They had settled Princess Consort and her party in a side courtyard. With no time for preparations, a hot pot dinner was arranged for the evening.
Sure enough, even Princess Consort and her husband could not escape the allure of the hot pot.
But when Auntie Shuang saw the hot pot, she seemed to recall something, staring at Luo Ge lost in thought for a long while.
....... That night.
After returning to her chamber, Luo Ge inexplicably recalled her conversation with Princess Consort and the others earlier that day.
"What are you thinking about?" Noticing her demeanor, Gu Jinchen leaned in curiously.
Luo Ge pondered for a moment, then briefly recounted the day's events to him.
"...It must be a coincidence, right?"
Like Luo Ge, Gu Jinchen was aware of her origins, so he shared her perspective.
It seemed to be just a coincidence.
Luo Ge nodded upon hearing this.
"I think so too, but every time I interact with Princess Consort, I feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity, which leaves me puzzled."
Gu Jinchen's expression showed understanding after hearing her words. After a moment's thought, he spoke again.
"However, regarding Princess Consort's maternal aunt you mentioned, I do know a little about her. I've heard that Lady Qian once had a daughter, but unfortunately, she passed away at a young age."
"Lady Qian has been deeply grieved by this and has not recovered to this day. She prays to the Buddha daily."
"Interestingly, if that young lady had not passed away, her age would be comparable to yours."
As Princess Consort belonged to the imperial family, matters concerning the imperial household were of great importance to the nation and its people.
Moreover, as Princess Consort of The Prince of Nanyang, she was akin to the guardian deity of the southern territories.
The people of the southern territories naturally paid close attention to and understood the affairs of their guardian.
Lady Qian herself was once a renowned extraordinary woman, so it was not difficult for people to know about her achievements.
Listening to Gu Jinchen's words, Luo Ge tilted her head back.
"You know her? Can you tell me more about her?"
For some reason, upon hearing that Lady Qian prayed for her child daily, Luo Ge's heart twinged with a slight ache.
Lady Qian's deeds were known far and wide, and most people had heard of her. Seeing Luo Ge's curiosity, Gu Jinchen shared what he knew with her.
"When mentioning Lady Qian, the calligraphic style currently used in our dynasty should be the first thing that comes to mind."
"Princess Consort's mother and Lady Qian were sisters from the same mother. Princess Consort's mother was the elder."
"They were from a renowned scholarly family of the previous dynasty, a top-tier family known for their literary legacy that had produced many Imperial Tutors.
In fact, Lady Qian and her sister's grandfather was an Imperial Tutor himself.
The calligraphic style currently used in our dynasty was created by Lady Qian and the Old Imperial Tutor together."
Gu Jinchen found paper and a brush, wrote a few examples of the calligraphic styles used in the previous dynasty and the current one for comparison, and handed them to Luo Ge for inspection.
"The calligraphic style used in our previous dynasty was complex and inconvenient.
The style Lady Qian and the Old Imperial Tutor created was much simpler and easier to understand.
When The previous emperor saw it, he tried it out and found it very good, so he changed his own calligraphic style to this simpler one.
The court officials followed suit... Gradually, our dynasty's calligraphic style evolved into the 'simplified' style we use today."
"Besides this, Lady Qian also learned about many strange tales and even ancient texts on improving weapons and making gunpowder from the Old Imperial Tutor.
It is said that Lady Qian once tried to make gunpowder according to the ancient texts, but her later attempts were unsuccessful."
"After that, the gunpowder-making endeavor was inexplicably abandoned.
The next time news of Lady Qian spread, it was about the tragic passing of her daughter, after which Lady Qian devoted herself to Buddhist prayers."
From these accounts, Lady Qian does indeed seem to have been an extraordinary woman.
This was the extent of what Gu Jinchen knew about Lady Qian.
"What's wrong?" he asked, puzzled by Luo Ge's astonished expression.
At this moment, Luo Ge was also perplexed. Why did the details Gu Jinchen shared about Lady Qian sound so much like the life of a transmigrated female lead from a novel?
Listening to Gu Jinchen's words, she couldn't help but become curious about Lady Qian.
"Madam?" Seeing Luo Ge's silence, Gu Jinchen leaned closer.
"Ah." Startled by Gu Jinchen's voice, Luo Ge snapped back to attention.
"Hearing you describe this Lady Qian, she truly seems to have been an extraordinary woman. If given the chance, I would love to meet her."
After a moment's thought, she pulled Gu Jinchen closer and shared her speculation with him.
"However, I can't help but feel that she might be from my hometown."
"Hm?"
Seeing Gu Jinchen's puzzled expression, Luo Ge pulled him closer and explained the modern context behind the situations he had mentioned, along with her own speculation.
After listening, Gu Jinchen was even more perplexed. He stared at Luo Ge in bewilderment before tentatively asking, "So, you're saying Lady Qian might be from the same place as you?"
Luo Ge nodded. "It seems so."
She could only say that it sounded just like the situation of a transmigrated female lead from ancient novels!
Hearing Luo Ge's words, Gu Jinchen instinctively blinked a few times, then pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Do you want to meet her?"
Luo Ge nodded, then shook her head.
"I would be curious, but in such a situation, it's best not to meet her if it's truly possible."
"However, for now, we're only speculating. It may just be a coincidence and not as I imagine."
After all, this was a parallel world, a different space-time continuum.
Gu Jinchen nodded upon hearing her words.
As the moonlight streamed in from outside, he reached out and gently stroked her hair.
"Go to sleep, it's getting late."
"Mm." Lost in her thoughts, Luo Ge leaned against his shoulder and gradually drifted into slumber.
Gu Jinchen gazed at her features, carefully leaving space for her stomach, and gently patted her back to lull her to sleep.
..................
At that moment, miles away in a distant residence.
Lady Qian woke up again from a dream, staring into the pitch-black darkness as she recalled the visions from her dream, tears suddenly streaming down her face.
The man sleeping beside her woke up startled by the commotion. Upon seeing her state, he quickly sat up and wiped away her tears.
He walked to the bedside and poured her a cup of water.
"What's wrong? Did you have another nightmare?" He gently patted her back, carefully soothing her.