The Prime Minister’s Daughter and the Marquis’s Fool – Chapter 22

Does Mother Have Anything Else?

Luring the snake out of its hole.¹

Lin Xizhao’s birth mother had been dead for two years, so investigating what happened back then was bound to be somewhat difficult. But if she deliberately let word out that she had found some spider silk and horse tracks², and if her mother had truly been harmed by someone, then the culprit would surely take action to stop her once they found out…

Lin Xizhao sorted out her line of thought. After giving instructions to Qu Sheng, she left the room.

It wasn’t until noon that Lin Xizhao returned. During that time, she had someone go back to the room to check on Qu Sheng and learned that she had been led out by Zhao Jiayu. After a few hurried words with her uncles, she had rushed back.

However, by the time she got back, Qu Sheng had already returned and was currently taking a nap on the couch.

Looking at the well-behaved little person in her sleep, the heavy mood Lin Xizhao had been in while discussing matters with her uncles suddenly lightened considerably. She sat on the edge of the couch, looking at this little sister, and her heart softened. A moment later, she got up and went outside.

She had helped her out in such a big way today; the least she could do was make her some of her favorite water chestnut cakes.

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Lin Xizhao and the others stayed for a few days, during which the young ladies presented wedding gifts for the youngest Uncle Liang in the name of their respective estates. The young ladies and Lin Xirui sat at one table. Fearing the girls might feel constrained, the Liang family didn’t arrange for anyone to sit with them, instead using a screen to separate them from the other guests and serving them the Liang Residence’s less potent wedding wine.

Zhao Jiayu held up her wine cup, excitedly drinking with Xiao Bingying and Lin Xizhao. All three had already reached the hair-pinning age, but in their own manors, they were forbidden from drinking alcohol.

Xiao Bingying had no desire to, and neither did Lin Xizhao. Only Zhao Jiayu had been eager to try several times, only to have cold water poured on her plans by the adults in her residence.

But now, the sky is high and the emperor is far away³, and it was a wedding celebration. Zhao Jiayu held her cup, covering her mouth as she laughed ‘unrestrainedly.’ After clinking cups with Xiao Bingying and Lin Xizhao, she began to drink.

Lin Xizhao only took a few sips and didn’t continue. Seeing how happily Zhao Jiayu was drinking, Xiao Bingying didn’t want to be a wet blanket and accompanied her, downing one cup after another.

When most of the guests had dispersed, Xiao Bingying took advantage of the sparse crowd to carry the drunken Zhao Jiayu back to their room.

Lin Xizhao held Qu Sheng’s hand, with Lin Xirui following behind them. The three walked under the moonlight. The courtyard they were in was quiet. Qu Sheng didn’t like to talk, and Lin Xirui had noticed over the past few days that Lin Xizhao wasn’t in a good mood, so she bid them farewell and returned to her guest room as soon as they entered the courtyard.

Lin Xizhao continued to walk slowly in the courtyard, holding Qu Sheng’s hand, and Qu Sheng accompanied her without a hint of impatience. The two walked to a small corner pavilion in the courtyard. Qu Sheng glanced at it, and Lin Xizhao understood, leading her over.

Qu Sheng sat down, and Lin Xizhao rested her head on Qu Sheng’s soft yet strong shoulder and arm. As she nuzzled against her, Qu Sheng turned to look at her.

“If Mother were here, it would probably be even livelier today.” In this residence, Lin Xizhao’s mother had been raised with a thousand loves and ten thousand dotes⁴. Now that her fragrance had disappeared and her jade had fallen⁵, she must have regretted not being able to attend her youngest brother’s wedding ceremony.

“Mm,” Qu Sheng replied softly to Lin Xizhao’s words.

Hearing her own musings being affirmed by Qu Sheng, Lin Xizhao’s gaze froze for a moment, but she quickly smiled and snuggled closer to Qu Sheng.

The two sat outside for a while before separately going to bathe and then resting.

The next afternoon, Lin Xizhao and the others bid farewell to their Liang family uncles. It wasn’t that she couldn’t stay for a few more days, but with her mother’s matter weighing on her mind, she wanted to go back sooner and set her plan in motion.

They took the official road on their way back and returned to the capital city in a few days. After entering the capital, Lin Xizhao first sent Zhao Jiayu and Xiao Bingying back to the Zhao Residence, then took Qu Sheng to the Marquis Qu Residence.

As Qu Sheng got off the carriage, a servant at the gate hurried back into the residence to announce her arrival. Having not seen Qu Sheng for more than half a month, every relative who was in the residence came out.

Seeing Qu Sheng being held in the hearts of her relatives, Lin Xizhao felt a little envious. Although their Lin family wasn’t as populous, her mother alone had been enough, but now she was gone.

Lin Xizhao sat for a short while in the Marquis Qu Residence, watched Qu Sheng eat something, and then was eager to return to her own home.

It had been a long time since she entered the city; she should go back and report that she was safe.

Without Qu Sheng’s company, Lin Xizhao returned to the Prime Minister’s Residence, feeling utterly exhausted. No relatives came to greet her, which made her feel even more weary. Her father was not at the residence. Lin Xizhao first took Lin Xirui back to her stepmother’s place, sat and talked for a while, then returned to her own courtyard alone. After bathing and washing away the fine dust of the journey, she lay down on her couch.

On the way back, she had already thought about how to lay out her plan. It was just that she was still too young, and although she was the Eldest Young Miss in the residence, she had never been involved in such matters because of her mother’s presence. Now, facing it alone, she felt somewhat apprehensive.

Her uncles were far away in Changzhou and couldn’t come over at this time. She needed to take the first step and find some clues before her uncles could get involved.

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Upon returning to her residence, Qu Sheng went to Qu Ting’s courtyard. Before she left, she had asked Qu Ting to investigate the location where Lin Xizhao’s birth mother was trampled by a horse. She also had him check if there were any other eyewitnesses at the time, aside from the guards who were following and personally saw the horse go mad and trample Lin Xizhao’s mother.

The wife of the Prime Minister of the Tiancheng Kingdom was an incredibly noble person. If someone had seen her being trampled by a horse, the news would certainly have spread. Yet, two years had passed without any talk in the streets of anyone having seen it.

Qu Sheng had always been rigorous in her work. Having someone investigate seemed like this one extra move⁶, but she would never let go of any possibility.

“That location isn’t too tricky. Judging from the guards’ testimonies at the time, if one was in a hurry and panicked, it would indeed be easy to miss,” Qu Ting had personally gone to inspect the terrain and environment where Lin Xizhao’s mother had tragically died.

“Meaning it’s possible for someone to have hidden there?” Qu Sheng, who had been sitting to the side with her gaze shifting in thought, raised her eyes to look at her third older brother.

“You could say that.” Qu Ting nodded, not denying the possibility, but he couldn’t definitively conclude that someone must have been hiding there.

“Thank you for your hard work, Third Brother. For what comes next, I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you to make a trip in person.” When Qu Sheng spoke to her family, she was always very respectful, a trait that stemmed from the harmony and trust within the Qu family.

Hearing this, Qu Ting smiled and said, “How is it any trouble? Whatever my little sister wants to do, your third brother will get it done for you, even if I have to run my legs off.”

Qu Sheng’s lips curved into a faint, almost imperceptible smile upon hearing this, but she lowered her head and fell back into her own thoughts.

This matter seemed simple, but obtaining the key clues and evidence would require external help.

Lin Xizhao had returned, and the Liang family hadn’t sent anyone to follow up, so it seemed this matter would have to be initiated by her Qu family.

In the evening, Qu Sheng went to the washroom to bathe. Jin Yunfei was inside, instructing the servants to bring hot water for her.

Qu Sheng walked into the washroom and saw Jin Yunfei reaching out to test the water temperature, telling someone to add more warm water. She said, “Mother, the weather is getting hotter. Your child is not cold, just adding a little hot water is fine.”

Jin Yunfei looked up at the sound of her voice, turning to see her daughter walk over. Her eyes curved into a smile as she said, “It still can’t be too cold. Let’s add a few more scoops.”

Qu Sheng didn’t say anything more. For the past two years, she had spent little time at home. Although Jin Yunfei never said it, she still minded it in her heart.

The grown daughter she had raised was running off to someone else’s residence, not coming back for days and nights on end. When she missed her, she had to send someone to summon her.

When everything was ready, just as Qu Sheng reached for the sash of her robe, Jin Yunfei, who was about to leave, suddenly remembered something and turned around. “Sheng’er.”

Hearing this, Qu Sheng’s hand paused for a moment. She turned her head and asked in a gentle voice, “Does Mother have anything else?”

Jin Yunfei took a few steps closer and took a deep breath, seeming somewhat stifled. “After you all left last time, I went to the Lin Prime Minister’s Residence to propose adopting Xizhao as my goddaughter⁷, but I was refused by the Lin family’s stepmother.”

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