After closing the door, her whole body trembled as she fell to her knees with a thud in front of the bed. A moment later, she mumbled to herself, “Your Consort Highness[1], I didn’t kill you on purpose…I didn’t. Have you come back in the form of a human to kill me? I’m sorry! I only killed you; I didn’t kill the little imperial princess. I didn’t!”
Suddenly, the door to the house was violently kicked open, causing her face to pale in fright.
The person who entered then closed the door behind him, lighting a candle to illuminate the otherwise pitch-black house. Despite the warm glow of the candle, the atmosphere inside the house was anything but that.
Recognising the man who appeared, the old auntie was so scared that she prostrated on the ground. “This servant pays her respects to the King.”
The handsome man with a well-defined face came forward and stopped a metre away from her. “Old Maidservant Cha, it should be time for you to come clean about the matter from 15 years ago, right?”
“King, this servant didn’t do anything!” Old Maidservant Cha burst out as she kowtowed.
The guard beside the man bent down and pulled her up by her hair. “15 years ago, what exactly happened to the Country Consort[2] and the little imperial princess?”
Old Maidservant Cha’s breathing became rapid under the oppressively cold gaze of the man, and she finally relented, “King, 15 years ago, your mother escaped the internal strife in the court by fleeing to Beimin. She gave birth in a small temple in the countryside, but it wasn’t long before soldiers came in pursuit. This servant and the Country Consort fled, but in the end…”
Seeing her pause, the guard pulled her hair again. Old Maidservant Cha wailed in anguish. “The Country Consort died, and the little imperial princess also…died.”
Of course, there was no way that Old Maidservant Cha knew that the little imperial princess was still alive. 15 years ago, the Country Consort of the western region had switched her biological daughter with the daughter of a farmer woman; the child who had died was in fact the farmer woman’s daughter.
The man’s white jade thumb ring glistened uncannily under the candlelight. He didn’t say anything, but his gaze turned frosty.
Understanding his intentions, the guard took out a small dagger from his waist and slit Old Maidservant Cha’s throat instantly, causing her to collapse to the ground. Her limbs spasmed for a moment before she died with her eyes wide.
“King, Old Maidservant Cha is dead. What should our next step be?”
The man was expressionless as he gently twirled the thumb ring in his hand. “Empress Mother is already dead, but that may not necessarily be the case for this Emperor’s younger sister. The jade pendant went missing, and has yet to be found.”
Empress Mother must have given the jade pendant to Younger Sister. If the baby girl who died 15 years ago was Younger Sister, we should have found the jade pendant along with her body.
“King, are we staying in Beimin? Prince Hao doesn’t know that you have entered Beimin; do we need to inform him?”
The man shook his head. “No need.” He then walked out.
Since Younger Sister went missing in Beimin, she must still be in Beimin. I just need to find the jade pendant and take her back to verify her bloodline.
Just as he walked out of the room, the man noticed a woman standing at the corner of the street. Her expression changed when she realised that she had been discovered, but she pretended to be composed despite her fear. The woman was clad in coarse clothes, and she nervously retreated a few steps back.
This woman was none other than Tan Ge. Her silvers that she had brought from the palace had been stolen by a thief, and she had been secretly stealing the old auntie’s food out of a lack of choice ever since she realised that the former would have deranged fits from time to time.
She had originally wanted to steal more food today, and that was how she happened to chance upon two men walking out from the house. When she peeped in between the crevices in the walls, she saw the old auntie motionlessly lying on the ground with a streak of blood around her neck.
1. A term used to address an empress or high-ranking consort
2. The title of the Empress in the western region or Xiliu.
