Chapter 36: Huarong

Leaving the main hall, Li Yuanling brought Li Musheng to her room in the Aurora Pavilion.

"Let's speak plainly, Miss Li, who are you?"

Li Musheng sat casually on a stool in the room, regarding the handsome young man before him with composed ease.

Li Yuanling fell silent for a moment, sat opposite Li Musheng, poured him a cup of water from the teapot on the table, and propped her chin on her hand as she asked:

"How much do you know about the Seventh Imperial Prince?"

Li Musheng raised an eyebrow:

"Which aspect does Miss Li refer to?"

"For instance, do you know what kind of person the Seventh Prince's mother was? Or do you know he has an elder sister, the current Eldest Princess? Or perhaps, how much do you know about the Seventh Prince's maternal family?"

Hearing this, Li Musheng scrutinized the other with suspicion for a while and said:

"Could you be that Eldest Princess of Great Li?"

Li Yuanling rolled her eyes and said:

"She wouldn't come to see you. That Eldest Princess is currently busy rushing about to rescue the fake Imperial Prince from the Celestial Prison; she even knelt for several nights before the Tianqian Palace some time ago."

Li Musheng's gaze shifted as he asked:

"Then who are you?"

"Guess?" A trace of hope appeared in Li Yuanling's eyes.

Li Musheng stroked his chin, narrowed his eyes, and said:

"I guess... you must be that naturally beautiful and peerlessly talented Princess Huarong."

Hearing this, Li Yuanling was momentarily stunned, then nodded with a delighted expression:

"You guessed correctly!"

Saying this, she blinked her eyes and, somewhat surprisingly, said happily:

"And your words are quite pleasant to hear."

Li Musheng wore an expression as if he had expected exactly this.

Regarding the Seventh Imperial Prince, he had naturally heard about it from Cang Yin Yue on the way to Shangyang City.

The Seventh Prince's mother was Consort Jing, but she had passed away three years ago.

He also had a biological elder sister, the Eldest Princess of Great Li, but that Eldest Princess seemed not to care about finding her own younger brother, instead placing extraordinary value on that fake Imperial Prince.

She had not only begged Emperor Yuanwu multiple times to show mercy and release the other, but had also been devising ways to rescue him.

Besides this, the Seventh Prince also had an adopted younger sister, originally the only daughter of the King of Zhennan of Great Li.

But since King and Queen of Zhennan died in battle at "Tianqiu City" ten years ago, she had been taken in by Consort Jing as an adopted daughter and kept by her side; Emperor Yuanwu, mindful of the merits the King and Queen of Zhennan had rendered to Great Li, specially issued an edict to confer upon her the title of "Princess Huarong."

And Consort Jing cherished this adopted daughter immensely; the relationship between the two was no different from that of a true mother and daughter.

This was the reason Li Musheng guessed the other's identity; the name of that Princess Huarong was Li Yuanling, similar to the name of the young man before him. Furthermore, given the other's personality, she would indeed come to the Aurora Pavilion to meet her adopted elder brother whom she had never seen.

However, after scrutinizing the other for a while, Li Musheng still asked with some curiosity:

"You seem very certain that I am the true Seventh Imperial Prince?"

Li Yuanling nodded seriously and said:

"From the moment I saw you, I knew you were undoubtedly my adopted elder brother. You not only bear a slight resemblance to Your Majesty, but you share six-tenths of the resemblance with your godmother."

Saying this, she stuck out her tongue and laughed:

"What you said earlier about being handsome was all inherited from your godmother's beauty."

Hearing this, Li Musheng touched his own face and suddenly recalled that Cang Yin Yue had also firmly believed in his identity as the Seventh Imperial Prince before.

Besides her great confidence in her own professional abilities, it was probably also due to his face.

Thinking of this, Li Musheng actually believed a few more points about his being the Seventh Imperial Prince; after all, genetic factors were truly universal.

"Enough. Since you have seen me, go back where you belong and leave this place of trouble, the Aurora Pavilion, as soon as possible."

At this moment, Li Musheng waved his hand, stood up, and prepared to leave.

Now that he had confirmed Li Yuanling's identity and resolved the doubts in his heart, there was naturally no need for him to stay any longer.

To be honest, Li Musheng had very little thought regarding his identity as the Seventh Imperial Prince and the series of interpersonal relationships it brought.

What interested him most upon coming to the capital of Great Li was still transcending through martial arts.

"You have met me, your younger sister; are you not at all excited? Do you not wish to stay and talk with me?"

Li Yuanling suddenly stood up, extended her hand to block Li Musheng's path, and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Li Musheng glanced at the other, thought for a moment, then shrugged and said:

"Miss Li, all of this happened too suddenly; you must give me some time to adapt. Everything must be done gradually."

Saying this, he pushed the other's hand aside and walked straight out the door.

Li Yuanling turned around suspiciously, looking at Li Musheng's departing back, feeling that the other was somewhat perfunctory.

Saying it was too sudden and required time to adapt.

But just now, she had not seen even a shred of surprise or joy on Li Musheng's face.

"I will not leave; I will stay here to protect you for godmother."

Li Yuanling shouted at Li Musheng's departing back.

Hearing this, Li Musheng waved his hand without turning back, then walked up the corridor to the upper floor and returned to his room.

Closing the door, Li Musheng glanced at the young armored soldier under the bed, seeing his gaze flicker as if he had something to say.

He remained unmoved, shook his head, and said:

"I gave you a chance before, but you were useless. Now it is too late to speak; you will have a hard time when night comes."

Having said this, Li Musheng no longer paid attention to the other.

After all, even if the other was willing to speak, he was not certain whether what the other said was true or false; it was better to leave it to Cang Yin Yue to handle, to avoid wasting time.

Next, the Aurora Pavilion grew lively; not only did the Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei arrive, but a crowd from the Six Fan Gate came as well.

The Chief Eunuch of the Direct Hall of the Palace and the Commander of the Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei personally took command, assuming control over all affairs of the Aurora Pavilion.

The entire guard force of the Aurora Pavilion was completely replaced, and the security became several times tighter than before; truly, not even a fly could fly in.

The young people within the Aurora Pavilion underwent another, more thorough inspection; only after confirming that everyone was free of problems did the Aurora Pavilion finally settle into temporary calm.

Meanwhile, the Shengzhou Shengzhou Tianjinwei and the Six Fan Gate were making every effort to hunt down that escaping armored soldier.

This was not only because the enemy had killed and caused chaos, leaving Northern Shen Qiming Qi within the bodies of those ten young people in the Aurora Pavilion.

Furthermore, Yu Jin, along with the four senior eunuchs in charge including An Quan, as well as Ji Feiyun and Gong Lishan, had also been struck by that armored soldier's Northern Shen Qiming Qi.

Although experts like Yu Jin could suppress it with their own true qi, it was still a major hidden danger; they still needed to capture that armored soldier to solve the problem completely.

However, all of this had little to do with Li Musheng.

And as time passed, the sky finally grew dark.

(End of this chapter)