Imperial study.
"Your Majesty, the martial arts champion has arrived." The chief eunuch came in respectfully and reported.
"Let him in," Zhong Mingwei said solemnly, looking at the white jade Guanyin pendant in his hand, and then said to the chief eunuch, "You don't have to come in and serve him later."
"Yes, I obey your command." Immediately, the chief eunuch bowed and retreated.
"Your Majesty, your subordinate greets you! May Your Majesty live forever!" After a while, He Chengzhi came in and hurriedly walked to Zhong Mingwei to pay his respects.
"Get up," Zhong Mingwei stepped forward and helped He Chengzhi up, then pointed to the embroidered cushion behind him and said, "Sit down and talk."
"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty." He Chengzhi sat down as he was told. Seeing a cup of steaming tea on the table, he knew that Zhong Mingwei had prepared it in advance. It smelled like his favorite Lu'an Guapian tea that he hadn't had for fifteen years. He immediately felt grateful and complicated. After a pause, he said to Zhong Mingwei, "I wonder what instructions Your Majesty has for me today?"
"I summoned you to the palace today because I wanted to talk to you about family matters. You don't have to be too nervous," Zhong Mingwei said slowly, looking at the beads of sweat oozing from He Chengzhi's forehead. "When you leave the Imperial Study, you don't have to take what I said to you today too seriously."
He Chengzhi was stunned: "I am stupid and don't quite understand what Your Majesty means."
"Chengzhi, didn't you ask me to help you find your sister's whereabouts?" Zhong Mingwei took a sip of tea and put the cup back on the small table. He cast his eyes on He Chengzhi's anxious face, paused, and then said, "I sent people to investigate, and they did find out something, so I summoned you to the palace today."
"Thank you very much, Your Majesty!" He Chengzhi knelt on his knees and kowtowed to Zhong Mingwei, then asked anxiously, "Where is my sister now? Please tell me, Your Majesty."
"At the beginning of the 20th year of Jiasheng, there was indeed a four-year-old girl among the palace maids who entered the palace. Unfortunately, the girl did not survive the winter of that year," Zhong Mingwei said to the anxious face. He looked at He Chengzhi's face that instantly stiffened, and his hand holding the pendant clenched even tighter. "Chengzhi, your sister died fifteen years ago."
"I guessed it a long time ago." He Chengzhi said in a deep voice. He was telling the truth. How could a mere four-year-old child, the daughter of a criminal, survive under such a high wall? So he had been mentally prepared for this, but why did he still feel heartbroken at this moment?
He Chengzhi held on to the cold floor tiles with both hands to prevent himself from collapsing. After a while, when he raised his head again, his face was extremely pale. "Thank you, Your Majesty. In this case, please return my jade Buddha pendant to me so that I can have something to think about."
Zhong Mingwei looked at the slightly twitching face, and his lips couldn't help but tremble twice. He swallowed hard, and then said to He Chengzhi: "I'm afraid I can't return your jade Buddha pendant to you. I have other uses for it."
"Your Majesty, what do you mean?" He Chengzhi was stunned and looked at Zhong Mingwei in confusion.
"Take a look at this Guanyin pendant. Can you exchange it for your jade Buddha pendant?" As he spoke, Zhong Mingwei stretched out his hand and slowly opened it, revealing the white jade Guanyin pendant that he had been holding in his palm.
"This... this is..." He Chengzhi immediately became excited. His eyes widened, he gasped, and he looked at the pendant eagerly. Later, he didn't care about the etiquette between the emperor and his subjects. He snatched the pendant from Zhong Mingwei's hand, brought it in front of him, and looked at it again and again. Finally, his eyes were filled with tears. "This is the pendant I put on my sister myself! This is it! There is no mistake!" He Chengzhi was surprised and happy. It took him a long time to remember that this was still in the imperial study. He wiped his tears and asked Zhong Mingwei anxiously, "Where did His Majesty get this Guanyin pendant?"
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