When Princess Lingchen returned to her palace from an assembly with His Majesty and the ministers, one of the maidservants announced that her cousin, Jiang Xiao Tian had come over to see her.
Princess Lingchen instructed her maidservant to lead him to the lake pavilion. Then, she went back to her room to change her clothes into a casual dress. A long purple winter robe with fur hung on her shoulder.
Jiang Xiao Tian stood up when the Crown Princess approached with her entourage trailed after her. He bowed and greeted her. "Your Highness."
Princess Lingchen nodded. She tilted her head to her maidservant, and two maidservants walked forward carrying a tray of hot tea and some refreshment. She raised her hand. The maidservants and guards then stepped back and retreated to some distance. "Have a seat," she pointed towards the round marble stool.
Jiang Xiao Tian thanked her before he took a seat. He watched as Princess Lingchen poured them hot tea before he spoke, "I'm sorry that I didn't come here to visit you sooner after I returned to the capital."
"It's alright. I know you are busy with reports and a few other things after your return," the Crown Princess said and smiled. "I'm happy you came here to see me today, cousin brother."
"His Majesty said you're planning to take a stroll in the city."
She took a sip of her tea and held the teacup to warn her hand. "His Majesty think it would be beneficial for me to go out in the city once in a while. I planned to invite Mingyue to go with me. Cousin brother, will you accompany me to the city next week as my guard?"
"I don't think I'm a suitable person for you to ask. You could have asked Xiao Xian or Xiao Liang to accompany you instead," Xiao Tian said with a smile.
"I'm afraid that walking in the street with either cousin brother Xiao Xian or Xiao Liang accompaniment will be too difficult. I would not get much freedom. After all, the two are too high profile in the city. With their escort, the others will suspect that they were with someone important. Besides," she paused and smiled. "The two of them are busy with the preparation of the spring hunt."
"Should I be glad that I was not well known in the city?" Xiao Tian jested. His smile widened when Princess Lingchen covered her mouth as she chuckled. Jiang Xiao Tian straightened up his body and bowed. "It will be an honor to escort you."
Princess Lingchen drank her tea before it gets cold. For a while, there was a long silence between the two.
Jiang Xiao Tian watched the Princess' expression silently. They were in a pavilion in the middle of the lake, and the Princess' entourage was away. Surely, Princess Lingchen did not invite him to the lake pavilion just to ask him to accompany her to the city in a few days. Xiao Tian then asked her about it.
"You are right. I do have another matter that I wanted to discuss with you." Princess Lingchen stared at the lake scenery before her before she turned back to her cousin. "I wanted you to help me to investigate some matter."
Jiang Xiao Tian raised a brow when the Princess did not continue her words right away. "What matter?"
Princess Lingchen took a deep breath before she spoke, "I need to find out who poisoned me."
"At that time, I was still too young and did not know about it too much," Jiang Xiao Tian said. "But on the day that the Emperor learned that you were poisoned, he had assigned his men to investigate into the matters. As you know, your former servants and guards were taken away from your court and replaced. Even when your former servants and guards were interrogated, the investigator could not find anything useful."
"I know." Princess Lingchen nodded. "They couldn't find any other leads, and there was no movement from the other side."
"Forgive me, Your Highness." Jiang Xiao Tian bowed. "It has been more than ten years. I don't think to start another investigation will not lead us to a new finding."
Princess Lingchen pursed her lips with her head lowered. Her long fingers tapped the table softly. Then, she looked up. "What if I told you that the other side had made a move?"