“Seeing he couldn’t persuade the Crown Prince or me, Yang Guang could only leave. We thought he had given up, but it turned out he hadn’t – he wanted to use another, more extreme method to obtain me.”

“He constantly slandered the Crown Prince before the Emperor and Empress, gradually making them dissatisfied with the Crown Prince. Later, he conspired with Yang Su, whom the Late Emperor had sent to observe the Crown Prince. Yang Su deliberately provoked the Crown Prince into saying words of complaint, and ultimately the Late Emperor deposed the Crown Prince to commoner status and installed Yang Guang as Crown Prince instead. This way, the Crown Prince lost the ability to contend with him, and he could forcibly take me from the Crown Prince’s side.”

Yunyi said in shock: “You mean Yang Guang’s fight for the Crown Prince position was for Mother’s sake?”

Xiao Shi shook her head: “Not entirely. Actually, even before learning I was alive, he had already made moves. My appearance could only be said to have accelerated his actions.”

Yunyi was silent for a moment, then said: “What happened after that? How did Meixue and I come about?”

“He wanted to reconcile with me, but I was completely disappointed in him and naturally refused to the death. He didn’t force me either, settling me in the Eastern Palace with people watching day and night so I couldn’t escape. It was then that I discovered I was carrying the Crown Prince’s child.”

“Later, the Late Emperor fell ill at Renshou Palace. Yang Guang had relations with the Late Emperor’s favored consort. When the Late Emperor learned of this, he was greatly enraged and realized he had wronged the Crown Prince. He wanted to restore the Crown Prince, but was stopped by Yang Guang. Shortly after, the Late Emperor died suddenly, and Yang Guang inherited the throne. Do you know what the first thing he did after ascending was?” Without waiting for Yunyi’s answer, she said sorrowfully: “It was to execute the Crown Prince – to execute the elder brother who had loved and cherished him for many years. Even the Late Emperor’s death was reportedly related to him. This man would kill even his own blood brother – how could he show mercy to the common people? This is also why Mother always advised you not to interfere in court affairs or petition him, because he simply won’t listen.”

“After the Crown Prince’s death, I wanted to follow him, but couldn’t bear to part with the child in my womb. After all, with the Crown Prince’s line exterminated, the child in my womb was his only bloodline. Later Yang Guang came, saying that as long as I submitted to him, he would make me Empress and treat the child in my womb as his own flesh and blood. Though I didn’t care for the Empress position, for the child’s sake, I could only agree.” Speaking to this point, Xiao Shi said with a face full of sarcasm: “I thought that as Emperor, he would keep his promise. Little did I know he had been deceiving me all along – from beginning to end, he never intended to let the child in my womb live.”

“When I was in labor, he instructed the imperial physicians and midwives to drug me and dismiss Hongli, making me unconscious. They took advantage of this opportunity to take the child away, then lied that I had given birth to a monster. But they didn’t expect that I was carrying twins. When the second child was born, I awakened, leaving them no chance to take that one away.”

“That child was me?” Faced with Yunyi’s words, Xiao Shi nodded: “Correct. And the one they took away was Meixue. Originally, according to Yang Guang’s instructions, Meixue should have been smothered at birth, but that palace servant couldn’t bear it, so she sent her out of the palace. Later she ended up in Honghua Commandery and was adopted by Wu Laosan. I knew nothing of this, thinking I had only given birth to you. Only when you returned from Honghua Commandery and told me about Meixue did I learn that Yang Guang had been deceiving me all along!”

“If Meixue hadn’t been sent out of the palace, she wouldn’t have lived so hard, and wouldn’t have been killed by Feng Chunxiu. It was Yang Guang – he caused our mother-daughter separation, he caused Meixue’s early death. When I learned the truth, I wanted nothing more than to kill him, but I couldn’t, because I still had you, Yunyi…” Xiao Shi stroked that face so much like her own, choking up: “So I could only choose to continue enduring, thinking it would be fine once you married, but then… such things happened again – one killed, one a hypocrite.”

Yunyi tightly twisted her fingers, saying tremblingly: “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“After you became sensible, I thought countless times about telling you, but every time I saw your respect for Yang Guang, I couldn’t bear to shatter this illusion. I always thought that even if Yang Guang didn’t favor you, at least he wouldn’t do anything to you. I never imagined he could be so despicable!”

Thinking of that earlier scene, Yunyi’s body began trembling involuntarily. That incident was like the most terrifying nightmare of her life.

Seeing her like this, Xiao Shi quickly held her tightly, comforting: “Don’t be afraid, it’s alright now. From now on, Mother will protect you well and never again give him a chance to harm you!”

Yunyi didn’t speak, only biting her lip hard. After a long while, she said hoarsely: “If… Mother had told me earlier, all these years I wouldn’t have needed to act like a fool, trying every way to please him. Even when I knew Li Yuan might endanger the Great Sui realm, I risked going to Honghua Commandery to assassinate him. Not only did I nearly die several times, I also caused Moping’s death, Wu Laosan’s death, and even Meixue’s death was indirectly caused by me. And Li Xuanba, A’Jin… even now, I still remember how they looked when they died. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I often dream of them covered in blood coming to find me, demanding I return their lives.” By the end, tears that had been held back all day finally fell, soaking her clothes. “For nineteen years, I’ve lived like a joke, treating an enemy as family!”

Xiao Shi listened with tears streaming down her face, sobbing: “I’m sorry, it’s Mother who harmed you, Yunyi, I’m sorry!”

Yunyi raised her tear-stained face, choking: “Mother, I’m really afraid. I’m afraid he won’t let me go, that there will still be… incidents like today!”

“No!” Xiao Shi said urgently: “He promised me that as long as you don’t go to Chengxiang Hall, he won’t do such things again.”

Yunyi smiled bitterly: “Does Mother really think his words can be trusted?”

“Though this person is despicable and shameless, cold-hearted and cold-blooded, he still has a trace of feeling for me, so he won’t harm you under my nose. Don’t worry too much.”

Yunyi was about to nod when she inadvertently saw a trace of dark red on Xiao Shi’s neck, looking like… She said nervously: “He bullied Mother, didn’t he?”

Xiao Shi covered the kiss mark on her neck, shaking her head: “It’s nothing. Mother is already used to it.”

Her words made Yunyi’s tears fall even more fiercely, sobbing uncontrollably: “I’m sorry, Mother, I’m sorry. It’s this daughter who implicated you, I’m sorry!”

Xiao Shi suppressed the soreness in her eyes: “Silly child, you’ve never wronged Mother. On the contrary, it’s precisely because of you that Mother has the motivation to continue living. In this life, Mother asks for nothing else, only hoping you can marry a suitable husband and live peacefully and happily.”

Yunyi nodded desperately: “This daughter knows, this daughter has always known.”