Thrown out of the house, the wet nurse enters the noble household and becomes a person of high statu

"Do you think I'll believe you based solely on your word?"

Xiao Yiheng stared at Granny Su, the candlelight flickering in his eyes, revealing a sharp insight into people's hearts.

How could that be? His birth mother did not die of illness, but rather died in the cold palace.

Why doesn't he appear when his mother is alive? Isn't he her child?

What does his longing over the years mean? What does he mean to his mother?

Granny Su was breathing weakly, and the look in her eyes when she looked at Xiao Yiheng was that of an elder feeling sorry for a younger generation.

"This old servant dares not deceive you any further. Consort Shu has her reasons. If Your Highness does not believe me, you may ask the Eldest Princess..."

Xiao Yiheng turned and left without saying a word, his clothes even flipping over the bench next to him.

He was already tall and had a long stride, and now, due to his emotional state, he walked even faster.

Liu Wenying lifted her skirt and had to jog to keep up.

"Your Highness...please slow down."

Xiao Yiheng seemed not to hear, and quickened his pace.

Liu Wenying bit her lip and raised her voice.

"Is Your Highness rushing to Huiyin Palace in such a manner to question the Eldest Princess?"

Xiao Yiheng paused, stopping abruptly.

Liu Wenying caught up and blocked his way.

"Princess, you are currently six months pregnant and cannot withstand any shock. Please calm down."

The moonlight illuminated his face, and the shock, anger, and bewilderment he had just felt at Gong Zhengsi's hands had faded, gradually being covered by a familiar smiling mask.

He knew what she was worried about—that he might offend his aunt, the Empress Dowager. He wouldn't do that.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Inside the Huiyin Palace, the eldest princess leaned against the chaise lounge, holding a bowl of bird's nest soup in her hands, slowly sipping it.

Seeing Liu Wenying and Xiao Yiheng enter, she put down her porridge bowl and asked, "Did you find out?"

Xiao Yiheng remained silent. Liu Wenying glanced at him and stepped forward to report.

"Your Highness, there is no ghost at Ninglu Lake. The ghostly sound was made by a parrot that was mimicking speech."

The parrot belonged to a palace servant, but it accidentally flew away and settled by the lake.

The palace servants, unaware of the truth, overheard this and spread it as a rumor.

The personal maid chimed in, "It was all caused by the parrot mimicking others; Your Highness can rest assured now."

The eldest princess also leaned against the pillow, her expression light and cheerful.

Xiao Yiheng had someone bring the parrot up.

The cockatiel, confined in its cage, fluttered restlessly and began reciting poetry.

The princess glanced at the parrot casually, then suddenly froze.

"Imperial Aunt, does she look familiar?" Xiao Yiheng stepped forward and finally spoke.

The usually eloquent and composed princess was speechless, hesitant to speak, unable to utter a single word.

Xiao Yiheng's last hope was shattered, and he gave a sad smile.

"Why didn't you tell your nephew that your mother was still alive back then?"

"You already know..."

Xiao Yiheng choked up, "I don't know much, please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

The eldest princess sighed, "Now that things have come to this, I will not hide it from you. Your mother requested to go to the Cold Palace back then, and she did not die of illness."

Why?!

He didn't believe it. Everyone in the palace wanted to climb the social ladder, so why did his mother go against the tide, abandon her child, and move to the cold palace to humiliate herself?

"It's a long story..."

In the second year of the Qingyuan era, the eldest princess first met Consort Yu at a poetry gathering before the emperor, before Consort Yu had entered the palace.

At the poetry gathering, a game of "Flying Flowers" was set up, where officials and scions of prominent families took turns composing lines.

It was lively at first, but as time went on, only a few people were playing back and forth.

In the end, all the civil officials were at a loss for words.

Consort Yu, with her eloquent and composed manner, quoted classical texts one after another, overwhelming all the civil officials and astonishing everyone present.

It turns out that she was a renowned talented woman in the capital.

While other women's hands were scented with rouge, hers were scented with ink.

Calluses on his knuckles from holding a pen, and ink stains that he could never wash off his cuffs.

After entering the palace, she gained the emperor's appreciation for her talent and rose from a minor concubine to one of the four imperial consorts.

But a king's love is destined not to remain with one person forever.

Consort Yu's talent only made His Majesty notice her for a few more years.

On one occasion, His Majesty acquired a new heterochromatic cat, a tribute from the Western Rong tribes, and asked her to compose a poem in its praise.

After she finished writing, His Majesty threw it to the ground, simply because he wanted a poem for the occasion, not some words of advice.

After that, fewer and fewer people surrounded her, and her poems were ignored.

Consort Yu's mind began to blur, sometimes lucid and sometimes confused.

The only constant is that he always holds poems and calligraphy in his hands.

With three thousand beauties in the harem, she was soon forgotten by the emperor.

The eldest princess touched her lower abdomen, her voice hoarse.

"Fortunately, she became pregnant later, and His Majesty's favor returned, but her amnesia could not be hidden from people in the end."

Her pregnancy was difficult, and after giving birth, she requested to be moved to a secluded place.

"I still don't understand why Mother Consort...requested to go to the Cold Palace?"

Xiao Yiheng asked, his voice choked with emotion, each word sounding as if it were being torn from his own flesh and blood.

Even if she's mentally unstable, staying in the palace means at least I can still see her.

Instead of being labeled a jinx from birth, they are not said to be a mother-killer.

The princess looked at him, a deep sense of pity welling up in her eyes.

"After giving birth to you, she fell seriously ill and had fewer and fewer days when she was lucid. Every time she was lucid, she saw His Majesty's disgust and the palace servants' fear."

"She was also afraid, afraid that His Majesty would take his dislike and anger out on you, who was still a child, because of her."

"So, after giving birth to you, she begged to go to the cold palace."

The eldest princess said with a heavy heart, "It's not a good thing for a concubine to go mad, especially since your mother was known as a talented woman. His Majesty has ordered that it be announced that she died of illness."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Heng'er, don't blame her."

Xiao Yiheng lowered his eyes, his voice low and hoarse.

"I don't blame her? How could I blame her..."

She loved poetry and literature, and no one else.

He is no different from his mother.

She loved poetry, he loved power, loved climbing the social ladder, and loved no longer being bullied.

Having never received his mother's protection since childhood, he could only grasp at everything he could.

"Is her cold palace located on the west side of Ninglu Lake?"

The eldest princess nodded, "There are concubines of the late emperor who committed suicide by drowning there, which is considered unlucky. No one goes there usually, so it has naturally fallen into disrepair."

"When did she pass away?" Xiao Yiheng's voice was somewhat hoarse.

"In the tenth year of Qingyuan, the palace servants who were guarding her were negligent. She fell ill and was not in a clear mind. She accidentally fell into the well in the backyard of the Cold Palace. By the time she was found, she had already stopped breathing."

Xiao Yiheng turned around, and the Princess straightened up. "Heng'er, what are you doing?"

Xiao Yiheng didn't stop walking, leaving behind the words, "Go see your mother."

His back view was lonely and resolute. The princess feared that he might do something foolish after learning the truth about his mother's death.

"Wenying, you go with her and keep a close eye on Heng'er."

Liu Wenying had no choice but to obey and quickly followed.

Xiao Yiheng moved with incredible speed, and by the time Liu Wenying left Huiyin Palace, he was nowhere to be seen.

When Liu Wenying arrived at the Cold Palace courtyard, panting, she saw him standing by the well in the courtyard that was sealed with stones, his back to her forlorn figure.

…………