The sleeping quarters of Lin Yuexuan in the Qin Prince's Mansion.
Outside the pitch-black window, a guard crouched low, holding a chilling green lantern that seemed particularly eerie at midnight. The lantern cast a sinister green light onto the pale face of the deceased Dowager Princess of the Prince of Qin, who was being meticulously dressed up by Zhang Mama.
Eight years later, it was the same midnight hour, the night was deep and quiet, and a cold wind was blowing.
Lu Tianjiao suddenly looked up, and was immediately terrified by the sight before him, screaming wildly, "A ghost..."
Then, with a thud, he fell heavily to his knees, trembling and panicked, repeatedly kowtowing and begging for mercy towards the window, "Your Highness, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Your Highness, I was wrong, I was really wrong, please forgive me, please, please..."
At this moment, the stern face, now deathly green and chillingly stern, uttered a faint, ethereal voice: "Letting you go is not impossible, but you must tell me every single detail of the fire that burned me to death eight years ago, without missing a single word. Otherwise, you will be haunted by my vengeful spirit for the rest of your life, and one day, you too will suffer the same fate and die with your eyes wide open in disbelief."
At this point, Lu Tianjiao's psychological defenses finally collapsed completely. "I'll talk, I'll talk, I'll make sure I explain everything clearly."
Outside the window, Zhang Mama and Cheng Liang listened intently, their brows furrowed. "Eight years ago, Tianjiao accompanied the Imperial Concubine to the palace to meet the Empress Dowager. After paying their respects, the Imperial Concubine was kept behind by the Empress Dowager for a private talk, while Tianjiao was led to the inner palace by a maid. Out of curiosity, and seeing no one around, she picked up an exquisitely crafted vermilion glass vase from the table to play with, but her hand slipped and she broke it. Just as Tianjiao was terrified and at a loss, an extremely kind-looking old nanny entered. The old nanny not only did not blame Tianjiao, but also gave her a bowl of fragrant milk tea."
Sniffling, she continued sobbing softly, "After lunch, the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Concubine went together to the City God Temple in the south of the city to pray for the Western Qin's Jingtian. Around dusk, while everyone was resting, Tianjiao secretly slipped away to the Empress Dowager's place to find the old nanny, wanting to ask her for the recipe for that bowl of milk tea, so she could make it for Brother Han to try. But when Tianjiao arrived, the old nanny was with the Empress Dowager, enjoying the cool air in the courtyard. Just as Tianjiao was about to go up to pay her respects and ask for advice, she suddenly heard the Empress Dowager say..."
At the crucial point, Lu Tianjiao suddenly hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but stopped, his head bowed as he knelt on the ground, his eyes darting around nervously. Just then, a deafeningly loud voice rang in his ears, "What did you say?"
Startled by the sudden, thunderous rebuke, Lu Tianjiao instinctively jerked his head up, only to catch a glimpse of the same eerie green face outside the window, glaring at him with wide eyes, as if it wanted to devour him whole. A chill ran down his spine, and he quickly lowered his head, blurting out in one breath, "The Empress Dowager says the Emperor doesn't approve of her destroying the Qin Prince's Mansion. If that's the case, all of the Emperor's plans will fall apart."
"Destroy the Qin Prince's Mansion? The Emperor's entire plan?... What plan is it?" Outside the window, the green-faced ghost disguised as Granny Zhang turned her head and glanced at Cheng Liang, who was not far away, and asked.
Upon hearing this, Lu Tianjiao, in a state of extreme terror, could only shake his head frantically and cry, "I don't know, I don't know what the plan is, I really don't know. I was hiding behind the red maple tree by the door in the dark, and I only heard this one sentence before the Empress Dowager discovered me and ordered that old nanny to drag me out."
Undoubtedly, Cheng Liang and Zhang Mama, who heard these words outside the window, were both stunned.
It turns out that after the late emperor passed away, Emperor Jing ascended the throne, and the Empress Dowager naturally rose to power through her son. However, this woman was not satisfied with this; she also wanted the late emperor's only remaining son, Xuanyuan Han, and to exterminate his entire Qin Prince's Mansion, leaving it completely annihilated.
What a terrible intention! In this way, she can rest easy in this world and never have any worries again.
Back then, if it weren't for the Empress Dowager's trickery in sending Xuanyuan Han and his mother away from the palace under the pretense of praying for the ailing late emperor at the Imperial Ancestral Temple—in reality, she had already learned from the imperial physicians that the late emperor's days were numbered and wanted to use this opportunity to force him to abdicate in favor of her son—Xuanyuan Han and his mother wouldn't even have had a chance to see the late emperor one last time. On their way back to the palace, they were nearly assassinated; if it weren't for the timely intervention of a woman about to give birth, the mother and child would likely have met a terrible fate…
So that's how it all is.
But the Empress Dowager and Emperor Jing are mother and son, who are inseparable. Shouldn't they share the same fate, sharing both glory and misfortune? Why then do they hold differing opinions on such a crucial matter?
The Qin Prince's entire household should have been wiped out, right? But why was it only the Dowager Consort who died in the end? Eight years have passed, and not only is Xuan Yuanhan unharmed, but he has also gained unparalleled prestige, second only to the emperor.
Emperor Jing has always been a suspicious man, so how could he be so magnanimous in such a momentous matter, to tolerate Xuan Yuanhan, who could threaten his supreme imperial power at any moment? What secrets lie behind this?
Thinking of this, Granny Zhang continued, "And then what happened? You overheard such a big secret of the Empress Dowager, how could she let you off so easily?"
Lu Tianjiao cried out in anguish, "Later, the Empress Dowager personally threatened me, saying that I must not divulge a single word of what I heard here today. Otherwise... otherwise, not only will my father and brother be killed, but I will also be threatened with the lives of Prince Qin's brother Han and the Empress Dowager. My entire Lu family has received great kindness from Prince Han and the Empress Dowager; we are not afraid to die. Back then, if it weren't for the Empress Dowager pleading with the late Emperor and sending the imperial physicians to help my mother give birth, my brother and I would not have been born. But... but the Empress Dowager's words and actions at that time were like those of a wolf or a tiger, extremely fierce, not at all like she was joking. I was terrified, truly terrified. I didn't know what to do, only..." She just kept crying. Later, she had the old nanny take Tianjiao back. On the way, the old nanny gave Tianjiao a talisman, saying that the Empress Dowager was "all bark and no bite," and that this talisman was a special gift from the Empress Dowager, a miraculous elixir just obtained from the City God Temple. The Empress Dowager, seeing how kind the Consort was to Tianjiao, instructed Tianjiao to burn and crush the talisman, and secretly add it to the Consort's soup that night. This would grant her the protection of the gods in the City God Temple, and upon waking, she would be immortal and eternally youthful. The next morning, when the Consort woke up, she would feel refreshed and invigorated. Tianjiao had often heard that the gods in the City God Temple in the south of the city were extremely efficacious, granting whatever one asked for. Thinking that doing this would surely please the Consort, she decided to…”
"So you took advantage of my inattention and secretly added this sleeping potion to the lotus seed soup that the Imperial Concubine had before going to bed?" Granny Zhang couldn't listen anymore and said angrily.
Lu Tianjiao was also terrified and filled with regret. She buried her head in her hands and cried out in anguish, "No...it's not like that...I didn't know beforehand that the talisman was laced with sleeping potion. I really didn't know...After the fire was extinguished, the next day I felt uneasy, always feeling that the talisman that old woman gave me was suspicious. Later, when Zhang Mama wasn't looking, I secretly slipped back to find that old woman, wanting to confirm again...When I nervously walked to the back window, I overheard the old woman discussing the fire with the Empress Dowager inside. Only then did I realize I had been deceived..."
As she spoke, Lu Tianjiao suddenly stopped, her eyes widening in surprise. She jerked her head up, staring in astonishment at the ghostly face in the window, repeating her words, "While you weren't looking, you secretly added the sleeping potion to the lotus seed soup that the Imperial Concubine had before going to bed?...You...you're not...you're not the Imperial Concubine...you...you are..."
Before he could finish speaking, Granny Zhang interrupted, "Lu Tianjiao, this old woman was right about you. The horrific tragedy that befell the Prince of Qin's mansion eight years ago was indeed your doing..."
"You are Granny Zhang!" At this point, Lu Tianjiao finally came to his senses and stood up.
However, still seemingly unsettled, the two guards from the Prince of Qin's residence beside him, who were equally astonished by the truth, suddenly bowed towards the entrance of the sleeping quarters and said, "Your subordinates greet General Cheng."
As soon as Cheng Liang entered the room, he stood silently to one side, staring blankly at Lu Tianjiao's face for a long time.
The gentle, intelligent, and dignified woman standing before him suddenly seemed so unfamiliar, like a complete stranger. But upon closer inspection, again and again, he realized she was unmistakably the person he knew so well. A complex mix of emotions overwhelmed him; he was at a loss for words, unsure how to begin, or even what to say. Initially, he had only intended to play along with Granny Zhang's prank, hoping to ease the old woman's long-standing confusion. But the truth revealed now left him utterly speechless…
How could this be? How could things turn out this way?
Lu Tianjiao, whose true colors were revealed in front of everyone, was completely at a loss. Her eyes were unfocused and she kept looking away.
After a long while, Cheng Liang slowly said, "Miss Lu, I really didn't expect this. Today's drama of 'luring the enemy into the trap and using their own methods against them' has truly been a 'catch-a-turtle' situation, yielding a very fruitful result!"
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