The one who came this time was Tang Xiaobai's uncle, Gu Ling.
Gu Ling was in his early twenties, with eyebrows like green hills, eyes as clear as flowing water, and a gentle smile like misty rain at the corners of his lips, bearing quite a resemblance to the sickly beauty of the Gu Family.
Upon seeing Tang Xiaobai, Gu Ling explained the reason for his absence in a mild-mannered voice: "That day, your uncle had some social engagements, and by the time I got the news and rushed over, you were already resting. So, I didn't come in to see you. Later, as per your grandmother's instructions, I have been investigating the whereabouts of the assassin from that day, which is why I haven't been able to visit you. Is Xiaobai angry?"
Tang Xiaobai shook her head, cleverly catching onto the key point: "Did you find out anything?"
Gu Ling was slightly startled, then laughed brightly: "Our Xiaobai is truly smart!"
Tang Xiaobai immediately put down the orange in her hand, sat upright, and perked up her ears, ready to listen.
At this moment, Gu Family turned her head with a soft smile towards her and thoughtfully said: "Xiaobai doesn't need to sit with us, go on and play."
Tang Xiaobai: !!!
Before, when she didn't want to listen, they insisted on her sitting in; now that she wanted to listen, they were driving her away?
"The Second Miss cannot leave," said Mr. Zhou, with a slight frown, "If Master Gu is going to speak about the assassin's affair, it is somewhat related to the Second Miss."
Tang Xiaobai's heart tightened.
So, they were going to talk about the big issue involving her?
...
The servants were dismissed, leaving only the mother and daughter of the Duke Yan Mansion, along with Gu Ling and Zhou Xun, five people in total, in the inner hall.
"Bloodstains were found at Jingyu Temple in Xuanyang Village, Pingkang Village, and Anxing Village—" Gu Ling started, repeating what County Magistrate Zheng said yesterday, "If you follow this route, the assassin's path becomes quite obvious."
Gu Family pondered for a moment and her expression changed: "Do you mean…"
Tang Xiaobai waited a long time but didn't hear Gu Family finish her sentence.
But seeing Gu Ling nodding, Zhou Xun lowering his eyes, and Tang Jiaojiao lost in thought, it seemed like she was the only one who didn't understand.
"After three days, why is it still so quiet in the Capital? That assassin was injured; how could any household harbor an assassin without saying anything? Moreover—" Gu Ling suddenly lowered his voice, "Yesterday at dusk, Prince Jin went there…" At this point, he stopped again.
"Went where?" Tang Xiaobai couldn't hold back anymore.
If this matter was related to her, couldn't they explain it clearly?
Zhou Xun smiled and said: "The Second Miss is still young and not familiar with the map of the streets in the Capital. Jingyu Temple is north of our Duke Yan Mansion, Pingkang Village is north of Jingyu Temple, Anxing Village is northeast of Pingkang Village. Heading further north and east from there points to Yongfu Village in the northeast corner of the Capital."
"What's in Yongfu Village?" Tang Xiaobai pressed on.
"You don't know this?" Tang Jiaojiao looked at her disdainfully, "Didn't I tell you?"
"No!" Tang Xiaobai shook her head very firmly.
Whether the original Tang Xiaobai was told or not, she didn't know. Anyway, she hadn't been told.
"Before Princes and Grandchildren built their mansion, they all lived in Yongfu Village," Tang Jiaojiao paused here, with a subtle change in expression, "The Crown Prince Mansion is also there."
Tang Xiaobai was stunned and blurted out: "Why doesn't the Crown Prince live in the Eastern Palace?"
She remembered the Crown Prince in the books—
Okay, she didn't pay attention to where the Crown Prince in the book lived. She, as a rough web novel reader, didn't care about such details.
But looking at Tang Jiaojiao's appearance, she seemed to know a lot of insider information.
Especially when she asked this, Tang Jiaojiao looked at Gu Ling, showing an expression of uncertainty about whether to speak or not.
Gu Ling chuckled and took over the conversation: "In the past, those Crown Princes lived in the Eastern Palace, and future Crown Princes might also live there, but this one is different;"
"This current one is not a direct descendant of the current emperor—"
...
This matter is not some palace secret; almost everyone in the world knows. Tang Xiaobai doesn't know mainly because she is young (it's not written in the books).
The current emperor was not born of the late emperor and Empress Dowager Wang. When the late emperor was alive, there was a legitimate Crown Prince.
However, that Crown Prince was frail, so weak that on the day the late emperor passed away, the Crown Prince couldn't bear the blow and also left, leaving behind only a little infant emperor's grandson.
According to the succession system of this dynasty, the throne should rightfully be inherited by this young emperor's grandson.
But having a young monarch and a suspicious country isn't a good thing.
So, the Prime Ministers and senior officials, together with the late emperor's Empress Wang, now Empress Dowager Wang, and the then Crown Princess Consort Yu, deliberated for nearly a month before finally deciding to support the Second Prince to ascend the throne, who is the current emperor.
"Before Queen Wang issued an edict to enthrone the current emperor, she and the Crown Princess Consort summoned the current emperor and all the ministers to the Ancestral Temple to order everyone to swear an oath to treat the Crown Prince's only son well;"
"On the day of the current emperor's enthronement, the former Crown Princess Consort hanged herself in the Eastern Palace—"
Tang Xiaobai gasped, a chill running throughout her body.
Gu Ling recounted this piece of history in a very ordinary tone, and she listened with indifferent emotions until this point, when she suddenly felt a bloody stench.
"After ascending the throne, the current emperor posthumously named the former Crown Prince as Emperor Hui Zhao, and the former Crown Princess Consort as Empress Xiao'ai, and appointed the only son of Emperor Hui Zhao and Empress Xiao'ai as the Crown Prince, and swore in front of all the civil and military officials that once the Crown Prince came of age, he would abdicate—"
Whether others believed these words or not, Tang Xiaobai definitely didn't.
Giving up the throne now that they've got it? Not even web novels write it like this.
If he didn't want to give it up, what could be done? He could only ensure that the little Crown Prince didn't live.
"That Crown Prince has been sickly since childhood, living in seclusion in Yongfu Village, and only appearing on two days of the year, Winter Solstice and New Year's Day. Most officials have never even seen the Crown Prince—"
"If they haven't seen him, how can they be sure that he is real—" Before Tang Xiaobai could finish her question, Tang Jiaojiao covered her mouth.
"Is this something you can say!" Tang Jiaojiao scolded angrily.
Tang Xiaobai pried her hand away, comforting her: "It's alright, it's alright, I am just a naive child."
Gu Ling seemed unconcerned, shaking his head and laughing: "Although most have never seen him, the Empress Dowager and the Prime Ministers have."
"Has uncle seen him?" Tang Xiaobai asked with concern.
Gu Ling shook his head.
Tang Xiaobai sighed.
If they hadn't seen him, if it's only hearsay, then who knows if he's real, dead, or alive?
If she hadn't misread the book, Tang Jiaojiao would be chosen as the Crown Princess Consort in two years, and that Crown Prince would fall in love with the heroine at first sight after her betrothal, from then on starting the "Domineering Crown Prince Falls in Love with Me" single-sided, tortuous love story.
She also remembered that the Crown Prince's birth mother was an Imperial Concubine, clearly the emperor's biological child.
So now, this Crown Prince should have died before the opening of the original text, which is why the emperor logically made his own son the Crown Prince.
Having been orphaned of both parents, confined in the Crown Prince Mansion, and dying before coming of age, this little Crown Prince was almost as pitiful as her Little Qin.
She could rescue Little Qin because she had the right timing, location, and social harmony, but as for that little Crown Prince, she truly couldn't help him.
Sigh…
She could only burn a few more sticks of incense for him…