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Xiao Heng asked with curiosity, "How do you have the token of Marquis Xuanping Estate?"
The young boy looked at him timidly, so nervous that he stuttered, "M-m-my mother gave it to me. She... she told me to bring the token and come to the capital to find my father. But... they wouldn't let me and my big brother in."
Xiao Heng made a thoughtful sound and asked, "He's your big brother? You don't look alike. You look more like me."
“Ah…” The young boy was taken aback and left speechless.
At that time, Xiao Su had probably guessed Xiao Heng's identity. Whether it was for his own advantage or out of genuine desperation, Xiao Su knelt down before Xiao Heng and begged him to allow his younger brother to meet his biological father.
Xiao Heng agreed and said, "There have been several major cases in the capital recently, so my father is very busy right now. I can't even see him. But on New Year's Eve, he will definitely come back to spend the night with me. I'll take you to see him then! By the way, where are you staying?"
The two of them were staying in the cheapest common lodging in the capital.
Xiao Heng arranged for them to stay in a decent inn and promised to send someone to pick up the young boy on New Year's Eve.
What Xiao Heng didn't anticipate was that on New Year's Eve, he had to make a trip to the Imperial Academy. Unexpectedly, the young boy followed him secretly.
"Why did you come here?"
"Can... Can I stay with you?"
"I won't be back at the Marquis Estate so soon."
"I can wait for you."
"Alright, then." Xiao Heng brought the young boy into the Imperial Academy.
"My mother is here!"
"I'll hide!"
"No need, I'll just explain things to my mother."
"No, your mother will never spare me! Your mother is a princess. If she finds out that I'm Marquis Xuanping's illegitimate son, I'm done for!"
The young boy was trembling with fear, and Xiao Heng had no other choice but to temporarily hide him in a corridor.
Xiao Heng joyfully opened the door for Princess Xinyang and asked, "Mother, are you here to pick me up?"
Princess Xinyang had indeed come to pick him up, but not to take him back home; rather, she was here to take him to hell.
……
Princess Xinyang tried to make her voice sound calm, but her fingers, tightly clutching her handkerchief, betrayed her emotions. Fortunately, Xiao Liulang was sitting across from her, and the desk blocked his view.
She said, "When you woke up, you found yourself lying in an inn, and by your side was Xiao Su. Xiao Su told you that he was worried about his younger brother, so he secretly followed him, only to see the Imperial Academy on fire. He rushed in to find his younger brother, but instead of his brother, he found you who was on the verge of death. He had no choice but to carry you out. Then, he told you that he saw a masked man save an unconscious woman."
Xiao Liulang was slightly taken aback, "How do you... know all this?"
Princess Xinyang smiled faintly, "Know what? Know this story or know about Xiao Su? As a princess of a country, it's not too difficult for me to investigate my son's daily whereabouts. Xiao Su was something I discovered through my investigation, and the story is one I fabricated. Xiao Su never set foot in the Imperial Academy."
It was true that Xiao Su was concerned about his younger brother, but the Imperial Academy wasn’t a place he could just enter at will.
Back then, Xiao Heng had also considered this discrepancy, but apart from this possibility, he couldn't think of any other explanation.
Xiao Liulang stared into Princess Xinyang's eyes without blinking, "So, who really saved me? Was it Long Yi?"
Princess Xinyang unconsciously grabbed her left arm.
When she carried Xiao Heng out of the burning building, a burning beam had almost fallen on Xiao Heng's head. She raised her arm to shield him, and her entire arm had been burned.
It still looked hideous to this day.
This time, it was Princess Xinyang who avoided his gaze. She lowered her eyes and said, "There was something you didn't know back then. That child was naturally timid, and he initially didn't have the courage to follow you. Xiao Su was worried that you might deceive them, so he made sure his brother stayed close to you. The two of them only have a temporary travel permit to the capital, and New Year's Eve was the deadline. If Marquis Xuanping didn't acknowledge this son, they would be expelled from the capital the next day."
The death of Xiao Su's young brother had nothing to do with you. Stop blaming yourself.
Xiao Liulang touched the area below his right eye and said in a dazed tone, "What about my teardrop mole?"
Princess Xinyang replied, "I burned it off with a heated iron rod."
"Why?" Xiao Liulang asked.
Because your mother has the exact same teardrop mole on her face, and I don 't want those people to find you.
As people grow older, their appearance might change somewhat, but that kind of teardrop mole would remain unmistakable.
Princess Xinyang didn't say these words. She lowered her gaze and unfolded the handkerchief in her hand, saying softly, "In any case..."
Xiao Liulang stared intensely at her, "You still haven't answered me. Who saved me from the fire? If it wasn't Xiao Su, then who could it have been?"
You already know who it was, so why do you insist on making me say it out loud?
Tears welled up in Xiao Liulang's eyes, "When I found out that Xiao Su had saved me, I actually felt relieved deep down. It was Xiao Su who took me away, not you rejecting me. Now, you're telling me that it was all your plan. You gave me to Xiao Su... You had him take me away from the capital... You got rid of me in this way..."
This was the mother he had relied on for fourteen years!
Even if she sent him to hell herself, he couldn't bring himself to hate her!
It was his own sins, and whatever fate he met was what he deserved.
However, it still hurt him...
Xiao Liulang raised his hand and wiped away the tears that were about to fall. He pretended as if he had never cried.
He let out a self-deprecating laugh and looked out of the window, saying, "True, I caused your son's death and took away everything that belonged to him. I was originally his substitute, but later you found out that the substitute had become a scourge. It's not surprising that you want to get rid of me, is it?"
Despite having accepted this fact long ago and constantly numbing himself to it over the past four years, why did it still feel like a knife to the heart when brought up again?
He raised his hand and wiped his tears away again, stubbornly gazing out of the window, not allowing her to see his reddened eyes.
How could Princess Xinyang not feel heartbroken too?
He was not a substitute. He never was.
From the very first day she held him in her arms, she knew with absolute certainty that he was not the child from her own womb.
But so what?
He cried all night, and only in her embrace would he quiet down.
He refused to drink from the wet nurse's breast milk, forcing her, an imperial princess, to feed him personally.
He was incredibly clingy, mischievous, and always got into trouble...
But he would also silently accompany her on countless days when she felt despondent.
Whenever she turned around, she could always see that face, shining with starlight.
The little guy, hands behind his back like a little adult, tilting his head with a smug look, would say, "I'm always here, no matter when you turn around, mother. Ah Heng is always here."
It wasn’t that she didn’t try to treat him as her dead son at first, but the little guy seemed to have his own unique qualities. He exuded a distinct aura, radiating light like a rising sun.
He was her Ah Heng. Her Ah Heng who wouldn't replace anyone and couldn't be replaced by anyone.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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