Chapter 53 The Real and Fake Princess
Even Ning Qi was surprised. Now that there were witnesses and physical evidence, and he had been called over as well, what else could they be doing but a blood test to determine kinship?
Minister Qin, his smug expression vanishing, stammered, "What does Your Majesty mean? Please enlighten me."
The emperor lifted his eyelids, glanced at the several trembling maids kneeling on the ground, then looked at Ning Qi, his gaze lingering for a moment before finally settling on Minister Qin.
His hand rested casually on the armrest, his posture dignified, his tone unhurried, "Minister Qin, do I need you to concern yourself with my family affairs?"
Qin Shilang turned pale with fright and knelt on the ground with a thud. "Your Majesty, I dare not! I was only worried that you would be misled by treacherous people. I was thinking of you, of the late Empress, and of the royal offspring!"
Ning Qi watched from the side and couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement; the speed at which this person changed their expression was too fast.
She looked at her father again, only to see that his expression remained unmoved. "You questioned the royal bloodline, forced me and the princess to undergo a blood test to prove our kinship, and alienated our father-daughter relationship. What is your punishment?"
Minister Qin looked up in shock, his lips trembling as he said, "Your Majesty, I had no such intention! Please investigate!"
The emperor gave a cold laugh, and Minister Qin shuddered in fear.
"I have summoned the princess here today to tell you all that she is my and the empress's only daughter, and no one is to question that. I will show no mercy to anyone who tries to slander or frame her." The emperor's voice clearly echoed throughout every corner of the room.
Minister Qin looked at the emperor in disbelief, “Your Majesty…”
"Guards!" the emperor shouted. "Drag these maids out and execute them. As for Minister Qin, confine him to his quarters for three months as a warning to others."
Qin Shilang collapsed to the ground.
The kneeling maids begged for mercy, "Your Majesty, please spare us! It was the Vice Minister who forced us to say it."
The emperor narrowed his eyes, "If I don't punish you, then everyone can slander the princess at will!"
The maids were trembling like leaves as the guards forcibly pulled them up. Just as they were about to be dragged away, Ning Qi hurriedly said, "Wait!"
The guard stopped moving.
Ning Xi said, "Father, their crimes do not warrant death. They must have been coerced into saying such absurd things."
She glanced at Minister Qin, "I believe that punishing those with ill intentions will be enough to quell the rumors."
"Your Majesty!" Minister Qin kowtowed desperately, still clinging to hope, "I have uttered no falsehoods, please investigate thoroughly!"
"It seems my punishment of you is not enough; my princess is not satisfied," the emperor said.
Qin Shilang suddenly raised his head, his forehead already bearing bloody marks, making him look extremely ferocious.
He seemed to finally realize something, and looked at Ning Xi again, hurriedly changing his words: "Princess, I believed those rumors, I was wrong, please...please forgive me."
He then kowtowed to her several times.
His ability to change course with the wind was truly astonishing. Ning Qi took a half step back in disgust, "I can't accept such treatment from you, Vice Minister."
The Emperor said, “I am deeply saddened by the princess’s injustice. Issue this decree: Qin Xiuyuan, a fourth-rank official, has offended the princess and has repeatedly failed to correct his ways. Considering his past merits, he is to be spared severe punishment but is hereby dismissed from his post and demoted to a fifth-rank official, Sima. He shall proceed to Qingzhou to assume his post immediately without delay.”
Qin Shilang looked at the emperor in disbelief. As a sinecure, the Sima was essentially excluded from any real power.
Ning Qi raised her eyebrows in surprise, not expecting her father to be so supportive of her. She said, "Qingzhou is a wonderful place with outstanding people and beautiful scenery. After you go there, you must cultivate your character and not easily believe what others say or frame others."
Seeing that all was lost, Minister Qin was dragged out of the palace by the guards with a blank look in his eyes.
As for the other maids, the emperor said, "The princess is young and kind-hearted and does not wish to see blood, but you will be spared the death penalty, but you will not escape punishment. Each of you will be given forty strokes of the cane. Go down and receive your punishment."
The maids kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude before being dragged away by the guards.
The Liangyi Palace quieted down, and the emperor rubbed his temples. "Xiaoqi, you must be tired too. Go back and get some rest."
Ning Qi nodded, and just as she was about to walk out of the palace gate, she heard the emperor say, "I have never doubted your identity."
She sat in the sedan chair, feeling drowsy as she swayed, but she refused to sleep, feeling that something was amiss about what had happened that night.
Before leaving, she asked the eunuchs around the emperor to understand the cause and effect. The testimonies of the witnesses were consistent and could all prove that the aunt by the empress's side had taken the newborn princess out of the palace.
She didn't think that Minister Qin would take such a big risk to find a few false witnesses to frame her; it was very likely that the truth was true.
Why did the emperor not investigate or ask any further questions?
She thought about it and realized that it was very likely that he wanted to use this incident to demote Minister Qin and strip him of his power.
But……
"System, don't you think the emperor is trusting me too much?" she asked in her mind. "If it were me, if someone presented me with clear evidence, no matter how deep the relationship was, I would become suspicious. Even if I didn't verify it on the spot, I would definitely seek it out behind the scenes. But the emperor doesn't seem to have any such intention."
She frowned. "Is there something important you haven't told me?"
The system was silent for a moment, then said, "As long as you agree to complete the mission, I will send you the entire storyline without charging any points."
Ning Xi sensed that the system was making concessions. It seemed that her decision not to continue the mission had been a big blow to it, so she naturally wanted to make good use of this.
She said nonchalantly, "But whether I know the plot or not doesn't seem to affect me. The Emperor punished the people who framed me, and I have someone backing me up."
"How can there be no impact..." the system blurted out.
Ning Qi immediately caught on, "So you really did have something important you didn't tell me."
The system fell silent.
Ning Qi continued, "We're working together to complete this mission, so we should be working towards the same goal. But you've repeatedly kept things from me, leading to the current situation. How can I trust you and continue the mission?"
The system remained silent. Ning Xi covered her mouth and yawned, feeling utterly exhausted. She leaned against Qian Yu and fell asleep.
——
Xie Jingyan hurried into the Liangyi Palace, bowed to the emperor, and asked, "Is there something you need to see me about so late?"
The emperor grunted in acknowledgment. "That matter has finally been brought up again. I should have executed them all back then."
Xie Jingyan said, "This might be detrimental to the princess."
"Let it go there. But their commotion shouldn't have any impact on her, right?" A hint of worry appeared on the emperor's usually calm face.
Xie Jingyan immediately said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, this matter has not escalated and has not yet caused any impact, so it will naturally not affect the princess."
The emperor then nodded in relief.
When Ningxi woke up, she was already nestled back into Xiaosui's arms, and she kissed his lips with practiced ease.
She was getting more and more used to his presence. If she really continued the mission, she would definitely feel like something was missing when she returned to her own world. She felt a little melancholy.
"Isn't today the day the competition results are announced?" Ning Qi suddenly thought. "What time is it now?"
"At the hour of Si (9-11 AM)," Xiao Sui replied.
Ning Xi was shocked and nudged him, "Why are you still here? The results have already been announced, haven't they? I heard that the Immortal Realm will send an Immortal Lord to assess the top five. How can you still be sleeping in on something so important!"
"It's alright, it's not important." Xiao Sui shook his head.
"How can it not be important!" Ning Qi exclaimed anxiously. "Don't you want to go to the Immortal Realm? That's a place that every cultivator longs for. Even I, a cultivation failure, am somewhat tempted to go."
Xiao Sui said earnestly, "Princess, nothing is more important than you."
The sudden direct question made Ning Qi's heart skip a beat. She swallowed hard. "I'm fine now. You should go now. That's an order."
Xiao Sui finally got up and carefully used his spiritual power to confirm that she was really alright before leaving the house.
After Ning Qi waited for him to leave, she mentally tapped the system, "Where's the plot?"
The system finally spoke, "Plot transmission in progress, please be patient, host."
Ning Xi waited patiently for a moment, and large swaths of text appeared in her mind.
The book was so long that she skimmed through it, only pausing briefly when Xiao Sui appeared.
Without her, Xiao Sui would have been on the verge of death after resisting the seller at the Nanfeng Pavilion auction. She would have inadvertently activated the demonic seal within her body and been rescued by a ball of intelligent demonic energy, becoming a demonic cultivator. She would have gradually gained a foothold in the demonic realm and spent ten years becoming a demon god, fighting against cultivators from the mortal and immortal realms.
After watching for a long time, I still haven't found any plot related to her. Princess He Xi, as a cannon fodder female supporting character, seems to have disappeared from the plot quickly after leaving the show, without leaving a ripple in anyone's heart.
On the contrary, Xie Xiyue gained the emperor's favor and was adopted as his goddaughter, and her relationship with the emperor became increasingly close.
Ning Qi flipped through the pages for a long time before finally stopping.
This part is the love story between the male lead and Xie Xiyue. The two are in love, but they are just one step away from confessing their feelings.
Xie Jingyan knew what she was thinking and encouraged her to find an opportunity to talk to Yan Chongyan openly, and subtly told her that Yan Chongyan should have been hers all along.
Xie Xiyue was puzzled and pressed for more information.
Ning Qi also watched.
Xie Jingyan was initially reluctant to talk about it, but Xie Xiyue kept pressing him for details, so he finally relented and said that it had been a long time since the incident and there was no need to hide it anymore.
When the Empress gave birth to the princess, Xie Jingyan used his abilities to glimpse the Heavenly Dao and learned that the princess was destined to be a goddess, but unfortunately, she was destined to sacrifice her life for the peace of the people.
She was born with the power to suppress demonic energy, and would eventually have to sacrifice herself to fight against the demons.
Moreover, Xie Jingyan could tell that she was not destined to live long and would pass away before she was twenty.
The emperor did not believe his words at first, but the little princess was indeed very weak and contracted an illness a few days after birth.
The emperor then began to believe him and adopted his suggestion. He found a baby girl with the same birth date and time in the common people and replaced her with the princess, thus giving her her destiny. He then entrusted the princess to Xie Jingyan to raise, ensuring her a long and healthy life.
After the real princess was replaced, her health did improve, while the baby girl who was healthy when she was brought in became increasingly weak.
Because of this incident, the emperor appointed Xie Jingyan as the national advisor.
Xie Xiyue remained silent for a long time after hearing this.
Similarly, Ning Xi remained silent for a long time after reading this passage.
Xie Xiyue and Princess Hexi both have the character "xi" in their names.
It turns out the real princess was Xie Xiyue, and she was an imposter.
She's a fake princess who takes the blame for others.
"System, there's still something I don't understand." Ning Qi calmed herself down after a long time. "Since I was destined to be a goddess, I should die for the people. Why did I die in the story taking a knife for the male lead?"
The system said, "The male protagonist is a child of great destiny. The goddess's sacrifice is an extremely important part of the mission. You must die to protect him and complete the mission."
Ning Qi remained silent for a long time before saying, "This is not fair."
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