In a good mood, Lingxiao went back to the guest room at a brisk pace while his senior brother, Luo Huali, returned at the same time. Actually, the two of them had figured out that Yueying was not going to let go of Lianshan if they asked him to do so. Therefore, Luo Huali had been secretly looking for Lianshan in the mansion these few days.
âSenior Brother, have you found Lianshan?â Lingxiao stopped fantasizing and asked with a solemn look.
âYeah!â Huali answered, sounding relaxed, as if Lianshan had just been out playing and forgotten to go home, rather than being detained.
At the thought that Yueying wouldnât have bothered to hide Lianshan, Lingxiao craned his neck to look out of the door, but only saw nobody. âWhereâs he?â
âHe was reluctant to come back with me!â Huali continued with a shrug.
âHuh?â Widening his eyes in surprise, Lingxiao became even more puzzled. âWhy?â
After hesitating for a while, Huali related Lianshanâs words. âHe said if he left, you would be in trouble, and he would go nowhere unless you picked him up in person.â
âThe boy is such a fool!â Lingxiao said with a frown as if he were annoyed at Lianshanâs stupidity.
Glancing at him, Huali thought, âItâs pretty obvious what I mean but heâs still playing numb!â He then decided to put it straight. âIf you didnât leave the valley without your dadâs permission, Lianshan wouldnât have been so afraid of me taking him back to see Master Yan!â
âHaha⦠Seems youâve seen me through!â Lingxiao smiled awkwardly. Actually, he did feel better staying here than being taken back to the Valley of Fallen Blossoms. He then probed, âSenior Brother, are you serious to take me back?â
Without answering him, Huali shifted the topic after a short silence. âHow is Zixiu doing?â he asked in a low voice.
Actually, after coming back to the Prince Muâs Mansion, Huali was kind of guilty and he didnât dare to face Zixiu.
âHeâs fine. He has gone back to his room to rest!â At the mention of Zixiu, Lingxiao immediately recalled the moment when Zixiu rushed out to chase him, which flooded him with sheer happiness.
Huali was at once green with envy at the sight of his junior brotherâs expression of intoxication. âEh-hem!â He cleared his throat intentionally and then got to the point. âDid Zixiu tell you how he âmarriedâ into the Prince Muâs Mansion?â
âNeedless to say, he must have been under duress!â Lingxiao blurted out without a second thought. Since Zixiu had agreed to run away with him, he could tell that he didnât âmarryâ Nangong Du of his own will.
Biting his teeth, Huali pondered for a while before he asked gruffly, âYou know that the new consort of Prince Mu should be the princess of the Wen Kingdom, huh?â
âHm!â Lingxiao nodded, but he didnât think that much. He took the imperial notice down and came to the Prince Muâs Mansion only because of the fragrance of âLiuyunâ, so it had never occurred to him how come Zixiu was in the Prince Muâs Mansion, not to mention associating the intermarriage between the two countries with Zixiu. It wasnât until he got into the princeâs mansion that he knew Zixiuâs current identity was Prince Muâs consort! However, as he only wanted to get Zixiu out of here, he was disinclined to pay any attention to anything else.
Like Lingxiao, Huali disguised himself as a guard and sneaked into the princeâs mansion also because he suddenly smelled the fragrance of âLiuyunâ in the street the other day. When he found that Zixiu had married Nangong Du, he was overwhelmed with grief and anger. However, when he saw how considerate Zixiu was to Prince Mu, he left, heartbroken. It wasnât until his master Yan Keâs letter reached him that he suddenly realized that the day Zixiu got married was just the wedding day of Prince Mu and Princess Liuxu of the Wen Kingdom! âSo to get Zixiu, Nangong Du even ran the risk of offending the entire Wen Kingdom!â
âZixiu has been to the imperial palace several times, but nobody has ever seen through his identity. Donât you feel something wrong with that?â Hearing that, Lingxiao also smelled a rat. As far as he knew, in spite of his cross-dressing, Zixiu didnât change his appearance. Moreover, in addition to going to the imperial palace, he also met some royal members and officials recently. It was incredible that none of those people had found out that he was the fake princess!
âMaybe someone has found it out and thatâs why Nangong Du was poisoned and Zixiu was almost assassinated. Seems someone is trying to lay bare Nangong Duâs trick!â Huali stated his speculation.
âI think someone is trying to kill Nangong Du!â Lingxiao added, narrowing his eyes. âIt turns out that someone hates Nangong Du than I do! If I knew it earlier, I wouldnât have taken down the imperial notice. Damn it! How stupid I was!â
âWhatâs the name of the poison?â Huali was intrigued by the fact that a highly skilled physician like Lingxiao would need to spend several days on this poison.
âA Thousand Years of Intoxication!â Lingxiao answered seriously, but there was a hint of smugness on his face.
âA Thousand Years of Intoxication?â Huali froze on the spot.
âAre you surprised?â Lingxiao became even more triumphant. âItâs amazing that someone even knows the recipe for the poison our patriarch made by accident! If I hadnât come, that asshole Nangong Du, would have died!â
âSo Nangong Du is out of danger now?â
âDamn right he is! Given my awesome medical skills, thereâs no poisoned patient in the world that I canât cure!â
âSuch being the case, youâd better get Lianshan back asap. I guess Master Yan and Uncle Liu will reach Luanzhou at dawn.â
âWhat⦠did you say?â Liangxiao was startled by the news. âMy dad⦠my dad is on his way here?â