Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Liu Ningshen entered the palace early one morning.
By the time I arrived to pay my respects, she was already inside the Empress Dowager’s hall.
I knelt before the hall for two hours, yet I was still not permitted to enter.
The eunuch at the door urged me, “You should head back for now.”
My eyes were rimmed with red. “Does Mother not wish to see me?”
The eunuch sighed.
After a moment’s thought, I slipped off a pair of gold bracelets and pressed them into his hands.
“Oh, what are you doing? Please, take them back,” the eunuch said, though his hands didn’t let go of the heavy bracelets.
“Have some mercy, Eunuch. Could you give me a hint?” I asked, looking pitiful. “Between that woman and me, who is real and who is fake? I should at least have a chance to confront her. Why is it that as soon as she returns, Mother won’t even see me?”
The eunuch glanced around to ensure no one was watching, then quickly tucked the gold bracelets into his robes. He sighed. “It is because of the Emperor.”
Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, a bright yellow Dragon Robe appeared in the distance.
The eunuch immediately fell silent and retreated.
The Emperor walked toward the Empress Dowager’s sleeping quarters, the hem of his Dragon Robe sweeping past my eyes.
I bowed low. “This subject greets the Emperor.”
He did not stop, nor did he even spare me a glance.
Why did the eunuch say it was “because of the Emperor”?
Princess Xunyang had never even met the Emperor while she was alive. Why would he be able to influence the Empress Dowager’s decision?
In a flash of insight, I suddenly understood.
Gathering courage from some unknown source, I crawled forward on my knees and grabbed the corner of the Emperor’s robe.
The eunuchs behind him grew frantic. “How dare you-!”
“Is it because she can pray for rain?” I asked in a low voice.
The Emperor’s footsteps faltered slightly.
But he did not stop, continuing his stride forward.
The eunuchs behind him had already come forward to pull me away. I shook them off and said urgently, “What if she’s a fraud?”
The Emperor stopped in his tracks.
He waved away the approaching eunuchs and knelt down to look at me.
His eyes were like deep pools-clear, yet so profound they seemed ready to swallow a person whole, leaving them with no place for burial.
I took a deep breath. “She is a fake. If there is truly anyone in this world who can communicate with the heavens, it could only be the Emperor, the Son of Heaven. What is she, that she thinks she can manipulate the will of the heavens?”
The Emperor looked at me, and suddenly, he smiled.
“Follow Us.”