Chapter 102
What kind of feelings did Xie Zhongxu have for her?
Qin Sang certainly didn't know the answer to this question. Since she entered the Prime Minister's residence, she had never seen the Prime Minister's concubine, nor had she ever attended any family gatherings. It was as if she didn't exist in the residence at all, only vaguely.
Xie Sui'an, however, began to recall the moments his grandfather spent with this concubine.
She was gentle and respectful to her grandfather, always following his lead, adding clothes and tea for him. She was quiet and reserved, yet beautiful and silent.
What was the way Grandpa looked at her? It wasn't that he wasn't gentle, but there was definitely a polite distance in his eyes.
He suddenly thought of something and asked, "So, is my fourth uncle really my biological fourth uncle?"
Tsk, Qin Sang thought to herself, you're too good at guessing.
Seeing Qin Sang's troubled expression, Xie Sui'an's heart sank.
Oh no! The fourth uncle I've called for so many years isn't actually my biological fourth uncle. The person I grew up with, the person I thought I knew so well, turns out to be someone else entirely.
That face was looking at him like he was a fool... Thinking of this, he shuddered slightly.
But in the end, I still thought, he just saved me, didn't he? It wasn't all fake.
Qin Sang stopped worrying about the issue. She took a candle and, by its dim light, climbed the stone steps, one step at a time, toward the throne.
I've already seen it once, but now I want Xie Sui'an to see it again.
"Come and touch it, see if there are any hidden mechanisms here."
Xie Sui'an asked, "Was I thrown in here?"
“No, you’re coming from that way,” Qin Sang pointed to him.
Looking in that direction, which was eight zhang away from the current platform, he said with some helplessness, "Then what mechanism are you looking for here? Generally speaking, the mechanisms in secret passages are set up not far from the passage itself..."
Qin Sang rolled her eyes: "You think you're so smart."
Xie Sui'an: "..."
Qin Sang: "I've touched every inch of that wall, but it's not there!"
"You haven't touched this area before?"
"I've touched it, but I just feel that it's a bit strange to have this thing here."
Judging from the wear and tear on the armrests of the throne, it could not have been made in recent decades, indicating that the throne is an old artifact, an artifact from the former Night Owl Kingdom.
I don't know how it was moved here, but the princess of Night Owl Kingdom used to keep it company every day, so she should have left something behind.
Qin Sang thought this way, and soon her goal shifted from finding the switch to the secret passage to searching for the secret itself.
It's hard to explain; it's a woman's intuition.
If Aunt Jiang herself knew Xie Xiao's background, she would probably leave some clues here.
Xie Xiao said that her mother didn't know whose child she was, and she didn't know if this was true or false.
Seeing her tapping and pressing here and there, Xie Sui'an couldn't help but say, "I think the switch might really not be... here."
With a "click," both of them were startled.
Touching that gem triggered some mechanism, Qin Sang's absurd and strange idea was actually verified. Sure enough, there was a secret box that popped out from under the throne like a drawer.
The two heads huddled together, and Xie Sui'an reached out first, only to be slapped away by Qin Sang: "Be careful, it might be poisonous!"
Xie Sui'an withdrew his hand, then asked in surprise, "How could something hidden in a place like this be poisoned?"
As they spoke, Qin Sang used a handkerchief as a pad to reach out and take out the small box.
The ebony box, its surface roughly carved, resembled a flower with intricate petals, which I didn't quite recognize. The box was locked with an exquisite and unusual brass clasp.
Qin Sang lifted the brass lock with her fingers to examine it, and asked Xie Sui'an, "Can it be opened?"
Xie Sui'an gave her a strange look: "I'm not a thief."
Qin Sang: "Alright. Then we'll just have to smash it."
She took a step back with the box, looked around, went down the platform to the cave, picked up a fairly solid rock, and smashed it down without hesitation.
Xie Sui'an followed, intending to help, but he was too weak. He crossed his arms and leaned to the side to watch the commotion: "This lock probably won't be easy to break; it looks very sturdy..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a clear, metallic clang echoed through the cave, the sound lingering in the air, and the lock opened.
He clicked his tongue: "Girls should be more refined."
Qin Sang ignored him, squatted down, removed the remaining locks, and opened the box.
Inside the empty wooden box, there were no decorations, only a lonely folded piece of yellow paper.
Qin Sang was about to open the letter when Xie Sui'an quickly came over: "Whose letter is it?"
The delicate handwriting, neat and elegant, was the handwriting of a young woman. Qin Sang read: "My dear Xiao Xiao, it is as if we are meeting in person."
"Who is Xiao Xiao?" Qin Sang asked, puzzled.
“It’s my fourth uncle’s nickname. Xiao… is the Xiao from the Night Owl Kingdom.”
Qin Sang sighed, "You're really bold."
"It's just a small, destroyed country; it's nothing to be afraid of."
Qin Sang continued reading the letter: "...My dear Xiao Xiao, it is as if we are meeting in person. There are many things in the past that are inconvenient to tell you in person. If you are destined to see this letter, you will know the truth about your background."
Qin Sang and Xie Suian exchanged a glance, then Qin Sang continued, “Your surname is Xie, and your given name is Xiao. You are indeed your father’s child. I didn’t want to acknowledge you before because I didn’t want you to recognize a traitor as your father and forget your homeland. You are of the bloodline of my Night Owl Kingdom, and our only hope for the restoration of our country. Your mother does not want you to be swayed by romantic love and have your nature softened by the gentle pleasures of the Southern Kingdom. You should be an eagle soaring in the sky, a wild horse galloping across the grasslands, not confined to this small courtyard. You carry not only your mother’s wishes, but also the hopes of hundreds of thousands of Night Owl Kingdom members.”
"Back when the emperor was still a prince, he was sent as an envoy to the Night Owl Kingdom on behalf of the Kingdom of Namwu. Due to a chance encounter, he proposed marriage to your maternal grandfather. But at that time, I was already engaged, and my father doted on me, so I gritted my teeth and refused."
"If I had known back then that this matter would become the origin of the destruction of the Night Owl Kingdom, I would have asked my father for permission. I was just an ordinary woman, what could I not give up? Yet I ended up becoming the eternal sinner of the Night Owl Kingdom."
“I married your father not because he forced me, but because I wanted to use him. I wanted to use my beauty to restore the country, but he wouldn’t let me go out, kept me confined to the house, and even sent people to follow and monitor me, which eventually shattered my hopes little by little. You are by my side because of his pity for me, and also because of his pity for you. I took advantage of this pity. I’m sorry.”
"Perhaps I am selfish, but you were born with a mission. Night Owl Kingdom was once prosperous and wealthy, with rich people. It had the most fragrant milk wine, boundless grasslands, herds of cattle and sheep, free people and colorful gems. Whether it was sunrise or sunset, it was incomparably beautiful. But now it is dilapidated and desolate, with few people, houses and fortresses collapsed... The place I dreamed of returning to can never be returned to."
"Of course I hope you can rebuild its glory, which is why I've been so strict with you all these years. But you are my child, and also myself. If you really can't do it, so what? It will just be my regret and an unforgivable sin. Why drag you into the abyss?"
"If you can't hold on, then so be it. Just live your life well. If you can't, your mother still hopes you can live a happy and peaceful life. Mother, Jiang Wan."
As soon as she finished speaking, Qin Sang lowered the letter and gazed at Xie Sui'an for a long time.
A tremendous shock surged within me.
Qin Sang remembered what Xie Xiao had told her: "He said that Aunt Jiang told him he was a bastard."
But he wasn't; he always thought he was.
He had been deceived by his biological mother, who made him hate his biological father and the Kingdom of Namo, and led him on the long journey of restoring the kingdom.
It's hard to imagine how he spent his childhood, deeply believing he was a bastard living under someone else's roof, and having to carefully pass messages to the old people of Night Owl Kingdom... His young, frail shoulders bore the weight of a nation's hopes and expectations. How did he grow up?
Hybrid?
Xie Sui'an was speechless for a long time. He never knew that Aunt Jiang, who had always been quiet and kind to him, had so many things hidden in her heart. Even more unimaginable was that his fourth uncle, who had grown up with him almost the same time, who seemed indifferent to everything on the surface, actually had so many things on his mind.
He remembered once getting into a fight and being beaten to the ground by a group of people. Xie Xiao rushed in without hesitation and used his thin back to block most of the punches and kicks. So, he wasn't seriously injured, but Xie Xiao broke an arm.
On another occasion, he sneaked into his grandfather's study, knocked over the inkstone, and stained important official documents with ink. His grandfather was furious. A group of guards with blood on their backs knelt on the ground in the courtyard and asked who had trespassed. Xie Xiao stood up with his neck stiff...
Was he genuinely protecting me back then, or did he have ulterior motives?
Xie Sui'an, supporting himself on the throne, slowly sat down on the stone platform. Looking up at the dark cave, he suddenly thought, "Don't you think this looks like a prison?"
Aunt Jiang imprisoned herself here to atone for her country's sins.
Qin Sang glanced around and thought to herself, "Have you ever seen a prison cell this luxurious and comfortable, complete with a hot spring bath?"
But compared to the outside world, it's like a prison, if she thinks that can alleviate some of her guilt.
Frankly speaking, conflicts between nations occur constantly throughout the three thousand worlds. The destruction of such a small country is nothing in Qin Sang's eyes. Even if it were this Nanwu Kingdom, if it truly wanted to be destroyed, it would simply be destroyed.
But the God of Fate said that its life was not meant to end, so it would have to live a few more days.
If they can't hold on, the God of Fate will be punished. After all, he took 50,000 merits from them.
She refolded the letter, carefully put it back into the small wooden box, and then put the small wooden box back in its place.
Xie Sui'an looked at her and said, "It's better to let opportunities happen naturally."
"You're not going to tell him the truth?!" Xie Sui'an's eyes widened in shock.
“He’s living a pretty carefree life now, with clear goals and quite used to it. Telling him that he should have doubts about the past twenty-odd years? Make him waver?” Qin Sang shook her head. “I don’t think that would be a good thing for him.”
"But if we tell him he's my fourth uncle, he'll be able to let go of his hatred... at least let us out!"
“Hey,” Qin Sang looked at him, “you’re still clinging to the hope that he’ll let us go? Wake up, it’s already merciful that he’s not killing us.”
His pale face seemed to turn even paler: "You won't let us out? Are you going to lock us up here to die?"
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