Chapter 693: The Truth

Chapter 693 -694: The Truth

For all these years, the Empress Dowager had always felt a certain lack of confidence when facing Princess Ningyang.

To outsiders, it seemed the Empress Dowager tolerated Princess Ningyang out of respect for her high status.

But only the two of them—the Empress Dowager and Princess Ningyang—knew the truth. The Empress Dowager swallowed her pride and avoided direct conflict because she knew the princess’s temper and worried she might expose her past.

Likewise, Princess Ningyang, who was well aware of the Empress Dowager’s humble origins, held her in utter contempt.

Even though the woman had undergone a massive upgrade—becoming the Empress Dowager, a model for the entire realm—Princess Ningyang never bothered to give her a pleasant expression.

Such was the pride of a Royal Princess.

Facing the furious and flustered Empress Dowager, Princess Ningyang merely curled her lips into a faint, scornful smile.

“Have I misspoken? If so, I do hope the Empress Dowager will point it out.”

The Empress Dowager’s hand, gripping her nanny’s for support, trembled uncontrollably. Her face was deathly pale, tinged with a shade of blue.

She was struggling with all her might to maintain the dignity befitting an Empress Dowager.

“Empress Ji was magnanimous and broad-minded! She never took such trivial matters to heart. What right do you, an outsider, have to spread such vicious rumors?!”

Princess Ningyang’s smile slowly vanished, her voice laced with undisguised loathing.

“I was Empress Ji’s dearest friend. I am perfectly clear on her matters.

“It’s true Empress Ji paid you no mind. That was because she couldn’t be bothered to stoop to the level of a wretched person like you.

‘But who could have possibly imagined?’

“Her magnanimity, instead of earning your gratitude, only encouraged you to become even more brazen.”

The Empress Dowager was so furious she began to laugh mockingly.

“You speak as if you and Empress Ji were the dearest of friends. If that’s true, then why didn’t you join her when she immolated herself in the fire?”

At the mention of her deceased friend, Princess Ningyang’s expression grew dim.

When she learned of Empress Ji’s tragic death, Princess Ningyang had been overcome with such grief that she fell gravely ill.

But beyond that, there was nothing she could do.

The case of Crown Prince Li Shu had far-reaching implications; anyone who got involved would meet their end.

Even with her noble status as a Princess, she could not interfere in court politics, much less alter a decision made by her younger brother, the Emperor.

She could only pretend that nothing had happened, doing everything in her power to distance her own family from the Crown Prince Mansion, lest her husband and children be implicated.

Between speaking out for her friend and protecting her family, Princess Ningyang had chosen the latter.

And because of that choice, Princess Ningyang had always felt that she owed Empress Ji a debt, her heart heavy with guilt.

「And now.」

Her husband had passed away, and her daughter was married and gone.

She was all alone in the world. What did she have left to fear?

She could finally step forward, openly and without fear, and say everything that had been weighing on her heart for so many years.

“Empress Dowager, there’s no need to provoke me with such words. The circumstances of Empress Ji’s death were highly suspicious. I have always harbored doubts, but unfortunately, I was never able to find conclusive evidence. That is, until yesterday. I met someone, and at last, I learned the truth of Empress Ji’s self-immolation.”

A powerful sense of unease washed over the Empress Dowager.

At that moment, all eyes were on Princess Ningyang, everyone eager to know what this ‘truth’ she spoke of could be.

Princess Ningyang said, “Come out.”

A frail-looking palace maid with her head bowed stepped out from behind her.

Under the watch of the entire crowd, the palace maid slowly raised her head.

The Empress Dowager studied the girl’s face. It was strangely familiar, but for the life of her, she couldn’t place who it was.

Li Ji, however, recognized her at once. It was Mu Qing!

She was the palace maid who had secretly mourned Empress Ji in Chaoyang Palace, inadvertently starting rumors that the palace was haunted. By a twist of fate, she had also saved Hua Manman.

Later, when Hua Manman was held under house arrest in Chaoyang Palace by Prince Wu Zhang, it was Mu Qing who rescued her and hid her in a secret passageway.

After Hua Manman’s supposed “death,” Mu Qing had also vanished without a trace.

Li Ji had assumed she had left Tianjing to start a new life under an assumed name.

He never expected that she would suddenly appear before them all, and in such a dramatic fashion.

Mu Qing first curtsied to Li Ji before she began to slowly recount her story.

“I was originally a palace maid in the Laundry Bureau. After unfortunately offending someone, I was tormented and abused in every way imaginable.

“I couldn’t endure it any longer and wanted to end my own life. But I was saved by Empress Ji, who happened to be passing by.

“Not only did Empress Ji have a Medical Woman treat my injuries, but she also ordered the attendants who had deliberately abused me to be punished by caning.

“Empress Ji was a good person. It’s a pity that good deeds don’t always bring good fortune.

“First, Crown Prince Li Shu was framed, which led to the utter ruin of his family. In the end, even Empress Ji was driven to immolate herself in the palace.”

Princess Ningyang prompted her on cue, “You say Crown Prince Li Shu was framed? Do you have proof?”

“Of course! All these years, I have been investigating in secret, striving to collect evidence of their crimes.”

As she spoke, Mu Qing produced a stack of letters from her sleeve.

“The reason Crown Prince Li Shu was convicted was because the Yulin Guards searched the Crown Prince Mansion and found letters detailing his secret collusion with court officials to plot a rebellion.

“In truth, however, those letters were forgeries.

“When I finally found the forger, he had already been silenced, and his study had been put to the torch.

“The mastermind behind this thought they could pull the wool over everyone’s eyes, but the net of heaven is vast; though its mesh is wide, nothing escapes it.

“The forger knew that after framing the Crown Prince, he would inevitably be silenced to keep the secret.

“To protect his family’s lives, he left a special box in the care of his closest friend for safekeeping.

“This was to give the mastermind pause and prevent them from slaughtering his entire family.

“I found that friend and obtained a locked box from him.

“The box was filled with letters.

“Among them was the forger’s own confession, as well as several letters written in imitation of Crown Prince Li Shu’s handwriting.

“The script is identical to that in the treasonous letters!”

All heads immediately snapped toward the stack of letters.

After receiving a nod from Princess Ningyang, the Left and Right Ministers took two letters from the stack and began to examine them meticulously.

By the time they finished reading, their expressions had become incredibly complex.

They had interacted with Crown Prince Li Shu in the past, so of course, they knew his handwriting.

The script in these two letters was indeed identical to Li Shu’s own.

The Empress Dowager was still grasping at straws. “Nonsense! How could a mere palace maid possibly know so much?!”

Mu Qing replied, her demeanor calm and steady.

“I am not just a palace maid. I am also a member of the Xuanjia Guards.”

The original Xuanjia Guards were not an army but a group of trusted aides that Empress Ji had cultivated specifically for the Crown Prince.

Those selected for the Xuanjia Guards were not all masters of martial arts. In fact, many were ordinary people with no fighting skills at all.

And Mu Qing happened to be one of them.

“After Empress Ji’s death, some of the Xuanjia Guards were exterminated. But many others, like myself, went into hiding under assumed names. In all these years, we have never given up our investigation into the truth.”