At this, Dantai Ji fell silent. The veins on his forehead throbbed as he closed his eyes.
“It is precisely because she is My child! If I do not teach her a lesson this time, will she not let her servants run wild and commit evil again?”
Hearing His Majesty say this, the Empress Dowager let out a deep sigh.
“Fortunately, this did not lead to a greater disaster. The smallpox in Xiaoyang Village was brought under control in time, and no one in the palace contracted it.”
“Shengping did commit a grave mistake, but she is still your child and the princess of Great Zhou. From now on, leave the child to me. I will teach her properly in your stead.”
Dantai Ji frowned, but said nothing.
“Tomorrow, I will bring that child, Shengping, back to my Shoukang Palace. Your Majesty can rest assured. I will discipline her properly and make certain she does not cause trouble again.”
After saying this, the Empress Dowager left.
Meanwhile, outside the palace, at the Cui residence—
Cui Huaiyin held her daughter’s hand, her expression grave as she stared at the old man kneeling before her.
The old man was somewhat older than her father. He was Sun Yi’s father.
Eight years ago, Sun Yi had been engaged to Chen Yunxiang. After Chen Yunxiang faked her death, Sun Yi drowned in a river. Not long afterward, the entire Sun family inexplicably moved away from Zhou County. Now, the only one left in the family was Sun Yi’s father, Sun Niujin, whom Cui Huaiyi had found in Duzhou.
“Chen Yunxiang? Wasn’t she dead long ago?”
“How could my son have bullied that young woman? My eldest son was a licentiate and always observed propriety. How could he have done anything improper before the wedding? My son would never do such a thing!”
Sun Niujin spoke with absolute certainty, insisting that his son would never have acted improperly toward a young woman before marriage.
Cui Huaiyin frowned and asked, “Is it true that your family is now reduced to just you?”
Sun Niujin’s eyes instantly reddened. “Yes, it’s just me now. On our way to the capital, we encountered bandits in the mountains. Those bandits were merciless killers. They murdered my parents, my daughter, my younger son, and my wife! I’m the only one who survived!”
Cui Huaiyin asked, “Why did your family leave Zhou County without a word back then?”
Sun Niujin replied, “I—I had lost my eldest son, and our whole family was overwhelmed with grief. We wanted to move somewhere else for a while. We heard that the capital was the finest place under heaven, so the whole family set out together. But, alas, halfway there, we encountered bandits. Those bandits were ruthless. They robbed and murdered us, wiping out my entire family.”
“Your family was not wealthy. Where did you get the money to travel to the capital?” Cui Huaiyin stared at him as she questioned him.
Sun Niujin’s eyes darted about. “I—it was money we had saved.”
“Rubbish!” Cui Huaiyi barked. “Your family could afford to educate only one child. Where would you have gotten the money for such a journey, let alone to relocate to the capital? If you continue to stammer and refuse to tell the truth, do not blame me for casting aside our fellow countrymen’s ties and showing you no mercy!”
With that, Cui Huaiyi lost what little patience he had left. He drew his knife and pressed it against Sun Niujin’s neck. The sharp blade cut through the skin as soon as it touched him. It seemed that with a single stroke, his head could be severed from his body.
Sun Niujin trembled all over, his face turning purple. He remained perfectly still as he looked up at Cui Huaiyi, then glanced at Cui Huaiyin and her daughter. Terrified, he said, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk… It all began eight years ago. One day, my eldest son stayed away from home for two days. When he returned, he brought back a large chest. Inside were five hundred taels of silver—five hundred whole taels! Not long afterward, my eldest son drowned. He had known how to swim since childhood. How could he have drowned for no reason?”
“Our whole family believed that the five hundred taels had brought disaster upon us. But my eldest son had never told us where the money came from. We guessed and guessed, and eventually decided that he must have obtained it through some illicit means. Perhaps someone had tracked him down and killed him for the money. But it was five hundred taels—money my son had exchanged for his life, enough to let our family live in comfort for the rest of our lives. We could not bear to part with it, and we were afraid that person might come after us again. So we planned to leave Zhou County and go to the capital to enjoy a better life…”
“But who could have imagined that on the way to the capital, we would encounter bandits armed with knives? Every one of them looked like a fiend. Even after we handed over all five hundred taels to save our lives, they still refused to let us go. They slaughtered my entire family! I was lucky enough to escape by jumping into a river. Afterward, I was afraid that the owner of the five hundred taels would seek revenge, so I did not dare return to Zhou County or go to the capital. I could only keep moving forward until I reached Duzhou, where I settled.”
Sun Niujin covered his face and beat at himself, sobbing as he spoke.
“It was all because of those five hundred taels! That money brought ruin upon us! Those five hundred taels destroyed my entire family!”
Cui Huaiyin exchanged a glance with her daughter before staring at Sun Niujin.
“Do you know that the five hundred taels your son received were given to him by Chen Yunxiang?”
Sun Niujin’s sobs abruptly stopped.
“Chen Yunxiang? She really isn’t dead? How could she have five hundred taels? And why would she give them to my eldest son?”
Cui Huaiyi said, “That is something you should ask yourself. She faked her death and married a nobleman. Seven months after marrying him, she gave birth to his child. Did your eldest son have something on her? If he truly had leverage over her, then he was probably killed to silence him. Your entire family’s deaths should have something to do with her.”
Sun Niujin’s eyes widened, filled with terrified disbelief. He began counting on his fingers, his whole body shaking as he muttered under his breath.
“Chen Yunxiang… That Chen Yunxiang—it must have been that woman! She must have behaved improperly before, seduced my eldest son, and then somehow attached herself to a wealthy man. But why would she fake her death? Why would she give my son five hundred taels? Why?”
He continued muttering and questioning himself. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, and his eyes flew wide.
“That’s it! Exactly! She must have been carrying my eldest son’s child! She was afraid that my son would expose her and cause trouble! That’s why she killed him to silence him. And killing my eldest son wasn’t enough—she had to kill our entire family too! It must have been her, it must have been…”
“Where is Chen Yunxiang? I’m going to kill her! I’m going to kill her! She ruined us! She brought about the deaths of my entire family!”
Having convinced himself that he had figured everything out, Sun Niujin screamed furiously for revenge.
A flicker of delight crossed Cui Huaiyi’s face. He hurriedly asked, “Do you have any proof that the child belongs to your family?”
Sun Niujin replied, “That is certainly a child of the Sun family! Otherwise, why would Chen Yunxiang be so afraid that she would go to such lengths to wipe out my entire family? Everything she did is proof! No wonder—no wonder my son came home late every day during that period. No wonder he kept saying that the wedding had to be moved up. So he had already tasted the benefits! So there was already a child!”
Neither Cui Huaiyi nor Cui Huaiyin looked particularly pleased.
Although Sun Niujin was convinced that Princess Shengping was Sun Yi’s child, there was ultimately no solid evidence.
Sun Niujin desperately wanted to see Chen Yunxiang. He kept bowing his head to the ground, muttering that the child was certainly of the old Sun family’s bloodline, while cursing Chen Yunxiang relentlessly.
Cui Huaiyin and the others left and sat down in the main hall of the Cui residence to discuss what to do.
“Mother, let’s return to the palace.”
Rongyao’s childish voice suddenly rang out.
