Unusual is precisely demonic

  The plum blossoms were extremely beautiful, and the fragrance was extremely delicate. As the fragrant breeze blew by, Gu Ling raised her eyes slightly and gazed at the two beauties walking towards them side by side with a gentle smile.

  At first glance, both of them were extremely beautiful, but their temperament was different.

  The one walking on the left looks older, already past the age of hairpinning, about sixteen or seventeen years old.

  Her face was fair and elegant, wearing a long white dress with red plum blossoms embroidered on the hem, her slender waist swaying gently, exuding infinite charm, as if strolling through a plum forest.

  But the crimson silk cloak draped over her body subtly toned down the plain simplicity of her attire, complementing each other perfectly, just like the finishing touch on a painting, bringing out her beauty completely. This was an intelligent woman.

  As for the little girl next to her, who was slightly younger and wore a pale purple dress with a white satin cloak with large snowflake-like fur trim, she must be Shi Congxiang, the Miss of the Shi family, who had already made a name for herself in the capital before reaching adulthood.

  Her face is still slightly round, her features are delicate and beautiful, but what stands out the most is that she has a pair of clear and yet not uncoquettish eyes, which at this moment seem to be annoyed, with a cold expression, looking very displeased.

  The two walked closer and saw Gu Ling. A ripple flashed across the bottom of their eyes. The displeasure in Shi Ningxiang's eyes faded a bit, but it didn't completely melt away.

  "Does Mr. Liao know you're calling for Xingxiang? Is there something going on?"

  The crisp and clear voice is very pleasant to the ear, but... The little girl used a 'call' word instead of a 'please' word, which is impolite and obvious at first glance!

  Liao Qingyun was uninterested, but not arrogant. At this moment, he heard Shi Ningxiang's undisguised displeasure and stood up to apologize: "Qingyun has invited Miss Shi to come, indeed there is something important, I'm afraid it's a disturbance, please forgive me, Miss Shi."

  Gu Ling's mouth twitched slightly, and Qing Yun's flat tone was devoid of any inflection, making it impossible to discern his apology, even though he was genuinely expressing remorse at that moment.

  Listening to this seemingly insincere stereotypical voice, Shi Ningxiu slightly frowned and turned to the woman beside her who was a bit older than her, saying: "Yingying jie, this is the second son of the Minister of Justice Liao, Liao Qingyun."

  Lin Yingying curtsied to Liao Qingyun: "Lin Yingying has seen Master Liao."

  Liao Qingyun raised her hand and made a gesture of support: "Miss Lin, no need to be so polite."

  After Shi Ningxiang was satisfied with introducing the two, she looked at Gu Ling and said to Liao Qingyun: "Liao Gongzi, who is this?"

  "Gu Ling stood up and introduced himself: 'Far West Gu Ling has met two ladies.'"

  Shi Ning Xiang lowered her eyes, her voice somewhat melancholic: "So you're Gu Ling."

  Lin Yingying, on the other hand, was as gentle as her name suggested. After bowing slightly, she softly reminded Shi Congxiang, who seemed to be in a daze beside her: "Xiang Xiang?"

  Shi Ningxiang snapped back to reality, glanced at the two of them, and with a serious expression, said straightforwardly: "I know why you're looking for me, ask away, as long as I know it, I'll definitely tell you."

  Gu Ling smiled: "So... very good!"

  Liao Qingyun on the side did not make a sound, handing over all control to Gu Ling to handle.

  Lin Yingying said beside her: "Xiangxiang, I'll go to the front viewing pavilion first, I think I saw Tao's little sister Qījiě."

  Shi Ningxiang raised her eyes and glanced at the person opposite her, her slender eyebrows slightly furrowed, and nodded: "Mm."

  After the two of them paid their respects, Lin Yingying took the opportunity to take away all the maidservants who were attending in the pavilion, leaving only three people, Gu Qiu and Liao Zhong, in the pavilion.

  Gu Ling silently smiled to himself, he somewhat understood why the Lin family, a mere merchant household, could get away with manipulating both the Tao and Shi families, who were imperial relatives, without offending either of them. The Lin family's daughter was already so clever, it went without saying that the head of the Lin household was shrewd!

  "Miss Shi seems not surprised at all that Gu Xiang found you?"

  Shi Ning Xiang's expressionless face gazed at him for a moment: "Why should I be surprised? Lord Gu, you went to the Crown Prince's mansion yesterday afternoon and entered the palace to see the Second Prince in the afternoon. If you didn't come find me today, that would be surprising."

  Gu Ling's smile deepened at the corners of his mouth, and everyone in the imperial court remained silent, waiting for him to ignite this fire. Whether it would be pouring oil or extinguishing the flames, they were all probably thinking about it repeatedly.

  "But...” Shi Ningxiang's expression became hesitant, and she muttered: "You came to find me, but it's also in vain. Although I'm close in age to her, my cousin likes quietness, and as a princess who rarely leaves the palace, whatever happens is kept in her heart, and she absolutely won't easily tell others."

  "When was the last time Miss Shi saw Grand Princess?" asked Gu Ling.

  Shi Ning was silent for a moment before answering: "I saw her on Laba Festival."

  A glint of sharp light flashed in Gu Ling's eyes: "When and where is there still someone?"

  Shi Ningxiang looked up at him and replied, "The palace will hold a porridge feast on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. I accompanied my parents to the palace to attend the feast, and followed my mother to see Yu Fei's aunt in Qiong Yu Palace. There were many people present at that time."

  "Did you have a conversation with the Grand Duchess during this time?"

  "There she was... My elder female cousin took me to sit by the Qinghe Pool in the Jade Palace, and we chatted casually for a while."

  "What did you specifically talk about?"

  "We chatted... talked about some family matters, asked about the health of our grandparents, and asked about my siblings, that's all."

  "How was Princess Dagu's mood that day?" Gu Ling asked casually.

  "Not good... nor bad, same as usual, nothing special." Shi Ningxiang stared straight at Gu Ling, her eyes not dodging in the slightest.

  Gu Ling smiled slightly: "Two months ago, also on October 18th, did Miss Shi enter the palace?"

  "October 18th?" Shi Ningxiang furrowed her brow and thought for a moment before shaking her head decisively: "I didn't enter the palace."

  Gu Ling narrowed her eyes: "Why does Miss Shi remember so clearly?"

  "Of course I remember clearly, that day was my mother's birthday, how could I possibly enter the palace?"

  Gu Ling slightly furrowed his brow, while Shi Ningxiang looked at him calmly: "Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

  Liao Qingyun suddenly said: "You actually dislike the Grand Princess in your heart."

  This sentence is neither a question nor a doubt, but an affirmation.

  She looked at Liao Qingyun with an unchanged expression: "She is a princess, of noble status, and two years older than me. We have different personalities, so naturally there's nothing in common to talk about, and emotions can't be deep either, but..."

  Looking at Liao Qingyun's gaze was somewhat unpleasant: "It doesn't mean I'll dislike her in my heart."

  Liao Qingyun's mouth hooked up: "Although the eldest princess was born into the royal family, her identity is noble, but she is your cousin, yet in Miss Shi's mouth, you seem extremely reluctant to call her 'eldest princess' or 'cousin'?"

  "I didn't say I liked her either. I don't like her, but it's not that I dislike her. This kind of feeling is normal for people like us, isn't it?"

  Gu Ling didn't make a sound, maintaining a smile on his face as he looked at Shi Ningxiang.

  "Not true..." Liao Qingyun's refuting voice was neither loud nor soft, still in a flat tone.

  "What's wrong?" Shi Ningxiang was puzzled.

  "In the winter of the fifth year of celebration, for a whole year, the eldest princess lived in the Shi family."

  Gu Ling was stunned and looked at Liao Qingyun in surprise, he hadn't seen this record on the case files.

  Shi Ningxiang was taken aback, but her expression quickly recovered: "What's the point of that? At that time, my sister was only five years old, and I was only three years old. We were just innocent children, how much could we remember?"

  "Logically speaking, Da Gong Zhu had lived with Shi Jia for a year, and the feelings between you two should not be so dull, unless... you had an unpleasant conflict and bore a grudge."

  Shi Ningxiang smiled slightly and looked at Liao Qingyun again: "Let's not discuss whether your inference is true or not, okay? Let's assume it's true, what's the problem with that? Forgive my ignorance, I don't understand."

  "I don't know if Miss Shi has heard of this saying?" Gu Ling stared at her, speaking slowly.

  "What's going on? Master Gu, don't beat around the bush. I dislike it most when people play riddles with me."

  "There's something strange about this matter!"

  Shi Ningxiang was taken aback...

  Liao Qingyun narrowed his eyes and stared at her, saying very seriously: "The Zuo Zhuan says: When heaven goes against the times, it is a disaster; when earth goes against things, it is a monster; when people go against virtue, it is chaos. Chaos gives birth to monsters and disasters. Everything that does not conform to reason often has its root hidden behind."

  In the pavilion, a burst of laughter echoed, Shi Ningxiang's low chuckle sounded out loud, her clever eyes sparkled with amusement as she glanced around, and her mouth couldn't stop smiling: "Gu Gongzi, Liao Gongzi, I really didn't expect it, haha, you...you actually joined forces to describe the little discordant thoughts between our families with the phrase 'when heaven rebels, disaster is born; when earth rebels, monsters are born; when people rebel, chaos is born, and chaos breeds monsters'? Are you all on high alert, afraid of not being able to uncover the truth of the case and being punished by the Emperor? So, what's clearly just a sesame seed, you're insisting on making it into a moon?"

  At this moment, an unpleasant voice came from afar!

  "Shi Ningxiang, I thought you knew I was coming and didn't dare to come, but it turns out you were hiding here, showing off your talents again, aren't you?"