status. If she knows that Yan Mingli has hooked up with Gao Shan, what do you think she will do?"
Lin Qingwan understood what Zhao Qing meant. She made a gesture of cutting her throat. Zhao Qing nodded.