Xie Lingqiao seemed to be startled. She couldn't help taking a step backward and let out a startled cry, "Ah!"
The old emperor immediately turned to look at her. "Qiao'er? What's wrong with you?"
Xie Lingqiao averted her gaze and hesitantly looked at the little prince.
The old emperor followed her line of sight and caught the little prince's still-unreined fierce look. His heart skipped a beat. "My son!"
Concubine Li was nearly scared to death. She hurriedly pressed the little prince's head down and scolded, "Your Highness, you mustn't be rude!"
Xie Lingqiao forced a smile. "It's okay. The little prince is still young. It's understandable that he doesn't know any better."
The emperor, however, was extremely displeased. Instead of blaming himself, he faulted Concubine Li. "Qiao'er is his elder sister. He should respect and love her. How could he behave like this! Concubine Li, how have you been teaching him on a daily basis? He's almost old enough to study in the Imperial Study, yet he's still so naughty!"
Concubine Li was extremely annoyed. The emperor visited so rarely and had never really taught the little prince. Where did he get the nerve to blame her!
Unfortunately, the imperial grace was so vast that no matter how reluctant she was, she had to suppress her feelings. Looking ashamed, she said, "Yes, it's all my fault. I will surely teach His Highness well from now on."
After this incident, the emperor lost the interest to see them any longer. He flicked his sleeves and turned away.
Xie Lingqiao took a couple of steps, then suddenly turned back to look at them. She showed a faint smile, but her eyes were clearly filled with malice.
However, she was also being cautious. While Concubine Li had her head down, she looked at the little prince, who was still glaring at her fiercely.
The little prince was startled by her look. When he came to his senses, he flew into a rage.
Like a young calf, he was about to charge at Xie Lingqiao. Concubine Li was shocked and quickly grabbed him. Seeing that he was about to shout, she reached out and covered his mouth firmly. She whispered angrily, "Your Highness!"
The little prince stopped reluctantly. When he looked up again, Xie Lingqiao had caught up with the old emperor. She was walking beside him, holding his arm, looking like a loving father-daughter pair.
The old emperor was still displeased about the little prince's behavior. She sighed and said nervously, "Father, did I say something wrong just now?"
The old emperor snorted and patted her hand. "Qiao'er has done nothing wrong. It's your younger brother who is too unruly. Qiao'er has always been well-behaved and sensible. If all my sons were as considerate as you, I wouldn't be so troubled."
To say that Xie Lingqiao was well-behaved and sensible was truly an insult to these words.
Xie Lingqiao knew exactly what kind of person she was. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she was arrogant and domineering. But in front of the emperor, she always kept a low profile and played the role of his good daughter obediently.
She casually sighed, "Come to think of it, the little prince really resembles the eldest brother. The way he looks at people is really scary. He is truly a noble of the royal family. He doesn't look like Father or the second brother."
The old emperor chuckled. "I think Qiao'er is quite similar. Even I'm scared when you get angry."
This was obviously a joking remark.
Xie Lingqiao blushed and said coquettishly, "I'm not like that."
As the old emperor walked with her, he didn't take her words seriously at first. But after passing a rockery, they happened to meet the eldest prince.
The eldest prince lowered his eyes and bowed respectfully to the old emperor. "Greetings to Father."
But when he saw Xie Lingqiao, he paused for a moment before saying, "Second younger sister."
"Greetings to the second elder brother. The second elder brother looks so heroic today that Qiao'er doesn't even dare to look directly at you," Xie Lingqiao said playfully.
Since the death of Noble Lady Ding, Xie Lingqiao had been in a slump. It had been a long time since they had seen her looking so bright.
Xie Guang frowned involuntarily and looked at her with a subtle probing look.
Before he could figure out what was going on, he heard the old emperor say displeasedly, "What? Didn't you hear your second younger sister talking to you?"
Xie Guang pursed his lips. He had lost a lot of weight compared to before. Even after the New Year, he didn't gain any weight. His face was quite handsome, but if you looked closely, you could see a hint of gloom between his eyebrows.
He looked up at the old emperor, and his appearance was eight-tenths similar to that of the little prince just now.
The old emperor's ears suddenly echoed with what Xie Lingqiao had said casually just now. The little prince resembled Xie Guang by eight-tenths... but not him!
A thunderbolt seemed to go off in his mind. He stared fixedly at Xie Guang's face.
They were all born to different concubines, but their father was him! If they were to resemble anyone, it should be him!
How could non-twin brothers resemble each other but not him?
Suspicions welled up in his heart immediately, and his look at Xie Guang became obscure and hard to read.
"Guang'er, where are you going?"
Xie Guang was startled by his look, but he didn't know where the emperor's suspicion came from. So his words were inevitably a bit hesitant. "Son... son is going to pay respects to the queen mother."
"You are quite filial," the old emperor said. Anger flared up in his heart. When had Xie Guang gotten so close to the queen?
Xie Guang lowered his head, looking a bit panicked. "Your son wouldn't dare. Paying respects to the queen mother is a son's duty. The queen mother is kind and forgiving. Whenever I see her, I always think of my late mother..."
Xie Lingqiao sneered inwardly. Seeing the old emperor staring at Xie Guang with a bad expression and a hint of suspicion in his eyes, she knew that her goal for today had been achieved.
She didn't want to entangle with Xie Guang any longer, lest there be any mistakes later. So she said, "The queen mother is the kindest person. Everyone outside praises the queen mother as a bodhisattva. It's only natural for the eldest brother to be close to the queen mother. Father, I've been out for a long time and I'm a bit hungry. I want to eat the salted crispy chicken in Father's palace. How about we go back?"
She said it in a coquettish tone. The old emperor came back to his senses. Although his mood was still turbulent, he managed to suppress it. He said indifferently, "You glutton."
"Fine, then you can go and pay respects to the queen. Qiao'er, come back to the palace with me."
The two of them walked away hand in hand.
Xie Guang stood there, staring at their backs. He slowly frowned.
Something was wrong. No matter how he thought about it, he felt that something was off about what had just happened, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
He frowned, and a hint of gloom flashed across his eyes.
Xie Lingqiao.
Was today's incident related to you?
After returning to the palace, Xie Lingqiao accompanied the emperor for a meal and then excused herself.
But after leaving the palace hall, she didn't hurry to leave. Instead, she hid in a corner. It wasn't until a moment later that she saw the emperor's personal eunuch hurry out of the palace hall and disappear quietly that she slowly showed a smile.
She murmured softly, "Eldest brother, you used to look down on me and think I was stupid. Now let me show you what it's like to be plotted against by a stupid person!"
The old emperor's confidants were all "capable people" who had been in the harem for many years. The investigation didn't take much time at all. They just picked a maid from Concubine Li's palace and secretly tortured her for information, and they managed to pry out this clue.
It was also Xie Guang's oversight. Although Concubine Li's palace had been suppressed by the queen and wasn't completely airtight, it was still impossible for ordinary people to get information. They only thought about guarding against Concubine Rou and her group, but they never thought that the emperor would suspect her.
So they hadn't screened Concubine Li's personal maid. Moreover, since this was a maid that Concubine Li was used to, replacing her rashly might cause more trouble.
Who would have thought that by a strange coincidence, it just happened to be convenient for the old emperor.
[P.S. I've been so busy these two days that I can only update once a day. If I'm a bit more free tomorrow, I'll update twice.]