"Jingnan should have told you what you need to know. I don't need to say more," Chengping said straightforwardly without any idle talk as she got straight to the point.
Li Wanming held her breath and began to listen intently.
However, Chengping paused for a moment. She walked to the bow of the boat and picked up a withered lotus leaf that had been floating down.
"But my second sister - in - law is the kind of person who appears warm but is actually cold - hearted. She has been in charge of the prince's mansion for many years and has remained unscathed amidst the gossips in the capital. She might be much more difficult to deal with than you think."
The lotus stem was still tender, but it had grown too tall. Sticking out prominently, it was broken off by the slanting big boat.
"I... I don't understand," Li Wanming said.
Since the princess spoke so directly, she decided to be just as straightforward.
Some things were not suitable to ask Xiao Jingnan.
But there was nothing she couldn't say to the princess.
Li Wanming also walked to the bow of the boat. Facing the slightly cold wind of early spring, she frowned and asked,
"You know what Aunt Kang is like, and so does Xiao Jingnan. I even suspect that Xiao Yingchu knows too. Then why did the prince and the princess hand over the entire prince's mansion to them? Don't they know what kind of people their younger brother and sister - in - law are?"
The snow - colored curtains were rolled up by the wind. Several wind chimes made of shells and thin bamboo slices under the eaves swayed gently, making a clear and weak sound like faint Buddhist chants.
Chengping turned around and stared at her. After a long while, she let out a soft smile, and her voice carried a hint of unfathomable desolation. "They may know, but they pretend not to."
"Why?"
Li Wanming was even more puzzled. "Is there anything more important than their son's life?"
You know, on the evening of the twenty - ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, both she and Xiao Jingnan were arrested and thrown into the prison of the Ministry of Revenue!
Although Mrs. Kang mainly targeted her, it wouldn't have been impossible for her to take Xiao Jingnan's life if she had used a little more means.
Since Mrs. Kang's goal was to make her son, Xiao Jingbai, inherit the title, wouldn't it be more straightforward to just kill Xiao Jingnan instead of making him remain single and lonely for life?
Even if Mrs. Kang was afraid of his status as the heir apparent and didn't dare to act rashly, the risk still existed.
Why did the prince and the princess prefer to let their only son live at risk rather than do anything to Mrs. Kang?
"Does Aunt Kang have any remarkable background?" Li Wanming asked thoughtfully.
She remembered that Xiao Jingnan had told her that Mrs. Kang was a distant relative of Empress Dowager Kang.
"If only she did!" Princess Chengping curled her lips into a sarcastic smile.
She gently waved her sleeve and threw the half - green lotus into the water.
"She's just a distant niece several times removed. Empress Dowager Kang may not even remember her. How dare she use the empress dowager's name as a shield? She should take a good look at herself and see if she's worthy!"
"Uh, I didn't mean that..." Li Wanming replied sheepishly.
Chengping returned to the table and sat down. She picked up the long - spouted copper kettle and brewed a new pot of tea. Then she used the silver tweezers on the tray to pick up a piece of pine nut candy and put it into the teacup.
"Kuding tea picked before the rainy season goes best with pine nut candy. Have a sip while I tell you an old story from twenty years ago. After you hear it, you'll understand."
The bitter and fragrant aroma of kuding tea mixed with the slight sweetness of pine nut candy, filling the air.
Chengping began to speak, her voice low and hoarse.
"Twenty - two years ago, when Jingnan was born, the southern border suffered a great defeat."
"My eldest sister - in - law was pregnant with Jingnan. In great anxiety, she had a miscarriage scare. It seemed that both mother and child would die, and blood would be shed on the spot..."
"At that time, the court was also in a precarious situation. To prevent a rebellion, Empress Dowager Kang ordered the Imperial Guard to surround the mansions of all important court officials, not allowing anyone to enter or leave."
"It was Mrs. Kang. Despite being eight months pregnant herself, she risked her life to escape from the back yard and find a doctor for my eldest sister - in - law."
"Jingnan was born smoothly, but Mrs. Kang had a difficult labor..."
The steam from the long - spouted copper kettle blurred everything, adding a touch of mystery to the story on the table.
A rainy night, the southern border, heavy troops, and a woman in difficult labor...
Li Wanming listened intently, not daring to even breathe.
"She gave birth for three whole days. Her voice became hoarse from screaming. She almost lost her life before finally giving birth to Xiao Yingchu."
"When Xiao Yingchu was born, she was as small as a mouse. All the midwives and doctors said she wouldn't survive. But my second sister - in - law refused to believe it. Dragging her sick body, she knelt down with the newly - born baby in her arms and begged the guarding soldiers. Finally, she managed to get a little ginseng powder."
"My second sister - in - law boiled the ginseng powder into water and fed it all bit by bit to Jingnan and my eldest sister - in - law."
"Um... what?"
Li Wanming suddenly raised her head. "Didn't she give any to Xiao Yingchu?"
What was going on?
Just now they were talking about how difficult it was for Mrs. Kang to give birth to Xiao Yingchu. Premature and weak... The ginseng that Mrs. Kang had begged for by kneeling with her in her arms should have been fed to her own daughter, right?
At that time, Xiao Yingchu was in urgent need of ginseng to save her life!
"Heh..."
Chengping's fingertips caressed the edge of the jade teacup. The faint light was colder than the heavy rain that winter.
"That's why I say she's so cunning!"
"After putting on such a show of sacrificing her own daughter to save the lives of Jingnan and his mother, how could my eldest brother and sister - in - law not be grateful?
"Since then, my eldest brother and sister - in - law have always felt deeply guilty towards her, believing that they owed the second branch of the Xiao family a life.
"Especially my eldest sister - in - law. She regarded Mrs. Kang as her savior and later even handed over the power to manage the entire prince's mansion to her."
In the distance, the sky grew darker. The thick clouds pressed down on the wind - devouring beasts on the eaves.
Princess Chengping stroked the white jade finger ring on her hand. Her expression grew colder, but there was also a touch of helplessness on her lips.
"So, what do you think the eldest branch can do?
"A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring. Even if they were to repay with great gratitude and serve loyally, it might still be difficult to repay such a great life - saving kindness."
"My eldest brother and sister - in - law won't believe, and can't believe, that Mrs. Kang wants to harm Jingnan. Because if they did, they would be caught in the most difficult dilemma in the world."
Li Wanming finally understood.
She understood why the Prince and Princess of Ning avoided the matter, and she also understood why Xiao Jingnan had hesitated to speak that night.
Previously, she was just confused. The Prince and Princess of Ning didn't seem like stupid people, but why were they so muddled on this matter? She never thought there was such a backstory.
No wonder.
Relying on such kindness, Mrs. Kang must have had her way in the Prince of Ning's mansion.
If Mrs. Kang wanted to deal with her, what should she do?
Princess Chengping stared at her for a while. Suddenly, she put down the teacup in her hand. With a "thud", it startled the white egrets on the railing.
"What, scared?"
"Scared... not really," Li Wanming frowned and said with a bitter face. "I'm just a bit worried."
"Mrs. Kang's situation is really a bit difficult to handle.
"If we consider the kindness, she saved Jingnan and my mother - in - law's lives, so she can be regarded as my benefactor. But on the other hand, she wants to kill me, so she's my enemy..."
"Sigh, such a complicated relationship and identity really makes it hard for me to take action."