“A prince was born. The empress who was waiting outside the palace was about to go in to see, but the prince suddenly disappeared!”
“Disappeared?” Surprised, Feng Zhi Wei asked, “How is that possible?”
“You are right.” Lu Rui let out a bitter smile, “Everyone in the hall was watching, so how would it be possible. Yet, the babe disappeared. Afterwards, the empress was furious and interrogated everyone present. Everyone said that after Concubine Mi gave birth, it started to look like she might be hemorrhaging blood. It sounded like her mind was also confused, as she was yelling and shouting wildly. In the chaos, everyone rushed to check on her. At around the same time, the nanny who was holding the prince was preparing to bathe him, but suddenly took a fall. When she got up, the child was gone.”
Skipping over a small part where Lu Rui explains that Xiliang’s emperor was never informed about what had happened to his son. Apparently, the emperor had suffered a stroke while he was away from the palace. The officials didn’t dare to let the matter be known publicly. The Regent found an excuse to rush them back to the palace, but the emperor never did wake up. Feng Zhi Wei did some quick calculations and realized the emperor’s death wasn’t announced until a year and a half later. When questioned why no one in court questioned that the emperor hadn’t appeared for that long of a time, Lu Rui explained that the emperor’s health was actually quite bad due to his time on the battlefield, so he spent most of his days in pursuit of eternal life and left most matters to his brother thus no one thought it was strange to not see him for a long time.
Lu Rui further explained that the matter of the prince’s disappearance was violently suppressed. Anyone involved was either sent away or killed. It wasn’t until much later that Lu Rui finally caught on to what might’ve happened and had been secretly investigating. In the meantime, the emperor’s brother- the Regent started to switch all the key military leaders with his own trusted men. Some people in the imperial court noticed and were alarmed, but they were soon eliminated by various excuses. The remaining officials had either joined the Regent’s camp or, like Lu Rui, joined the Regent on the surface but are still hoping for a chance to fight back.
Lu Rui also told Feng Zhi Wei that they actually have no idea when the emperor died. Turns out the emperor’s dried out corpse was found when a newbie eunche wandered into the emperor’s room by accident when he sleepwalked. The emperor’s dried-out corpse was apparently emitting a strange fragrance.
Thinking of how the old emperor’s body must have gone through some sort of mummified procedure and that some sort of fragrance must have been burned around the clock to hide certain smells, Feng Zhi Wei couldn’t help but be amazed that this was the ending of her mother’s biggest nemesis. Who would’ve thought the fearsome warrior, a man who had built an empire by himself, would meet his end in such a way that even his dead body would be at the mercy of his own wife and brother?
When the old emperor’s death was revealed, it caused quite a bit of chaos in the Xiliang court until the Grand Empress Dong read the old emperor’s edict, making his young grandchild the next emperor under the Grand Empress’s guidance, with most court matters being personally handled by the Regent. All the court officials knew something was off, but by this point, the Regent’s influence had spread all over, and no one dared to say anything.
In hopes of gaining any clues of what happened to Concubine Mi and her baby, Lu Rui sent her own young son into the palace to serve as the young emperor’s guard. The little chubby boy was Lu Rui’s son, but unfortunately, the grand empress’s control was too complete in the palace, and his son was not able to gain any useful information.
“I never thought I would listen to such a thrilling secret history of the Xiliang royal family tonight.” Feng Zhi Wei pondered for a moment, then said with a smile, “These matters would be secrets never to be shared in any country. Why did the Grand Marshal trust me so much and told me everything?”
Lu Rui let out a wry smile, thinking inwardly of course he wasn’t willing to lay it all out. But if he had not explained clearly, then would Marquis Wei, being the type of man who wouldn’t release the eagle unless he spots the rabbit, be willing to say another word to him? Yet look who is playing dumb now? Lu Rui could only stand up and bow deeply, “A heart will only open when sincerity is shown to it. Lu Rui only hopes that Marquis Wei would be willing to tell me truthfully regarding your daughter’s origin.”
Feng Zhi Wei pondered for a moment and was about to speak when Gu Nan Yi suddenly coughed lightly. Feng Zhi Wei raised her eyes, and their gazes met in the dark room. This was the first time that Master Gu took the initiative to send her a secret signal to express his own opinion. Feng Zhi Wei smiled and comforted Master Gu with her gaze. She then immediately said to Lu Rui, “Zhi Xiao was picked up by me at Fengzhou Wharf in South Sea in the autumn of the thirteenth year of Tiansheng. At that time, there was a riot at Fengzhou Wharf. Zhi Xiao was protected under a basin with a woman lying on top of it. She probably died to protect her. I had assumed it was Zhi Xiao’s mother, but now it seems she wasn’t?”
Lu Rui’s eyes lit up as he listened. He stood up quickly and asked, “Does your daughter have any longevity locks or other items to prove her birthdate or identity?”
Feng Zhi Wei smiled frankly, “No.”
Taken aback, Lu Rui asked suspiciously, “No? Really, nothing?”
“Official Lu doesn’t know the situation at the time.” Feng Zhi Wei said, “The Fengzhou Wharf was in great chaos with many criminals and bad characters from the Chang clan roaming around. The woman died in a corner of the wharf. Her body had already been searched. Even if she had some valuables with her, they would have all been robbed.”
Lu Rui sat down in a daze, frowning with a hesitant expression on his face.
Seeing his expression, Feng Zhi Wei suddenly said with a laugh, “Official Lui, are you actually suspecting that the emperor in your imperial palace is not the real one? Are you suspecting my Zhi Wei is the real one? But that’s ridiculous. Apart from anything else, the difference between men and women is obvious. Concubine Mi gave birth to a prince.”
“Prince or princess, who knows?” Lu Rui sneered, “The child disappeared right after birth. With most of the people serving that night dead, I am afraid only Concubine Mi and one or two powerful people knew the gender of the baby. Marquis Wei, you are a capable minister of Tiansheng, you should know that under the circumstances at that time, Concubine Mi could only give birth to a prince. Even if it was not a prince, then it will have to be.”
“But how does this involve Zhi Xiao? The process of how Zhi Xiao came to be adopted by me is something even the Tiansheng court might not know, so how does Grand Marshal know of it?”
“The matter had to start with where Concubine Mi came from.” Lu Rui said, “Concubine Mi was born in Aun Mountain, the northern border of Xiliang, which is adjacent to the Ten Thousand Mountains in Minnan and is populated with many mysterious races. Concubine Mi’s family has lived in Aun Mountain for generations and does not interact with outsiders. They adhere to the oldest family and clan rules. The personalities and behaviors of the family members are very different from those of ordinary people. They even have their own set of characters passed down from ancient times. Concubine Mi is the youngest daughter of that family. She was tired of the family’s antiquated and stifling rules since she was young, and wished fervently to escape the mountain. Later, by chance, she was helped by others and eventually escaped from Aun Mountain. She was tired of the lonely and never-changing life she had lived. She liked excitement and subterfuge, so after she arrived at the capital and saw that the palace was selecting maidens, she found a chance to sneak into a sedan chair of one of the young women. She knocked the young lady unconscious, exchanged their clothing, and pushed the young lady out when the sedan carrier was taking a break. The young lady didn’t want to enter the palace in the first place, so she actually kept quiet about her unexpected good fortune and secretly went home. Concubine Mi entered the palace in place of the girl and rose from a maid to a concubine. She had been in the palace for many years and knew that the most important thing in the palace was keeping secrets. In many cases, if secrets can be kept, then it equates to keeping one’s life alive. Therefore, wherever she needed to pass messages in the palace, she would use her family’s ancient writing characters. Only her most trusted palace maid…and I knew how to decipher those characters. After Concubine Mi went mad, her most trusted palace maid, Lu Fu also disappeared. Concubine Mi scribbled and drew madly every day, but no one would decipher them. The Regent once brought me a copy of ancient calligraphy to ask me about some ancient characters. I recognized at a glance that they were Concubine Mi’s handwriting. It said Lu Fu, the west of the extreme west.”
The west of westernmost part of Xiliang is Tiansheng.
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