Chapter 1
Chapter 1
I once thought I would stay in Jiangling City until the day I died.
That was until that day, when the dew was heavy and I knelt beneath the corridor, overhearing a conversation in the study.
The sound of a young girl’s weeping was particularly piteous. It was the legitimate daughter of the Song Family, Song Wanrong.
“Your Highness, I beg you to save me.
“Everyone knows how fiercely jealous the Imperial Consort is. If she finds me, she will surely kill me!”
A tall, elegant silhouette was cast upon the window paper.
It was Prince Yu, Xiao Qibai.
“There must be a way.”
“What way?! It’s not as if we can find someone to take my place!”
“We can,” Xiao Qibai said in a low voice. “I will find someone to replace you and become the Lotus Girl.”
The Lotus Girl was a prophecy from the palace.
Rumor had it that the highly respected Grand State Master, while meditating before the Lotus Pond, suddenly took up his brush and wrote:
[When the fires of war scatter and fly, the Palace Lotus shall bloom.]
Immediately after, he dropped his brush, closed his eyes, and passed away.
After the State Master died, his disciples observed the stars for seven consecutive days, finally deciphering the omen their master had left behind.
They said that within ten years, a woman bearing a Lotus Birthmark would enter the palace. This woman would be a femme fatale; the Emperor would be so captivated by her that she would inevitably bring about turmoil to the state and spark widespread war.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor was quite displeased.
“Nonsense! The State Master must have grown muddled in his final moments. Having the Imperial Consort alone is enough for me; why would I let a newcomer into the palace?”
He spoke of the matter no more.
However, the Imperial Consort took it to heart.
She began to secretly dispatch people to search among the common folk for any woman with a Lotus Birthmark.
Everyone said the Imperial Consort believed the State Master’s prophecy and intended to find the Lotus Girl to eliminate her before she could pose a threat.
This was why Song Wanrong was so terrified.
On her back was a red birthmark in the shape of a blooming lotus.