Chapter 128: Jiang Sijin's Obsession
That night, there were only two scattered stars in the sky, a perfect time for a good night's sleep.
Jiang Sijin's task was to stay in the house and wait for Hu Wen to bring his men to check on them and keep them calm.
He simply took off his clothes, got into bed, and closed his eyes to rest.
But as soon as her body touched the bed, the fatigue of the past few days instantly overwhelmed her brain, her consciousness began to give up the resistance, and she eventually fell into a deep sleep.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, the Empress has given birth to a little princess." The midwife's joyful words caught in her throat when she met the emperor's cold expression.
The young emperor was extremely majestic, his eyes calm and still as an ancient well, sweeping coolly over the infant in his swaddling clothes. Even though this was his first child, he still spoke cold words without any mercy.
"Drowning."
The midwife immediately bent over, barely daring to breathe, and carried the child away.
The empress, who had just given birth, lay weakly in the bedding, her lips devoid of color. Her hands, resting on the edge of the bed, clenched loosely, but ultimately grasped nothing.
A tear slid down from the corner of her eye, disappearing into her hair and leaving a clear tear stain.
It's all fate.
The imperial advisor predicted that the emperor would only have one son in his lifetime.
Therefore, any daughter would be drowned to make way for a prince whose whereabouts were still unknown.
Before Jiang Sijin could even experience the world, the icy lake water enveloped her entire body.
"Wow..."
She tried to speak, but the baby's body could only cry.
His chest cavity filled with water, the air he inhaled became thin, his mind began to spin, and he soon lost consciousness completely.
When the light returned, Jiang Sijin realized that no one around her could see her.
She seemed to be dead, yet also as if she had never lived.
Her soul drifted aimlessly, rampaging through the magnificent palace, with no one stopping her—how delightful!
But no one talks to me, it's so boring.
"Mother." The little prince snuggled in the empress's arms, wriggling like a worm.
The Empress lovingly stroked her only child, saying, "Didn't the Grand Tutor teach you? You should call me Mother."
"I don't care," the child said mischievously, sticking out his tongue. "I'll call you 'Mommy' in private."
"You, you," the Empress said with a doting expression.
Jiang Sijin, who witnessed the whole thing, felt her eyes sting, but she couldn't even cry.
She was just a ghost in this world, without even the right to cry.
But I am clearly your child too. The emperor ordered me to be drowned, and you let my body sink to the bottom of the lake in the imperial garden, spending my days with the silt.
I also want to be held by my mother, but Mother, you haven't even had a chance to look at me since I was born.
Jiang Sijin lived to see the day the emperor died.
People may be divided into noble and lowly while alive, but when they die, they are all just a wisp of soul between heaven and earth.
Jiang Sijin finally found an opportunity to ask that question.
Why did you drown me?
Even the emperor never imagined that he would see his daughter, whom he had ordered to be executed years ago, after his death.
“Child, don’t blame me. I did it for the sake of the entire Jiang family. I made a deal with Heaven so that our dynasty could last for thousands of years. Our lineage can only have one child in a lifetime. We need a son to inherit the throne. Blame it on you being born into the wrong family.”
After saying that, the Path of Reincarnation opened, and the emperor's soul flashed inside.
Jiang Sijin caught up, but was kept out by an invisible force.
Was she born into the wrong family? No! She refused to believe that not a single emperor in the entire dynasty could tolerate a baby girl.
The prince became the new emperor, married the empress, and soon the empress became pregnant.
Jiang Sijin entered her womb. After ten months of pregnancy, the Empress gave birth to a princess.
Then Jiang Sijin heard her younger brother say the exact same thing.
"Drowning."
Being surrounded by lake water feels terrible; suffocation is probably the most painful way to die in the world.
At the moment of her physical death, Jiang Sijin's soul floated out again, wandering day after day in the empty palace.
When the emperor died, she asked that question again.
But the answer was still the same.
This dynasty needs a prince to inherit the throne; if anyone is to blame, it's that she was born into the wrong family.
Jiang Sijin was unwilling to accept this. Whenever a new empress became pregnant, she would throw herself into the empress's life, but as soon as she was born, she would be drowned by her own father.
She herself couldn't say how many times she had gone back and forth. She only knew that the resentment around her had expanded infinitely over thousands of years, and finally she became a spirit that transcended heaven and earth.
Jiang Sijin had considered being reborn into a different family. Now that she was detached from the cycle of reincarnation, she didn't need to go through it again. As long as a woman was pregnant, her soul would bind to that body as she drifted around, waiting only for the baby to be born and possess it.
But she was unwilling to accept it.
Why? She was also a princess of great honor, so why should she have to drown to make way for her son just because she was a girl?
None of her fathers showed her any mercy. None of her mothers recovered her body. None of her brothers knew of their sister.
Why? They are both of royal blood, so why can't a princess inherit the throne? Why did she have to be killed right after she was born? Is that prophecy necessarily true?
Perhaps it's true that what you can't have always stirs your heart, as Jiang Sijin became increasingly obsessed with being born into the Empress's womb.
The lake water in the Imperial Garden is so cold! Every time I feel the sunshine, I'm enveloped by the water.
"Waaaaa...waaaaa..."
Jiang Sijin was filled with hatred. Why was she just a newborn baby? Otherwise, she would have killed all of them.
Kill them all!
Jiang Sijin was numb during the Empress's childbirth; her soul had already generated automatic commands.
Jiang Sijin crawled into the Empress's belly and had someone "give birth" to her once again.
"Your Majesty, the Empress has given birth to a princess."
The midwife's voice was devoid of emotion.
Jiang Sijin guessed that it wouldn't be long before she heard the familiar words "drowning" again.
But to her surprise, the emperor took the child in his arms.
When she fell into the warm embrace, Jiang Sijin was completely stunned.
It seems that the father's embrace is warmer than that of the midwife.
Moreover, the rich dragon energy emanating from him feels so comfortable; it makes my small body feel full of power.
Jiang Sijin smiled broadly.
Even if you still intend to kill me to make room for your son, I forgive you for the sake of this warm embrace.
However, the emperor's order was not for "drowning".
"Remember, the Empress has given birth to a prince, a cause for universal celebration."
Jiang Sijin could hardly believe it; was she finally spared from dying?
She later learned that the situation in the court was unstable and the emperor urgently needed a successor.
Even with the imperial advisor's prophecy, the emperor couldn't wait for the prince's birth and could only use a princess to impersonate the prince to temporarily appease the court officials.
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