Li Yuncong said, "Grudges and favors, right and wrong-who can truly untangle them?"
Hu Xiaotian said, "Other people's affairs don't interest me. I only care about my own. Could you clear away the fog for me, Eunuch Li, and point me toward a way forward?"
Li Yuncong slowly nodded and said quietly, "Have you noticed that His Majesty treats Princess Yongyang very differently?"
Hu Xiaotian thought it over. He had noticed this long ago, but still could not understand the reason. Why did the emperor shower Qiqi with such affection?
Li Yuncong said, "Princess Yongyang's mother was named Ling Jiazi before she entered the palace."
Hearing Ling Jiazi's name, Hu Xiaotian suddenly recalled accompanying Princess Anping, Long Xiyue, to Spirit Firmament Palace on Misty Mountain to visit the Old Emperor. He had gone with Long Xiyue to Cloud Temple to pay respects to her birth mother, Consort Li, and it was there that he had seen a portrait of Ling Jiazi. He still remembered that the Old Emperor, Long Xuan'en, had painted it himself. Even then, he had found it suspicious. Ling Jiazi was clearly Long Yelin's consort, so why had the Old Emperor personally painted her portrait and enshrined it in Cloud Temple? Had the old bastard coveted his own daughter-in-law's beauty? Had he done something utterly monstrous?
Li Yuncong said, "Ling Jiazi suffered a difficult labor when she gave birth. She was on the verge of death, but fortunately, Ghost Physician Fu Wan intervened and saved her."
Hu Xiaotian had heard Ghost Physician Fu Wan's name before. While in Yong Capital, he had learned that the physician had been buried on Black Camel Mountain outside the city after his death. There was nothing remarkable about a physician saving someone, but since Li Yuncong had brought it up deliberately,