He left the residence, no one knew where he went, and was gone for three days.
She had no choice but to enter the palace again. This time, she accidentally saw Concubine Wan and the commander of the Imperial Guards, Xia Zixi...
That day when she came out of the palace, she knew that she probably wouldn't live much longer...
She had no other extravagant hopes, she only wished to safely give birth to the child in her belly...
She began to live reclusively in the residence, feigning illness.
Zhao Hui seldom came back to see her. Occasionally when she was too afraid Concubine Wan would take action against her, and wanted to find him to help her, even if it wasn't to help her, just to let him do it for the sake of the child, and block Concubine Wan.
But as soon as she went to look for him, she saw him together with Cheng.
The sourness in her heart rushed up quickly, she stood not far away in a daze, she could only force down her helpless heart and walk back.
Her heart felt stifled, and was eventually replaced by fear.
Since Zhao Hui couldn't protect her, she went to find her elder martial brother.
Her elder martial brother wanted to bring her back to the Lin family, but Zhao Hui was unhappy about it. He refused to allow it, and flew into a violent rage. His eyes were as cold as ice as he dragged her back to the room, and ordered the servants to nail shut all the doors, not allowing her to leave.
She lived in the Prince's residence, anxious and afraid all day. Her face was haggard from crying. When she gave birth to Du, she heard that Zhao Hui had rushed back from Cheng's courtyard.
At that time, she was thinking that it would have been better if he hadn't returned.
This child was hers alone, and had nothing to do with him.
He stayed with her peacefully in the residence for a period of time after she had given birth. The two of them did not get along very well. Soon after her confinement period ended, Cheng became more and more unrestrained.
She repeatedly came to the door to provoke them, and spread all kinds of rumors. In Bianjing, she and the Lin family's reputation was completely ruined. Her father and mother sighed every day. Not long after, her mother passed away due to illness.
After her father finished organizing her mother's funeral affairs, he followed after her.
Her health was already poor to begin with. After hearing those words, and losing her parents, she became distressed. Her health deteriorated.
Sometimes she thought about directly divorcing Zhao Hui, but he dragged his feet and refused to divorce her. Instead he wanted to take her to the winter hunting event to distract her.
She thought that she was still too naive, and believed he would restrain himself to live peacefully with her.
Until at the Winter Hunting Party, she encountered Cheng disguised as Zhao Rou's maidservant, and saw Zhao Rou, and also saw Concubine Wan.
Standing on the Jixue Cliff, she was gradually driven to the edge by Cheng.
She remembered that it was Zhao Hui who had brought her here, he must also hope that she would die soon to make way for Cheng.
At that moment, her heart was deadened, and hoped to end it all with death.
"So... Mother jumped off Jixue Cliff herself?" After hearing these words, Gu Ying only felt her heart shake.
Mrs. Lin nodded, and gave a bitter laugh, "Cheng slashed my face, I became somewhat clearer headed from my groggy state. But standing at the edge of the cliff at that moment, I... suddenly forgot about Du, and was already hopeless about life, and thought that death would be for the best."
Gu Ying tightly grasped her hand, her brows knitted together. She did not blame her for giving up on the Heir Apparent, only asked caringly, "The poison in Mother's body, it was given by Concubine Wan?"
Mrs. Lin's eyes reddened, she didn't speak, but it was tacit acknowledgment.
How could Mrs. Lin, whose medical skills were unparalleled in Bianjing, be unaware if someone had slowly poisoned her?
It was just that her heart had died... She also knew that she could not escape the hands of that person in the palace... Unwilling to cause trouble for the Prince's residence and the young Heir Apparent at the time.
Gu Ying sympathetically clenched her fists, Concubine Wan and Zhao Rou were merely Concubine Wan's pawns. Concubine Wan was the one who had designed the plot to harm Mrs. Lin behind the scenes...
No wonder when Cheng was driven out of the Prince's residence, Mrs. Lin was utterly unaffected. Because she knew the one who had harmed her was someone else, someone she could absolutely not touch.
This Concubine Wan... her mind was too meticulous. She had harmed an innocent woman for life by borrowing a knife to kill. She had extended her hand into the Prince's residence.
And... in that case, Li Yang was indeed not the son of Emperor Tianqi.
She also didn't know how Su He's investigation in Changzhou was going. Thinking back now, the fire at Concubine Wan's family home back then was rather suspicious.
"Muddying the imperial bloodline..." Gu Shuang, who had been silent all along, moved her lips. Her small face was unusually serious, "That is the crime of deceiving the ruler and destroying the clan, punishable by execution of entire families..."
No wonder Concubine Wan would take action against Mrs. Lin.
After all, if the imperial clan's bloodline was muddled, not to mention Concubine Wan, even if it was the Empress, the entire family would be executed.
This explained Concubine Wan's attitude towards Mrs. Lin today.
She was deliberately provoking Mrs. Lin, to get her to shut her mouth, not to speak recklessly. Otherwise, she didn't mind revisiting the events of the past.
The three of them strangely fell silent for a long time in the pavilion. These shocking secrets left Gu Shuang stunned for a long time.
Compared to the inner palace, the Gu residence's inner courtyard matters were nothing...
Mrs. Lin pursed her lips, looked up, and grasped Gu Ying's fingers. "Ying'er, I want to return home first..."
In the past at the Prince's residence, with Cheng in Zhao Hui's heart, no one protected her, she always faced danger alone.
But now, Gu Ying's mouth curved up into a smile. She helped her stand up and decisively said, "Alright, I'll have someone escort Mother home! Today, no matter who comes, they cannot block my Mother from returning home!"
Gu Shuang also hurriedly stood up.
Mrs. Lin gratefully glanced at her. "Thank you, Ying'er."
Gu Ying chuckled lightly. "Mother, you and I are family. What's with the polite words?"
As she spoke, she went to instruct Yin Lan to come prepare the carriage.
She and Gu Shuang personally escorted Mrs. Lin to the palace gates, only letting down their guard after watching Mrs. Lin's carriage leave the palace under the protection of the Prince's guards.
The palace banquet had not yet started, so they could not leave yet.
After sending off Mrs. Lin, the two of them started to head back.
The long, wide imperial avenue seemed endless. The tall palace walls encircled this narrow piece of land.
Gu Shuang was still somewhat distracted. "Second sister..."
Gu Ying spoke solemnly, "Younger sister, pretend you never heard any of today's events, and absolutely do not speak of it to anyone, understand?"
Gu Shuang hurriedly covered her mouth. "Second sister, don't worry, I'm not stupid."
Gu Ying breathed a sigh of relief. Today's revelations had too great an impact on her. After sending off Mrs. Lin, she could finally calm her heart to think back on her past life.
Concubine Wan did not meet a good end in the end. Xia Zixi and Li Yang's palace coup failed, and they died in the palace.
But how could this make up for the harm Mrs. Lin suffered?
Concubine Wan's actions harmed an innocent woman for life. She wanted to quietly turn the page?
Even if she agreed, she still had to ask if the Heir Apparent agreed!
She absolutely could not let Mrs. Lin be threatened by Concubine Wan again. No matter what, she had to strike first this time.
"Second sister, isn't that Elder Sister Ning over there!"
Gu Shuang's delighted voice pulled Gu Ying's thoughts back.
Gu Ying had made up her mind. Looking up to glance at the Imperial Gardens, she saw Ning Si dressed in splendid, wide palace attire. She looked emaciated, like a little white flower in the wind that could topple over with the slightest breeze.
She had an anxious expression, appearing to be looking for something in the crowd, looking like a pitiful, unwanted child.
Gu Ying hurriedly walked over and grabbed her thin, white wrist, propping her up. She laughed, "Sis Ning, what are you doing here?"
