The guards at the main gate, holding golden crow-patterned halberds, couldn’t help but frown at the approaching group. With cloud-like black hair and moon-like features, the young woman was as delicate as a newly bloomed flower. Anywhere else, she would have caused quite a stir.
But this was the main gate of Chaoyang City. How could a woman enter here? They hesitated briefly before blocking the group’s path.
“Female companions, please enter through the east side gate.”
“I’ve used this gate for nineteen years. This is the first time I’ve been asked to use a side entrance,” Ming Yi smiled slightly, looking up at them. “It seems your eyesight has worsened considerably in just over half a year.”
The guards were stunned. They looked at her closely and their expressions changed: “Your Highness?”
The head guard rushed over, slapping their helmets angrily. “What ‘Your Highness’? Princess Ming Xian is dead. The inner court has already held the funeral. There’s only Prince Yong left. Don’t you recognize him? How dare you address a woman as ‘Your Highness’? This is a grave offense!”
After saying this, he glanced at their group and said, “Women are not allowed through the main gate. Please use the side entrance.”
This head guard was one of the Rear Mistress’s men, so it wasn’t surprising that he was blocking her way. Ming Yi calculated the time, and just as she turned around, she saw Prince Yong’s entourage approaching.
“How dare you block the honored guests from Mu Xing City?” Shan Er, walking beside Prince Yong, glanced at Ming Yi and spoke with a smile. “Don’t let people think our Chaoyang City doesn’t know how to treat guests.”
“There’s no precedent for women entering through the main gate,” the head guard’s face turned pale. “I guard this place, so naturally, I must uphold its rules.”
“How can there be no precedent?” Shan Er’s smile widened as he pointed at Ming Yi. “She’s walked through this main gate at least eight hundred times if not a thousand. If you feel it breaks the rules, why don’t you come with us to see the Lord?”
As the head guard tried to block them, Prince Yong’s deputy stepped forward to confront them. Shan Er seized the opportunity to gesture to Ming Yi, “Please, come in.”
If anyone was most eager to let Ming Yi enter the inner court, it would be Prince Yong and the Meng clan. They had been waiting here since receiving the news early on. The inner court was already packed with people, afraid to miss even a moment of the drama.
Lord Ming Li of Chaoyang City was wondering why everyone had arrived so early today when suddenly the Rear Mistress came in crying and knelt beside him, saying, “Please, my Lord, I beg for your justice!”
With all eyes on them, Ming Li was a bit cautious and spoke in a low voice, “What nonsense is this? If there’s an issue, we can discuss it after receiving the people of Chaoyang City.”
But by then it would be too late, the Rear Mistress thought, gritting her teeth.
She never imagined Ming Yi would brazenly come to the inner court wearing a hairpin and skirt to see the Lord. The guards at the gate couldn’t stop her, and if she didn’t cry foul now, she wouldn’t have a chance to speak later.
This Ming Yi, after leaving for a while, seemed to have become a different person, daring to defy her!
Taking a deep breath, she hurriedly said to the Lord, “Yesterday, my ignorant maid mistakenly took a bowl of bird’s nest soup meant for Noble Consort Meng. I thought it was a small matter and sent someone to apologize, but who knew my sister would hold a grudge and threaten to teach me a lesson today? Today is an important day for welcoming fighters from other cities. I feared these petty squabbles might ruin your important affairs, my Lord, so I came to explain first.”
Is this trivial squabble among the harem women worth mentioning here? Ming Li glared at her, “You’ve always been level-headed. What’s gotten into you today…”
“My Lord, the fighters from Mu Xing City have arrived.”
Without time to further reprimand the Rear Mistress, Ming Li turned his gaze to the entrance.
With one glance, he was stunned.
Qin Shangwu led five fighters in. They had inquired about the characteristics of Ji Bozai, Luo Jiaoyang, and the others, so they recognized them naturally, but… the fighter walking in the middle was a woman.
With a trailing dress and swaying hairpin, she followed her instructor into the hall. Under everyone’s gaze, she performed a woman’s salute: “Greetings to the Lord of Chaoyang.”
The entire hall fell silent. No one spoke, but their gazes were filled with curiosity, disgust, and mockery.
Mu Xing City truly lived up to its reputation as one of the lower three cities, not understanding etiquette at all. How could they bring a woman to such an important occasion?
She Tianlin sat closest to the Lord, able to see the disbelief in his eyes with just a turn of his head.
“This young lady…” Ming Li stood up, “Whose family are you from?”
Ming Yi stepped forward two paces, raising her hand to her forehead, “This humble one’s surname is Ming.”
Ming?
Although Ming was a common surname, could it be such a coincidence? Not only did she bear a striking resemblance to Ming Xian, but she also happened to share the same surname.
Ming Li looked at her for a good while, then suddenly turned to the Rear Mistress with a smile, “If you weren’t from Mu Xing City, I’d think you secretly bore me a daughter.”
The Rear Mistress’s face turned as white as paper, and she didn’t look up.
Ming Yi lowered her hand from the salute and looked up at him: “This humble one is not from Mu Xing City, but was born in Chaoyang City.”
Ming Li sensed something was amiss and narrowed his eyes at her: “Where in Chaoyang City were you born?”
“In the inner court of the imperial city, Zhaoyang Palace.”
The crowd erupted in shocked murmurs, all eyes turning to the Rear Mistress.
Zhaoyang Palace was the residence of the Rear Mistress.
The Rear Mistress’s fingers trembled. After taking a deep breath, she raised her head with a cold face and angrily rebuked: “Where did this demon girl come from, spouting such nonsense! Is this how Mu Xing City comes to meet our Lord of Chaoyang?”
Qin Shangwu cupped his hands: “Rear Mistress, please forgive us. Ming Yi—or should I say Ming Xian—has rendered great service to your Chaoyang City. Now gravely injured, she’s still being repeatedly hunted. Truly at her wit’s end, she came with us to the inner court today. We in Mu Xing owe her a favor and are merely lending a hand.”
As soon as the name Ming Xian was mentioned, the surrounding commotion grew even louder. Some even stood up in agitation, cursing: “Ming Xian was a man, the heir of our Chaoyang City. What are your intentions in having a woman impersonate him!”
“That’s right, Ming Xian is already dead. The inner court held the funeral recently. We’re still in mourning and haven’t even resumed meat-eating or music-playing.”
“Ming Xian is dead?” Shan Er asked with a smile. “Then is there a body in the coffin enshrined in the inner court?”
“Shan Er, you’re out of line!” the Rear Mistress shouted angrily. “The heir of Chaoyang City—are you suggesting we open the coffin for verification?”
“I think it’s the Rear Mistress who’s out of line,” Noble Consort Meng arrived fashionably late, entering through the side door and slowly walking towards another position beside the Lord.
Ming Li frowned at her: “At this critical moment, you’re not going to fight over petty jealousies, are you?”
“My Lord, please see clearly. I merely don’t want you to be deceived. This isn’t about jealousy,” Noble Consort Meng bowed to him, then dramatically pointed at Ming Yi. “She is Ming Xian. Ming Xian has been female since birth. It was the Rear Mistress who intentionally deceived you, repeatedly preventing physicians from taking her pulse, pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes, leading to today’s situation!”
The inner court of Chaoyang City erupted into chaos, with clan members and court officials all discussing loudly.
How could Ming Xian be female? From birth, she was named heir due to her red pulse. If she were a woman…
If she were a woman, even with the red pulse, it wouldn’t have mattered at all.