“Exactly. I am merely an envoy of another empire. Why would I involve myself in your internal affairs for no reason?” Feng Zhi Wei looked downward and said with a smiling gaze, “Why would I steal your imperial gold locket the moment your emperor was born, then wait three years before coming here to stir up trouble? I am an envoy with only a few thousand guards. But I came all the way into your Xiliang territory to make trouble in the face of hundreds of thousands of troops? I can’t imagine what the reason could be. Unless you, sir, can you tell me why?”
The man choked, then, after a moment, said fiercely, “You know very well why!”
Feng Zhi Wei burst into a laugh and slapped the armrest of the dragon throne and said with feeling, “What great prize is this? It’s not like I am the one who will sit on it. Is it worth risking my life and death to intervene in the struggle for imperial power of an enemy empire? You ask me why? Now I will tell you why. I am doing this for a mother, for her painstaking effort to finally be repaid, for her years of feigning madness and enduring humiliation to finally see the light of day, for her finally being able to reunite with her biological daughter, instead of missing each other and regretting it for the rest of her life.”
She raised her hand and pointed towards the front of the palace, “Consort Mi, come and meet your Zhi Xiao.”
Lu Rui’s body trembled as everyone turned around abruptly. They saw a frail woman, supported by two men, slowly walking out from the dappled sunlight and shadows.
She seemed to have tidied herself up. Her clothes were simple and clean. The sunlight shone on her face. It was a pale, small face with a pointed chin that made it appear even longer. Her iris was pitch black, drawing people into its deep wells when she looked at you. When she first walked over, she seemed a little unused to the atmosphere and the setting, but as she stepped across the high threshold of the Grand Hall, her steps became steady. Every now and then, when her eyes moved, a sharp glint would flash across them.
The crowd looked at her, all feeling a bit dazed. Most of the senior ministers present had seen this once highly favored consort of the late emperor. Later, when they heard she had gone mad, many couldn’t help but lament her tragic fate. Now, seeing her again after three years, they all felt that she was both the same and not. Her appearance was unchanged, but the sharp glint of resolve in her gaze was the difference.
However, looking at her, then at Gu Zhi Xiao seated above, they belatedly realized there was indeed quite a bit of resemblance between them. Some of the more observant even found traces of the late emperor in Gu Zhi Xiao’s slightly more parted brows.
When Consort Mi took her first step into the hall, due to the dazzling sunlight and their own turbulent emotions, no one in the crowd noticed her gaze. Only Feng Zhi Wei, looking down from above, saw clearly that her very first glance was surprisingly directed at Lu Rui.
And Lu Rui, had already lowered his head, staring at the tips of his shoes. His sleeves shook, though there was no wind, trembling faintly.
Feng Zhi Wei sighed inwardly.
Consort Mi stepped over the threshold, and from the moment she had completely entered the hall, her gaze fell on the little child sitting on the throne and never left her.
She just stood there, her head tilted slightly as she looked up at Gu Zhi Xiao.
Holding the cage, Gu Zhi Xiao sat upon the throne that stood isolated from all sides, looking down from on high at Consort Mi. She was astonishingly calm, regarding Consort Mi with a gaze that was completely devoid of familiarity, in fact, there was even some wariness in them.
The entire hall fell silent. They had expected a scene of wailing sobs and fierce embraces, but who would have thought, the mother and daughter, separated since birth, looked at each other across the hall, with a calm gaze that was as unfamiliar as strangers passing each other on the road.
Feng Zhi Wei had assumed Gu Zhi Xiao was unaware of her own origins and was just wondering how to give her a hint regarding it when she heard Gu Zhi Xiao ask softly, “This is my mother?”
Feng Zhi Wei bent down and whispered in her ear, “Yes.”
Gu Zhi Xiao let out a sigh, lowered her eyes, and said nothing more.
Consort Mi, however, kept her eyes fixed on her, examining her from head to toe. Her gaze even lingered on Feng Zhi Wei’s hand that was pressing down on Gu Zhi Xiao’s, before she turned her face away.
She said slowly, “I think everyone knows who I am.”
Several senior ministers bowed to her, “Consort Mi.”
“Don’t call me that.” Consort Mi sneered, “I am no consort. I was stripped of my title by that vile woman Dong Ruan, and imprisoned in the cold palace. I ceased to be a consort of the late emperor a long time ago.”
A look of shame surfaced on all the officials. Consort Mi ignored them, turned around, and pointed at Gu Zhi Xiao, “Though I am no longer the late emperor’s consort, my daughter is, beyond any doubt, the late emperor’s blood. All of you have allowed a bastard of unknown origin to usurp the throne until now. Will you still turn a blind eye, calling a deer a horse? Will you continue to let the true imperial descendant of our empire wander in foreign lands?”
“So you say she is a descendant of the late emperor, and that makes her one?” a confidant of the Regent said coldly, “Who knows, maybe you are in cahoots with the people of Tiansheng?”
“Only you guys would be capable of such brazen distortion of truth.” Consort Mi replied instantly, “You guys even claim I was mad. Am I?”
Her question promptly silenced everyone once again. Consort Mi said coldly, “On the twenty-first day of the eighth month of the sixteenth year of Xiliang, I went into premature labor, but no midwife could be found within the palace. Shortly after, Empress Dong arrived, claiming I had offended the palace deities and must be moved to another part of the palace. She also dismissed my head palace maid, Lu Fu. After I was relocated, I went into labor and finally gave birth after much struggle the next dawn…”
Everyone had vaguely known what had happened, but even Lu Rui didn’t know all the details of what happened after. All listened intently as she went on, “The moment the child was born, I ordered someone to trip the midwife. As the midwife fell, my head maid, Lu Fu, who was hiding under the bed, took the opportunity to snatch the child, and while holding the child, rolled into the secret tunnel!”
The hall erupted in an uproar.
Consort Mi sneered and continued, “From the moment I became pregnant, I knew Empress Dong would never spare me. I also knew she might drive away my palace servants and move me to another place in the palace. I arranged for someone by her side to persuade her to move me to Miaoxiang Palace. I had prearranged for someone to dig a tunnel in Miaoxiang Palace. I was pregnant for ten months, and the tunnel was dug for ten months!”
The entire hall was filled with stunned, shocked expressions, shaken by the woman’s foresight and cunning. Feng Zhi Wei gave her a long, thoughtful glance. She had never underestimated the women of the inner palace. The art of survival in an imperial inner palace, compared to the imperial court, has always been more complicated and harsher. For Consort Mi to become a favored consort and to be able to carry her pregnancy safely to term, how could she not have this level of cunning?
She was just a little worried about Zhi Xiao. With a mother so ruthless, and one who had suffered so much in the past few years, her state of mind must have changed. Would the mother and daughter really be able to get along in the future?”
“Lu Fu escaped overnight. I, of course had arranged for someone to meet her. This had originally been the last resort, but His Majesty was not in the palace at the time, so I could only send the child out first, hoping that I would be able to bring her back once the emperor returned. Who knew His Majesty…” Consort Mi closed her eyes, and after a long pause, she said, “There is no need for me to say what happened after that. That vile woman, Dong Ruan. Without the child, she resorted to substitution, replacing one with another. She found some bastard from who knows where to impersonate the crown prince, and made him our Xiliang empire’s emperor for three years!”
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