Chapter 102: Singing a song in public at the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet?!

Since sending Guo Shi and Zhu Geer out of the Imperial Palace, Lin Jiaojiao had been busy treating palace maids and eunuchs in her spare time, besides pondering the clues he left behind. Her days were actually very fulfilling.

Especially every time she thought of Song Fu adopting her as his daughter and General Lu proposing to marry her as his wife, her mood was excellent!

Even when eating, Lin Jiaojiao ate several more pieces of meat, and for several days in a row, she called Qingdai to get more trotters from the Imperial Kitchen to Qingju Pavilion to feast on.

In her spare time, she even hummed little tunes, and Qingdai learned to hum a few lines along with her.

"Lin Guniang, what song are you singing these past few days? Why is it so pleasant to hear?"

"It's, it's the Ode to Joy." Lin Jiaojiao had just stuffed a piece of stewed pork trotter that was cooked until it was falling apart into her mouth, her cheeks bulging, her mouth full of oil.

"Ode to Joy?" Qingdai had a sudden realization, "I heard that fishermen by the sea believe in the Goddess Snail Girl. Could this song be praising the Snail Girl!"

What kind of Ode to Joy! Qingdai's comprehension ability!

"Pfft!" Lin Jiaojiao spat out, almost spraying the meat scraps in her mouth onto Qingdai's face!

Suddenly, a round of applause came from outside the door, "What a good Ode to Joy!"

"It's the Emperor!" Lin Jiaojiao and Qingdai exchanged a look. She hurriedly put down the meat in her hand and scrambled to take out a silk handkerchief to wipe the oil off her hands, but before she could wipe it clean, the sound of footsteps had already reached the door!

Why did the Emperor come here at this time?

Lin Jiaojiao and Qingdai hurriedly knelt and kowtowed toward the door, "This commoner pays respects to the Emperor! Long live the Emperor, long live, long live! This commoner did not know the Emperor was coming and failed to welcome you. I hope the Emperor will forgive me!"

In her hurried kneeling, she accidentally dropped the silk handkerchief, which happened to drift onto those bright yellow dragon boots embroidered with auspicious clouds.

"It's fine. I just came out for a walk after lunch to help with digestion. Passing by here, I thought you were taking a nap and was afraid of disturbing your rest, so I didn't have anyone announce me." Qin Yuan said, bending down to pick up the silk handkerchief that had fallen to the ground.

But he didn't return it to Lin Jiaojiao immediately. Instead, holding the handkerchief, he remembered the scene when he first met Lin Jiaojiao:

At that time, at the Lu General Mansion, she had bumped into him by mistake at night and even had a nosebleed. She couldn't find a handkerchief, so she finally used his to wipe the nosebleed—

He subconsciously put the handkerchief to his nose and sniffed, discovering that another scent had covered the original herbal fragrance of the handkerchief, "Did you eat soy-braised pork trotter?"

"Yes." Lin Jiaojiao was a bit flustered. She tried hard to swallow the last bite of meat in her mouth and wiped her mouth messily with her hands.

When Qin Yuan told her to rise, he saw at a glance that her fair face was smeared with quite a bit of sauce, yellow here and white there, like a little cat that had stolen food, which was quite cute.

He stepped forward, wanting to wipe the sauce from the corner of her mouth, but Lin Jiaojiao dodged nimbly, retreating two steps away, and lowered her head, "Your Majesty, you are a body of ten thousand gold; you must not wipe this commoner's face! This commoner has lost decorum, and I hope the Emperor will not blame me!"

After speaking, she gave Qingdai a look, and Qingdai immediately understood, handing over the silk handkerchief she used daily.

Lin Jiaojiao took the handkerchief and immediately turned around to wipe her face, taking the opportunity to tug at Qingdai's collar, asking her to help see if there was anywhere else she hadn't wiped clean.

When it was completely wiped clean, Lin Jiaojiao turned around, only to find that her figure was already reflected in Qin Yuan's smiling black eyes.

"Just now I heard Qingdai say that the song you were singing was very pleasant, named Ode to Joy," Qin Yuan sat on the stool, opened his folding fan, and looked at the wave pattern drawn on it, "I have read the story of the Snail Girl in local chronicles before. Is Lin Guniang also praising the Snail Girl?"

"Huh?" Lin Jiaojiao was stunned by the question: if Qingdai's comprehension ability was ten, then this Emperor's comprehension ability was at least one hundred!

Qin Yuan waved his fan and asked, "Can Lin Guniang sing the Ode to Joy for me again?"

Lin Jiaojiao's toes were curling in her shoes from embarrassment!

Where would she know how to sing? It was just that the song "Ode to Joy" was often played in the modern world and had even been in music textbooks, so she could hum a few lines.

But the Emperor of the Dakang Dynasty in front of her not only misunderstood the song title but even asked her to sing it for him on the spot!

"I don't know how to sing—" Just as Lin Jiaojiao was racking her brains to refuse the request of the current Emperor, Qin Yuan suddenly made a "shush" gesture, "You don't need to sing now."

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching. Besides the autumn hunt during the day, there will be a palace banquet at night—" A beam of expectation suddenly appeared in Qin Yuan's eyes, "At that time, if you sing the Ode to Joy at the palace banquet, you will surely amaze all the officials!"

What kind of request was this! Asking her, a female physician, to sing in public at the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet?

She didn't know how to perform on stage!

"Your Majesty, I..." Lin Jiaojiao was about to refuse, but who knew Qin Yuan would tap the table with his fan and say firmly, "This arrangement is very good. It is settled!"

In an instant, Lin Jiaojiao felt like a deflated ball. She cast a look of help toward Qingdai, but saw Qingdai shaking her head slightly.

Even if Qingdai saw that Lin Jiaojiao was unwilling, no one in this world could disobey the Emperor's decree!

"Yes, Your Majesty." Lin Jiaojiao could only respond dryly in the end.

Qin Yuan smiled and nodded with satisfaction, "I will have the Imperial Household Department handle this matter."

"By the way, I received a letter from Minister Song the day before yesterday—"

Lin Jiaojiao raised her eyes, a hint of expectation in her pupils, "Is there any new progress in the case?"

Qin Yuan nodded in tacit agreement and took out a letter to hand to Lin Jiaojiao. She took the letter and read it impatiently.

"The letter mentioned the matter of recognizing me as an adopted sister, and that he had already obtained relevant evidence from the Qingzhou Prefect... and... my original name is Lin Zhiyue!"

Lin Jiaojiao's memory was suddenly pulled back to the dungeon of the Dali Temple: when Mo Siniang's father visited the prison, he had mistaken her for someone else.

She remembered! The moment Mo Siniang's father saw her that day, he had called her Lin Zhiyue directly!

This Lin Zhiyue must have been the original owner's former name!

It was just that after becoming the "daughter of a criminal official," she had to change her name to seek self-preservation and go live elsewhere.

And after that Prefect mistook her for someone else, Mo Siniang had also stared at her for a long time, staring until she felt a chill in her heart, and even mimicked a young girl's tone, calling her "Fourth Sister" over and over again.

Lin Jiaojiao realized as if waking from a dream: the "Fourth Sister" in Mo Siniang's mouth must have been the original owner's childhood nickname for her!

This Qingzhou Prefect and the original owner's father were very likely old friends! It seems that the original owner and Mo Siniang must have been very close playmates in childhood! ===== CHAPTER 103 =====