I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 198 - 135: The Truth (Part 2)

Gu Lan asked, "Then...what happened afterwards? Did the siblings and the maid just sit there waiting for their doom?"

Nian Xia pulled out a handkerchief from her bosom. Gu Lan saw that a lotus flower was embroidered on it. She didn’t use the handkerchief to wipe her tears but softly gazed at the lotus flower, saying:

"Later, the maid and the sister finally found an opportunity where they could escape surveillance and be alone."

Gu Lan’s eyes tightened as she said, "Rowing a boat on the lake, collecting lotus roots for the brother."

Nian Xia held back her tears and laughed, "It seems Rong Heng really trusts you."

"Prince Rui said it." Gu Lan recalled Prince Rui’s words in the military camp, as if they were still echoing in her ears.

He said, Rong Heng has a sister named Rong Luo.

He said, Rong Luo was pushed off the boat by a palace maid while collecting lotus roots for Rong Heng. As she was recuperating from the cold, she was poisoned by the palace maid whom Rong Heng mistakenly trusted to take care of her.

He said, Rong Heng already avenged Rong Luo by personally killing the palace maid.

Later, Rong Heng told her the maid’s name was Xia He.

Prince Rui didn’t know the truth because Rong Heng didn’t tell him the full story; he could only blame the Fifth Prince for mistakenly trusting the maid, causing harm to his sister.

Nian Xia said through tears, "Rong Shuo, that fool."

Then, she gently said:

"The maid and the sister, while rowing on the lake, were finally able to express the worries in their hearts. They knew full well how ruthless their potential enemies were and understood that those people’s aim was to make the brother heartless, hopeless, and distrusting of any women. Hence—"

At this point, Nian Xia couldn’t control her emotions anymore. Her tears fell uncontrollably as she lowered her head, burying her face in her arm, trembling all over, yet her hoarse words didn’t stop.

"They understood that the brother’s despair wouldn’t come just from the sister’s death but from a brutal betrayal. Since they couldn’t stop these events from happening, they could only... go with the flow."

Gu Lan finally understood why Brother Hang had always been capricious in his attitude towards women.

And why Rong Heng publicly showed disdain for lotus flowers but said nothing when seeing the lotus flower palace lantern in private.

She softly spoke, following Nian Xia’s words: "Thus, the maid betrayed the siblings, caused the sister’s death, and left the brother completely hopeless."

"Then, she was killed by the brother." Nian Xia raised her blood-red eyes, "She willingly chose to be killed, exchanging for the siblings’ lives, securing those people’s trust in the brother."

The Magpie Workshop Master, with a weary and worldly demeanor, stared at the handkerchief that was clean but already somewhat yellowed, solemnly enunciating:

"She was not just a maid, palace girl, servant; she was Xia He, a person Rong Luo would never forget in her lifetime."

A vision of Xia He appeared in Nian Xia’s eyes, remembering her smile and voice. That girl was just sixteen, with a beautiful smile, a crisp and pleasant voice, gently calling, "Princess, Your Highness, it’s time to dine."

Mother had just died; in the Imperial Court that year, Xiao Yi and others couldn’t contact them, and Rong Shuo couldn’t protect anyone. She and Rong Heng were just children, exiled from a broken family in the Imperial Court; even if they died, they would only be lonely wandering spirits in the Imperial Palace.

It was Xia He who taught her how to survive in the indifferent and warm human relationships of the Imperial Palace, caring for her and Rong Heng like nothing bad had ever happened.

Every time she also helped cover up the brother escaping the palace to learn medicine from the Ghost Doctor.

To protect them, Xia He endured humiliation and insults from those palace attendants who used to flatter them, got injured but only dared to secretly treat the wounds, fearing to make her sad.

Sadness is the cheapest thing in a desperate situation.

Back then, Rong Luo, who she called Lu’er, would tell Xia He she was no longer a princess and wanted Xia He to call her Lu’er; actually, she wished Xia He would call her Lu’er, so she could just call Xia He sister.

Yet, stubbornly, Xia He kept calling her princess and Rong Heng Your Highness, saying that the etiquette mustn’t be abolished.

Xia He also said that she had grown up with the princess and the empress had been very kind to her, and she would accompany them siblings down the road.

But in the Imperial Palace, so many who received kindness from the empress fled like monkeys when the tree fell.

That elder sister who said she would always stay with her eventually died in that Imperial Palace.

Nian Xia still remembers Xia He’s words before her death:

"I am the filthiest mud in this palace. Only the princess and Your Highness are willing to treat me as a human. Princess, in my next life, I am willing to serve you again."

She wanted to tell Xia He she wasn’t dirty at all.

What is the difference between a princess and a maid?

If there’s a difference, then she would rather not be a princess but a prostitute, the most despised by the world.

Nian Xia lifted her head, muttering:

"See, now I am even dirtier, you are human, I am human, we are equal, you don’t have to be a maid anymore."

Gu Lan struggled to calm her heart, recalling Han Xuan’er’s words about the medicine’s scent, Rong Heng’s frost-covered face hiding his worries, and Prince Rui’s statement saying Rong Heng was merely nine years old when he killed Xia He.

Why Rong Heng saved Han Xuan’er, why he saved Wei Lan, why he tirelessly risked his life to save the people of the capital, and why he kept women at arm’s length.

He needed to feign disdain for women to eliminate the doubt and suspicion in the hearts of those who wished to harm him.

And that he lived,

was through Xia He’s life, through Nian Xia’s identity, through countless means and lives sacrificed.

Princess Rong Luo wasn’t betrayed by her own maid; rather, she was saved by Xia He.

The actual blow that could break someone’s spine and tame the most proud person’s mortal strike doesn’t exist.

Fifth Young Master Rong presented himself as detached and ruthless,

but his blood,

has always been warm.

Gu Lan thought again, wondering how Brother Hang, pretending to dislike women for so many years, probably indeed got used to it, becoming detached and indifferent, so in the original book, even after gaining high power, he had no affection for any woman... Of course, nor man.

Uh, why did she think of this question?