Mo Yufeng didn’t marry that young miss from the Li family in the end; however, another affair surfaced. He didn’t dare to explain clearly and only knelt before Mo Huawen, wailing and trying to justify himself. Mo Huawen was so angry that he threw a paperweight at Mo Yufeng and injured his head. Then, Mo Huawen asked people to lock Mo Yufeng up in the yard.

Then, after sending people to investigate, he stormed back to the inner yard and asked Xu Yan to arrange Mo Yufeng’s marriage as soon as possible because it would be better if someone could control him.

Because of a series of incidents in Mo Manor, Mo Huawen felt so ashamed that he didn’t go out often except for the necessary gatherings.

At the same time, things were boiling up in Qin Manor as well. Qin Yufeng had kept a low profile and been considered a talent, but this time, he was also involved in the scandal. Though in the end, the woman retreated and confessed, people weren’t sure if there was untold truth or not.

After all, no matter how audacious she was, a woman didn’t dare to accuse someone of things like this so casually, plus Qin Yufeng had always been resourceful. How would he let things go just like this? Had the woman really just picked up a random scapegoat? Or was she telling the truth, only Qin Yufeng had been so smart to cover it up?

People couldn’t figure it out at the time being but were all discussing!

Things like this were, of course, humiliating, so people in Qin Manor seldom came out as well.

Another one which all the people were talking about was King Xuan, Feng Yuran. They heard that the pretty and rakish eighth prince was now still in a coma, drifting between life and death. Emperor Zongwen himself had personally visited him several times, but his son just lay on the bed, unconsciously, without even any responses, which disturbed the emperor so much that he looked for divine doctors all over the country. They said that as long as they could cure King Xuan, the emperor would give them anything, be it a position or fortune.

Mo Xuetong could only purse her lips at such rumors!

Fifth Princess’s banquet took place as expected.

On that day, Mo Xuetong first brought presents to the Princess Royal’s manor, ready to visit the royal place with the princess. However, when she arrived there, she learned that the princess had been ill for some time.

Mo Xuetong hurried in and the maidservant ushered her to the door of Princess Royal’s bedroom, and then the servant went in to report.

Mo Xuetong waited before the door with Mo Ye. Soon, the servant came back and curtsied to her. “Princess Anping, Her Highness wants you alone.”

“Yes!” Mo Xuetong let Mo Ye guard outside and lifted her dress to get in.

Walking past a ten-fold screen with inlays and floral and bird pattern, Mo Xuetong heard low coughs coming from behind the screen. Did Her Highness really fall ill?

After walking past the screen, Mo Xuetong saw the princess lying on the bed. Just after a few days, the princess should really lose so much weight, looking pale and haggard. She leaned on the headboard and appeared listless. An old nanny about the age of Nanny Ming was standing at her bedside, holding a bowl of herb soup. She was trying to make Princess Royal drink it but the princess just kept shaking her head with a frown.

Seeing Mo Xuetong enter, the nanny quickly put down the bowl, fetched a stool with inlays to put it at the bedside for Mo Xuetong, and then stood aside with hands on her both sides.

Mo Xuetong curtsied and pick up the bowl to blow on it. Carrying it to Princess Royal, Mo Xuetong said apologetically, “What happened, Mother? Why didn’t you tell me you’re ill? It’s my fault. I’ve been taking care of things in my family and didn’t visit you.”

The princess coughed a bit and smilingly pushed away the soup in Mo Xuetong’s hand. Her gentle gaze landed on Mo Xuetong’s face, and then she mildly said, “It’s not your fault. I’ve been having this disease for years and always cough for a while when spring comes. It’s no big deal. I’ll heal after some time and might as well skip the soup.”

Standing aside, the old nanny urged. “Your Highness, you have to drink it. You’ve had it for years and you can’t bear to suffer from it anymore.”

“You’re always worried.” Princess Royal smiled feebly and coughed again. Then, she pointed at her nanny and said while twisting around to face Mo Xuetong, “Tong’er, she’s Nanny Qin, my wet nurse. If something happens to me, I can only entrust her to you. For the sake of me, you have to look after her and make sure she lives well in her remaining years.”

The princess’s words startled Mo Xuetong, who immediately put down the bowl and curtsied to Nanny Qin, “I didn’t know you’re Mother’s wet nurse. Please forgive me for my rudeness.”

She was the wet nurse Princess Royal treasured in the last life. In her last life, the princess went against her grandfather’s family for the nanny’s son, which showed how much the nanny mattered to Princess Royal.

“I don’t deserve this. You can’t curtsy to me like this.” Nanny Qin, who was standing aside, flustered. She trembled and was about to kneel down to respond to her curtsy. No matter how much Princess Royal treasured her, she was still just a servant. How could she compare to Mo Xuetong, the Princess Anping promoted by the royalty?

Mo Xuetong was quick to stop her from kneeling.

By their side, the princess coughed again and the mildly said to Nanny Qin, “You don’t have to be so polite. I’m here today all because of you. In the future, if I’m gone, Anping can take care of you for the sake of me. Consider it what I and Sister Luo Xia should do for you.”

Her words came out too seriously, and Nanny Qin was immediately reduced to tears. She walked to the bedside and held the princess’s hand with her trembling hands, saying in a choked voice, “Your Highness, how can you say something like this? I’m still healthy when I’m so old. You’re still young, and how you can say something like this? How will, will I…?”

Unable to finish her sentences, she started to weep, her face covered in her hands.

“Nanny Qin, don’t cry. Go ahead. I want Anping alone.” Though Princess Royal smiled gently, Mo Xuetong saw bright tears welling up in her eyes. Mo Xuetong had to wonder. “Her Highness said such inauspicious things today, but according to the last life, she will live a long life. Why did she say such things?”

“Yes, but you have to drink it first so I can clean the bowl.” Nanny Qin wiped her tears and picked up the bowl on the table again. She handed it to Princess Royal, insisting on the princess’s drinking it.

Seeing Nanny Qin so determined, Princess Royal sighed and said nothing. She took the bowl and drank up the soup.

Then, Mo Xuetong followed up to send honey water. The princess took a sip of it and wiped her lips with a handkerchief.

When Nanny Qin had cleaned the table and left, Princess Royal signaled Mo Xuetong to sit down.

Princess Royal watched Mo Xuetong, stroked her head, and sighed. “Nanny Qin and Nanny Ming know each other. If something bad happens to me in the future, take Nanny Qin with you to keep Nanny Ming company, and make sure she lives well in her remaining years. I would like to do that if I could. I’m just like your mother, even entrusting my wet nurse to you.”

Mo Xuetong grew even more doubtful hearing such words from the princess. “Her Highness again said something ominous, and even wants to entrust her wet nurse to me.

“Did something happen without my knowledge? Has this life changed so much because of my resurrection and even Princess Royal’s fate turns for the bad?”

Ever since she adopted Mo Xuetong, though not having seen this new daughter frequently, she often sent people to Mo Xuetong with stuff like cloth to make clothes or exquisite head ornaments, which were all premium products. Some of them were even more precious than those left by her mother. The princess really treated Mo Xuetong as her daughter.

Mo Xuetong could feel her affection. For example, now, though pale-looking, she carried tenderness in her eyes, only the tenderness was shrouded by a touch of sadness. The hand on Mo Xuetong’s head was also exceptionally heavy.

What happened…

Mo Xuetong fretted and looked up, grabbing Princess Royal’s hand. “Mother, did something happen and I don’t know about it? Tell me, and I can solve this with you.”

She tried hard to remember the things in her last life. Though Princess Royal had always been coughing, the illness was not fatal. If it was not caused by the disease, it must be because of other things. With her status, nothing would happen to her unless she enraged Emperor Zongwen. In the last life, she indeed infuriated the emperor and became locked in her manor, but that was far away from getting herself the death sentence.

“It’s OK, don’t worry about me. I just feel a little lonely thinking about the past and my old sisters. All of my elder and younger sisters had left, left me alone. I really feel a little lonely.” Princess Royal looked sad, stroked Mo Xuetong’s face, and tucked away a strand of Mo Xuetong’s black hair.

“Elder and younger sisters? The younger sister must be Mother, but who’s the elder one?” Mo Xuetong couldn’t figure it out. “She can’t be some elder princess in the royal family. There are only a few of them and they all lead healthy lives; no one has suffered from any diseases. What’s more, Princess Royal must be as close to the elder sister as she was to my mother.

“That being said, my mother has died long ago, but why does Princess Royal suddenly feel so sad now? Though there is joy in her eyes, those eyes lack vitality.” Mo Xuetong quietly felt the princess’s pulse, and as expected, she found stagnation. The qi seemed to have stagnated in the princess’s heart.

What struck Princess Royal so much that she looked so listless?

“Mother, what’s wrong? Don’t you still have me? I’ve already lost my birth mother, and finally, now I have you. Don’t you want to take care of me? After my birth mother fell ill and passed away, I’d been drifting in Cloud City. Now that you care so much for me that I even feel she’s still with me, so if you… how can you put me into this? How will I endure?”

Mo Xuetong grabbed Princess Royal’s hand and didn’t let go, tears streaming down her face.

Her tears were not just for persuading Princess Royal. Instead, she remembered every detail of her life before, her tragic death in her last life and the people who abandoned her in this life. In Qin manor, even servants and nannies could ignore her and she could just endure it. The feeling of completely depending on others could make her feel sad at any time.

If she hadn’t seen the reality earlier in this life, she would still live in Qin manor in Cloud City, following others’ rules.

Moreover, though she fretted about Princess Royal’s sudden promotion of her, after all, the princess showed her real love. The love carried the affection she had always wanted, and she did hope the princess could live healthily on ever after.

“Mother, don’t leave me!” Mo Xuetong cried out loud, looked at the princess with a sad face, and begged. This moment even made her remember her birth mother, who seemed to have said the same thing. At that time, Mo Xuetong was still young and didn’t know what the word “mother” meant. Now, in front of her new mother, her eyes misted all of a sudden and tears dropped down.

Seeing her so sad, Princess Royal reached out to hold Mo Xuetong’s head and said in tears, “Tong’er, Tong’er, it’s not that I want to leave you alone. It’s just something that makes me and your mother…”

Seeming to realized she nearly let the cat out of the bag, the princess immediately stopped talking.

Mo Xuetong suddenly got away from Princess Royal, jerked herself up, and knelt at the bedside, saying in a tearful tone, “Mother? What are you trying to say? Tell me about it, OK? I can help figure out a way. Two heads are better than one, and every cloud has a silver lining. My mother, she, she left a letter to Nanny Ming for me, and on the letter…”

Mo Xuetong’s heart raced. She was betting that the princess knew her birth mother’s identity. Princess Royal had a plum forest, loved red plums, and was close to Mo Xuetong’s birth mother; Nanny Ming and Nanny Qin knew each other well and Princess Royal had that close but strange sisterhood with Mo Xuetong’s mother… Everything led to the conclusion that the princess was in the know, but how would she felt if she really knew…