The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 674 - 674 319 Taking Action (Second Update)

Chapter 674: Chapter 319: Taking Action (Second Update) Chapter 674: Chapter 319: Taking Action (Second Update) Marquis Xuanping suffered another internal injury.

Are children these days all so infuriating?

Marquis Xuanping clutched at his chest.

He was outstanding at withstanding blows in the Capital City, unparalleled in this art. How come he was repeatedly thwarted here?

Marquis Xuanping couldn’t recall his purpose here anymore. He commanded Chang Jing to release the man and then he left, wearing a sorrowful expression.

The working hours of the Hanlin Academy were over.

Yang, the reading assistant, was recently on leave. He had a fair amount of work, with not many people available to share the load. The responsibilities of lecturing the ‘bachelor scholars’ were primarily assessed by Xiao Liulang and Prince An.

Originally, Yang was in charge of both mathematics and farming – two subjects. Dean Han let them choose one each. Prince An chose mathematics because of the simple fact that he wasn’t as knowledgeable about farming as Xiao Liulang, having not grown up in the country.

Xiao Liulang didn’t say anything but gladly took on the farming course.

Speaking of farming, his actual experience was rather limited.

When he was in the country, Gu Jiao did own a few acres of land. Sadly, neither he nor Gu Jiao of that time knew how to farm, resulting in abandonment of the land eventually.

His experience in farming was even less than that of a young boy named Jing Kong. Jing Kong used to water the vegetable garden and catch bugs every day. Occasionally, he would also help Gu Jiao with weeding.

In order to teach this subject well, Xiao Liulang recently started learning how to farm.

After finishing work, he planned to return home and farm the land, when Ning Zhiyuan sneakily approached him, winking and hinting, “Drinks, are you in?”

“No.” Xiao Liulang refused without a second thought. He then caught a peculiar vibe from Ning Zhiyuan’s request, glancing at him, “Why do you want to go for drinks all of a sudden?”

It wasn’t like Ning Zhiyuan to partake in indulgences like drinking.

Ning Zhiyuan sighed, “This is for the purpose of infiltrating their circle. You think I want to go? Recently, when you have been lecturing the crown prince, and with Yang being on leave, it seems like people aren’t targeting you so blatantly anymore. Do you want to capitalize on this opportunity to network with some people?”

Xiao Liulang paused for a moment: “No, I need to return home and farm.”

Ning Zhiyuan: “…”

Xiao Liulang exited the Hanlin Academy.

The distance from Hanlin Academy to Xuanwu Avenue wasn’t very far. By taking a shortcut, it would only take about half an hour to reach near Bishui Alley through the Guozijian.

Upon reaching the Guozijian, he remembered something and decided to visit Minghui Hall despite his hesitation.

Outside the Minghui Hall, he unexpectedly bumped into an acquaintance – Zheng Siye.

Zheng Siye used to be the Deputy Headmaster and had often made life difficult for Xiao Liulang during his time studying in Guozijian.

Now, old Zheng was getting a taste of his own medicine.

Zheng Siye was punished by being made to stand near the entrance of the hall, an utterly embarrassing situation for him.

Zheng Siye was a fourth rank official, ranking higher than Xiao Liulang. Xiao Liulang greeted him with a slight bow of hands and then entered the hall.

Watching Xiao Liulang walk into the hall which he himself couldn’t enter, Zheng Siye felt so aggrieved that he was on the verge of tears.

“How come you are here today?” The old headmaster was marking papers at the moment. Upon seeing him, he set down his pen, “Sit.”

Xiao Liulang knelt down on the cushion opposite the old headmaster, “I came today because I wanted to ask about someone.”

“Oh? Who do you want to inquire about?” asked the old headmaster.

“Someone from the palace,” replied Xiao Liulang.

The old headmaster’s expression turned serious, “You… why do you suddenly want to inquire about someone from the palace?”

Xiao Liulang hesitated for a moment, but decided to be truthful: “The person who poisoned me years ago might not have been Dowager Empress Zhuang.”

The old headmaster’s eyes lit up, and he almost stood up in excitement, “I just knew it wasn’t her!”

Xiao Liulang gave him a strange look.

The old headmaster coughed lightly and sat back down, taking a sip of his tea, “What I mean to say is, if she really wanted to kill you, there were countless opportunities to do so over the past year.”

Xiao Liulang replied, “But she doesn’t remember me.”

The old headmaster: … How can someone respond to that?

“Ahem, in any case, it doesn’t seem like her. If she wanted to kill someone, why would she leave any trace?”

He refused to admit any personal bias; his relation with Zhuang Jinse was purely that of a vassal and his sovereign!

“Did you recall something?” The old headmaster brought the conversation back on topic.

“Yes.” Xiao Liulang nodded, though he didn’t elaborate that his hidden memory was stirred by an unspeakable dream, “All of a sudden I remembered, the person had a mole on their left wrist.”

“A mole on their left wrist…” The old headmaster rubbed his beard thoughtfully, “I might have been able to recall something if it was a mole on their face, but a wrist…”

He had been favored by the Late Emperor, making frequent visits to the Huaqing Palace and occasionally ran into concubines and palace maids. But he wasn’t the Emperor after all and couldn’t lift a concubine or palace maid’s sleeve to look at their wrist.

He initially wanted to suggest asking Xiao Liulang’s great aunt, but he stopped before the words left his lips upon recalling that Zhuang Jinse had lost quite a lot of her memory. Moreover, even if her memory was intact, she, being the regal Empress Dowager of the country, wouldn’t necessarily notice whether someone had a mole on their wrist or not.

“Was it a eunuch, or a woman?” The old headmaster asked.

“A woman.” Xiao Liulang said.

It was a woman’s voice. However, he couldn’t remember whose specific voice it was, or even whether she was old or young, crisp or mellow… There were no impressions.

The only thing deeply engraved in his mind was the mole on her left wrist.

“A palace maid from over a decade ago…” The old libationer fell into deep thought. After a while, he grabbed his collar in discomfort, “Well, I do know someone who is well-informed of the people in the palace. She works for the Shanggong Bureau, and often makes clothes for others. You could look for her.”

Xiao Liulang looked at him in confusion, “Well, your expression is…”

“Ah, well…” The old libationer hesitated, “Never mind, I’ll go with you to your place, you can take some token to look for her. I don’t know if she’ll remember you after all these years.”

The old libationer and Xiao Liulang left Minghui Hall just as the Guozijian was finishing for the day. They waited to go home with Xiao Jingkong.

Xiao Jingkong grimaced, “Why did my brother-in-law come today? Why wasn’t it Jiaojiao?”

Xiao Liulang looked at him, amused and annoyed, “You’re being picked up by someone and you’re complaining?”

Xiao Jingkong thought for a moment and said, “Buy me candied haws and I won’t complain about you.”

Xiao Liulang, “…You may as well continue complaining.”

Xiao Jingkong, “…”

The two bickered all the way home.

Gu Jiao hadn’t returned yet.

Xiao Liulang narrowed his eyes, his gaze fell on Xiao Jingkong, who was sitting on the doorstep nibbling a peach pastry, “Do you want to go and see your great-aunt in the palace?”

As an official outside the palace, going directly to visit Empress Dowager Zhuang might arouse suspicion. But, if he piggybacks on Xiao Jingkong’s identity, it would be much easier.

Xiao Jingkong didn’t expect that he would be used like this one day.

He raised his little face smeared with pastry crumbs. His earnest eyes, the same as Gu Jiao’s, nodded vigorously, “Yes!”

Xiao Liulang smiled, “Good boy.”

The auntie from the Shanggong Bureau that Xiao Liulang wanted to meet was surnamed Zhang. She was by then old enough to be a nanny, and she presided over the Shanggong Bureau’s administration office.

As he was leaving, the old libationer admonished him, “You…ask the Empress Dowager first. If she can’t remember you, then go find her.”

The implication was, unless absolutely necessary, don’t disturb this old acquaintance.

Xiao Liulang looked at him curiously, “Could it be…my Master’s wife?”

“What Master’s wife! That’s impossible!” The old libationer nearly jumped at his question, “Don’t talk nonsense!”

However, the old libationer and Zhang Zhangshi indeed shared a little secret that they couldn’t disclose. He prayed she had already forgotten about it!

Xiao Liulang took Xiao Jingkong and got in the carriage headed for the palace.

Xiao Jingkong was extremely excited, shaking his little head. His cheerful demeanor was exactly like Gu Jiao’s.

People who live together for a long time slowly imbibe each other’s demeanor and habits. It was as if… they were originally a family.

The carriage continued its journey. As it passed the Jingzhao Residence government office, the street suddenly became congested.

“What’s going on?” Liu Quan craned his neck to ask.

A student from Guozijian passing by said, “Oh, you guys don’t know yet. Someone has cracked Mr. Meng’s chess sequence.”

Common folks may not understand this, but scholars have almost all heard of Mr. Meng’s chess puzzles, especially the eight sequences that are renowned in the six nations and echo throughout the universe.

The two most difficult puzzles to solve among the eight are Qian and Kun.

The Qian puzzle is described as an unsolvable celestial puzzle.

Before today, the Kun puzzle was also considered unsolvable.

However, the Crown Princess managed to solve it.

She was the first person within the six nations to crack the Kun puzzle. This caused a great sensation in the academic and chess circles. Everyone was gathered here because of the proclamation awarding the Crown Princess has been announced.

Zhan Country ranks lower among the nations, but the Crown Princess solved a chess puzzle that the top three countries couldn’t solve. The Crown Princess really brought honor to Zhan Country!

“Has His Majesty already conveyed the news to Yan Country? I wonder if Mr. Meng would be shocked when he receives the news? Maybe he will personally mentor the chess skills of our Crown Princess…”

The scholar spoke excitedly, oblivious to Xiao Liulang lowering the curtain.

Meanwhile, among the crowd watching, an old beggar, seeing the contents of the royal proclamation, shook his head, “That’s not right, that’s not right.”

“Old man, what’s not right?” Someone asked.

The old beggar replied, “It says here that she cracked it at midnight.”

A student said, “Yes, so what?”

The old beggar waved his hand, “Then she’s not the first one to solve the Kun puzzle.”

The student frowned, “Hey you old man! You can eat without picking your food, but you can’t just talk nonsense! If the Crown Princess was not the first to solve the Kun puzzle, then who was?”

The old beggar seriously replied, “The one at dusk, that’s the one.”