Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Water is a wonderful thing. Whether it be vengeful spirits or sins, once they fall into the water, they vanish without a trace.

All the waterways in this world are interconnected.

I stared at the Carp Pond in the Imperial Garden. As the night fell upon it, the water looked just as pitch-black as the river had on that day.

“Your Highness? Your Highness?”

Wang Fuhai’s voice pulled me back to reality.

“What is Your Highness thinking about?”

“Nothing,” I said. “I just feel that this Carp Pond still looks exactly as it does in my memories.”

Wang Fuhai smiled. “Your Highness loved playing here most when you were a child. The Empress Dowager missed Your Highness so much that she ordered everything to be kept exactly as it was. Even the number of carp hasn’t changed.”

This old eunuch believed with all his heart that I was Princess Xunyang.

But in truth, this was the first time I had ever seen this pond, and I didn’t like carp at all.

“The Empress Dowager will summon you shortly. Your Highness must be very careful,” Wang Fuhai said worriedly. “After all, as Your Highness heard at the teahouse, a woman appeared several months ago who…”

“Yes, she’s impersonating me,” I said. “Don’t worry. I will handle things properly with Imperial Mother. She will naturally be able to tell who her real daughter is.”

Wang Fuhai nodded. He believed me, but a trace of worry still inevitably lingered in his eyes.

After all, if the Empress Dowager decided I was a fake, both he and I would be guilty of the capital crime of deceiving the sovereign.

The Empress Dowager’s hall was very warm, and fragrant agarwood burned in the brazier.

I walked inside. A middle-aged woman dressed in dark, magnificent robes looked down at me from the dais. Her features were exquisite, but her face was pale, and her entire being carried a heavy air of illness.

After performing my salutations, I looked up at her.

Tears fell in an instant, and my throat choked with emotion. “Imperial Mother, why do you have white hair now?”

The Empress Dowager’s eyes did not turn red.

It was said that on the day Liu Ningshen came to claim her identity, the Empress Dowager had held her and wept uncontrollably.

But now that a second daughter had come looking for her, she surely felt more suspicion than sentiment.

“Grant her a seat and serve tea.” The Empress Dowager’s voice betrayed no emotion.

An exquisite food box was placed before me. The intricate patterns and inlaid gemstones on the box alone were things that a rural herb-gatherer like me should never have seen before.

“You must be hungry. Have some snacks first,” the Empress Dowager said. “When your Imperial Brother arrives, we shall dine together.”

I took a piece of peanut brittle from the box and bit into it.

The Empress Dowager’s gaze instantly turned sharp.

In the next moment, I took out a handkerchief and spat it out.

“Sigh, I still can’t get used to it,” I sighed. “In my past life, my body was frail and disappointing. Now that I’ve been reincarnated, I wanted to taste all the foods I wasn’t blessed enough to enjoy before.

“I didn’t expect that since I couldn’t touch this peanut brittle in my past life, I would still dislike it in this one.” I shook my head and set the peanut brittle down. “I still prefer water chestnut cakes-did Imperial Chef Li not make any today?”

Water chestnut cakes were Princess Xunyang’s favorite snack when she was alive.

The Empress Dowager’s gaze softened. “Imperial Chef Li is getting old. His disciple makes them now. They’re being steamed and will be sent over shortly.”

I said unhappily, “Imperial Mother doesn’t believe me. You used this peanut brittle to test me. If I had actually swallowed it, would you have thought I was an impostor?”

“How could that be? I only…”

My tears fell. “Don’t lie to me, Imperial Mother. I know a woman came to find you a few months ago. Have you already accepted her as me?”

A soft footstep sounded from behind me.

I turned my head and saw a bright yellow Dragon Robe and a face so stunning it could captivate the world.

I once thought Shen Zhao was handsome enough to embody the phrase ‘gentle as polished jade.’ But before this man, all fine jade paled in comparison. He had thin lips and deep-set eyes, with an aura that was cold, elegant, and noble.

Everyone around us knelt.

“Long live the Emperor-”

I felt my knees grow heavy. I was just a simple herb-gatherer who had never seen the world; a county magistrate’s carriage was the grandest display I had ever witnessed.

Amidst such a thunderous mountain-cry of salutations, I instinctively wanted to kneel and kowtow.

But I held back.

“Xunyang, I am your Imperial Brother,” the man said, looking at me.

The gazes of the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and all the palace servants fell upon me.

I took a deep breath, took a step back, and terror surfaced in my eyes:

“I don’t know you.”