These words did sound utterly heretical. How dare someone make wild remarks about court affairs and even slander the crown prince of the current dynasty!
But Xiao Tianchi was not the emperor. He was just a prince. There was no sign of anger on his face. Instead, as if recalling something, he let out a soft chuckle and slightly raised his eyebrows.
"Oh? So, it seems that in the Great Sheng, it's indeed time to choose a new crown prince."
Eunuch Wang suppressed his inner surprise and didn't dare to say more. He helped Xiao Tianchi up and served him to bed.
The lamp in the room was blown out soon, and the surroundings grew quiet. Unnoticed by anyone, a figure under the flower trellis quietly slipped away along the shadows and crawled out of the Liuxiang Tower through a dog hole.
Sang Biao had been waiting in a nearby corner. When the curly - haired dog returned, he stepped forward and chattered with it for quite a while.
The night passed peacefully. Early the next morning, after the Prince of Xuan and the Prince of Ning got up and had breakfast, they counted the Pei family's army, selected a few guards, mounted their horses, and left the town for Tianyuan County.
The Prince of Mu was tasked with finding the whereabouts of the crown prince. However, he was in poor health, so he got up later than the Prince of Xuan and the Prince of Ning. Bu Hua had been waiting in the inn hall for a long time. It was almost the hour of Si, but the Prince of Mu still hadn't gotten up.
Just as he was about to send someone to inquire, Eunuch Wang appeared, looking somewhat anxious.
"Eunuch Wang, has the prince gotten up?" Bu Hua stepped forward and asked.
Eunuch Wang replied, "He has gotten up, but the prince is ill. His forehead is burning with a high fever! I'm just about to go and invite the imperial physician!"
Sure enough, the Prince of Mu was as frail as the rumors said. He had only just arrived in Dongli Town, and now he was ill!
Bu Hua glanced upstairs and said, "In that case, I won't disturb the prince."
Eunuch Wang didn't have time to talk to Bu Hua. He rushed off to find the imperial physician they had brought with them to examine the Prince of Mu.
Ye Wanmian had no idea what was going on in the Liuxiang Tower.
When she woke up, the first thing she did was find her copper mirror and take a look at herself.
The juice made from Tianli vines could cover her original skin color, but the medicinal effect had a time limit. Moreover, she had played in the water in the mountains yesterday, so much of the yellow on her face had faded.
Ye Wanxing and Ye Huan had come to Dongli Town with the three princes. She didn't know what they were up to.
Now that the town was surrounded by guards on all sides, it was too late for her to run. She couldn't just stay at home all the time, as that would only arouse suspicion.
To avoid being recognized, it seemed she could only make some changes to her appearance and stay adaptable.
She remade the juice from the Tianli vines and dyed her skin yellow. She also drew a lot of freckles on her face. In addition, she used a special medicinal herb to create a rather hideous scar on her face.
With the added scar, the young girl looked even more "ugly" than before, making it hard for people to look at her directly. It did have a certain camouflage effect.
Xiao Jingcheng was lying beside her, watching the young girl change her appearance again. He was no longer as shocked as he was at first. He was more and more certain that there was some connection between her and the Prince of Xuan and the others. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so nervous about disguising herself.
Who on earth was she?
He frowned, trying to find some clues from his memory. Before he could figure anything out, he heard the girl's call:
"Da Huang, let's go. We're going to the river to do the laundry."
Xiao Jingcheng came back to his senses. Ye Wanmian was holding a wooden basin full of dirty clothes in her arms, and there was an extra mask on her face.
He stood up and followed her.
Ye Wanmian left the house and headed for the nearby river.
Dongli Town was built by the water. A river named Caisang meandered, connecting the head and the end of the town. The Caisang River was a tributary of the Xijiang River, nurturing the local people for generations.
There was a small stream near Qingyu Alley, which originated from the Caisang River. The local people liked to gather here to do the laundry and chat.
When Ye Wanmian arrived at the stream, it was the busiest time. The women were strolling along the bank in groups of twos and threes. They raised their laundry sticks and were vigorously beating the clothes in their hands. At the same time, they were looking up and chatting with each other, chattering like a flock of ducks.
Xiao Jingcheng had a sensitive sense of hearing. These noises made him feel a bit annoyed. What was even more outrageous was that the topics they were chatting about were all unsavory.
"Hey, I saw it yesterday. That woman from the Li family and her husband walked into the reed thicket and stayed there for a long time!"
"Ugh, doing such things in broad daylight. She doesn't even know how to be ashamed."
"My husband went crazy yesterday. He tortured me until the middle of the night. He almost broke my waist."
"You two are really an affectionate couple. You already have three kids, but you're still so lovey - dovey. Unlike me, sigh... I really wish someone could comfort me."
Xiao Jingcheng wished he could grow two hands to cover his ears so that these demonic sounds wouldn't drill into his ears and poison his mind.
He looked at Ye Wanmian and gritted his back teeth.
How could this woman look so calm? Didn't she feel the slightest bit of shame?
No wonder this village woman usually behaved so boldly. It seemed that all the women here were so open - minded. They didn't care about being reserved at all. It really refreshed his perception.
Xiao Jingcheng had misunderstood Ye Wanmian. She was thinking about something at the moment and didn't notice what these women were talking about at all.
Even if she had known, she wouldn't have been too surprised.
In the past two years, in order to escape, she had seen all kinds of people. Although these rural women were a bit talkative, most of them were nice. Since she lived alone, she needed the help of her neighbors. It was no big deal to get along well with them and listen to their vulgar gossips.
The women were obviously very familiar with Ye Wanmian. When they saw her coming, many of them greeted her.
"Mrs. Jiang, you're here to do the laundry too."
"We haven't seen you for a long time. What have you been up to recently?"
"Come here. Come here. I just have something I want to ask you."
Ye Wanmian greeted them one by one and naturally walked to the empty space that the woman in the flower - printed headscarf had made for her. Naturally, everyone also noticed the mask on her face.
"Oh, why are you covering your face? What happened?"
This was exactly the purpose of Ye Wanmian's coming to the stream today. She sighed and said, "It's so unfortunate. Yesterday, I took Da Huang into the mountains to gather herbs. I accidentally slipped and scratched my face."
As she said this, she lifted the mask on her face, revealing the specially - made "wound".
The wound looked so real that there were gasps all around. Before everyone could see it clearly, she put the mask back on and said,
"I'm really sorry to have scared you all."
For a woman, injuring her face was a big deal. Even those who weren't very close to Ye Wanmian felt sorry for her at this moment. They all comforted her and shared their secret recipes for removing scars with her.
Lying behind, listening to Ye Wanmian gracefully dealing with everyone's concern, Xiao Jingcheng twitched the corner of his mouth.
If he hadn't seen her creating that disguise on her face with his own eyes, he might have believed her just like these people.
This woman always seemed to be able to lie calmly, making it hard to tell whether what she said was true or false.
"Woof."
A dog bark came from behind. Xiao Jingcheng turned around and saw Sang Biao and the curly - haired dog hiding in a nearby corner.
He looked at Ye Wanmian to make sure that she had really come to do the laundry and had already joined the chatting group with a smile. Then he got up and walked towards Sang Biao and the curly - haired dog.
They met in the shadow of the wall. Xiao Jingcheng asked the curly - haired dog, who was obediently squatting in the corner,
"What did you find out last night?"