Rongyao suddenly lifted her head and looked toward Sun Niujin, who had cried out. Then she turned to Aunt Sun, whose entire body had gone rigid at the sound.
So that was it!
Rongyao was not the only one who had heard the shout. Everyone in the great hall had heard it.
They simply did not know whom Sun Niujin had called out to.
At that moment, Sun Niujin had his head raised, his whole body trembling, his face flushed a liverish red as he stared fixedly in one direction.
That was... Aunt Sun’s direction.
Aunt Sun herself stood as stiff as stone, her pupils dilated, her face full of utter disbelief.
“Liuzhi!” he cried again.
If the first call had been a tentative test, this second one was certainty.
Aunt Sun spun around, looking behind her as though searching for something. When her gaze fell upon the ragged, elderly man, her breathing suddenly became rapid and uneven.
By then, Sun Niujin had already scrambled to his feet. He ran over desperately and threw his arms around Aunt Sun.
“Liuzhi! Liuzhi! I’m your father! Didn’t you and your mother die? If you were alive, why didn’t you come find me? My daughter... my daughter!”
For a time, the great hall was deathly silent.
No one had expected the two of them to be related.
Aunt Sun allowed Sun Niujin to hold her. Her body remained stiff and motionless, as if she were trying to confirm something. Only after a long while did she let out a piercing cry of “Father!” before bursting into anguished tears.
Through his tears, Sun Niujin asked Aunt Sun why she was here.
Aunt Sun, too, asked why Sun Niujin was here—and why he was still alive.
They wept and trembled with emotion, neither able to speak clearly.
The Chief Justice had them pulled apart and asked coldly, “You two are father and daughter?”
Sun Niujin answered excitedly, “Yes! She is my daughter—my own flesh and blood! I thought she was dead, killed at the hands of bandits!”
Aunt Sun said, “Yes. He is my father. I thought... I thought he had died long ago.”
The Chief Justice fixed his eyes on Aunt Sun, his voice echoing through the hall.
“Then do you know that your father beat the Drum of Grievance today, accusing Chen Yunxiang of having the Sun family silenced? And that you once served as the head aunt in Chen Yunxiang’s palace?”
Aunt Sun’s eyes flew wide as she turned toward Sun Niujin. “Father, is what this lord says true?”
Sun Niujin gripped his daughter’s hand tightly. “How could it be false? Your brother somehow came into five hundred taels! Five hundred taels! Even the county magistrate could not produce that much silver! It must have been Chen Yunxiang—coveting wealth and status, carrying your brother’s child, somehow managing to attach herself to... She must have feared the truth would come out, so she killed your eldest brother first, then sent people to wipe out our entire family!”
Aunt Sun suddenly shoved Sun Niujin away. She looked up at Chen Yunxiang and Princess Shengping, shaking her head again and again.
“Impossible... impossible...”
Sun Niujin demanded, “What do you mean, impossible? I ought to be asking you! How did you end up in the palace? How did you become this Aunt Sun? Why are you helping Chen Yunxiang and the others?”
Aunt Sun clutched her head, seemingly unable to accept what was happening. She could only keep repeating that it was impossible.
The Chief Justice saw in Aunt Sun a chance to break the deadlock.
He immediately stepped forward and questioned her sharply. “Your father, Sun Niujin, says you died long ago. Why did you appear in the palace? Why did you change your name to Sun Liu? And why have you been so fiercely loyal to Princess Shengping?”
Aunt Sun’s face was streaked with tears. Her bloodshot eyes fixed on the Chief Justice, yet for a long while, she could not bring herself to speak.
Sun Niujin urged her anxiously, “Say it! Hurry and tell them! Tell His Majesty everything you know, and His Majesty will see justice done for us!”
Aunt Sun looked with reddened eyes toward Princess Shengping, who had curled herself into a small ball nearby. Covering her face as tears poured forth, she finally broke down.
“B-because I had to protect the Sun family’s only remaining bloodline. Th-that child is my elder brother’s child!”
The moment those words fell, the hall went silent.
No one present was foolish. Naturally, they understood what Aunt Sun meant.
Aunt Sun must have known that Princess Shengping was a child of the Sun family. That was why she had protected the princess so loyally, even taking all the blame for the crimes upon herself.
The Empress Dowager abruptly rose to her feet. Slightly unsteady, she made her way to Sun Liuzhi and demanded, “Say that again!”
Sun Liuzhi clutched her head. “I... I don’t know. I don’t know anything!”
Sun Niujin gripped his daughter by the arm. “Liuzhi, Chen Yunxiang played you for a fool. She’s a liar! She killed our entire family! They are our enemies! Tell His Majesty everything you know, quickly! Let His Majesty seek justice for us! Let your mother, your eldest brother, and your second brother rest in peace!”
“Liuzhi, don’t be afraid. Your father is here. I’m still here...”
Only after a long while did Sun Liuzhi finally calm down enough to speak properly.
Whatever she was asked, she answered.
She said that she had been hunted by bandits, but had narrowly escaped. After drifting from place to place, she eventually made her way to the capital and entered the palace.
Later, when the new emperor ascended the throne, she reunited with Consort Chen.
She said that she had helped Consort Chen many times—saving her on some occasions, and harming others on her behalf.
“Consort Chen told me herself that Princess Shengping was my elder brother’s child. That was why I served her so devotedly, why I protected the mother and daughter at all costs!”
“She’s lying! She’s lying!” Chen Yunxiang shook her head violently and cried out. “My daughter is a princess. Yuer is a princess! She is the Great Princess of Great Zhou!”
Sun Liuzhi stared at Chen Yunxiang with hatred blazing in her eyes, her teeth clenched tightly. “For wealth and status, you murdered my mother and my two brothers! You deceived me and used me, making me serve you! You may have been a good mother, but what a pity! The daughter you raised so lovingly wants you dead! Retribution—this is all retribution! It is exactly what you deserve!”
Chen Yunxiang glared at Sun Liuzhi. “Nonsense! Utter nonsense! My Yuer would never treat me like this! You’re taking revenge on me! You’re saying this only to get back at me!”
Then Chen Yunxiang turned toward Princess Shengping, speaking in a panic. “Yuer, say something! You care about Mother more than anyone, don’t you? You would never be so cruel to me, would you? Are you blaming Mother for being useless? Blaming me for not being ruthless enough back then? I was wrong. I truly know I was wrong...”
Like a madwoman, Chen Yunxiang stared at Princess Shengping and continued babbling without pause.
Yet Princess Shengping lay collapsed on the ground, her head lowered and her entire body trembling. It was as though she had heard none of Chen Yunxiang’s words. She did not respond in the slightest.
“Lady Chen! How dare you tamper with the imperial bloodline! You truly deserve to die!” The Empress Dowager’s face turned purple with fury. She sprang to her feet, strode over to Chen Yunxiang, and slapped her hard across the face. “You venomous woman!”
Chen Yunxiang collapsed onto the floor, tears streaming down her face, her complexion ashen. She clutched at the front of her robes, her head tilted to one side, and said not a word.
The Empress Dowager demanded, “Speak! What exactly happened back then? What did you do to deceive the imperial physicians?”
Yet Chen Yunxiang continued to stare fixedly at Princess Shengping, as though she had not heard the Empress Dowager’s question at all.
The Empress Dowager’s expression darkened further. “Shengping is not His Majesty’s child! Then what of Chang'er? Could it be that Chang'er is not of imperial blood either? Someone, bring the Third Prince here!”
As though her lifeline had been seized, Chen Yunxiang abruptly raised her head. “No! That is not true! Chang'er is a prince! He looks so much like His Majesty—how could he not be His Majesty’s son? I was already carrying Chang'er when I was in the prince’s residence! He is His Majesty’s eldest son!”
The Empress Dowager steadied herself with effort, then demanded through gritted teeth, “So Shengping is the child you bore with another man! You impersonated Noble Consort Cui and passed that bastard off as a princess!”
