Chapter 58 058 Scandal: Happiness came to an abrupt end at this moment...
A rumor began to circulate secretly in the Ghost Realm.
At first, it was a taboo subject, something to be kept secret. But later, when everyone started talking about it, it became an open topic of conversation. A glance between them was enough to convey their understanding.
Ahem, you've heard about it, haven't you?
Hey, how could I not have heard? It's all over the place.
You think that's true?
Everyone's saying, it's definitely true!
Extremely by chance, if you encounter someone who is somewhat out of touch with the news, they might ask in bewilderment, "Huh? What is this all about?"
"You don't know?! It's Princess Meng! I heard she's not the Ghost King's biological daughter, but rather the bastard child of the Ghost Queen and some deity!"
"On the very day our General Meng set off for the campaign, many people saw that the little princess exuded the aura of a god! If she were the offspring of the Ghost Queen and the Ghost King, how could she possess the aura of a god!"
"Tsk, what happened to that Ghost Queen? She dared to cuckold the Ghost King, did they get away with it?"
"I don't know, but something's bound to happen eventually..."
...
A-Meng felt that everyone around her had become very strange since her master went to war.
The palace servants often whispered among themselves, but they would immediately fall silent when she approached, and would put on an unnatural smile, their eyes showing a hint of pity that she had never seen before.
Her father hadn't visited her in a long time. When she went to his study to find him, she was harshly chased out.
A-Meng felt wronged. In the past, every time she secretly sneaked into her father's study, her father would be very happy. He would pick her up and put her on his lap, and read the memorials on the desk to her.
"Our Meng will be the Ghost Queen someday, so let's start reading the memorials now!"
Back then, Father would always laugh heartily and say this to A-Meng. His large hand would gently stroke the top of A-Meng's head, almost slapping her down.
A Meng hadn't seen her mother for a long time. The last time she saw her mother was on the day her master went to war, when she ran all the way back from outside the North Sea Gate.
The Empress Dowager was just muttering to herself, "This child, why is she all sweaty from running around?" and was about to take out a handkerchief to wipe her forehead when her expression suddenly changed.
"Ameng, where's your pendant? The pendant your mother gave you!"
“I gave it to my master. They all said this expedition was extremely dangerous, and I wanted the pendant to protect my master and ensure his safe return.”
A-Meng's voice trailed off, growing softer and softer, as if she thought her mother was angry with her.
"Mother, when Master comes back, we can have him return the pendant to me. I promise I'll never take it off again..."
Her mother's face was paler than paper. She closed her eyes and said nothing in the end. She simply pulled A-Meng into her arms and stroked her head absentmindedly.
Since then, A-Meng has never seen her mother again.
She was very worried about her mother and wanted to visit her in her palace, but Yinye always stopped her with various excuses.
"The Queen is unwell and is resting in bed. Your Highness, please go in a few days."
“But you said the same thing last time.” A-Meng was very dissatisfied, and her unease grew day by day.
Finally, on this day, she managed to sneak out when the palace servants weren't paying attention.
She dared not go through the main gate, so she went around to the back gate of her mother's palace and disguised herself as a palace maid to sneak in.
The closer one gets to the Empress Dowager's palace, the quieter it becomes. The vast courtyard is deserted; not a single palace servant can be found. The datura flowers in the garden are almost withered, and the grass on the ground grows wildly and unevenly.
Normally, a gardener would have come to replace the flower seeds and prune the weeds long ago.
Faintly, A-Meng heard crying.
Then came the sound of porcelain shattering on the ground.
"Yan Lie! That's enough!"
The Empress Dowager's voice, tinged with sobs, suddenly rose in pitch, piercing through the layers of palace gates and startling the fish in the pond into hiding among the water plants.
"Then explain yourself clearly... Ah Meng... whose daughter is she!"
"Heh, if I told you, would you believe me?"
"After all these years, you still can't forget that person...you bitch!"
Snap!
Another sound of something crashing to the ground.
Startled, A Meng rushed into her mother's palace without caring if she was discovered.
The palace was in complete disarray. Antique shelves lay overturned, and various rare treasures were smashed to pieces on the floor. The bed curtains were torn from the canopy, and amidst the chaotic pile of brocade, the Queen Mother covered her face with one hand, sobbing on the ground, with the King standing beside her.
Father...
Ameng stared blankly, never having seen her father so unfamiliar. He looked as if he hadn't taken care of himself in a long time, reeking of alcohol, with bloodshot eyes, and his once jet-black hair now streaked with white, making him seem to have aged considerably.
He seemed oblivious to A-Meng rushing in, staggered forward, grabbed Zhu Miao's shoulders with both hands, and lifted her up from the ground.
"...For so many years, you've been lying to me, haven't you? You and Yuan Si...you and Yuan Si..."
"Let me go!" Zhu Miao seemed to be in pain and struggled frantically. "Let me go!! I've already said it, I didn't! I broke up with him a long time ago! I married you innocently!"
"Then how do you explain... that A-Meng has the aura of a god? Hmm? How do you explain..." Yan Lie's eyes were filled with despair as his hand slowly slid towards Zhu Miao's snow-white neck, tightening little by little, as if he wanted to strangle it.
Zhu Miao suffocated and frantically pounded on Yan Lie's hands, but to no avail.
"Father!"
Worried about her mother, A Meng rushed forward to try and pry her father's hand off, but his hand was like an iron clamp. In desperation, she bit her father's wrist hard.
Yan Lie winced in pain and finally released Zhu Miao. He seemed to wake up suddenly, looking at his wife who was clutching her neck and breathing heavily on the ground, and his daughter who was glaring at him with red eyes.
"...Fine, fine! My precious daughter, whom I've cherished like my own heart and soul for so many years! I never imagined she would turn out to be such an ungrateful wretch!"
When Ameng saw the wound on her father's wrist, she felt sorry for him, but she couldn't abandon her mother. In the end, she burst into tears.
"Father, Mother, please stop arguing... It's all Meng's fault, it's all Meng's fault!"
Seeing Yan Lie's sinister and dark gaze fall on her daughter, Zhu Miao quickly pulled her over and shielded her behind her, looking at Yan Lie with great vigilance, as if he were some kind of terrifying beast.
Yan Lie seemed to be stung by Zhu Miao's gaze. He stood there silently for a moment, and then stumbled away without saying a word.
A-Meng gazed at her father's retreating figure, tears streaming down her face, her heart filled with bitterness and bewilderment.
Zhu Miao held her in her arms and began to cry sadly again.
"Mother...is what Father said true? I, I'm really not Father's daughter?" A-Meng's eyes widened as she recalled the attitudes the palace servants had shown her these past few days, and she vaguely understood something.
"Nonsense! Your father doesn't believe your mother, so why don't you?"
"But...who is the 'person' that Father mentioned? Since I am Father's daughter, why did Mother use a pendant to conceal the divine aura within me?"
“Mother…Mother doesn’t know…” The determination in Zhu Miao’s eyes seemed to waver. In the end, she closed her eyes, covered her face and wept again, like a flower on the verge of breaking and withering.
A-Meng hugged her mother and turned to look at the sky outside the palace gate.
The sky over the Ghost Realm was still as strange and beautiful as ever, but it seemed to have changed, as if all the beauty had been left in the memories of childhood.
Happiness came to an abrupt end at that moment.
She misses her master so much.
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