Ye Xi was taken aback.
Seeing the people in the room looking at her with full vigor, she couldn't tell whether she felt gratified or disappointed for a moment.
Since there were no outsiders in the room, Ye Xi simply lifted her skirt and pulled down her silk stockings to show them.
"I don't have that birthmark," she said.
Her ankles were slender and fair as jade. There was indeed nothing there.
"This... this..."
Qiao Yan widened her eyes. She didn't know whether she should be happy or sad for Ye Xi.
It seemed that the truth about her origin was about to be revealed, but this one thing didn't match.
Ye Xi was really reluctant to give up. She always felt that there must be some connection in the middle, but she just hadn't found it yet. Otherwise, it couldn't be such a coincidence that everything else matched, only the birthmark was wrong.
After Sai Xing helped her tidy up her stockings and skirt, Ye Xi said with a glimmer of hope,
"I wonder if Miss Liu knows if that little girl had a nickname, like Yingying or something?"
"I've never heard of that," replied Liu Mengxian, shaking her head.
"But now that you mention it, I just remembered that although no one could remember the girl's name after all these years, her name wasn't carved on the tombstone either. They said it was to prevent the early - deceased child from being tied down by the name and to let her be reincarnated soon."
"The tombstone was in disrepair for a long time, and many of the original characters were damaged. The maid I sent there could read a few characters. She said that there was a faint 'Xiao' character on the tombstone, and the character below was so damaged that only a part of the 'Ri' character was left."
"What a coincidence," Qiao Yan exclaimed excitedly when she found another similarity.
"Xiaoxi, isn't there a 'Ri' in your 'Xi' character? I think the words on the tombstone should be 'Xiao Xi'."
Even Liu Mengxian thought it was too much of a coincidence. All the features matched, except for that one birthmark.
So perhaps, there was something wrong with the birthmark?
Ye Xi also thought of this. Her mind raced, and suddenly an idea flashed through her mind:
Could the birthmark be related to the first layer of the Gu worm on her body!?
Perhaps she originally had that birthmark, but due to the Gu worm on her body, the birthmark interacted with the Gu and disappeared later; or perhaps, the birthmark was the first layer of the Gu! It was just because the sealing Gu that Master Hunyuan had placed on her to suppress the first layer of the Gu was transferred to Ye Jueyao by the mysterious person. Over time, the first layer of the Gu gradually melted into her bones and blood, so the birthmark gradually faded away.
Then perhaps the reason her biological parents staged a play to send her away was that they found out that she had been targeted by the mysterious person and had the Gu put on her. So they invited Master Hunyuan to remove the Gu for her. Otherwise, where did the sealing Gu from Master Qingyi on her body come from?
They didn't want to abandon her. For her safety and to hide from the mysterious person, they deliberately didn't use their own people but invited Nanny Xi to send her away.
But no matter how well they calculated, they didn't expect that Nanny Xi had been bought by the mysterious person. They had intended to protect her by pulling the wool over the mysterious person's eyes, but unexpectedly, they had sent her into the wolf's den with their own hands!
Ye Xi quietly tightened her fists and tried hard to control the surging emotions in her heart. She steadied her voice and said,
"Anyway, I'm really grateful to Miss Liu. We're just one step away from the truth. It'll be found out sooner or later. But before we completely confirm this, please keep it a secret for me for the time being, so as to avoid gossip if there are any changes later."
"Of course," Qiao Yan immediately patted her chest and promised.
Liu Mengxian followed closely and said happily,
"Secrecy leads to success. I understand. But although we haven't reached the final conclusion yet, I've already regarded you as my sister. You and Miss Qiao call each other 'A Yan' and 'Xiao Xi' so affectionately, while I'm just 'Miss Liu'. It feels so formal."
"I don't care. I also want to call you affectionately like you two. I won't listen if you don't agree."
Everyone couldn't help smiling at her words.
It was a piece of good news. After they joked with each other for a while, Liu Mengxian got the affectionate nickname 'A Meng' and happily played around with Ye Xi and Qiao Yan.
As the sun was setting, Ye Xi had just returned to the room after seeing off the two of them when she saw Yi Yuan sitting upright on a wooden stool.
"You came quickly," Ye Xi said playfully.
Yi Yuan's cold eyebrows gradually softened. He naturally reached out his hand to Ye Xi and said,
"Yes, I wanted to see you."
Ye Xi's heart skipped a beat. She unconsciously curved her almond - shaped eyes and lips.
She took a gentle step forward and placed her hand in Yi Yuan's warm palm. Ye Xi was already used to sitting in Yi Yuan's arms.
Snuggling close to each other, Ye Xi told Yi Yuan in detail what had happened just now and her speculations.
"So you want to 'inquire' that lady?"
"Yes," Ye Xi nodded.
"But we've never had any contacts on normal days, and there's only a male descendant of the same age as me in her family. I'm a bit at a loss about how to approach her."
"A male descendant..." Yi Yuan pondered for a moment and said,
"How old is he? The results will be announced soon. If her child is promising, we may see him at the Imperial Banquet."
"That's a good idea," Ye Xi's eyes lit up.
"But I don't know the specific situation. I'll send someone to find out in detail tomorrow and then make a plan."
"Okay."
After they talked for a while, they also discussed the matter of Tanzhou. First, they summoned several people who had gone to Tanzhou with Lin An and read their minds respectively. Sure enough, they found an insider. But before they could get any useful information, that person committed suicide.
There was a fierce look in Yi Yuan's eyes. He crushed a teacup and his hands were bleeding from the broken pieces.
"Give the order that starting from tomorrow, six people will come every day, regardless of their ranks. I want to 'assess their abilities'."
The autumn wind was bleak, and the days slipped by like running water.
The matter of the military pay shocked the whole court. Emperor Zhaohuan flew into a rage in the main hall and ordered a thorough investigation of all the people involved in the case. The Yan and Pan families were either exiled, imprisoned, or beheaded.
After all the witnesses signed and sealed their confessions and they were verified again, the people were released.
As Yan Yifan's superior, Shen Bianhuai had failed to choose his subordinates well and was seriously derelict in his duty. But he had also died because of this, so the rest of the Shen family were not held accountable and still carried out their official duties normally.
Ye Xi read the minds of everyone in the Frost Pavilion from top to bottom. Yi Yuan found several spies planted by Zai Shuang in his trusted organization. His face was so gloomy every day that it seemed to drip water. He tortured them severely and got some useful information. Then he directly raided several of Zai Shuang's contact points and finally felt relieved.
There was a storm in the capital for a while.
The servant who had gone to inquire about the information of Ye Xi's suspected biological parents reported that the son of the Lou couple was still in the county - level examination stage and didn't take the autumn imperial examination this time.
Not getting the result she wanted, Ye Xi simply gave up the idea of having a formal conversation with them and planned to stage an "encounter".
But her hand was badly injured. The wound that was almost down to the bone took a long time to gradually heal. Yi Yuan was afraid that she would accidentally use too much force and the wound that had just started to scab would split open again, so he refused to let her go out no matter what.
After all, they were almost at the finish line. There was no need to rush.
So during the days when Qiao Yan came to visit from time to time and Yun Qi sent ointments and tonics from time to time because it was inconvenient for him to come to the door, Ye Xi had gained a lot of weight.
Before the planned encounter, the day for the announcement of the examination results arrived.