The Ace Bigshot Becomes A Farmgirl

Chapter 1363: Chapter 1363: A Hairpin Gifted

The handwriting on the handkerchief was very messy and equally brief.

The fact that the Xiao Family could only use makeup and bloodstains to write indicates that time and conditions were limited, and the information they could reveal was only so much.

After receiving the handkerchief, Xiang Weinan wore a solemn expression, knowing that he needed to see the Xiao Family again.

He hadn’t anticipated that after just returning to meet the Emperor and learning from His Majesty that the Second Prince might still be alive, he would immediately determine the whereabouts of the Second Prince from the Xiao Family.

This matter was of great importance, and it was clear that the Xiao Family had no personal freedom, even their parents were held hostage to control them.

Fortunately, Xiang Weinan was the son-in-law of the Xiao Family, so going to visit his father-in-law and wife was a perfectly normal behavior.

A few days later, Xiang Weinan bought a lot of supplements and visited the Xiao Family once again.

In the presence of the monitoring maid, he casually told the Xiao Family to stay put at the Xiao Family’s place and take good care of his father-in-law.

Everyone knew that Xiang Weinan and the Xiao Family’s marriage was forced by the latter, and his attitude towards the Xiao Family was not surprising.

Fortunately, the Xiao Family didn’t know that he had always been working for the Emperor. They believed that marrying the Xiao Family to him would ensure his loyalty. Unfortunately, before they could, the former Emperor passed away and a new Emperor ascended the throne.

Because of this, the Xiang Family wasn’t marginalized by being aligned with the Third Prince’s faction.

The new Emperor, in honor of the old Earl, transferred Xiang Weinan back to the capital due to the Xiang family’s networking. Even though his position upon return wasn’t high and was only a sinecure, it was better than being stuck as a county magistrate in a small county town.

The Xiao Family and the Third Prince thought this was the new Emperor’s way of showing the court officials that he was magnanimous and valued old ties.

Because the Xiao Family didn’t know Xiang Weinan’s stance, they didn’t strictly prohibit his contact with the Xiao Family.

The time Xiang Weinan spent at the Xiao Family was also not very long; he left soon afterward.

However, before leaving, he gave a jade hairpin to the Xiao Family to appease them.

After Xiang Weinan left, the maid confiscated the hairpin for inspection, found nothing wrong, and returned it to the Xiao Family.

But when the Xiao Family went to the toilet, she took off the hairpin, dismantled the bead on the hairpin, and hollowed out the hairpin.

The hairpin was filled with the same material ground into powder, a slight poke would make the powder fall out.

The originally solid hairpin became hollow, and then the Xiao Family hid the charcoal stick Xiang Weinan gave her inside the hairpin.

With this charcoal stick, it became much easier for the Xiao Family to write anything.

Now, besides having her own space only when going to the toilet, at all other times, she was being monitored.

But even when she went to the toilet, those two people waited outside, urging her from time to time.

However, with the charcoal stick, Xiao Family’s actions became more successful.

When Xiang Weinan came again next time and received the Xiao Family’s letter, he finally understood all the causes and consequences of the matter.

After returning to the capital from Jiangyuan County, Xiao Family went back to her family’s home to visit her parents the next day.

Upon her arrival, she unexpectedly saw the figure of the Second Prince, who was supposed to have drowned.

The figure flashed by, just a silhouette, and the Xiao Family herself wasn’t quite sure. Suspecting she might have been mistaken, she didn’t give it much thought.

Who knew that the Xiao Family would quickly replace the trusted Nanny Gu and confidante Hewen around her, and reassigned two maids to closely attend to her, not even allowing her to return to the Xiang Family.

This move, instead, confirmed the Xiao Family’s suspicions in her heart.