"Cao Dong, that so-called royal son-in-law..." Old Divine Doctor Qin said dismissively.
Chu Jing gasped in shock. "If Second Brother is infertile, then whose child did the Eldest Princess bear?"
Back then, Cao Dong had repeatedly claimed that the Yan family was responsible for harming the Eldest Princess!
Everyone had assumed he was referring to the incident on Cuiping Mountain, where the Eldest Princess miscarrying while saving Yan Zheng. But now, it seemed that wasn’t the case at all?
Chu Ruoyan asked solemnly, "Old Divine Doctor, are you certain you haven’t mistaken the person?"
"How could I mistake him? Over twenty years ago, when I first returned to the capital, I was robbed of all my money and had to set up a stall to treat patients. That Cao Dong accused me of being a fraud and even gave me ten taels of silver, telling me to leave and stop deceiving people!"
"Do you think I could tolerate such an insult? I immediately took his pulse and discovered he suffered from 'barrenness'—a congenital condition that couldn’t even be treated. I was so furious I smashed my stall on the spot..."
Chu Ruoyan and Chu Jing exchanged glances, both seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.
Chu Ruoyan pressed further, "Did you tell Cao Dong about it?"
"Of course I did. A physician doesn’t conceal a patient’s ailment. But that young man must have already known. He apologized respectfully and begged me to keep it a secret..."
Chu Ruoyan and Chu Jing both inhaled sharply.
If the royal son-in-law Cao Dong had known all along that he couldn’t father children, then if the Eldest Princess had truly been pregnant, wouldn’t that mean he was raising someone else’s child?
But given his obsession with the Eldest Princess, it was entirely possible he would do such a thing...
"Did you mention this to Young Master Lang?"
Old Divine Doctor Qin huffed indignantly. "What kind of person do you take me for? Cao Dong’s private matters—how could I go around blabbing about them? Besides, Young Master Lang never asked..."
Since Young Master Lang didn’t know, then Yan Zheng must also be unaware.
Chu Ruoyan understood the situation and rose to give a respectful bow. "Thank you, Old Divine Doctor."
Only then did Old Qin leave, humming in satisfaction.
She then turned to her aunt. Chu Jing said, "Don’t worry. Until everything is clear, I won’t speak of this to anyone except the master of the house."
"Then I thank you, Aunt..."
That night, she wrote a letter and had Nanny Zhou deliver it to Meng Yang.
By noon the next day, Meng Yang climbed over the wall to inform her that the young master was waiting at the Bai Xiao Pavilion.
Fortunately, her father was still at court and hadn’t returned. Using the excuse of buying jewelry, she hurriedly took Nanny Zhou to the meeting.
Tianyi Restaurant.
As soon as she entered the private room, she saw Shadow and Old Xu already present.
Yan Zheng sat by the window, a flawless piece of mutton-fat jade twirling between his slender fingers, its surface smooth and luminous.
"You’re here?" He straightened slightly upon seeing Chu Ruoyan and glanced at Meng Yang, who promptly said, "Young Madam, have some tea to soothe your throat first."
Chu Ruoyan didn’t even notice the change in address. She took a sip and asked, "Well? Did you find anything?"
Yan Zheng shook his head. "Old Xu, you explain."
The limping elder nodded. "Young Madam, after receiving your letter last night, Shadow and I set out immediately. I won’t lie—I visited several households, but none knew anything. As for Shadow, he went to the Eldest Princess’s residence but returned empty-handed."
Chu Ruoyan frowned. "The Eldest Princess is currently in the palace, so her residence should be unguarded. Didn’t Shadow consider capturing a few servants for interrogation?"
Old Xu chuckled, glancing at Yan Zheng. "Young Madam and the young master think alike. Unfortunately, the Eldest Princess is known among the common folk as a Bodhisattva. Her servants are all deaf-mutes she took in out of charity. Even if we captured them, we’d get nothing..."
His tone was laden with implication, sending a chill down Chu Ruoyan’s spine.
Training deaf-mute servants would be incredibly difficult. But if they were normal people first, disciplined and then deliberately deafened and muted...
Then the Eldest Princess’s residence would be an impenetrable fortress, utterly leak-proof!
She looked up at Yan Zheng, realizing he had come to the same conclusion.
After a moment of silence, he spoke. "They found nothing, so I inquired at Bai Xiao Pavilion. The manager said the pavilion master wasn’t present, and they had no access to core secrets. But regarding the imperial family’s affairs, they had records on every member—except the Eldest Princess. The only information available was common knowledge."
"!!!"
Bai Xiao Pavilion was renowned for gathering intelligence from across the land, yet they had nothing on this dignified and graceful Eldest Princess. How terrifying!
Chu Ruoyan pursed her lips in thought. "There’s one person who might know!"
Yan Zheng looked at her. "Princess Qingping!" she said.
During her aunt’s wedding, Princess Qingping had caused a scene and sneered at her: "You’re that divorced woman from the Yan family... How amusing. You’d actually help the Cao family?"
Her words implied she already knew everything Cao Dong had done to the Yan family!
Yan Zheng nodded. "Even if she doesn’t know everything, she’s at least an insider. What do you propose?"
Chu Ruoyan pondered. "She’s a woman, and a noble princess at that. It wouldn’t be proper for you to approach her... But I’ve already offended her, so this matter will have to trouble my uncle-in-law." She couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.
Yan Zheng raised a brow as she rested her chin on her hand, grinning. "Come to think of it, every time I seek out my uncle-in-law, it’s never for anything good..."
First, it was for the Yan family, then for her aunt, and most recently, regarding Cao Dong.
If not for her aunt’s sake, he’d probably have wanted to strangle her by now...
Yan Zheng remarked dryly, "The capable bear more burdens."
Chu Ruoyan recalled saying the same thing to Cao Yang during Xue Gui’s commotion and laughed even harder. After a moment, she stood. "I should go. If anything comes up, have Meng Yang relay the message—but make sure to avoid my father!"
Yan Zheng acknowledged, while Meng Yang rolled his eyes internally.
As if he were some go-between for their secret rendezvous...
"Ah Yan, wait."
Chu Ruoyan paused as he wheeled closer.
She instinctively crouched to meet his gaze. "What else?"
Yan Zheng reached out and fastened the mutton-fat jade pendant around her neck. "For you."
The jade was warm, still carrying the heat of his fingers...
Her heart skipped a beat. "This..."
"Wear it. You probably used jewelry shopping as an excuse today. It wouldn’t do to return empty-handed."
She blinked. How did he know her excuse?
Still, his reasoning made sense. "Alright, I’ll accept it." She could always gift him something equally valuable later to settle the debt.
After returning home briefly, Chu Ruoyan headed to the Cao residence.
Before she could even step into the main hall—
Crash!
A vase of unknown design flew out and shattered at her feet!
"Young Miss, be careful!"
The gatekeeper shielded her, but before he could explain, a shrill, familiar voice rang out from inside—
"The Cao family has gone too far! If Cao San hasn’t given me a divorce letter, then I’m still the Third Madam of the Cao family! How dare you, Chu Jing, a twice-married woman, forbid me from returning?"
Chu Ruoyan nearly laughed aloud. Madam Kong!
The night the Cao family fell into disgrace, she had rushed to cut ties and flee back to her maiden family.
And now she had the audacity to return?
