Chapter 170

Chapter 170: Not a Palace Maid

Sheng Zhi Wan waited in the reception room for the time it took to drink a cup of tea. An old man in a gray robe, hair half white, walked in slowly.

Sheng Zhi Wan had An Zhi and the others stand guard outside. The door was not closed, but once they walked a little farther away, the old man’s solemn, refined expression changed.

“Princess, have you produced any new chess manuals lately? I’ve had an endgame puzzle I couldn’t solve for ages. Princess, hurry and take a look!” Great Scholar Du spoke as he pulled a sheet of paper from the book in his arms, impatiently.

Liu Shang stumbled. Had she heard wrong? Great Scholar Du was asking the Princess for advice in chess?

But Liu Shang did not dare eavesdrop on her Master. She walked a bit farther away.

Sheng Zhi Wan already knew Great Scholar Du’s temperament. Back then, she had used an endgame puzzle to make him accept Qi Shu Lang as a student.

But she had come today for another matter, so she pushed the chess sheet aside.

“Master Du, do you know about Qi Shu Lang being expelled from the academy?” Sheng Zhi Wan asked.

Great Scholar Du knew she had come for this. Great Scholar Du sighed. “I was going to send someone to inform the Princess after today’s lessons ended. That child’s temperament was a bit crooked, but he seemed fine on the surface. Who would have thought he could do something like bullying the poor?”

Great Scholar Du told her what had happened that morning.

Azure Cloud Academy had students from every background, but classes were not divided by status. They were divided by a student’s progress in study and exam preparation.

Qi Shu Lang came from the Duke’s Manor and also received extra teaching from Great Scholar Du, so at such a young age he had been placed in Class Bing, the class that aimed for the licentiate level.

In the same class was a poor scholar named Tang Si Yu, the same age as Qi Shu Lang. In the past, Tang Si Yu always ranked behind him in exams. But the last month-end exam results came out, and Tang Si Yu firmly beat Qi Shu Lang.

Qi Shu Lang was displeased. Then he learned Tang Si Yu only had a Grandmother who delivered vegetables to the academy kitchen. So this morning he deliberately waited on the path where she delivered the vegetables, intending to cause trouble.

Who knew that trouble would turn into disaster?

Tang Si Yu’s Grandmother, frightened, fell down the stone steps. She was still unconscious.

“The Physician said she injured her body when she was young. Even without this fall, she wouldn’t have lasted much longer,” Great Scholar Du said. “But no matter what, Qi Shu Lang is narrow-minded to this extent at such a young age. The academy can’t keep him.”

Sheng Zhi Wan frowned after hearing it.

At that moment, a scholar hurried over but was stopped by Liu Shang. They exchanged a few words, then Liu Shang hurried back.

“Princess, Great Scholar Du! There’s a scholar outside asking Great Scholar Du to go over. He said Auntie Tao is about to die.”

Liu Shang had no idea who Auntie Tao was. She only repeated what the scholar said. But Great Scholar Du stood up at once.

Sheng Zhi Wan guessed Auntie Tao was Tang Si Yu’s Grandmother. Sheng Zhi Wan said, “Qi Shu Lang entered the academy because of my involvement. I’ll go take a look too.”

If possible, she might be able to help.

They went to the dormitory behind the academy. Before they even entered, a boy’s suppressed sobbing could already be heard. The Physician came out shaking his head.

Sheng Zhi Wan followed behind Great Scholar Du.

A thin, small boy was sprawled over the bed, gripping an old woman’s hand tightly. That hand was rough and ugly, yet the boy pressed it against his cheek.

“Grandmother! Grandmother, don’t sleep. You said you wanted to see Si Yu earn a title and become a high official…”

“Grandmother… I’m sorry…” The old woman’s cloudy eyes looked at him. She seemed to want to say something, but her lips trembled and she swallowed it back down.

Her gaze searched until it found Great Scholar Du. Then, in the next instant, her eyes locked onto Sheng Zhi Wan’s face.

The old woman reached out without thinking.

Sheng Zhi Wan frowned and stepped forward.

“Princess…” Ting Lan whispered, unable to help it. Such a dying person was unlucky. It was one thing for the Princess to come look, but how could she get close?

“All of you, get out,” Sheng Zhi Wan said, ignoring Ting Lan.

Sheng Zhi Wan felt that this old woman had something to say to her.

An Zhi pulled Ting Lan out. Great Scholar Du had not even recovered before Liu Shang also “invited” him out.

As Sheng Zhi Wan drew nearer, the old woman’s eyes grew brighter, like a candle wick burning its last thread of oil.

“Si Yu… you-you go out too!” the old woman said.

The boy did not want to, but he also did not want to disobey his Grandmother. He left with repeated backward glances.

After he left, the old woman struggled to lift her head, as if she wanted to see Sheng Zhi Wan more clearly.

Sheng Zhi Wan frowned.

The old woman’s throat rasped twice. Then she grinned. “Like… too much alike… Miss!”

“Like who?” Sheng Zhi Wan stepped closer.

The old woman suddenly grabbed Sheng Zhi Wan’s hand. Sheng Zhi Wan almost immediately felt a sharp pain in her skin. Before she could pull away, the old woman yanked open Sheng Zhi Wan’s right sleeve.

Sheng Zhi Wan’s heart slammed hard.

On the inside of her pale arm, a faint red crescent-shaped birthmark appeared in front of them.

The old woman stared at it, eyes fixed.

Sheng Zhi Wan’s throat went dry. So the old woman really did know her. Even if she did not know her, she knew something. Otherwise she would not have tried to pull up her sleeve the moment she saw her.

“Who are you?” Sheng Zhi Wan pulled her hand back. “How did you know I have a birthmark on my wrist?”

The old woman lost her support and collapsed back onto the bed. Sheng Zhi Wan did not reach out to help.

The old woman huffed out a laugh, then cried. She lifted her head again.

“As expected! You are Miss’s child… Then what about Miss? Is Miss still alive?”

She stared at Sheng Zhi Wan with desperate hope.

Sheng Zhi Wan did not consider herself soft-hearted, yet that gaze still made her chest tremble. She pressed her lips together. “My Birth Mother died when I was born.”

“Birth Mother…?!” The old woman chewed on the words and widened her eyes.

Sheng Zhi Wan said, “I am Princess Qing Ning. My Birth Mother was only an ordinary Palace Maid. Who are you?”

“No! Impossible!” the old woman muttered. “Miss wasn’t a Palace Maid. How could Miss be a Palace Maid…”

“Who is this Miss you keep talking about?” Sheng Zhi Wan demanded.

Only then did the old woman look at her in a daze. “My Miss… was the Daughter of the Lin Zhou Tang Family, Tang Ming Yu…”

Something seemed to strike her. Her whole body shook. “That day… the Tang Family, black-clothed men came. They entered and started killing… seventy-two lives. Miss hid me inside a water vat. Other than me, everyone-everyone was beheaded…”

“They didn’t even spare the Young Madam’s newborn child!” The old woman trembled.

Sheng Zhi Wan supported her. “Then what about your Miss? Did she die too?”

“No!” The old woman grabbed her in return. “Miss disappeared… Miss didn’t die! Miss even gave birth to Little Miss! You are Little Miss!”

“I am Princess Qing Ning,” Sheng Zhi Wan said.

“No! You are Little Miss. Your birthmark-only people of the Tang Family have it…”

Then the old woman remembered something. “Right! Back then, Miss left something with me!”

Her shaking hand reached into her clothes. After a moment, she pulled out a worn embroidered pouch.