"In this world, there is nothing the Empress Dowager wouldn't dare to do. Her desire for power has almost reached a state of madness. Although Mother is her own niece, she is also extremely afraid of her. If anyone stands in her way, she will not let it go. Yue'er... promise Mother, never provoke her. She is absolutely ruthless." The Empress gently stroked Xuan Yuan Yue's hand and admonished her.
For a long time, Xuan Yuan Yue felt truly incredulous. In her eyes since childhood, her beloved grandmother had always been a devout Buddhist who was indifferent to worldly affairs and treated people with the same compassion and mercy as a Buddha. How could her loving grandmother be so cruel? If these words had not come from her own mother, she would never have believed a single word of them.
Could this be the kind of person who won't offend others unless they offend me, but if they do, I'll make sure they die a horrible death? That's terrifying, absolutely terrifying.
Suddenly, she felt that everything in the world was blurry, as if she could no longer see anything clearly.
"Then, was the death of the Dowager Consort also..." Thinking of this, Xuan Yuan Yue stared at the Empress's face with astonishment and asked again.
The Empress frowned, sighed, and recalled softly, "I don't know much about what happened that day either. The Empress Dowager summoned the Imperial Concubine to the palace, saying they would go together to the City God Temple in the south of the city to pray for the long-suffering Western Qin Kingdom. I was supposed to accompany the Empress Dowager, but the Empress Dowager said that since the Imperial Concubine was already with her, she would stay in the palace to manage affairs. I only know that since your grandfather passed away, the Imperial Concubine has been suffering from insomnia, unable to sleep for nights on end because she couldn't see him one last time. She is also quite puzzled as to why she was the only one who perished so tragically in that fire. I only heard from the palace servants that the fire at dawn seemed to have lit up the entire night sky, leaving only a pile of white bones in the end..."
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuan Yue was both shocked and even more certain, yet still seemed somewhat puzzled, saying, "The City God Temple is a royal temple, so heavily guarded, and there has never been a mishap. Presumably, it must have been Grandmother's doing. But by then, Grandfather had already passed away, Father had already ascended the throne, and Grandmother, she was already the Empress Dowager of Western Qin, having obtained everything she wanted. Why would she still go against the Dowager Consort?"
Over the years, the Empress had always harbored this suspicion: in this world, the Empress Dowager's greatest and only thorn in her side, besides the Imperial Concubine Dowager, was probably no one else.
So, with a tender and gentle touch, she stroked Xuan Yuan Yue's long, glossy black hair and said, "Yue'er, you are still very young. In the future, you will slowly understand: in this world, the struggle between women never ends just because one side wins. All of this is because your grandmother was too deeply in love with your grandfather from the beginning and placed too much hope in him. But in this world, which heartless man has ever remained faithful to one woman? Moreover, your grandfather was the ruler of this vast Western Qin Kingdom. Of course, it's not just that. It was also because the Dowager Consort, like the officials in the court, held a firm opposition and did not agree to your grandfather taking the descendant of the Guardian as a concubine."
"Does Mother mean that Grandmother supports Grandfather taking the Guardian as a concubine? But didn't Mother just say that Grandmother is deeply in love with Grandfather? Then why would she deliberately push other women into Grandfather's arms?" Xuan Yuan Yue was extremely puzzled.
The Empress smiled faintly, seemingly helplessly, and stopped what she was doing. Finally, she fixed her gaze on Xuan Yuan Yue's innocent and naive face, and said, "When a woman is driven to despair and desperate for a man, she is capable of anything. Just as even if the Empress Dowager loved this man deeply, she could still be ruthless enough to send him to his death. As the saying goes, 'Beauty fades and love wanes, and love wanes and favor ends.' This principle has remained unchanged throughout history, especially for the royal family. At that time, the Consort Dowager had only been in the palace for a few years, was young and beautiful, and was deeply favored by your grandfather, while the Empress Dowager, having lost her beauty, could not compare."
As she spoke, she paused briefly, then turned serious and continued, "But what the Empress Dowager feared most was the Prince of Qin, born to the Consort. From a young age, the Prince of Qin diligently studied literature and martial arts, excelling in both. He was brave and resourceful, truly outstanding, exuding an aura of an emperor. As a result, your grandfather favored the Consort and the Prince of Qin even more, and the number of ministers in the court supporting them grew. How could your grandmother, a strong-willed woman, tolerate this mother and son? Seeing that they would one day threaten her position as Empress, she ordered a nationwide search for beauties. This way, they could both become her allies and divert the Consort's power and favor. That's why she unintentionally sent a portrait of the beauty who would protect the descendant to your grandfather, and instructed someone to persuade him to bring her into the harem."
"What do you mean by 'accidentally giving the portrait of the Guardian's descendant to the Emperor's grandfather? Isn't it said that the Guardian is specifically there to protect the Emperor of Western Qin? Why isn't he always by the Emperor's side? Why is he so mysterious? It seems that no one has ever seen his face." Xuan Yuan Yue listened quietly, then suddenly frowned and looked up to ask in confusion.
The Empress pondered for a moment and said, "The Guardian of Western Qin is neither a subject nor a nobleman, is not subject to the court's control, and does not receive a salary from the court. However, as long as she exists in some corner of this world, she can have a kind of telepathic connection with the Emperor of Western Qin to help him resolve dangers, and her descendants take it upon themselves to protect the prosperity of Western Qin. Only when each generation of Guardian reaches the age of 15 and comes of age will someone be sent to the palace to deliver her portrait to the reigning Empress, for any unforeseen needs. Apart from the Empresses of each generation, no one else knows what the Guardian looks like."
"What? The guardian can communicate telepathically with the emperor? That's amazing!" Xuan Yuan Yue was stunned upon hearing this.
The Empress took a sip of tea, then smiled faintly and said, "Yes, they are from a clan that has passed down its lineage through a single branch for generations, and they are all women. It is said that all the descendants of this clan are exceptionally beautiful, unmatched in the world. 'Hands like tender shoots, skin like solidified cream, neck like a cicada's, teeth like melon seeds, a beautiful forehead and eyebrows, a charming smile, and beautiful, bright eyes.' They are like celestial maidens descended to earth. Such beauty would make even women feel inferior, let alone men! It was precisely because of this that the Empress Dowager mistakenly thought that the portrait was of a peerless beauty found among the common people, and mistakenly ordered someone to present it to your grandfather. This caused your grandfather, who was already in his forties at the time, to seem to be possessed, completely disregarding the opposition and obstruction of the court officials, and insisting on taking this peerless face as a concubine."
"So that's how it is..." Xuan Yuan Yue finally realized.
"The grave mistake has been made, and the Empress Dowager is filled with fear and trepidation. But what no one could have foreseen was that the Guardian met with misfortune on the way to the palace, accidentally falling off a cliff and dying. Sure enough, as those important ministers had predicted in their advice, the Western Qin Kingdom lost its Guardian, and a series of natural and man-made disasters began to wreak havoc everywhere with unstoppable force," the Empress sighed.
Should we acknowledge him as a guardian?
At this point, the hall fell silent for a moment.
The two sat together in silence for a long time. Suddenly, Xuan Yuan Yue stared at the Empress with her beautiful, dark, and bright eyes and asked, "Mother, what was the name of the last guardian who fell off the cliff and died?"
"That poor girl, her name was Ruoxi, and she was only 15 years old when she died..." the Empress said sadly with deep regret.
"What about Ruoxi's portrait? Yue'er wants to see what she looks like. Didn't you say that someone specially sent her portrait to the palace for the Empress Dowager back then? Now that Mother is the current Empress Dowager, Ruoxi's portrait must be with you, right?" Xuan Yuan Yue asked curiously.
Upon hearing this, the Empress raised her head and slowly said, "That portrait... ever since your grandfather saw it, it hung in his bedchamber every day, a constant reminder of him. Later, the guardian fell to his death, and the Western Qin Kingdom suffered continuous disasters. He finally realized the enormity of his mistake, which had plunged Western Qin into such dire straits, and fell ill and never recovered... Later still, your father ordered a thorough search of your grandfather's bedchamber, finally finding it under his bed. But somehow, the portrait had been deliberately mutilated, obscuring the face. After your father ascended the throne, he sought out many skilled painters to restore it, but none could do it. In the end, he had no choice but to entrust the portrait to Lu Xian of the Western Qin Academy, asking him to slowly work on its restoration, but there has been no news since. I'm afraid..."
Xuanyuan Yue exclaimed in surprise, "The portrait has been destroyed? This is so strange. How could such an important scroll be destroyed?... Did Mother ever see the Guardian himself or that portrait? Why didn't you order someone to paint another one?"
"Of course, Mother... of course she has never seen it. Since the guardian is dead, and such a great disaster has been caused by a portrait, the Empress Dowager is unwilling to mention it again. Over time, she has only seen that portrait once and can no longer remember it. Moreover, for some reason, those who saw that portrait were all secretly executed by your grandfather." A strange glint appeared in the Empress's words.
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuan Yue stared at the Empress in disbelief. After a long while, she murmured to herself, "Besides the portrait, is there really no other way to identify the Guardian?"
As he was deep in thought, a voice suddenly drifted into his ears, so low that even he himself could hardly hear it: "I have heard that... each generation of guardians has a phoenix mark passed down through a single lineage, an exclusive mark passed down through generations."
“‘Phoenix Mark’?” Xuan Yuan Yue raised her voice in surprise.
The Empress nodded slightly to him. "I only heard about it from others; I have never seen it with my own eyes."
"However, speaking of which, Yue'er, I recently heard from your father that after the Lantern Festival, the morning court tomorrow will decide which country you will marry into. If the Third Prince of Dongning Kingdom insists on refusing, then your marriage to the First Prince of Beilie will be inevitable. In any case, you should always be prepared. It's hard to be a woman, and it's even harder to be a royal woman, harder than climbing to heaven." The Empress once again tightly grasped Xuan Yuan Yue's two fair and delicate hands, as if holding precious pearls, and spoke to her earnestly yet with a melancholy expression.
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuan Yue's brow twitched slightly, her eyes filled with sorrow. It seemed that after experiencing so many joys and sorrows, this princess had truly grown up a lot, and she could see more clearly that reality always seemed to catch people off guard, and that unrequited love was always hard to fulfill.
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