Chapter 644: Chapter 644: Back Then

Eunuch Li bowed in assent.

Ye Chutang slipped the Turquoise Bead into her purse and rummaged through the box for another moment.

Suddenly, her movements paused, and the corners of her lips lifted in a smile.

"Found it."

She turned her hand over, and there, resting quietly in her slender, fair palm, was a White Jade Begonia Hairpin.

Eunuch Li glanced at it and also smiled.

"Ah, I’m so glad you found it!"

Ye Chutang casually tucked the hairpin into her hair, the ornament making her already lovely features appear even more gentle and refined.

"Thank you, Eunuch Li, for accompanying me on this trip."

Eunuch Li quickly shook his head. "Second Miss Ye, you are too kind! It is this servant’s honor. How could I possibly deserve your thanks?"

Ye Chutang’s status was a world apart from what it once was, so naturally, he treated her with the utmost respect.

Ye Chutang glanced at the sky. "It’s getting late. The Imperial College is on a ten-day break, so Yan should be home soon. I won’t stay any longer."

Eunuch Li stepped aside. "Miss Ye, this way, please!"

Ye Chutang walked a short distance, then suddenly stopped.

"This bead... if His Majesty learns of it, I’m afraid it will stir up painful memories..."

"This servant understands. His Majesty’s health has only just begun to recover. A small trinket like this is not worth troubling His Majesty’s mind over," Eunuch Li said at once.

Even if Ye Chutang hadn’t said anything, he would not have told Emperor Muwu what had happened today.

"Princess Consort Jing has long since passed. Why bring more sorrow to the living?"

Ye Chutang’s eyes curved in a smile.

"Eunuch Li, you are so perceptive. No wonder His Majesty relies on you the most. I’ll be leaving now. There’s no need to see me out."

...

"Chongshan?"

Ye Jingyan looked up from his ink and brush, a surprised look on his face.

"Sister, why the sudden desire to go there?"

Ye Chutang took the Turquoise Bead from her purse and briefly recounted the day’s events.

Ye Jingyan’s expression cleared with understanding, then his brows knitted slightly.

"So, you’re saying, Sister, that you think... we might find clues related to Xiao Lansi’s fake death in Chongshan?"

Ye Chutang shook her head. "Nothing is certain yet. I just thought I might go and try my luck."

Ye Jingyan fell into deep thought.

’When Sister first told him that Xiao Lansi might have faked her death to escape, he was surprised, but he had accepted it quickly enough.’

’After all, he had also heard that the Poisonous Gu Technique of the Southern Hu people was very powerful.’

’But he truly hadn’t expected his sister to think of investigating Xiao Lansi’s birth mother.’

"It’s true... That was her birth mother, after all. They both have the blood of the Southern Hu people running through their veins. And now it seems she also has inextricable ties to the Southern Hu."

There was just one thing Ye Jingyan couldn’t figure out.

"But as a princess who grew up in the depths of the palace, when on earth did she come into contact with these things? Could it be... during those years she spent in Guanling?"

’Guanling borders the lands of the Southern Hu, and Xiao Lansi was half Southern Hu herself. It wasn’t impossible that she would join forces with them.’

Ye Chutang held up the bead. Under the lamplight, the trace of dried blood in the crack looked even darker.

She narrowed her eyes, lost in thought.

"But that’s too much of a coincidence... Why was it that she specifically left the Capital City for Guanling, and specifically came into contact with all this?"

She suddenly looked at Ye Jingyan. "Yan, do you know why she was suddenly sent to Guanling all those years ago?"

Ye Jingyan was taken aback. "Wasn’t it said that she was in poor health and was sent there to recuperate?"

"Yes, even you know that..."

Ye Chutang murmured,

"Everyone knows that the out-of-favor Third Princess was sent away because she was frail and not doted on by His Majesty... But the Capital City has countless famous physicians. At the time, she was already being raised by Consort Ru. Even if she had stayed, she would have been well cared for. So why, of all places, did she have to go to Guanling?"

’Ye Chutang felt as if a thick fog lay before her, impossible to see through.’

’She had a faint feeling that something was wrong with this whole affair.’

"What if... someone fanned the flames back then, deliberately having her sent away so that she could make contact with those Southern Hu people?"

Ye Jingyan’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively stood up, glanced outside to make sure the door and windows were securely locked, and only then turned back to Ye Chutang, his brows furrowed.

"Sister, what do you mean by that?"

"It’s too much of a coincidence."

Ye Chutang’s palm slowly tightened.

"She was a princess with no one to rely on. After spending a few years alone in Guanling, she came back with all these secrets. No one knows what she really went through. I once took her pulse. Her constitution was indeed a bit weak, but it wasn’t some incurable disease..."

Suddenly, a thought struck her, and her expression changed.

"That’s it! Her body... there was something wrong with it from the start!"

Ye Jingyan didn’t quite understand. "What?"

’But for Ye Chutang, everything in her mind was becoming clearer.’

"Do you remember? During the autumn hunt, I was asked by the Eldest Princess to take Xiao Lansi’s pulse."

Ye Jingyan froze for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, that did happen."

"I discovered back then that Xiao Lansi had been poisoned several years prior. It was extremely dangerous; logically, there’s no way she should have survived. But while her body was weak, her life wasn’t in danger. At the time, she said it was because she happened to run into a local who helped her detoxify..."

’It all sounded perfectly reasonable at the time, but thinking about it now, that wasn’t the case at all!’

Ye Jingyan also realized something, and unconcealed shock filled his eyes.

"Sister, are you saying that her poisoning... there was more to it?"

"I asked Princess Qingyang. She said that very few people among the Southern Hu can perform the Fake Death Gu Technique, and the person who undergoes it must pay an enormous price. Perhaps... Xiao Lansi was already preparing for today, even back then!"

Ye Jingyan sucked in a sharp breath.

Although he had been mentally prepared, hearing Ye Chutang’s speculation still left him deeply shaken.

"If that’s really true, doesn’t that mean she contacted those people as soon as she arrived in Guanling? And how old was she back then? How could she be so ruthless to herself? How was she so certain that she would need to use this trick years later?"

"That’s why... I’m wondering if her going to Guanling was an accident, or... premeditated?"

Ye Chutang suddenly stood up.

"I’m going out."

"Now?" Ye Jingyan glanced at the sky. "But it’s already dark..."

"It’s more convenient now that it’s dark."

Ye Chutang’s decision was swift and final.

Ye Jingyan opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn’t try to stop her.

’He knew that once his sister made up her mind, she wouldn’t easily change it.’

’Besides, she had often been like this over the years. He was used to it.’

"Then... be careful, Sister."

Ye Chutang nodded, glancing back at Xiao Wu, who was already fast asleep behind the screen.

"You take good care of Xiao Wu. I’ll be back before you know it."

...

「Duke Zhongyong Mansion.」

The moon hung high in the sky. In the courtyard, a servant on watch duty let out a yawn.

A shadow fell silently behind a pillar on the veranda, then vanished just as quietly.

Xiao Jiayi had just laid down when she suddenly sensed something and shot upright in bed!

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