Spring Drunk Chang'an

"Sister, do you think we can really rely on him in the future?"

"Is he trustworthy?"

Liu Sanxi turned around and pinched his second brother's ear, looking at his 'sneaky' face, and asked with a helpless sigh.

Liu Changan: ...

He glanced at his reliable sister and then at his smirking brother.

"probably."

"Just give it a try, what if it turns out to be reliable?"

"Everyone is a scholar!"

Liu Changan chuckled.

Liu Sanxi nodded without any hope.

Liu Wanger: ...

He lived with a silly smile as he went to the provincial school and then returned home, then went to Cheng'en Mansion, then left Cheng'en Mansion to visit his former teacher, and studied hard, working day and night.

It's very hard.

In just over ten days, I lost five or six kilograms.

The whole person has become thinner.

Whenever Song summoned him, she was shocked by his excessive weight loss and gave him a lot of tonic medicine.

and……

Perhaps it was because of the sight of the young man, or perhaps it was because the Ningguo Mansion was also preoccupied with preparing for the imperial examination because of Liu Wenbai's impending departure, that Song Shi often missed Liu Yu.

"The Autumn Examination is about to begin. That kid, he wants to succeed so badly? He wants to prove himself so badly? He's struggling to survive, but he doesn't know how Qu Qiutong will treat him."

"That woman was so malicious towards him. I, I, I..."

Song was very worried. She wanted to visit Liu Yu, but was afraid that it would interfere with the prince's plan and arouse the suspicion of the Liu family, so she forced herself to endure it.

It is inevitable to be depressed.

Liu Changan noticed it, thought about it again and again, and suggested: "Madam, if you really want to see Young Master Yu, it is also possible."

"Really?" Song exclaimed in surprise.

Liu Changan smiled and said, "I can make an appointment with Xiaoyue, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Qi's mansion. She and I are both friends with Young Master Yu. We have met up several times. Liu Wenbai knows about this."

"He wanted to kill me because of this, but now he hasn't attacked me. I think he thinks that my meeting with Young Master Yu was an accident. I don't know their identities."

"He's already let his guard down. It's normal for Xiaoyue and I to go look for Young Master Yu. In fact, the more we look for him, the more 'normal' Liu Wenbai will find it."

"But, Madam, I'll have to trouble you to disguise yourself and never reveal your whereabouts."

"That's what I should do!" Song said excitedly. She was willing to do anything to see her son, even if it was just a secret peek.

The two men took action.

Liu Changan asked someone to go to the Duke of Qi's Mansion and make an appointment with Shi Xiaoyue.

Song went to Old Lady Lai's courtyard and told her mother-in-law, "My daughter-in-law wants to go back to her parents' home."

"Why go back again? It's never going to end." Old Mrs. Lai muttered softly, feeling dissatisfied in her heart. She did not stop them on the surface, but asked Song to take some gifts to the wife of Duke Cheng'en.

Song seemed not to hear her complaint and retreated with a smile.

The two of them brought a large group of people to the Cheng'en Mansion and chatted with the old lady for a while...

I don't know why? Liu Changan always felt that the wife of Duke Cheng'en looked at her with extremely kind and complicated eyes.

"Is it an illusion?"

Song Zhinian's smile to her seemed to be much brighter?

She observed secretly out of suspicion, but she saw nothing. Instead, Song was transformed from a graceful and gentle noble lady into a landlord's wife with ordinary appearance and mellow temperament by the makeup artist hired by the wife of Duke Cheng'en in just a quarter of an hour.

Liu Changan doesn’t know how the makeup artist did it?

Song's figure and height have changed. She has grown three times bigger. Her appearance has changed so much that Liu Xiu, her bedmate, might not be able to recognize her.

"Okay, be careful, go ahead."

Lady Cheng'en waved her hand.

Song was so excited that she ran out impatiently.

Seeing this, Liu Chang'an hurriedly bowed to the wife of Duke Cheng'en and turned to follow.

The two of them sat in a sedan chair and left quietly from the back door of the mansion. The servants of Ningguo Mansion who came with Song were harassed by people sent by the wife of Cheng'en. They ate meat and drank wine, and were already drunk and sleeping soundly in the side room.

He had no idea that his wife had left quietly.

After watching the two leave the yard, Song Zhinian bit her lip. She held the sachet Liu Changan had given her, supposedly as a token of gratitude for her care, with a complicated expression on her face. "Grandmother? How's your investigation going on with that matter?"

"Is there any result? Liu Changan, she..."

Is this really my father's 'hidden gem'?

"I'm still investigating!" Lady Cheng'en lowered her eyes, her old hands tightly gripping her cane, her tone filled with both sorrow and pity. "But, she is definitely related to our family."

These days, she has mobilized all her connections to find out the truth of what happened back then.

Liu Chang'an was picked up by Liu Ai and Liu Laishun. Her umbilical cord was still attached when she was picked up, and she was no more than three days old. Moreover, although the swaddling clothes she was wrapped in were worn out, they were made of cloud brocade satin. This kind of satin cost forty taels per piece and was widely available in the aristocratic circle, but ordinary small businessmen were reluctant to use it.

Liu Changan is not an ordinary farmer's child.

Parents from that background would not use brocade for their children.

She must be from a wealthy family.

The wife of Duke Cheng'en also investigated the inner chambers of the wealthy and famous families in the capital seventeen years ago. She sent people to find a famous midwife and investigated everywhere...

"None of them look alike, but rather..."

The midwife who delivered Liu Xiu's concubine Lai disappeared. All nine members of her family died in the fire, leaving only a little granddaughter who stayed by Lai's side to serve her.

But only seven bodies were dug out from the fire scene.

The midwife herself disappeared.

Moreover, the wife of Duke Cheng'en sent people to dig up the grave of the stillborn baby that Aunt Lai gave birth to, and she went to see it in person, but there was no corpse inside.

"Zhinian, find a reason to call your cousin Qingru over in a few days. I want to meet her."

Qingru was reluctant to come to the Cheng'en Mansion because she thought they were serious and boring. The last time Lady Cheng'en saw her was more than half a year ago.

Teenage girls are still growing and their appearance will change in just a few months.

"I don't know if she is as clear as her..."

Is there anything more like Lai Shi!

Lady Cheng'en said in a deep voice.

Song Zhinian didn't understand, but nodded obediently, "Grandma, I understand. I will find a way to let Qing Rulai come."

-

Song and Liu Changan had no idea what the wife of Duke Cheng'en and the grandparents, Song Zhinian and Song Zhinian, had talked about. They went their separate ways after leaving the back door of Duke Cheng'en's mansion.

Liu Changan hired a carriage and rushed to the place where he had an appointment with Shi Xiaoyue.

Song followed quietly in a sedan chair.

The two men arrived at the city gate one after the other. Liu Chang'an looked around and saw Xiong Zhen's tall figure standing on the battlement of the city gate.

He was over eight feet tall, looking just like a door god, with a stern look on his face, scaring people around him so much that they dared not approach him.

Even the soldiers who collected the city fees stayed away from him.

"Sister Chang'an, here, here!!" Shi Xiaoyue, who was sitting next to Xiong Zhen with her legs crossed, saw Liu Chang'an at a glance and called her with a smile on her face.