Chapter 131
Chapter 131
“What is it?” the empress asked coldly.
She despised charlatans and crooked Daoists. Without them, none of the recent disasters would have happened.
Liu Ye reached behind his leg and lifted Qiqi into the air by her clothes. She squirmed in his grasp, kicking her short legs furiously, but could not break free.
“Do you know her?” he asked.
The empress looked baffled-until she saw Qiqi. Her entire body went rigid. The little girl in her arms also stared, her mouth falling open.
The empress looked from her own daughter to Qiqi. Except for the two little whiskers painted on Qiqi’s face, they were identical.
“Her name is Qiqi too,” Liu Ye added.
The words exploded like thunder inside the empress’s mind.
“Where did you find her?”
“On Nine Worlds Mountain. I found her by accident. She seemed to have been living there alone for years.”
The empress’s heart clenched for no apparent reason.
“So… you’re related to her, right?” Liu Ye asked.
Eunuch Wu and the others stared at him.
Obviously not!
Eunuch Wu was just as stunned. He had met the Seventh Princess before, yet had never noticed the resemblance.
“Impossible. Qiqi is my only child!” The empress hugged her daughter tightly, fear rising in her heart.
She knew these so-called masters possessed extraordinary abilities. Conjuring a child identical to Qiqi would not be difficult. What if they intended to switch the two girls?
Qiqi’s little face fell. She struggled even harder in Liu Ye’s grip.
The sight made the empress’s heart ache, and she immediately regretted her words.
Liu Ye still refused to put Qiqi down. He had seen far too many melodramatic television dramas where a matter that could be resolved in a few sentences was buried beneath lies and secrets until it ended in tragedy. He could tolerate that nonsense on television, but he would not allow it in real life.
“Tell us what’s going on.” He held Qiqi before his face and pinched her cheek.
She covered her mouth and turned her head away.
“Still refusing to talk? Don’t make me bring out the instruments of punishment.”
Liu Ye drew his special child-disciplining weapon. Qiqi flailed in terror.
The empress could bear no more. “Stop! Don’t let him hurt that child!”
Eunuch Wu hurriedly restrained Liu Ye. “Lord Liu, you can’t rush something like this. Let’s all calm down.”
He urgently signaled Physician Zhou, who took Qiqi into his arms.
Physician Zhou was no ordinary man. The moment Liu Ye revealed Qiqi’s identity, he noticed something others could not see: Advisor Qi and the Seventh Princess had exactly the same physiognomy.
Even twins could not possess identical destinies in their features. The instant he held Qiqi, he discovered something even more startling.
She was an evil spirit.
A possibility struck him, and he looked at Liu Ye in shock. If that were true, then Lord Liu must be…
Physician Zhou suppressed the thought and addressed the empress.
“Your Majesty, if this old man is not mistaken, you may have given birth to twins.”
“Impossible. I…”
The empress trailed off as a terrible possibility occurred to her.
She had lost consciousness during Qiqi’s birth. By the time she awoke, the child had already been delivered.
Many attendants were always present when an imperial consort gave birth, precisely to prevent foul play. Security around an empress was tighter still.
But what if the emperor himself had given the order?
Twins were considered an ill omen in this era, especially twin girls. The emperor placed absolute faith in those demonic Daoists. If he had believed the superstition, might he have…?
The empress looked at Qiqi again, and tears poured down her face.
“My child!”
Ignoring her attendants, she rushed forward, snatched Qiqi from Liu Ye, and embraced both girls as she wept.
Held in her mother’s arms, Qiqi began sobbing too.
“How touching! I can’t bear scenes like this.” Eunuch Wu dabbed his eyes repeatedly with a handkerchief, then threw himself onto Physician Zhou’s shoulder and wailed.
Physician Zhou said nothing.
After the empress calmed down, she looked gratefully at Liu Ye.
“Thank you, Immortal Master, for bringing my daughter back. Thank you…”
“There’s no need for that. But I have to criticize you. How careless can you be not to notice your own daughter was missing?”
“You are right, Immortal Master. I promise I will never let Qiqi leave me again.” Her expression was resolute.
“Good. Now everyone is happy. To celebrate the reunion, I’ll cook-”
Physician Zhou and Eunuch Wu lunged forward and clapped their hands over his mouth.
If Liu Ye cooked, the family reunion would move straight to the latrine.
“Lord Liu, this is a reunion between mother and daughters. Outsiders like us shouldn’t intrude,” Physician Zhou said.
“Exactly,” Eunuch Wu added. “It’s getting late, and the contest is only three days away. We ought to prepare.”
Eunuch Wu dragged Liu Ye away while Physician Zhou stayed behind and bowed to the empress.
“Your Majesty, may I speak with you in private?”
The empress was grateful to them for bringing Qiqi to her, and Eunuch Sun had already told her what happened in the courtyard. She now regarded Physician Zhou favorably and dismissed everyone else.
“Your Majesty, please forgive this old man. I lied to you just now.”
Her face changed. “Do you mean Qiqi is not my daughter?”
She did not believe it. Two people could not possibly look so alike outside a fanciful tale.
“No. Qiqi truly is your child. But you did not give birth to twins.”
Pity crossed Physician Zhou’s face.
The empress stared at him in confusion. “What are you trying to say?”
“Your Majesty, Qiqi is the Seventh Princess.”
Her eyes widened, then anger overtook her. “What nonsense is this? First you say they are twins, and now you say Qiqi is the Seventh Princess. Explain yourself!”
“Your Majesty, look at Qiqi’s shadow. Then look at the princess’s.”
The empress turned toward the two girls playing together. Horror seized her.
Qiqi cast no shadow.
“What… what does this mean?”
“Qiqi is undoubtedly your daughter, but she is the Seventh Princess from the future. If this old man’s deduction is correct, His Majesty has recently been preparing a human sacrifice.”
The revelation struck the empress like a thunderbolt.