Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After court was dismissed, Zhao Ye brought two princes to me.

One was the Third Prince. His mother was Consort Hui, who was said to have taken her own life out of fear of punishment.

The other was the Ninth Prince. His mother was Noble Lady Wen, who had been thrown into the cold palace for plotting to murder Consort Lan and later died there.

But I found that absurd.

She was only a lowly noble lady. Above her were Jieyu, Guipin, and Furen. Even if she had managed to kill Consort Lan, she still could not have risen to the rank of consort. Why would she smash an egg against a rock and plot to murder Consort Lan?

Most likely, she had offended Consort Lan, fallen out of Zhao Ye’s favor, and been deposed to the cold palace. After that, whether she lived or died was up to others.

Zhao Ye looked at me indifferently. With a careless flick of his finger toward the two princes, he said wearily, “Which of these two children would you like to raise?”

I slowly rose and walked over to them.

The Third Prince was eleven.

The Ninth Prince was ten.

Both children were already quite tall.

I lifted a hand, and palace servants brought over two sets of the four treasures of the study.

With a gentle smile, I said, “This is my first-meeting gift to you both.”

The two children bowed and thanked me. I reached out to help them up.

But the instant I touched them, I saw two chaotic futures.

If I chose the Third Prince as my adopted son, he would one day ascend the throne as emperor, slaughter my maternal clan, and order me to take my own life.

If I chose the Ninth Prince, then when he ascended the throne in the future, he would make me fake my death, imprison me in the harem under a new identity, and turn me into a wicked consort reviled by all.

For a moment, I froze. My body swayed beyond my control.

The two children steadied me and spoke in unison.

“Mother Empress, what is wrong?”

My heart pounded wildly, but my expression remained unchanged. I slowly sat down, picked up my teacup, and took a small sip.

“I am fine. Let me think this over carefully.”

My feelings were somewhat complicated.

First, neither of these children was a good choice.

Second, it seemed my ability had returned.

Since childhood, I had possessed a peculiar ability: by touching someone, I could see their future.

When I was three, I burst into tears upon seeing my wet nurse and said, Wasn’t she dead? How had she come back to life?

Mother laughed in exasperation and told me I must not speak so casually of life and death. That was cursing others and would make people dislike me.

Later, on a rainy day, the ground was slippery. My wet nurse fell, struck the back of her head on a sharp corner, and died on the spot.

After that, I would hide in terror whenever I saw my grandmother.

It was not long before my grandmother died of illness.

Mother became a little frightened.

She took me to a temple.

She had heard that children’s eyes could see unclean things, and hoped the nuns there could exorcise whatever was haunting me.

I lived in the nunnery for three years.

Every day, the abbess, Abbess Jingchan, came to ask me, “Mingtang, how do you feel today?”

I touched her.

I still saw her future: an old nun passing away in meditation.

I shook my head.

Then she understood. I could only see a person’s future through touch.

When I was six, I recovered. Touching others no longer caused any reaction.

I returned home and attended my eldest sister’s wedding ceremony.

Until today, that vanished ability had suddenly returned.

I lifted my eyes to the two children and shook my head in refusal.

“Your Majesty, after thinking it over, I believe I should decline.”

Zhao Ye frowned slightly.

“You do not like either Third or Ninth?”