Since they had already guessed the most about it, Duanmu Junyu had nothing to be ashamed of. She sighed and said, "Yes, for the nearly twenty years I have been wandering in Dongchu, my younger sister Duanmu Shenghua has always impersonated me and handled state affairs in my place."
Duanmu Junyu's words shocked the group, and also left Su Xuening confused: "This Duanmu Shenghua looks more like my mother?"
They should look very similar, since the woman just now had features that resembled her mother's.
So the woman's biological mother must resemble her mother more.
Duanmu Junyu explained helplessly, "She and I are born of the same father, so we are quite similar, but not exactly the same."
This answer was truly unexpected for Su Xuening: "Since they are not very similar, how could she replace her mother as empress? Wouldn't the officials of Xiliang find out?"
"You don't know this, but every empress of Western Liang has always had a beaded curtain covering her face when she went to court, and the ministers dared not look up at her. Moreover, for the past twenty years, Duanmu Shenghua has always worn a veil when she went to court in my place, and she has always covered her face when she handled official business in the palace for me. So no one has discovered that she is impersonating me!"
Duanmu Junyu's explanation left the group stunned once again.
Is this even possible?
The empress not only had to cover her face with a beaded curtain when she went to court, but also had to cover her face with a veil. No wonder the officials of Xiliang did not know that this empress was a different person!
Moreover, looking at that so-called Crown Prince who just barged in, her eyebrows and eyes are very similar to her mother's. Presumably, her birth mother also has very similar features to her mother. No wonder she can fool everyone by wearing a veil!
"So that woman just now was born to Duanmu Shenghua and... cough, one of your concubines?" Su Xuening asked Duanmu Junyu, somewhat awkwardly.
Now she understood the unspeakable feelings that Duanmu Junyu had just experienced.
And she never imagined that her mother might have had other people besides their father.
Su Yun'an seemed to be startled by what he heard, staring wide-eyed at Duanmu Junyu.
The women of the imperial harem?
There were other women in the mother's harem?
Duanmu Junyu blushed under the gaze of the two children and explained somewhat awkwardly, "I ascended the throne at the age of ten. Although I was young, I was still married. My husband is the current Phoenix King, Xiao Jincheng. He is five years older than me and was only fifteen when he married me. Because we were both young, and I was too young to understand matters between men and women, I never consummated our marriage. Even after I lost my memory while leading troops into battle and was brought back to Eastern Chu by your father, I still hadn't had marital relations with him. As for Duanmu Qingxin, she is probably the child of Duanmu Shenghua and Xiao Jincheng!"
She was stunned when she returned to Xiliang and saw a child that big.
Seeing the resemblance between Duanmu Qingxin's brows and her own, she immediately guessed whose child she was!
Upon hearing that Duanmu Junyu and her concubine had not consummated their marriage, Su Xuening and Su Yun'an breathed a sigh of relief.
Although these things happened before my mother met my father, even if she really had something going on with the people in her harem, they had no right to say anything.
Of course, now that her father has passed away and her mother is the Empress of Western Liang, she may not stay by his side in the future. Moreover, she has forgotten her father and them, so she will not stay by his side.
Even so, they were still quite happy to know that their mother had never been with anyone else before their father.
"Does Duanmu Qingxin not know that she is not her mother's child?" Judging from Duanmu Qingxin's behavior just now, she is unaware of her origins.
Moreover, it seemed that no one else in the palace knew anything, so the mother's decision to replace Duanmu Shenghua with the empress went unnoticed by anyone.
Duanmu Junyu shook her head: "Duanmu Shenghua always wore a veil when facing her before, and she didn't know that Duanmu Shenghua was her biological mother. I haven't told her about these things either!"
Su Xuening nodded silently, but still had a question in her mind: "With Mother's return, Duanmu Shenghua so easily handed over the throne. Didn't she have any intention of taking it over?"
Most importantly, during the twenty years her mother was missing, she not only replaced her mother and became the Empress of Xiliang, but also slept with her Fengjun and had a child with him. She completely regarded herself as the mother, and the throne of Xiliang was probably already in her grasp.
Would such an ambitious person obediently relinquish the throne?
This was not only a question in Su Xuening's mind, but also in the minds of Bai Shi and Pei Luo.
Duanmu Junyu said coldly, "How could she willingly return the throne to me? However, the throne of Western Liang has never been one that anyone can sit on. The Empress of Western Liang must gain the approval of Huo'er, the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast. I was personally brought back by Huo'er, so even if she doesn't want to, she has to give it up. Moreover, Western Liang holds a sacrifice to the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast every twenty years. At that time, the Empress of Western Liang must be personally blessed by the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast. An Empress who does not gain the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast's approval must abdicate. If she is unwilling to abdicate, the officials and people of Western Liang will not agree."
The day of the once-every-twenty-years sacrificial ceremony is fast approaching. Even if she doesn't want to return the throne to me, she must! Because she hasn't been able to summon the Vermilion Bird divine beast for the past twenty years, it means the Vermilion Bird doesn't approve of her and certainly won't help her with the divination. So even if she doesn't return the throne to me, when the day of the Vermilion Bird sacrificial ceremony arrives, she will be driven off the throne by the courtiers and the people!
Duanmu Junyu's words left everyone stunned.
I never imagined that the Western Liang royal family had so many unknown rules.
It turns out that everything requires the approval of the Vermilion Bird divine beast. It seems that the Vermilion Bird divine beast is truly revered as a deity in Western Liang.
Of course, having witnessed the power of the Vermilion Bird, they also knew that the Vermilion Bird was indeed a deity!
Duanmu Junyu frowned as she thought of something and said, "Although she returned the throne to me, she still has ulterior motives. These days she has been urging the officials to submit memorials, asking me to make Duanmu Qingxin the Crown Princess."
Su Xuening's eyebrows twitched slightly as she stared at Duanmu Junyu and suddenly asked, "Is this why Mother brought Yun'an and me to Xiliang?"
She said that she hadn't remembered her and Yun'an at all before, so why would she suddenly send Huo Feng to pick them up? It turned out that it wasn't because she missed them or cared about them, but because she needed them for something.
"Ning'er!" Sensing that Su Xuening's tone was off, Madam Bai gently scolded her.
Duanmu Junyu knew that Su Xuening was angry, and explained, "The ministers thought that I only had one child, Duanmu Qingxin, but they did not know that she was not my biological daughter. So I had Huo'er bring you and Yun'an to Xiliang. I want to announce your and Yun'an's identities and make you the Crown Princess!"
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