Card Room

Chapter 434 - Meeting

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang naturally couldn’t show their real faces. After all, Xiao Lou’s face was exposed to the public at the birthday banquet and there were many related reports in the news. Almost all the people in the Locke Empire could recognize the crown prince. It was difficult not to be recognized even in a foreign nation.

Fortunately, he and Yu Hanjiang each had the Mask card which allowed them to disguise themselves and change their appearance at will.

Xiao Lou turned himself into a 20 year old university student who had just graduated while Yu Hanjiang turned himself into an intern. Both of them looked very young and were in line with the setting of ‘intern’ that Dr. Edwin had mentioned.

At noon the next day, the disguised Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang arrived at Saint Paul’s Hospital.

The two of them were dressed in white coats with the name tag of interns hung on their chest. They quickly passed the inspection at the entrance of the hospital and entered the obstetrics and gynecology building to find the room where Dr. Edwin was on duty.

Professor Edwin was sorting out the cases. He didn’t ask too much when seeing the two of them and just said, “You follow me and learn.”

Xiao Lou glanced at the case data on his screen. Xiao Rou was three months pregnant and everything was stable. She was also pregnant with twins. Originally, she had made an appointment for an examination next month. Now she suddenly mentioned it in order to give Xiao Lou and the others a chance to go to the hospital and meet her.

At 2:40 p.m., Professor Edwin left the clinic office and took the two ‘interns’ to the treatment area to hide in a VIP examination room.

A moment later, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang heard familiar voices in their ears. Xiao Rou and Prince Herman had arrived.

Xiao Rou said, “Professor, please give me another check. In the past few days, I have always felt very stuffy and my stomach isn’t very comfortable. I don’t sleep well at night and am suffering from insomnia.”

Prince Herman frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me if you weren’t feeling well?”

Xiao Rou softly told him, “I didn’t want you to worry.”

Prince Herman asked, “Professor, is her condition serious?”

Professor Edwin comforted him. “The princess might just be having a relatively strong reaction in the early stage of her pregnancy. Don’t worry too much. The results of the last examination were all normal. Today I will help you check it thoroughly. Princess, please come with me.”

Herman wanted to follow but the professor stopped him. “Please wait in the office. It isn’t convenient for family members to enter the examination room of the obstetrics and gynecology department. I will call you when I do an abdominal ultrasound for the princess. You can see the two little babies in 4D color ultrasound.”

Prince Herman didn’t think too much. He smiled as he kissed Xiao Rou’s forehead and said, “I’ll wait for you outside.”

Xiao Rou was helped into the examination room by the old professor with gray hair.

The moment she entered the room, she met a pair of clear and bright eyes. The man was dressed in a white coat and looked like a young student who had just graduated. His facial features were ordinary.

Xiao Rou murmured softly, “You are…”

Professor Edwin said, “Princess, they came to see me last night.”

Xiao Rou told him, “Professor, let me talk to them alone.”

The old professor nodded and advised, “I will give you 10 minutes. I’ll try to hold back the prince.”

After he left, Xiao Rou stepped forward and stared into Xiao Rou’s eyes. “Xiao Lou, is that you?”

Xiao Lou took off the mask and smiled. “Sister, it has been a long time.”

The young man in front of her was handsome and had an outstanding temperament. She could vaguely see what their father looked like when he was young.

Xiao Rou excitedly grabbed his hand, her voice trembling slightly. “How did you come here? Isn’t it dangerous for you to do this? In the palace, I don’t know if there are still…” She paused, her eyes full of struggle as if she was hesitating over whether to speak or not.

Xiao Lou continued, “There is someone who looks exactly like me?”

Xiao Rou stared. “How do you know?”

Xiao Lou calmly said, “I’ve seen them.”

Xiao Rou’s face was pale and her hands were clenched tightly by her side.

Xiao Lou asked her gently, “Sister, can you tell me what you know? Am I a clone as well?”

Xiao Rou looked up at the handsome young man in front of her, her fingers trembling as she slightly caressed Xiao Lou’s forehead. Xiao Lou didn’t avoid it until her fingers stopped on the upper left corner of Xiao Lou’s forehead in the hairline position.

She whispered, “You are my brother.”

Xiao Lou was puzzled. “How can you tell?”

Xiao Rou’s eyes were very soft as she choked out, “Mother wasn’t in good health so I was the one who took care of you after you were born. Once, due to my negligence, I accidentally knocked over a cup and burned you with hot water. You were less than three years old and cried non-stop. I held you to coax you but it was useless. I was so scared….”

She gently touched a small piece of black at the corner of Xiao Lou’s forehead. “After your wound here healed, there was a scar left. I was worried that the scar would be ugly. However, I would be scolded by Father if I sent you for cosmetic surgery. Therefore, I found a tattoo artist and tattooed the scar black. You can’t see it because it is usually blocked by your hair but once you push up your hair, it will be very clear. It is a nail-sized tattoo that only I know about.”

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other with realization.

At the birthday banquet, the prince’s hairstyle was delicate and revealed his smooth forehead. There was no trace of a tattoo at all. Therefore, Xiao Rou knew with one glance that he wasn’t her real brother.

She had taken care of Xiao Lou since he was born and she was the person who knew Xiao Lou best.

In addition, this was a tattoo she had left herself.

After hearing that Xiao Lou was the real prince and not a clone, Yu Hanjiang couldn’t help feeling a bit complicated. No matter the identity, Yu Hanjiang would always protect Xiao Lou. However, if Xiao Lou was the true prince, why didn’t the emperor let him attend the engagement banquet, birthday banquet and other important occasions?

Xiao Lou also had these doubts and he took a deep breath. “When did you know about the existence of the clones?”

Xiao Rou answered with a pale face, “I accidentally saw something terrible when you were five years old. You were too young and I couldn’t tell you. Mother was ill and I didn’t dare tell her out of fear of stimulating her… I was trying to figure it all these years but there seems to be an agreement between Herman and Father. Since I married him, he has people secretly spying on me. It is hard for me to contact you, let alone see you.”

Xiao Lou listened to her choked up voice and his heart softened. “Sister, don’t blame yourself. It isn’t your fault. I’ve grown up so tell me what you know. I will find a way.”

Xiao Rou nodded. “Not long after your fifth birthday, Father suddenly called you over. I was curious and followed secretly. Then I found a man in a white coat had entered the palace and drew a lot of blood from you. You were unconscious and I didn’t know what he wanted to do with your blood.”

Xiao Rou recalled the scene she had witnessed back then and couldn’t help trembling. “Later, I went to the Imperial Central Hospital to see Mother and once again saw the doctor who came to draw blood from you that day. I always thought the doctor was a bit strange so out of curiosity, I knocked out the nurse. I put on a mask, pretended to be a nurse and snuck into the laboratory.”

Xiao Lou asked softly, “Then? Did you see the clones?”

Xiao Rou nodded. “There were many five year old children who looked exactly the same as you, soaked in liquid filled with nutrients!”

Xiao Lou imagined the scene and couldn’t help getting goosebumps.

Xiao Rou held her head in her hands. “I almost fainted and hurriedly ran away. I was afraid I would be killed for knowing something I shouldn’t know, so I always pretended that nothing happened. Not long after, Father suddenly proposed to marry me to the crown prince of the Azure Empire. At that time, Mother was recovering from her illness and I had no choice but to agree…”

Her eyes were full of tears as she looked at Xiao Lou. “Xiao Lou, sorry, I couldn’t stay in the palace to protect you. I was helpless as a girl and I was only 20 years old. I didn’t dare say anything. I was really too afraid. I had nightmares every night for some time.”

“It’s fine. No one could do better if they were in your position.” Xiao Lou gently touched her shoulder. “I have lost a lot of memories from when I was five years old. What happened that year?”

Xiao Rou’s face was pale as she clenched her fists hard. “I don’t know but my guess is that the five year old clones of you must have important uses. Otherwise, why copy so many of you?”

Xiao Lou’s expression changed slightly. “So many? How many did you see back then?”

Xiao Rou didn’t want to recall that horrible scene. She gritted her teeth and answered, “Hundreds of them were neatly arranged in the nutrient solutions for raising children. Those children… some of them smiled and their smiles were exactly the same as yours.”

A chill went down Xiao Lou’s spine as he spoke in a deep voice, “In other words, I am the real prince raised by you. I have the scar and tattoo that you left for me on my forehead. Father doesn’t know about it. When I was five years old, he made hundreds of clones of me out of my blood? What does he want to do?!”

7th anniversary celebration event

Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality