CHAPTER 244: CHAPTER 244: ORIGINS SHROUDED IN MYSTERY!

Long Yue rested her chin on one hand, pondering, while the fingers of her other small hand tapped on the desk.

"Empress Qiao... I used to think it was just bad luck, accidentally getting caught, but later I wondered, could she have known about my use of the medicinal powder all along? But how did she find out about the drugs in the prey’s blood? I had a mentor, what about her?"

"Did you forget there’s an Imperial Doctor Li by his side?"

Li Qingmu’s memory was clearly better than Long Yue’s. Last time, Qi Yun had a doctor examine him, which almost got him into trouble, and that person was an agent of Empress Qiao.

Long Yue patted her forehead. "That’s right, I actually forgot about him. So, that Imperial Doctor Li is also quite formidable!"

"Naturally, everyone can’t avoid birth, old age, sickness, and death, so it’s necessary to have a capable imperial doctor at one’s side," Shi Qin said.

"I deeply sympathize with the Old Princess Consort’s plight, but there’s one thing I can’t understand. There are many ways to resolve things, why take such a radical approach? How is this different from assassination?"

Taking action against the Emperor, that was a line Li Qingmu couldn’t cross.

"That wolf won’t hurt His Majesty the Emperor!" Shi Qin glanced at Li Qingmu, a bit perplexed as to why he was being so stubborn about this.

She could only explain, "I can control the pack of wolves, and if Cai Yuanzhi is too late to save someone, the wolves will brush past him and attack others."

Both Long Yue and Li Qingmu were surprised; was that really the case?

Shi Qin continued, "You may not know, but I’ve been close to animals since childhood, especially those like wolves and tigers, which led to me being seen as an outcast by the villagers and bullied.

It was the Old Princess Consort who rescued me from my suffering. I once swore that in this lifetime, I live and die for her! I will obey her orders unconditionally!

So, if Mr. Li is angry, let him be angry with Shi Qin! Please do not take it out on the Young Prince!"

As Shi Qin spoke, she stood and knelt down to plead guilty.

"Stand up, Miss Shi Qin, I cannot accept this bow!"

Li Qingmu said flatly. He still wasn’t being polite, but at least he relented.

After all, things had been said to this extent, pursuing it further would be pointless, especially as a man of honor, he couldn’t hold onto such a matter, a man must have grand ambitions and not fret over temporary gains or losses.

"Let this matter pass for now, but there’s one thing — in the future, there must be no more actions that put the Emperor in danger, otherwise, I will worry that one day, I will be discarded like a worn-out bow or used rabbit!"

Uh... This reason seemed quite valid, Shi Qin hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Rest assured, Mr. Li, neither the Prince nor the Princely Heir are heartless or ruthless people!"

"Throughout history, emperors have often been heartless. I only hope that in the future, I can retire peacefully to the mountains and forests."

Li Qingmu spoke with a quiet melancholy, Qi Jingyu blinked and lowered his head.

He could promise nothing to Li Qingmu, because the future was uncertain, and he did not know where he was headed.

"Miss Shi Qin, there’s something I wish to ask you!"

The silence in the side chamber lingered for a long time before Long Yue suddenly broke it.

"Please, Madam Li, go ahead."

"You mentioned Princess Consort Yun just now. Who is this person? Why did I not see her at the recent spring hunt?"

Li Qingmu was surprised and slowly looked over.

Long Yue glanced back at Li Qingmu; she knew this must be the thing he most wanted to know.

"Princess Consort Yun? She was the Emperor’s one true love. Twenty-one years ago, the Emperor went to Da Xiangguo Temple to offer prayers and encountered Princess Consort Yun, who was being harassed by some ruffians.

Princess Consort Yun was extraordinarily beautiful, a peerless beauty. Even though she was in a sorry state, she still radiated a remarkable charm, and the Emperor was entranced at first sight, bringing her back to the palace.

The key was Princess Consort Yun’s calm nature; she did not compete or fight, and she was kind and gentle. Although the concubines often troubled her, they were all impressed by her magnanimity and modesty.

But later, when Princess Consort Yun was about to give birth, she encountered the Rebellion of the Seven Princes. The rebel forces broke into the Imperial Palace, and both Princess Consort Yun and the Seventeenth Prince went missing!"

"Princess Consort Yun was about to give birth, shouldn’t the Emperor have been by her side? Why did she go missing?"

"At that time, the Emperor was not in the Imperial Palace!"

"Faced with a life-and-death crisis of his beloved, why wasn’t he by her side? Where was he?"

"Ahem, my dear!"

Li Qingmu’s emotions were slightly out of control, and Long Yue quickly reminded him.

Shi Qin also gave Li Qingmu a strange look and said, "By then, the Rebellion of the Seven Princes had already occurred, the situation was extremely critical, and even the Emperor was unsure if the palace could hold.

To protect the mother and child and divert the enemy’s attention, they went to Nanyuan Palace, but who could have anticipated the rebel forces would attack the palace?"

"Princess Consort Yun was about to give birth and the Emperor had already left. Didn’t that mean he’d never seen what his own son looked like?"

"Yes, that’s why all these years he’s had people searching for Princess Consort Yun and her son, but there has never been a major discovery, the only known fact is that they might be in Daliang."

"Daliang?"

Li Qingmu was puzzled, could there be a mistake with this?

"Yes, people from Yulong Pavilion found that on the borders between Zhou and Liang, there was a woman who looked remarkably like Princess Consort Yun, so over the years, His Majesty has used most of Yulong Pavilion’s spies to search for Princess Consort Yun and her son."

"Miss Shi Qin, if Princess Consort Yun really went to Daliang, there should be some clues by now, shouldn’t there?"

Long Yue also thought this matter was too strange and odd, and as she asked, she couldn’t help but glance at Li Qingmu.

Could it be, they guessed wrong?

For a moment, Li Qingmu’s origins became a mystery!

"The spies of Yulong Pavilion have searched more than half of the Liang Country, yet still have not found any trace of the mother and son. Some speculate that they might have been brought into the Daliang Palace. Therefore, they looked for opportunities to infiltrate the Imperial Palace of Liang for investigation, but Liang is no small country, its national power might even surpass our Dazhou, resulting in heavy casualties among the spies!"

After Shi Qin spoke for a while, she looked up to find both Long Yue and Li Qingmu were dazed, she couldn’t help feeling astonished, "Mr. Li, Madam Li?"

"Ah?"

"Have you two... thought of something?"

"I was thinking..." Long Yue pondered for a moment, then said, "In those days in the palace, besides Princess Consort Yun, was there any other concubine who gave birth to a child?"

This question seemed nonsensical, but Shi Qin still replied, "No! After Princess Consort Yun, the Emperor rarely interacted with the other concubines!"

Did this lecherous emperor turn into a devoted lover?

"Yulong Pavilion has searched for nineteen years without finding Princess Consort Yun and her son, could there be a possibility that they separated and fled in different directions?"

Li Qingmu, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

Shi Qin was stunned, "This... That’s really hard to say. The witnesses claimed that the woman was holding something in her arms; whether it was a child or something else remains unknown, as they could not see clearly from a distance!"

"How did you get this information? I remember that you had left Shengjing City by then."

"Naturally, from Yulong Pavilion!"

"You have people in Yulong Pavilion?"

"Not exactly our people, but that spy is a high-ranking member of Yulong Pavilion. The Old Princess Consort was kind to him in the past, so asking him to find out some irrelevant information isn’t difficult." After pausing, Shi Qin suddenly asked, "Why is Mr. Li interested in these matters?"