The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 674

Chapter 674: Chapter 319: Taking Action (Second Update)

Marquis Xuanping suffered another internal injury.

Are children these days all so infuriating?

Marquis Xuanping clutched at his chest.

He was outstanding at withstanding blows in the Capital City, unparalleled in this art. How come he was repeatedly thwarted here?

Marquis Xuanping couldn’t recall his purpose here anymore. He commanded Chang Jing to release the man and then he left, wearing a sorrowful expression.

The working hours of the Hanlin Academy were over.

Yang, the reading assistant, was recently on leave. He had a fair amount of work, with not many people available to share the load. The responsibilities of lecturing the ’bachelor scholars’ were primarily assessed by Xiao Liulang and Prince An.

Originally, Yang was in charge of both mathematics and farming - two subjects. Dean Han let them choose one each. Prince An chose mathematics because of the simple fact that he wasn’t as knowledgeable about farming as Xiao Liulang, having not grown up in the country.

Xiao Liulang didn’t say anything but gladly took on the farming course.

Speaking of farming, his actual experience was rather limited.

When he was in the country, Gu Jiao did own a few acres of land. Sadly, neither he nor Gu Jiao of that time knew how to farm, resulting in abandonment of the land eventually.

His experience in farming was even less than that of a young boy named Jing Kong. Jing Kong used to water the vegetable garden and catch bugs every day. Occasionally, he would also help Gu Jiao with weeding.

In order to teach this subject well, Xiao Liulang recently started learning how to farm.

After finishing work, he planned to return home and farm the land, when Ning Zhiyuan sneakily approached him, winking and hinting, "Drinks, are you in?"

"No." Xiao Liulang refused without a second thought. He then caught a peculiar vibe from Ning Zhiyuan’s request, glancing at him, "Why do you want to go for drinks all of a sudden?"

It wasn’t like Ning Zhiyuan to partake in indulgences like drinking.

Ning Zhiyuan sighed, "This is for the purpose of infiltrating their circle. You think I want to go? Recently, when you have been lecturing the crown prince, and with Yang being on leave, it seems like people aren’t targeting you so blatantly anymore. Do you want to capitalize on this opportunity to network with some people?"

Xiao Liulang paused for a moment: "No, I need to return home and farm."

Ning Zhiyuan: "..."

Xiao Liulang exited the Hanlin Academy.

The distance from Hanlin Academy to Xuanwu Avenue wasn’t very far. By taking a shortcut, it would only take about half an hour to reach near Bishui Alley through the Guozijian.

Upon reaching the Guozijian, he remembered something and decided to visit Minghui Hall despite his hesitation.

Outside the Minghui Hall, he unexpectedly bumped into an acquaintance - Zheng Siye.

Zheng Siye used to be the Deputy Headmaster and had often made life difficult for Xiao Liulang during his time studying in Guozijian.

Now, old Zheng was getting a taste of his own medicine.

Zheng Siye was punished by being made to stand near the entrance of the hall, an utterly embarrassing situation for him.

Zheng Siye was a fourth rank official, ranking higher than Xiao Liulang. Xiao Liulang greeted him with a slight bow of hands and then entered the hall.

Watching Xiao Liulang walk into the hall which he himself couldn’t enter, Zheng Siye felt so aggrieved that he was on the verge of tears.

"How come you are here today?" The old headmaster was marking papers at the moment. Upon seeing him, he set down his pen, "Sit."

Xiao Liulang knelt down on the cushion opposite the old headmaster, "I came today because I wanted to ask about someone."

"Oh? Who do you want to inquire about?" asked the old headmaster.

"Someone from the palace," replied Xiao Liulang.

The old headmaster’s expression turned serious, "You... why do you suddenly want to inquire about someone from the palace?"

Xiao Liulang hesitated for a moment, but decided to be truthful: "The person who poisoned me years ago might not have been Dowager Empress Zhuang."

The old headmaster’s eyes lit up, and he almost stood up in excitement, "I just knew it wasn’t her!"

Xiao Liulang gave him a strange look.

The old headmaster coughed lightly and sat back down, taking a sip of his tea, "What I mean to say is, if she really wanted to kill you, there were countless opportunities to do so over the past year."

Xiao Liulang replied, "But she doesn’t remember me."

The old headmaster: ... How can someone respond to that?

"Ahem, in any case, it doesn’t seem like her. If she wanted to kill someone, why would she leave any trace?"

He refused to admit any personal bias; his relation with Zhuang Jinse was purely that of a vassal and his sovereign!

"Did you recall something?" The old headmaster brought the conversation back on topic.

"Yes." Xiao Liulang nodded, though he didn’t elaborate that his hidden memory was stirred by an unspeakable dream, "All of a sudden I remembered, the person had a mole on their left wrist."

"A mole on their left wrist..." The old headmaster rubbed his beard thoughtfully, "I might have been able to recall something if it was a mole on their face, but a wrist..."

He had been favored by the Late Emperor, making frequent visits to the Huaqing Palace and occasionally ran into concubines and palace maids. But he wasn’t the Emperor after all and couldn’t lift a concubine or palace maid’s sleeve to look at their wrist.

He initially wanted to suggest asking Xiao Liulang’s great aunt, but he stopped before the words left his lips upon recalling that Zhuang Jinse had lost quite a lot of her memory. Moreover, even if her memory was intact, she, being the regal Empress Dowager of the country, wouldn’t necessarily notice whether someone had a mole on their wrist or not.