Chapter 137 Must Not Be Left Behind
Yu Zhiyi didn't keep them in suspense and revealed directly: "When the Yuezhi Kingdom presented this Prajna glass cup as tribute, the envoy said that as long as you put the glass cup in your room and stay with it for a long time, you can prolong your life and maintain your youth forever."
"It was because of these two reasons that Empress Dowager Jing'an asked for the glass cup. After all, women love beauty, and even as they get older, they cannot resist the temptation to stay young forever."
At that time, she was already the Empress Dowager. Her son was the Emperor, who was very filial to her. Moreover, the late Emperor already had children, including two princes.
His son also had an heir, and his son's throne was as secure as Mount Tai.
She no longer wanted anything.
Aside from eternal beauty.
Actually, it doesn't necessarily have to be eternal; as long as we stop growing old, that's enough.
Aunt Chang frowned: "Your daughter does have some tricks up her sleeve, but this is nothing secret. A little investigation will reveal it."
Consort Yu didn't directly confront Yu Zhiyi until Aunt Chang finished speaking, then she said with feigned concern, "Yi'er, don't be ridiculous. This matter is of utmost importance. The Empress Dowager Jing'an is the most esteemed woman in our Great Sheng Empire. I know you're eager to prove yourself, but you shouldn't do it this way..."
Yu Zhiyi looked at her coldly: "Consort Yu, is it fun to use someone else to do your dirty work?"
Consort Yu's expression changed: "Wha...what do you mean by using someone else to do the dirty work? I don't know what you're talking about!"
Yu Zhiyi stopped looking at her and continued to say to the emperor and the other man: "A woman was sent to Shengjing along with the Prajna Glazed Lamp. She was a princess of the Yuezhi Kingdom. She was given to the late emperor as a marriage alliance."
"The Yuezhi princess traveled thousands of miles to the Great Sheng Empire, where she had no relatives or friends and was all alone. Although the late emperor favored her several times because she was a princess from a political marriage, he did not like her. So, after a few months, the Yuezhi princess fell out of favor."
"Women in the deep palace who have no support, although they have a very prestigious title, being called the emperor's concubines and the most noble women in the world, often live worse than daughters from ordinary families if they do not receive the emperor's favor."
"Ever since the late emperor stopped inviting the Yuezhi princess to his bedchamber, the people in the palace have started to mistreat her. Not only does the Imperial Household Department cut back on her food, clothing, and daily necessities, but even the lowly palace servants can trample on her."
"The Yuezhi princess was almost in despair as she endured her days of hardship. At this time, Empress Dowager Jing'an brought her warmth."
"The Empress Dowager Jing'an pitied her loneliness and often summoned her to Shou Kang Palace to attend to her when she was ill. Although it was called attending to her illness, in reality, palace servants took care of her food and clothing. The Yuezhi princess only needed to entertain the Empress Dowager."
"The Yuezhi princess was grateful for the kindness of Empress Dowager Jing'an, and seeing that Empress Dowager Jing'an seemed to value the Prajna glass lamp very much, she was immediately conflicted."
"As a princess of the Yuezhi Kingdom, she knew far more about the glass lamp than anyone else."
"There is a secret legend in the royal palace of the Yuezhi Kingdom that the wick of the glass lamp is a dual-soul entity. One soul is benevolent and can help people calm their minds and prolong their lives. The other soul is malevolent, but its malevolence is not in that it will actively do bad things, but rather... it will curse the holder of the glass lamp... that his wishes will not come true."
Everyone who heard it was stunned.
"Such a thing is true?" the emperor exclaimed in astonishment.
Aunt Chang instinctively denied it: "Impossible! That envoy clearly didn't say that! Besides, where did the Yuezhi Kingdom get the audacity to offer evil objects to my Great Sheng Empire?!"
Upon hearing this, the emperor also frowned.
Yu Zhiyi said, "Because the so-called concept of one body with two souls is something that even the Yuezhi royal family rarely knows. That Yuezhi princess only heard about it by chance."
She continued, "She was grateful for the kindness of Empress Dowager Jing'an and did not want the Empress Dowager to be cursed by that evil spirit."
"But she dared not say it. After all, it was hard to believe that the Yuezhi Kingdom was unaware of the evil power of the glass lamp when they sent this evil object."
"If the Great Sheng Empire is enraged and uses this as a pretext to attack the Yuezhi Kingdom, then she will be the sinner of the entire Yuezhi Kingdom."
"The princess naturally did not want to be a sinner, nor did she want her loved ones to die in the war, so she could only use her own methods to save Empress Dowager Jing'an."
"She thought and thought, and finally came up with a good idea: to substitute one thing for another."
"If she simply replaces the glass lamp, wouldn't Empress Dowager Jing'an no longer be cursed by the evil spirit?"
Although the Yuezhi princess was still not very favored at that time, she had some power because the Empress Dowager liked her.
She ordered her trusted confidant to secretly make a replica of the glass cup from outside the palace, exchanged the replica for the real glass cup, and hid the real glass cup away.
As for why the items weren't sent out of the palace... it's because we didn't find the opportunity.
The palace's restrictions are no joke. The last time they were able to get their stuff in was purely by luck. On that day, a major event happened in the palace, so the guards didn't thoroughly search even one of the palace servants favored by the Empress Dowager.
She didn't even have the guts to destroy the glass lamp.
Legend has it that the glass lamp possessed great spiritual power, and the princess of the Yuezhi Kingdom feared that destroying it would bring it back to haunt her.
Therefore, she could only temporarily disguise the glass lamp and then find an opportunity to hide it in a cold palace.
Not long after, the palace of the Yuezhi princess caught fire, and the emperor ordered people to clean up the cold palace and let the Yuezhi princess move there.
When naming the palace, the Yuezhi princess thought of the hidden glass lamp and, for reasons unknown, suggested, "Why not call it the Glass Palace?"
The late emperor thought that the Yuezhi princess was missing the national treasure of her motherland, so he agreed.
Only the princess of the Yuezhi Kingdom knew that there really was a glass lamp hidden in this palace.
At that time, the Yuezhi princess had already gained some favor. The emperor would occasionally come over to sit, and concubines would often visit. In order to prevent the matter from being exposed, she dug a pit in the courtyard and buried the glass cup.
As Yu Zhiyi was speaking, they had already passed through the palace in front and arrived at the backyard of the Glazed Palace.
She pointed to a large tree and said, "The glass lamp is right below here."
Before Consort Yu could say anything, the Emperor had already ordered Eunuch Hu to find someone to start digging.
Seeing the emperor's resolute attitude, Consort Yu ultimately said nothing.
Before long, the palace servants indeed dug something up.
It was a box.
Upon opening the box, the crystal-clear glass cup shimmered with a dreamy luster in the sunlight.
Aunt Chang covered her mouth and exclaimed in surprise, "It really is the Prajna Crystal Lamp!"
Consort Yu tightened her handkerchief, feeling extremely fortunate that she hadn't said anything earlier.
At the same time, his wariness of Yu Zhiyi deepened.
This woman... must not be allowed to live!
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