How could my childhood sweetheart be the current empress?

"As expected of you, Master. You said it very well."

Mo Li couldn't help but look in his direction. Although she didn't understand what this sentence meant, it sounded very beautiful, and she could feel an inexplicable sadness.

"Wait, my lord, someone is coming."

At this time, Tongxin called him.

Xu Chengling couldn't help but look ahead, and saw a little girl walking towards him. She looked up at him and asked:

"Brother, do you know how to get to the Xianwang Mansion?"

He looked at the little girl in front of him. She was wearing a pink court dress and a pink headband on her head. She looked to be about ten years old, with very delicate features, just like a doll.

However, her face looked pale and sickly, and her skin was unnaturally white.

Judging from the palace dress she was wearing, she should be the eldest daughter of a prince's mansion.

Moreover, she seemed to have mentioned Prince Xian’s Mansion just now.

"Ahem, well, I accidentally got lost. Can you take me back to the Xianwang Mansion? Dad will definitely thank you."

The girl couldn't help but cough lightly, and the sound of her violent coughing made people feel distressed.

"You said daddy, could it be you?"

"Ahem, my name is Yan Ruoyao, and my father is the current virtuous king. Brother, do you know him?"

"It seems like I know him a little bit."

In Xu Chengling's impression, the virtuous king seemed to be the eighth brother of the late emperor and the uncle of the current emperor.

The Eighth Wise Prince was loyal to the late Emperor and openly supported the current Emperor. He is the most trusted prince of the Emperor.

And the little girl in front of him turned out to be the daughter of the Eighth Wise King. Doesn’t that mean she is the Princess of Dayan?

But it seems that the little princess is not in good health.

Chapter 96 I hope you understand what I mean (Part 3)

Xu Chengling looked at the little girl's face and noticed that after coughing violently, she took a few deep breaths.

The symptoms were very similar to the whooping cough he remembered.

That’s not right. Since this little girl is the daughter of the wise king, she should have been seen by the imperial physician long ago. How come she wasn’t cured?

Moreover, looking at her skinny cheeks and the weak voice, it seemed that she had not eaten for a while and the child must have starved.

"Miss Ruoyao, there is a teahouse nearby. How about I take you there to eat something?"

Xu Chengling said that although he didn't know what was going on, he couldn't help feeling distressed seeing the little girl so hungry.

"No, ahem, the imperial physician has told me that I can't eat until I recover from my illness."

Yan Ruoyao quickly shook her head and said to him.

"???"

After hearing this, Xu Chengling was filled with questions. What the hell is this? Can’t I eat if I cough?

He felt something was amiss, so he asked quickly:

"How is this going?"

Yan Ruoyao coughed a few times, raised her weak face, and said to Xu Chengling:

"The imperial physician said that colds and coughs are only minor illnesses, and they will heal on their own if you starve for a while."

"..."

After listening to Yan Ruoyao's description, Xu Chengling fell silent, thinking it was outrageous, extremely outrageous.

If he remembered correctly, this was fasting therapy, which emptied the body through fasting to achieve the effect of curing the disease.

Throughout history, several princes were starved to death by this fasting therapy.

Fasting therapy does have some effect on some minor illnesses, but Yan Ruoyao's cough is obviously not an ordinary cough. She has whooping cough, which requires special medication for conditioning and treatment.

At least in Xu Chengling's opinion, this fasting therapy is of no use to her condition. If she doesn't even have enough food, it is impossible for her to have the energy to cure the disease.

This is not an imperial physician, he is a quack!

"Miss Ruoyao, come with me to eat something. Don't pay attention to what that quack doctor says. If you don't eat something, you'll starve to death before you recover from your illness."

Xu Chengling said to Yan Ruoyao, then took her slender hand and walked towards a nearby teahouse.

"No, if Daddy knew, he would be angry."

Yan Ruoyao said with some worry on her pretty face that she had always listened to her father. Her father asked her not to eat for her own good and wanted her to get better soon.

In fact, Yan Ruoyao hadn't eaten for two days and only drank some water. She was able to sneak out of the house because she was too hungry to bear it.

But after she ran out, she realized that she had no money on her and was lost.

She has been weak since childhood and often suffers from illness. This illness is no exception and has lasted for a long time. She has tried many treatments, but the illness keeps coming back and has never been cured.

Therefore, the imperial physician suggested fasting therapy, saying that as long as she could endure going hungry for a few meals, her condition would naturally improve.

Looking at Yan Ruoyao's stubborn little face, Xu Chengling couldn't help but ask her:

"Are you hungry now?"

"Hungry."

"Would you like something to eat?"

"I want to... No... I don't have any money on me."

"Don't worry about that. Just eat. I'll pay for it."

"But, Dad will be angry..."

Yan Ruoyao was still a little hesitant, even though her stomach was growling with hunger. Mo Li, who was standing by, couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward, holding her hand and said:

"Miss Ruoyao, your father wants to starve you to death. It makes me want to beat him to death. Let's go eat something. The master will pay for it anyway."

Xu Chengling nodded and said to her:

"Don't worry, I'll take you back to the Xianwang Mansion later, and I'll talk to your father. Anyway, you should fill your stomach first."

"OK then."

Under the repeated requests of Xu Chengling and others, Yan Ruoyao decided to eat something. After all, no matter how hard she tried, she could not overcome her body's instincts.

So, Xu Chengling took Yan Ruoyao, Mo Li and Tong Xin to have a meal in the teahouse.

Mo Li, this glutton, eats more than the three people present.

But this girl seemed to never gain weight no matter how much she ate. It was not until Xu Chengling looked at her gradually bulging area that he finally understood something.

It seems that all the meat has grown to the place where it should grow, and the future is promising.

After eating, Xu Chengling took Yan Ruoyao to Prince Xian’s Mansion as agreed.

It just so happened that Prince Xian’s Mansion was not very far from here, but if you think about it carefully, Yan Ruoyao didn’t know the way and it was impossible for her to run too far.

This reminded Xu Chengling of Qian'er who ran away from home. This girl was really amazing. She ran directly to Lingyin Temple which was dozens of miles away and pretended to commit suicide, causing the whole mansion to search for her.

Compared with Xu Xiqian, Yan Ruoyao is nothing but a dwarf.

Soon, they arrived in front of a luxurious mansion. On the plaque above the gate were three large characters: "Xianwang Mansion."

After returning to Prince Xian's Mansion, Yan Ruoyao was a little afraid to go there because she had run away from home, so Xu Chengling asked Tong Xin to take care of her, and he and Mo Li went to see Prince Xian together.

Arriving at the gate of the Xianwang Mansion, the two gatekeepers saw Xu Chengling and Mo Li and couldn't help asking:

"Who are you, and what are you doing in the Xianwang Mansion?"

"We are from the Prime Minister's Mansion, and we are here to see the wise king."

Xu Chengling said this calmly, and then he took out the token of the Prime Minister's Mansion, on which was engraved a majestic word "Prime Minister".

Generally, families in the capital would use their family name as identity token, but the Xiangguo Mansion was the only one in the entire capital that used the "Xiang" token.

As gatekeepers, they still had some vision. After seeing the token with the word "Xiang" on it, their expressions changed. One of the servants hurried into the house to inform the wise king.

After a while, a middle-aged man in a python robe came out, exuding a sense of majesty.

This person was the Eighth Wise King, but at this moment he looked a little anxious, as if he was looking for someone.

The man in the python robe took one look at Xu Chengling and immediately recognized his identity. He stepped forward and greeted him:

"So it's Prime Minister Xu who has come. I'm sorry for not welcoming you. I wonder what Prime Minister Xu wants to do here?"

Xu Chengling looked at the man in the dragon robe in front of him. The wise king was usually very low-key and seldom saw people. He did not expect that the other party would recognize his identity at a glance.

Since the other party knew his identity, he didn't need to hide anything and just got straight to the point:

"Eighth Wise King, are you looking for someone?"

The wise king's face changed suddenly, and he nodded quickly and said:

"Yes, I am indeed looking for someone. She is my daughter. Has Prime Minister Xu seen her?"

Xu Chengling nodded, looked at the anxious Eighth Sage King in front of him, and said in a deep voice:

"Your daughter is in my hands now."

But soon, Xu Chengling realized that there was something wrong with this sentence. Seeing the virtuous king frowning, he quickly explained to the other party:

"I hope you understand what I mean now."

For some reason, the virtuous king's brows furrowed more and more, and his expression became more and more solemn. He slowly opened his mouth and said:

"Xu Xiangguo, what do you want?"

Chapter 97 I have a recipe

Xu Chengling felt that their conversation was heading in a strange direction. He remembered that he was here to speak for Yan Ruoyao. She might still be worried that her father was still angry and didn't dare to come back.

So he continued to say to the man in front of him:

"Don't worry, otherwise I don't know if she can come back."

"what!"

When the wise king heard this, his face suddenly changed. It was obvious that the other party was holding Yao'er hostage to threaten him.

He really couldn't imagine how he, who usually kept a low profile, had provoked the young prime minister in front of him, but for Yao'er's safety, the wise king had to compromise and said:

"Prime Minister Xu, as long as you can guarantee Yao'er's safety, no matter what conditions you put forward, I can agree to them, but you must not hurt my Yao'er."

"No, wise king, you may have misunderstood me."

Xu Chengren felt a little confused. Why didn't the other party understand what he meant?

Seeing this, Mo Li, who was standing by, was afraid that the other party would misunderstand the master's meaning and report it to the police, which would cause trouble, so he hurriedly explained to the other party:

"You'd better not report it to the police now."

This is making things worse and more outrageous.

The virtuous king's face turned pale. He just wanted to see his daughter as soon as possible and did not dare to do anything rash to the two people in front of him. If something happened to Yao'er, how would he face his deceased beloved wife?

So the virtuous king took a deep breath, looked at Xu Chengling solemnly, and said:

"I understand what you mean. I will not report to the police. I can give you whatever you want as long as you can guarantee Yao'er's safety."

"If you want to see her, I can take you to see her now."

Seeing his daughter's eagerness, the wise king nodded quickly.

"You can come alone."

"Of course, I will go alone."

After that, Xu Chengling brought the virtuous king to where Yan Ruoyao was and let the father and daughter meet.

Yan Ruoyao looked at her father with a hesitant expression and did not dare to step forward.

When the wise king saw his daughter and found that she was fine, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed that the prime minister's people had not done anything to her.