Miss Truth-Chapter 485 - 318: Lady of Dongyang County

Xiao Song wouldn’t let her visit that woman without reason. Ran Yan guessed that the woman was the mastermind behind the poisoning of Xiao Song’s two previous wives.

Being able to bury traces so well that even Xiao Song could not detect them, Ran Yan couldn’t help but be curious about this woman, but for fear of drawing her attention, Ran Yan had to restrain her gaze.

After the decree was dispersed, Xiao Song and Ran Yan went to the study to rest, and then he revealed the woman’s identity, "My eldest uncle was the last monarch of Xiliang. She is the wife of the last emperor, a first-class State Lady by the end of the Sui Dynasty, but my uncle passed away when the Sui Dynasty fell. During the Tang Dynasty, she was the second-class Lady of the County Duke of Dongyang."

Xiao Cong, the last Emperor Xiao Kui of Xiliang, was designated as the Crown Prince during his reign. After the fall of the Xiliang Kingdom at the hands of Emperor Wen of Sui, Xiao Cong was demoted to the Duke of Ju. Due to his talent and easygoing nature, Xiao Cong was still heavily relied upon in the Sui Dynasty, holding high office throughout, but when Emperor Yang ascended, due to a folk rhyme saying "Xiao will rise again," he was removed from office under the Emperor’s suspicion.

During the Tang Dynasty, probably to win over the Xiao family, perhaps because Xiao Cong was well-regarded by the Tang Imperial Family, he was posthumously honoured with a title. Since Xiao Cong’s first title in Xiliang was Prince of Dongyang, he was posthumously given the title of County Duke of Dongyang, and his wife received the rank of a second-class Duchess of Dongyang in accordance with her husband’s rank.

"So it turns out this lady is indeed a legitimate senior daughter-in-law of the Xiao family, she seems much younger than A’jia...not his first wife?" Ran Yan whispered.

Xiao Song nodded, "However, because my uncle had few sons, and most of them died young, only one son remains, making his branch of the family sparse, whereas the sixth uncle’s branch and ours are still flourishing with descendants."

This means that the Lady of the County Duke of Dongyang never served as Empress of Xiliang, but married Xiao Cong towards the end of the Sui Dynasty.

Since the former Emperor recently passed away, the principal family remains the principal family, but what about a few generations later? In such a situation, if the main branch does not quickly secure the position of clan leader, they might soon become insignificant in the Xiao family genealogy.

"But this alone wouldn’t drive her to such madness," Ran Yan felt, unless this woman was crazed with the desire for power. Otherwise, how could she, with such limited means now, engage in such actions?

Xiao Song rubbed his temples, "That’s why I suspect there’s someone supporting her from behind, someone who needs the power of the Xiao family and seized this opportunity."

For Xiao Song, avenging his wrongs would not be a problem if it merely involved killing a woman. However, he still hasn’t acted against the Lady of Dongyang because he cannot yet make a move.

Hearing this, Ran Yan didn’t probe further. Today, her home was too busy and chaotic, making it not a good time to discuss such matters. Yet even without asking further, Ran Yan could faintly guess that the person behind this must be one of the princes, and most likely it wasn’t Li Ke, since Li Ke’s princess came from the sixth most flourishing branch of the Xiao family.

This confirmed that the sixth family still highly favored Li Ke; he had no need to additionally support the senior branch in becoming the family head.

"Lady, would you like the slave to come in and serve tea?" Wan Lu suddenly asked from outside the door.

Ran Yan paused, then said, "Come in."

Wan Lu pushed the door and came in, walked up to Ran Yan, picked up the teacup, and spoke quickly with her head bowed, "The old madam has come."

No sooner had Wan Lu spoken than the light at the door dimmed, and Lady Dugu walked in.

All of her maids stayed at the door, and Ran Yan felt that something was not quite right. Normally, personal maids always followed closely, there was no reason for them to stay outside.

"Yuezhi, with so many things happening in the front courtyard, what are you doing here slacking off with your wife!" Lady Dugu scolded.

Xiao Song gently squeezed Ran Yan’s hand, signaling that she must find a way to inform him if anything happened, then he immediately stood up, "Mother, you are right. I will go there right now."

Ran Yan also rose and approached Lady Dugu, pretending to assist her.

"Wan Lu, you go out first." Ran Yan guessed Lady Dugu definitely had something to say to her, but after thinking it over, she couldn’t guess what would make Lady Dugu send everyone away to talk to her alone.

"Lady Yan," after Lady Dugu sat down, she looked at Ran Yan and directly asked, "Besides that one sentence, did the Lady say any other last words?"

Ran Yan felt a slight tightness in her heart. Last words—The Lady had said many things at that time, all of which could be considered her last words. However, besides that sentence, "May my Xiao family descendants prosper," the most important instruction was to have Ling Xiang hand over a golden silk nanmu box to Lady Dugu to deliver to Empress Xiao.

Since the Lady had instructed her, Ran Yan did not conceal it, "The Lady mentioned there is a golden silk nanmu box in her room for Ling Xiang to pass to you, to bring to your aunt."

Being the only legitimate daughter of Xiao Kui, Lady Dugu would not misunderstand the "aunt" Ran Yan spoke of as someone else.

"Who else knows about this besides Ling Xiang and you?" Lady Dugu asked.

Ran Yan, seeing she seemed to take the matter seriously, recalled, "Also, the four maids by the Lady’s side."

"Hmm. This matter cannot be leaked," Lady Dugu, staring at Ran Yan, gave an oppressive feeling.

Though Ran Yan was not afraid of such oppressive vibes, she still felt that if Lady Dugu thought she was indifferent, it might lead to more difficulties in the future, so she respectfully bowed her head and responded affirmatively. fгeewёbnoѵel_cσm

Lady Dugu, satisfied, nodded and stood to leave.

"Wife." Wan Lu brought in some tea, placed it on the table, looked outside to see there was no one, then softly said, "Just now, Mistress Xing came over, saying there’s a letter from Suzhou, 18th Lady is no more."

Ran Yan was slightly startled, then said, "It’s better to be released early." She paused and then asked, "Did they mention how Ge Lan is? When does she plan to come back?"

"They did. Ge Lan sent word saying she’s already on her way back." Wan Lu appeared very happy but due to the Lady’s passing, dared not show her happiness openly, "Ge Lan said, she’s bringing someone back. Wife, guess who it is?"

"Shao Ming." This was not a mystery to Ran Yan at all.

Wan Lu, surprised, said, "Wife, how did you know?"

"The only ones that could make you so happy besides Zhou Sanlang and his son are Shao Ming. Last time I heard my husband say, someone went to check on my medical practice, but they couldn’t find Zhou Sanlang and his son, perhaps, they had already left that place," Ran Yan explained.

"You can’t hide anything from Wife," Wan Lu playfully stuck out her tongue.

"Let’s go. We can’t stay here too long." Ran Yan felt a headache coming on. It was time to meet the family members; just now just seeing the women of the imperial decree, there were a dozen, adding the Xiao family daughters, these were not people she could ignore if she wanted to.

Ran Yan walked out of the study toward the small eastern dwelling where it was close to the Lady’s courtyard, hence where the ladies and wives gathered, preparing to change into mourning clothes.

As Ran Yan just walked past the fish pond and went up the curved corridor, she saw a plainly dressed woman approaching. The woman, in her early forties with a classical oval face, eyebrows like distant hills, and eyes like autumn waters, even in her maturing years retained an elegant charm. With every move, she showed less arrogance than Lady Dugu, portraying a look of purity and asceticism.(To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast a recommendation ticket, monthly ticket. Your support is my biggest motivation.)

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