Wrapped In Golden Branch - Chapter 33

Chapter 33
She rem*mbered what happened three years ago
?

“Mrs. Jin, do you still dare to call yourself the Prince Consort’s mother-in-law?” Marquis Huai’an had a livid face and gritted his teeth.

Mrs. Jin, who several Imperial Guards controlled, was stunned when she heard this before looking at Marquis Huai’an in disbelief. “Master, what do you mean?” She was confused, like an ant on a hot pot.

Marquis Huai’an frowned, “You exchanged the two children, didn’t you?”

“Shuyun treats you so well. Why!” He glared and roared.

Mrs. Jin naturally denied it, “I don’t understand what you mean by exchanging. Yizhi was born by me.”

The Imperial Guards Deputy on the side was displeased and couldn’t bear to hear them beat around the bush. Naturally, the commander of the Imperial Guards didn’t need to come in person for such a small matter, but his Deputy was here.

The Deputy said coldly, “Marquis, everything will be revealed as long as we take Mrs. Jin to the Northern Office.”

If Marquis Huai’an hadn’t had a princess as his daughter-in-law, they would have knocked Mrs. Jin unconscious and dragged her away according to the usual behavior.

Hearing this, Mrs. Jin turned pale, and her legs trembled. This group of men in plain clothes who have been making noise in the Marquis Mansion all day are the Imperial Guards?

“Master, please save me. No one who enters the Northern Office comes out alive. At least I gave birth to a child for you!”

Mrs. Jin had a flash of inspiration, “There’s Madam! Madam asked you to be kind to us, mother and son before she died! Master, do you still remember?”

When she mentioned his late wife, Qiao Shuyun, the soles of Marquis Huai’an’s feet weakened, and his whole body swayed. Shuyun would be sad if he knew their children had been treated harshly for twenty years —

It’s all this bitch’s fault!

Mrs. Jin saw his cowardly look and was so angry that her gums were bleeding. She hardened her heart and confessed: “Master, I did exchange two children back then, but I had no choice!”

She cried, “You only have eyes for the child born to your wife, and I love my son so much that I made this decision.”

“Yujin also knows that I am his biological mother. Do you have the heart to let Yujin suffer the pain of losing his mother?”

The last sentence was like a sharp awl digging into Marquis Huai’an’s heart. Yes, Mrs. Jin is Yujin’s mother.

He opened his mouth and murmured: “Since Mrs. Jin had confessed her crime, there is no need to escort her to the Northern Office, no?”

The Deputy sneered coldly—— The green-hatted Marquis Huai’an is so foolish. “Marquis, in addition to exchanging children, we have also found clues to another matter.” He said solemnly: “Please give way, Marquis. We are also following orders.”

After that, the Deputy led the Imperial Guards to escort the struggling Mrs. Jin out of the Marquis Mansion.

Marquis Huai’an looked at their departing figures in confusion. When he returned to his senses, he felt deeply sorry for Yujin because he failed to protect his biological mother.

?

Princess Mansion, Lakeside Painting Studio. In the evening, red clouds filled the sky, and the afterglow of the setting sun shined brightly on the glazed tiles. Once Li Kangning held a paintbrush, she turned utterly different from her usual delicate self. She mixed various paints and inks, washed her pens, spread a piece of rice paper on her desk, and started drawing quickly.

Pei Yizhi sat quietly aside, the surprise and appreciation in his dark eyes undisguised. Three years ago, he also saw such a girl in the thatched house he built himself—— Her expression was focused and undistracted as if the world was so quiet that only the brush and paper in her hand were left. When the outline of a thin man first appeared on the scroll, Pei Yizhi’s heart sank suddenly. Is she drawing that damn Third Gu?

He wanted to open his lips and ask, but he did not want to disturb the girl concentrating on painting. He deeply embedded his fingers in his palm, and his breathing burned.

The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the man’s gloomy, handsome face. Until the sun completely set, the servants smoothly lit dozens of glazed palace lanterns in the studio. The whole pavilion was brightly lit, like daylight. After carefully sketching out the person’s facial features in the painting, Li Kangning finally put down the brush and rubbed her sore wrist.

Pei Yizhi’s heart tightened, and he hurriedly stepped forward to ma$sage her wrist. He turned slightly sideways, deliberately avoiding looking at the portrait.

“Hey, Pei Yizhi, look, who is the person in this painting?” Li Kangning asked softly.

Pei Yizhi looked at her momentarily with his dark and unclear eyes.

Li Kangning frowned slightly and asked confusedly, “What do you mean?”

Pei Yizhi lowered his eyes, almost pleading: “Princess, you can draw anyone you want, but please don’t ask me, okay?” He knelt down and hugged the girl’s slender waist as he spoke.

Li Kangning was startled for a moment, then burst into laughter. She poked the man’s forehead with her index finger, “Pei Yizhi, are you stupid?”

“Look at this painting for yourself. Who does this person look like?” She pouted and said coquettishly.

Pei Yizhi secretly took a breath to calm down, then turned his eyes to the scroll on the desk and was immediately stunned——

Isn’t this the skinny and miserable version of myself three years ago? He looked at the girl in front of him in disbelief. Did she remember what happened three years ago?

Pei Yizhi’s whole heart suddenly lifted, and his fingertips couldn’t help but tremble slightly. He wanted the Princess to remember their past but didn’t want her to recall that sad thing.

Seeing his expression changing repeatedly, Li Kangning couldn’t help biting her lower lip. “Did we meet in Yan Mountain three years ago?” she asked slowly.

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