The Prime Minister’s Darling - Chapter 123

Chapter 123: 99 Truths (Second Update)_3

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“No.” Mrs. Yao wrinkled her brows and shook her head, “I had a look at my daughter just after she was born, and she looked no different from any other newborn. If there were a birthmark, I would not have forgotten.”

Lord Marquis Gu’s eyes widened, “Did we make another mistake?”

Could the child not be his and Mrs. Yao’s?

“Jiaojiao is my daughter, of that I am sure. I just don’t understand why her face is like this.”

The midwife had passed away, and the servants had retired. They really didn’t know where to find anyone else from that night.

Mrs. Yao pondered for a moment, a lightbulb suddenly flashing in her mind, “Wait, there is one other person who saw Jiaojiao.”

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“Who?”

“The abbot.”

—

The couple promptly went to the temple.

Upon hearing their purpose, the abbot looked aghast, “What are you saying? We got the babies mixed up? The girl with the birthmark is the daughter of the Marquis Residence?”

Mrs. Yao replied gently but urgently, “Yes, the abbot should have seen her. She came to the temple looking for you twice.”

If the abbot still couldn’t guess who it was after this, it’s really beyond words.

Could the vague memory not be a dream he had when drunk, but that his shaking hands had accidentally applied a large amount of mercurial pigment to the baby girl’s face?

“Amitabha Buddha… Sinful, so sinful!”

Reluctantly, the abbot confessed the story.

When the noble heiresses of Zhan Country are born, the midwife would mark them with mercurial pigment. The servants mine had instructed the midwife accordingly.

However, in the countryside, this was not a common practice. The midwife didn’t have that kind of skill and didn’t dare admit that she couldn’t do it, fearful of not getting her silver. So she requested help from the abbot.

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The sober abbot would not have agreed, unfortunately, he was induced to drink some Pear Blossom Wine by his cunning disciple.

Just a sip was enough to get him drunk.

He said that he had never marked a child with mercurial pigment.

The midwife said, but you marked a monk in the temple before. Isn’t that the same?

In his drunken stupor, the abbot found the midwife’s logic persuasive.

So he went over.

And thus, he trembled while applying the pigment.

After that, it seemed that he wanted to find his fellow disciple but fell asleep halfway on his way.

He slept for three days and three nights. After he woke up, the first thing he did was to go to Mrs. Yao and apologize, but he saw Mrs. Yao holding a fair-skinned baby whose face was bright and clean. Where was the mark of mercurial pigment?

The midwife had gone down the mountain and he had never seen her again since.

“… I had always thought that I had a dream.”

Lord Marquis Gu asked, “What about Lady Xun? Didn’t she notice anything new on her child’s face?”

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The abbot replied, “Lady Xun fainted after giving birth and didn’t wake up until the next day. I recklessly guess that when she saw the child, the child had probably already been switched.”

Because Lady Xun was unconscious and unable to take care of the children, the midwife put the two babies in the same room. Gu Jiao was born first, and Gu Jinyu was born one or two hours later.

The babies were wrapped in the swaddling clothes from Mrs. Yao’s side, so at a glance, it was indeed easy to get confused.

The midwife was originally present, but she had stomachache and had to go to the toilet. When she came back, the mercurial pigment had been applied.

Although it is impossible to ask the midwife for confirmation now, Mrs. Yao and the Marquis could easily guess the situation at that time.

The mercurial pigment was placed on the faces of the babies, and the midwife knew that there was a big problem, so she hurriedly found an excuse to leave the mountain overnight.

When the servants of the Marquis Residence came to hold the baby, they saw a red birthmark on Gu Jiao’s face. There was nothing on the young lady’s face, so they naturally took her for Lady Xun’s child.

Later, there was no mercurial pigment on the baby girl’s arm. Mrs. Yao assumed that it had not been applied properly and fell off. After returning to the capital, she had someone apply it to Gu Jinyu again.

This should be the entire sequence of events.

After leaving, the abbot was unable to calm down for a long time.

He went to his disciple’s courtyard with a cold face, and found a monk who was disheveled and basking in the sun under a tree. He indignantly told him about the mix-up, “… Don’t you know you’ve caused me to make a big mistake?”

The monk took down the Buddhist scriptures covering his face, revealing a bewitching beautiful face.

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Under the sunlight, a pair of peach blossom eyes sparkled like a pool of spring water was crushed.

A silver facial mask covering the upper half of a face was placed on the stone stool beside him.

Not many people had seen his true face. The abbot was one, and the girl in the forest the other day was another.

He spread his hands innocently and said with a light-hearted smile, “How could this be my fault? I didn’t know I would have such a hangover after brewing wine for the first time.”

The abbot was quite annoyed, “You are denying it! You lied to me that it wasn’t wine!”

The monk sighed, “Hey, older brother, don’t expose me. Leave me some dignity.”

The Abbot almost passed out from his annoyance, “Also, who still claims to be a child at the age of twelve? It’s all because of your negative influence that Jingkong causes so much trouble!”

Mentioning Jingkong, the monk was silent for a few seconds. Clearly, he couldn’t refute the fact that little Jingkong was particularly troublesome.

Actually, since he was young, this disciple has been a genius. He always liked to tinker with weird little inventions. No one had taught him; he usually observed them in town and figured them out himself when he got back.

Wine was not the most terrifying thing he had concocted. One time he tried mixing a pest repellent and ended up making arsenic instead, poisoning every monk in the temple.

He himself had almost died too.

The abbot asked him more than once: How on earth did he grow up?

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The monk delivered a charming smile, “Alright, I tricked elder brother once, but you also sold my disciple. We’re even!”

The abbot replied, “You were happier than anyone when Jingkong left, weren’t you? How does that make us even?”

He spread his hands and sighed deeply, “Then, older brother, you promised to leave me some dignity. Wasn’t I happy? I was only a little bit happy, the rest was sorrow.”

The abbot gave him a cold look, “Huh, is that right? Let me go and bring Jingkong back.”

He stood up abruptly, “Whoa, no way!”

—

After Mrs Yao left the temple, she instructed the carriage to go to Qingquan Village and delivered the goods to the two children. This included clothing for Gu Yan as well as clothing selected by Mrs. Yao for Gu Jiao.

Gu Yan believed that they were their to take him back to the residence and refused to come out of the house.

Mrs. Yao had to give all the clothes to Gu Jiao instead.

Little Jingkong went to school, and no one was blocking Lord Marquis Gu, but he was actually blocked by several chickens at the door!

Several chicks hopped onto the doorstep, lined up in a row, seemingly forming a formation!

The chicks glared at him menacingly. Every time he approached they pecked him!

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Lord Marquis Gu would like to kick them away. However, as soon as he lifted his foot, the chicks began to chirp!

Mrs. Yao looked at him.

He withdrew his foot, stood upright and smiled!

Lord Marquis Gu: In my entire life, I never thought I would lose to a few chickens!