Rebirth of a Lost Nation: Princess, Please Respect Yourself

Jiang Lige was stunned. Seeing Xiao Xingrong's secretive look, he used the excuse of "getting some fresh air" to avoid the crowd and fell far behind Xiao Xingrong in the team.

By avoiding the crowd, Xiao Xingrong had nothing to hide.

"Old Liu saved your life, so there's nothing wrong with you taking care of his descendants. But you should always be cautious. I sent someone to Shu to investigate, and they found that this person is not Liu's grandson."

Jiang Lige was shocked. "If he's not the Liu family's grandson, then who is he?"

Xiao Xingrong shook his head. "Liu Dali does exist, but they used a portrait to identify him, and he's completely different from the one in front of us! As for his exact origins, I haven't found out either."

"He hasn't been back to Shu for many years. It's possible that he has changed."

"Liu Dali was born with a birthmark under his earlobe. I carefully observed our Dali and found he has none!"

Jiang Lige's heart sank upon hearing this. "He's been in the manor for so many years. To say he came here to plot against us is too... ridiculous!"

Xiao Xingrong was resolute. "He has a different identity. Whether he's here to plot against us or not, we have to be on guard."

"I see."

Jiang Lige could only nod dejectedly, then cheered up and thanked Xiao Xingrong.

"Thank you for your trouble this time."

"Why are you being so polite! You..."

Seeing Jiang Lige, who had lost a lot of weight in such a short time, Xiao Xingrong felt very uncomfortable. Words of concern were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back the moment he saw Ning Yunxiao, and instead spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"He's really ill."

Jiang Lige was confused by the scolding and glared at Xiao Xingrong unhappily.

Forget it, considering that Xiao Xingrong investigated the matter of Liu Dali for her, she would not bother with Xiao Xingrong!

Turning around, she saw Ning Yunxiao nodding at her on his tall horse.

"A letter came from the capital, asking me to return quickly."

Empress Dowager Jiang was alone in the capital, and Jiang Lige was a little worried, so he said hello to Xiao Xingrong and followed Ning Yunxiao back to the carriage.

In the carriage, Jiang Lige pondered over Xiao Xingrong's words.

Outside the carriage, Dali still hangs around Jiang Lige's carriage every day. Songyue is a carefree person, and seeing Dali like this, she couldn't help but tease him.

Fengquan felt sorry for Dali's loneliness and sensitive nature, so he started to criticize Songyue for his inappropriate words.

Songyue was given a headache by Fengquan's Tang Monk's nagging, so he raised his hands in surrender. Seeing this, Dali said nothing and covered his mouth with his hands and laughed secretly.

In this way, the group returned to the capital city after being away for more than a month in a noisy manner.

Before entering the palace, outside the Rongde Gate, Matron Kong beside Empress Dowager Jiang had been waiting eagerly.

Seeing this, Jiang Lige raised the corners of his lips slightly. He was the first to pull the curtain aside and was about to say hello when he saw Madam Kong running over in a hurry. Her words made Jiang Lige stop laughing.

"Princess Chang, Princess Zhaohua, you're finally back! The Queen Mother's health... I'm afraid it's not good!"

Rong Hui and Jiang Lige were shocked, "What's going on?"

"A few days ago, the Empress Dowager caught a cold. It wasn't serious at first, but then it got worse. For the past two days..." Madam Kong looked haggard, and she choked up a few times. "She can't even recognize people."

After hearing this, Jiang Lige no longer cared about anything else. He hurriedly handed Dali to Ning Yunxiao and went to Funing Palace with Rong Hui.

Riding horses was not allowed in the palace, so Rong Hui and Jiang Lige ran all the way straight into Funing Palace.

The main hall was completely blocked off, and the strong smell of medicine filled the air. Outside the hall, the concubines who were attending to the patient were kneeling in the yard with sad looks on their faces.

The already lifeless room was made even more dead by the crying of the girls outside.

Empress Dowager Jiang's condition was indeed very bad. Her face was blue and purple, and she had many more white hairs on her temples.

The two men knelt in front of Empress Dowager Jiang's bed and called her softly. She might have heard them and raised her fingers slightly, but she didn't even have the strength to open her eyes.

Rong Hui was so sad that she couldn't help crying.

"Why didn't anyone inform us when Mother was in such a state? She was ill, and I wasn't there to serve her. It's like you're tearing my heart out with a knife!"

Nanny Kong wiped her tears secretly and explained in a low voice.

"The Empress Dowager forbade it. She said she was worried you might get into danger if you were too anxious on the road, so she only allowed the message 'return quickly'. The Empress Dowager has been like this for two days now."

Jiang Lige was also upset, but he was more rational than Rong Hui. He knew that now was not the time to dwell on these things, so he asked:

"How long has my great-aunt been like this?"

"It started to get worse at night three days ago. He seemed to be feeling better during the day, but he had a high fever at night. At one point, he almost..." At this point, Madam Kong sighed with tears in her eyes.

"Which imperial physician examined this case?"

"It was examined by the Imperial Hospital Director, Imperial Physician Huang."

Jiang Lige nodded and reached out to gather the quilt for Empress Dowager Jiang, but found that Empress Dowager Jiang was sweating under the quilt, which made him feel even worse.

As the director of the Imperial Hospital, Doctor Huang's medical skills were highly praised. If even he couldn't cure Empress Dowager Jiang's illness, then...

Jiang Lige was just thinking about it when she saw Song Yue sneaking into the main hall, coming up to her and handing her a letter.

"Princess, it was delivered by Lady Fu herself just now."

Fu Longzhou?

Jiang Lige was stunned for a moment, then avoided the crowd and read the contents of the letter.

Fu Longzhou said in the letter that the day before Empress Dowager Jiang caught a cold, she had seen a man and a woman having a secret meeting in the imperial garden, and the couple ran away when they heard the noise.

At her age, Empress Dowager Jiang loved to see young people in pairs, so she turned a blind eye to it and did not allow anyone to pursue it.

At that time, Fu Longzhou happened to be present, and Empress Dowager Jiang gave Fu Longzhou some advice.

The general idea is that love between men and women is inevitable, but if a different master saw it, it would probably be a different story.

After receiving the reminder, Fu Longzhou wanted to go and remind the couple, but he lost them near Lingyun Pavilion.

The woman must have been running in a hurry and lost an earring. Fu Longzhou just thought she was scared and didn't take it seriously.

Until three days ago, Fu Longzhou saw the figure of the palace maid again beside Doctor Huang. Although it was just a figure, Fu Longzhou was very sure.

In the envelope, there were also the earrings that the palace maid had left behind that day.

Jiang Lige played with the earring and immediately became suspicious about Empress Dowager Jiang's illness.

These earrings are made of high-quality material and are definitely not something an ordinary palace maid can afford to wear!

Moreover, his front foot was broken, and his next foot appeared next to the imperial physician who was treating Empress Dowager Jiang. This matter was inherently weird!

How could such a coincidence happen in this world!

Imperial Physician Huang, Palace Maids...

Jiang Lige repeated these five words silently several times. Suddenly, his expression became stern. He rushed forward and touched the sweaty palm of Empress Dowager Jiang, then smashed the medicine bowl to the ground and got angry.