In an instant, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.
Madam Xia stood frozen in place, her well-maintained face now contorted beyond recognition. Her pupils contracted sharply, her nails dug deeply into her palms, yet she felt no pain whatsoever.
"This...this is Xia Qingdai?"
Mrs. Xia's voice sounded like it was being squeezed out from deep in her throat, terribly dry.
Inside the Qiankun Mirror, that familiar yet unfamiliar face flickered before her eyes, making her dizzy. The daughter she had disliked for over a decade was now appearing before her in this manner.
"That Bai Ying is actually Xia Qingdai!"
She suddenly screamed hysterically, a few strands of her carefully styled hair falling loose, making her look like a madwoman. "Impossible! This must be a hoax!" She staggered back a few steps, knocking over a celadon vase behind her with a loud crash, shards flying everywhere, the sound particularly jarring in the deathly silent hall.
"It's not just that..." the kneeling servant said, trembling. "Madam... you know Xiao Tao, right... ever since Miss took her to the Xuantian Sect, I've heard that Xiao Tao... Xiao Tao has actually been accepted as a formal disciple by the Xuantian Sect!"
This news struck Madam Xia like a thunderbolt.
A formal disciple of the Xuantian Sect!
That's a status that countless scions of noble families and royalty could only dream of!
Let alone a formal disciple, even a nominal disciple would be enough to make the powerful and wealthy in the mortal world fight tooth and nail for them.
But now, that little maid who used to be timid and subservient in the Xia family has transformed into a member of the immortal sect?
It's truly... when one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven!
Madam Xia's face turned deathly pale instantly, her lips trembled, but she couldn't utter a single word.
Her nails dug deep into her palms, but she felt no pain. Instead, she felt a chill creep up from the soles of her feet, making her shiver all over.
"Nonsense!" she shrieked, her voice piercingly high, almost tearing at the air. "Do you think I'm stupid? You're talking complete nonsense!"
Madam Xia trembled all over, her nails, painted with henna, almost poking into the servant's eyes.
Her voice trembled with excitement: "Beat them to death! Smash this mouth that's spouting nonsense!"
The servant collapsed to the ground, his forehead pounding against the bluestone slab with a loud thud: "Madam, spare me! Everything I said is true!" His front was already soaked with cold sweat, leaving a dark water stain on the ground.
Just as the paddle was about to fall, a hoarse yet authoritative voice boomed: "Let's see who dares!"
Old Madam Xia strode in, leaning on her sandalwood cane, followed by the clan elders with livid faces. The cane, carved with peaches, slammed heavily on the ground, silencing the entire hall. The servants hastily dropped their instruments of torture and knelt on the floor.
"Mother!" Madam Xia's voice trembled, "This insolent servant dares to spout such nonsense..."
"Shut up!" Madam Xia's mother raised her hand and slapped Madam Xia across the face, making Madam Xia's hair disheveled.
Her withered fingers gripped her daughter-in-law's chin tightly: "How long are you going to go crazy? You abused your own flesh and blood back then, and now you can't even stand hearing the truth?"
Mrs. Xia's mother withdrew her hand, trembling, her cloudy eyes filled with remorse: "You foolish woman!"
Madam Xia's uncle, his face ashen, pointed at her nose and cursed, "Look at what you've done all these years! You've been doting on that imposter Xia Yuwei, while constantly beating and scolding Qingdai. Xia Yuwei ostracized her, but you turned a blind eye, never treating Qingdai like your daughter. And now, she's already a powerful cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage!"
"The Nascent Soul stage!!" Uncle Er's voice trembled with excitement. "Even a Void Refinement stage expert is no match for her! Do you know what that means?" He grabbed Madam Xia's collar. "With Qingdai's current strength, let alone restoring our family's former glory, even if you wanted to become emperor, it would be a piece of cake!"
Upon hearing her second uncle's words, Madam Xia's mother collapsed to the ground in a state of utter agitation. Staring blankly at the ground, her lips trembled uncontrollably: "It's all...it's all over...what kind of daughter did I give birth to! How could this happen? Qingdai...my Qingdai..."
"It's all your fault, you vicious woman!" Madam Xia's father's eyes were also bloodshot, and he slammed his cane heavily on the ground with a dull thud. "If you hadn't favored that adopted daughter back then and made things difficult for Qingdai at every turn, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
Other family members also gathered around, their faces filled with anger and regret. Those who had once sympathized with Madam Xia for losing her husband and daughter now wore expressions of contempt.
"I told you long ago that Yuwei is a wicked girl!"
"To neglect one's own daughter and instead dote on a stranger—they must be blind!"
"Now that's settled, Qingdai definitely won't acknowledge us anymore..."
"This was originally an unprecedented fortune! Do you know what our family would be like now if you had treated Qingdai better? Even a lowly maid could become a formal disciple of the Xuantian Sect. Wouldn't our family still have everything we could ever want? Your nephew can also be a formal disciple of the Xuantian Sect now..."
The room was filled with people chattering and criticizing, but no one remembered how they had ignored Xiao Qingdai, who was huddled in the snow, when they passed by the side courtyard in the dead of winter. Nor did anyone mention who had been so quick to distance themselves from Xia Qingdai when she became the laughingstock of the entire capital.
They showed her absolutely no care or affection...
Even in her most miserable moments, not a single person stepped forward to help her, not even a single word in her defense...
Mrs. Xia stood frozen amidst the accusations of the crowd, her ears ringing.
The words "become emperor" kept echoing in my mind, absurd like a joke, yet so real it was suffocating.
She suddenly remembered that rainy night many years ago, when young Xia Qingdai knelt in the courtyard, soaking wet, and cried out that she had not bullied Xia Yuwei.
She wasn't unaware of the truth, but what did she do then? That's right, not only did she not help Qingdai prove her innocence, but she also resented Qingdai for tarnishing Yuwei's reputation and had a bucket of cold water poured into the courtyard...
With a thud, Madam Xia's knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground. She looked like a withered flower, her face ashen.
She finally realized what she had truly lost...
Outside the hall, the early summer sun still shone brightly, but it could no longer shine into this room filled with regret.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
