Chapter 572 - 572: I Remember!
Yu Niaoniao and Xiao Juan declined Village Head Zhang’s enthusiastic invitation to stay. The two of them left the Zhang family with the portrait.
On the way back, Xiao Juan saw that Niaoniao was troubled, so he advised. “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I’m here for everything.”
Yu Niaoniao turned to look at him. “Don’t you think the young Li Niang looks a little familiar?”
Xiao Juan asked, “Do you think she looks similar to Feng Lianghan?”
Yu Niaoniao shook her head.
“No, it’s not.”
Objectively speaking, Li Niang and Feng Lianghan were indeed a little similar, but the reason why Yu Niaoniao found her familiar was not because of Feng Lianghan.
However, Yu Niaoniao could not remember who it was for a while.
This blurry feeling made her very anxious.
She kept a straight face, her lips pressed tightly together.
She had to remember who it was.
Xiao Juan was worried that she would split hairs, only to go down a dead end. After returning to the city, Xiao Juan specially found a popular restaurant, wanting to bring Niaoniao in to eat something delicious and help her divert her attention.
This move was indeed effective with Niaoniao.
Looking at the dazzling array of delicious snacks, Yu Niaoniao temporarily threw those messy thoughts to the back of her mind and could not wait to follow Xiao Juan into the restaurant.
The restaurant was filled with people. Yu Niaoniao and Xiao Juan had no choice but to share a table with others.
The old couple and a child shared the table with them.
The old grandfather and grandson were discussing what they wanted to eat. The old lady took out a handkerchief she carried with her and carefully wiped the bowls and chopsticks of the three of them.
Seeing this, the old grandfather could not help but mutter. “Why are you so particular about going out for a meal?”
The old lady glanced at him sideways and said slowly.
“I’ve been so particular since I was young. Back then, I was also a famous beauty in our family”.
“My parents even spent money to hire a female teacher to teach me zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. They wanted me to marry a scholar in the future.”
“Unexpectedly, I have bad eyesight and actually liked you
‘You were a scholar when I married you.’
“Now that our grandchildren are running around, you’re still a scholar. I’m old with white hair. Without youth and beauty, this is all that’s left.”
“And you’re complaining about me? Are you letting me down?” The old grandfather’s head swelled from her nagging and he hurriedly
admitted his mistake.
“Alright, alright, alright. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”
Xiao Juan looked at the wooden sign hanging on the wall. The wooden sign was filled with the names of the dishes.
He did not know what was delicious here, so he wanted to ask Niaoniao, a local.
Unexpectedly, he called out twice but did not receive a response. He turned around and saw her staring straight at the old lady sitting opposite the table.
She had heard the conversation between the old lady and the old man.
Those words sounded ordinary, but like a bolt of lightning, they dispelled all the fog in her mind. Her blurry thoughts suddenly became clear.
The old granny clearly noticed Yu Niaoniao’s gaze and took the initiative to ask.
“Little girl, why are you looking at me? Have we met before?”
However, Yu Niaoniao did not seem to hear the old lady’s question. She suddenly grabbed Xiao Juan’s wrist and said excitedly.
“I remember!”
Xiao Juan was puzzled. “What did you think of?”
Yu Niaoniao said quickly, “I remember now. It’s the Empress Dowager. When Li
Niang was young, she looked a little similar to the Empress Dowager!”
Hearing her say this, Xiao Juan also felt that Li Niang’s nose was indeed a little similar to the Empress Dowager’s.
However, the Empress Dowager had taken good care of herself. Even though she was old, she still had some beauty from her youth, but Li Niang had experienced destruction. Time had left countless marks on her face, completely changing her appearance.
If the scar on Li Niang’s face was removed and the Empress Dowager became younger, their appearance would definitely be even more similar.
Initially, Yu Niaoniao did not think of this. It was the old lady opposite the table who reminded Niaoniao, making her think of the Empress Dowager.
The three of them sitting across the table were stunned.
They thought they had misheard. The young lady opposite them actually knew the Empress Dowager!
That was a big shot they did not even dare to mention!
Yu Niaoniao ignored the surprised gazes of the others and continued.
“Do you remember the last word the assassin said before he died? He actually didn’t mean wait. He meant Deng instead of “wait”!”
It was Empress Dowager Deng!
Xiao Juan noticed the gazes of the surrounding people. He held Niaoniao’s hand and whispered.
“This is not a place to talk. Let’s go.”
There were too many people here. It would not be good if someone with a heart sat beside them and heard their conversation.
At this moment, Yu Niaoniao was no longer in the mood to eat.
She stood up impatiently and left the restaurant with Xiao Juan.
The two of them rode back to the Feng family’s old residence.
After returning home, Yu Niaoniao plunged into the study.
She first drew Li Niang’s young appearance again. This time, she deliberately did not engrave a scar so that Li Niang’s appearance could be completely displayed.
Then she drew a portrait of the Empress Dowager when she was young.
She had never seen the Empress Dowager when she was young and could only push it back according to her facial features and the outline of her face.
However, after both paintings were completed, Xiao Juan helped her compare the two paintings together.
From the looks of it, not only were their noses similar, but even their mouths were similar.
If anyone who didn’t know better saw this, they would think that they were sisters!
Yu Niaoniao muttered, “This can’t be a coincidence. There must be a relationship between Li Niang and the Empress Dowager.”
This development was really beyond Xiao Juan’s expectations. For a moment, he did not know what to say.
If their guess was true, then the Empress Dowager was probably behind the Feng family’s annihilation.
But why did she do it?
Even if there was really some grudge between the Empress Dowager and Li
Niang, it was a matter of the previous generation. Besides, the Empress Dowager was already the mother of the country and had an extremely respected status. She really did not have to make things difficult for a few commoners.
No matter how he looked at it, this matter was very strange.
Xiao Juan said in a low voice, “Looks like we have to go to Luzhou.”
Yu Niaoniao was puzzled. “Luzhou?”
Xiao Juan said, “The Deng family’s main family is in Luzhou, which is also Empress Dowager Deng’s hometown. We can go there and ask. Perhaps we can find out what the relationship between Empress Dowager Deng and Li Niang is.”
Yu Niaoniao said impatiently.
“Let’s set off now!”
Xiao Juan said, “Don’t be anxious. Luzhou is far from here. We have to spend some time preparing the carriage and luggage. Moreover, Little Lo and Little Hai were busy last night. Let them rest well today. It’s not too late to set off tomorrow morning.”
Yu Niaoniao could only suppress her eagerness and answer honestly.
“All right, then.”
Lo Pingsha and Ling Hai slept all day and only woke up at night.
After sleeping well, the two of them were much better.
Yu Niaoniao told them that they were leaving for Heron State tomorrow morning. Although they were surprised, they quickly accepted this plan and prepared to have a good night’s sleep to recuperate so that they could travel tomorrow.
Just as everyone fell asleep, Xiao Juan suddenly received a secret letter from the Imperial Capital..