Chapter 166: Listen to My Explanation

Gu Jiu Ling's body tightened a little, instantly as if Xiao Yin had pressed an acupoint, and she dared not move.

From behind her ear came Xiao Yin's hot, breathy exhale, and after a long while his hoarse, weary voice drifted softly.

"Seven Killing Valley…"

He started, not knowing how to continue; sometimes forcibly reopening old wounds and letting pus and blood flow out is a very, very difficult thing.

He does not want to bring up that past matter in front of others, yet sometimes he cannot avoid it; some memories simply cannot be erased.

Xiao Yin inhaled deeply and said slowly, "Su Wanrou's father was a deputy general under my command, and he was a brother who shared life and death with me."

Gu Jiu Ling's heart skipped a beat; she had not intended to force Xiao Yin to speak these things, but Su Wanrou had overstepped today, so she moved her lips without speaking, letting Xiao Yin continue.

A layer of sad chill wrapped Xiao Yin's voice: "At that time I was framed and trapped in Seven Killing Valley, watching helplessly as my brothers died before me."

"It was Su Wanrou's father who used his own body to shield me from the scorching oil, forcibly carrying me out of Seven Killing Valley, but he remained there forever due to his severe injuries."

"Before he died, he told me to take good care of his daughter."

"He loved a singing courtesan in Longzhong Prefecture; his family despised her lowly background and opposed the match, so he had to keep Su Wanrou outside, and also had a daughter."

"Gu Jiu Ling, I truly don't know what to do. I never expected to raise her into such a selfish, awkward temperament; I have let General An down, and I am incompetent."

"I have already done my best, really… done my best…"

"I have never even been married; being born into royal kinship is a huge joke to me, I can't even figure it out myself, let alone raise her."

"I only heard people say that a young lady must be pampered, so in this Prince's residence I let her run wild; whatever she wanted I gave her, and that's how she turned out…"

Gu Jiu Ling smiled wryly to herself; Su Wanrou was not merely selfish and self‑serving, she was a poisonous woman.

But hearing that she was Xiao Yin's benefactor's daughter, she finally understood the layer of relationship between Xiao Yin and Su Wanrou, and the words that welled up in her mouth this time were exactly that she didn't know how to speak.

Being willing to risk his own life to save Xiao Yin, General An's character and integrity are unquestionably sound.

That Su family woman had just heard Xiao Yin nagging again; though of humble birth, she refused to climb the social ladder, raising the child herself, even rejecting the silver General An offered to bring, leaving only a single plum‑blossom hairpin.

She even sold the jewelry she had saved to aid refugees who fled to the border of Longzhong due to war, opening porridge stalls, establishing a charity hall; whenever locals mentioned the Su family, everyone gave a thumbs‑up.

Logically, the child born of that couple shouldn't differ much in temperament; how did Su Wanrou turn out to be such a disaster?

Gu Jiu Ling sighed, yet still voiced her lingering doubt politely: "Prince, I also bear fault; I shouldn't have saved the Prince's face."

"Back then, Prince… how did you find her?"

Upon hearing Gu Jiu Ling start speaking to him again, Xiao Yin's voice relaxed a bit, yet he still held Gu Jiu Ling tightly, fearing she might run away.

"I gathered a rumor that the Su family had died, and an old granny beside them brought Su Wanrou to Shang Jing to look for General An."

"According to a tavern keeper, a bit over half a month ago they saw an old woman and a child heading toward Peach Spring Village; the little girl seemed ill."

"I didn't dare delay to search that village, but midway I encountered a little girl covered in ash collapsed on the road, still clutching a plum‑blossom hairpin in her hand."

"General An told me that the token to recognize his daughter was a plum‑blossom hairpin, and that his daughter bore a plum‑blossom‑shaped birthmark on her neck, easy to identify."

"With this item, who could mistake her?"

"I saw that the girl's back of the neck indeed bore a bright red plum‑blossom birthmark; at that moment I could think of nothing else, so I placed her in a carriage, first took her to the town for urgent medical attention, then brought her to the capital to raise her."

Gu Jiu Ling suddenly felt something was off, a hint of suspicion, and asked, "Wasn't it said that she was brought to Shang Jing by the old granny to find relatives? What about that old granny?"

Xiao Yin sighed, "The village where Su Wanrou lived caught fire and flood that night; the old granny also burned to death in the village."

"I left silver and asked the villagers to give the old granny's charred bones a proper burial."

"Fire?" Gu Jiu Ling suddenly thought of something, feeling a clue had emerged, but the thought slipped away instantly; she tried to grasp it but recalled nothing.

She didn't know if it was her bias against Su Wanrou, but she felt the Prince's recognition of kin was somewhat hasty; yet they had both the token and the birthmark, so she guessed she was overthinking.

Even if she were in Xiao Yin's position, she would have to accept it.

But she had just clearly spotted a doubt, and she didn't know if it was the "pregnancy makes one dull for three years" effect; she suddenly couldn't remember it.

Xiao Yin released her, turned her body over, and gazed at her, saying, "In a few days, Su Wanrou will marry, which will also settle one of my lingering knots."

"You need not argue with her; in any case, she will soon leave the Prince's residence."

Gu Jiu Ling moved her lips, but the lingering doubt was hard to voice.

After all, there is no evidence now; speaking it feels somewhat hurtful.

In short, Xiao Yin was right: marry Su Wanrou off quickly, and she'll have peace and quiet.

In the following days, Peach Blossom Pavilion and Tan Chun Garden remained peaceful, seemingly calm on the surface but with hidden currents stirring.

The marriage alliance between Rui Wangfu and Zhao Lang has become a hot topic among Shang Jing elites; although Zhao Lang's background is modest, his military achievements are the highest among the younger generation, clearly a rising military star.

Xiao Yin, once the war god of Southern Qi, sees this alliance as a strong‑by‑strong union, naturally provoking severe discontent from Third Prince Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei's uncle is the Supreme Commander of the Xuan Lang Army, commanding hundreds of thousands of wolf soldiers in the eastern region, truly formidable.

Who would have known that lately, Zhao Lang, a staff officer of the Northern Town Military Office fighting the Western Rong, has won almost every battle; even Emperor Longqing praises him endlessly, his momentum comparable to Xiao Yin's in those days.

Rising so quickly at such a young age, he is the first of this generation of young generals to be granted a General's residence by the emperor, so his future is boundless.

Such a talented young general, if he marries into Rui Wangfu, would give Xiao Yin a huge boost, inevitably curbing the Duan family's influence in the military.

Consequently, Xiao Wei's side could no longer sit still.

He slammed the tea cup on the table to the floor; several aides immediately knelt, not daring to breathe.

Xiao Wei sneered coldly, "A useless person, forced to crawl back up; does he intend to climb onto the throne of this hall?"

Xiao Wei's brows and eyes were icy cold, tinged with a layer of frost.

Deputy Commander of the Brocade Guard Yu Hong bowed and said, "Your Highness, actually this matter is not without a solution."

Xiao Wei slowly turned to face him and said, "Speak!"

Yu Hong pursed his lips and said, "If the Zhao family and Rui Wangfu are to marry, just make this matter impossible… and that will suffice!"