Chen Yunxiang cried, “No! Yuer is a princess! She is so clever, so beautiful—she is a princess! She was born to be a princess!”
Yet no one believed her.
Even Aunt Sun, who had always been utterly loyal to Chen Yunxiang and Princess Shengping, had personally testified that Princess Shengping was not a princess.
The evidence was already conclusive.
The Grand Secretary and the other officials stepped forward one after another, petitioning for an imperial decree to execute Commoner Chen and severely punish Princess Shengping.
Seated upon the throne, Dantai Ji wore a grim expression as he stared fixedly at Commoner Chen and Princess Shengping, who lay collapsed in the hall.
After a long while, the Emperor spoke.
“Chen Yunxiang committed the crime of deceiving the sovereign and confused the imperial bloodline. She shall be executed!”
“Princess Shengping is stripped of her title, deprived of the imperial surname, and removed from the royal genealogy. She shall be confined for the rest of her life!”
The two decrees sent a tremor through the assembly.
Yet not a single person spoke in defense of either of them.
Chen Yunxiang had indeed deceived the Emperor, muddled the imperial bloodline, and in the past had even sent people to assassinate Noble Consort Cui and Princess Fuxi on multiple occasions.
Princess Shengping was not of imperial blood and was vicious by nature. In a desperate attempt to keep the truth from being exposed, she had even murdered her own mother! How could such a person possibly remain a royal princess?
The fact that the Emperor had spared her life was already an act of extraordinary mercy, born of regard for the father-daughter bond they had once shared.
Before long, Chen Yunxiang was dragged away like a discarded rag.
Her face streaked with tears, she continued calling out to Princess Shengping, who could barely fend for herself.
When Princess Shengping ignored her, her gaze shifted to the Emperor on the throne. She begged him to spare her, crying that she had been wrong.
But the Emperor merely watched her coldly, as though she were already dead.
At last, her eyes fell upon Noble Consort Cui. Her emotions suddenly surged, and she struggled violently, her face full of hatred.
“Cui Huaiyin! It was all you! It is all because of you! If it weren’t for you, I would never have ended up like this! I was wrong—I was terribly wrong! I should have had someone kill you long ago!”
“Take her away! Execute her on a later date!” the Emperor roared.
Very soon, Chen Yunxiang’s mouth was gagged, and she was dragged out.
She caused quite a commotion, yet the former Princess Shengping, still kneeling there, did not raise her head even slightly.
Dantai Ji cast a cold glance at the seven-year-old girl who now seemed utterly unfamiliar to him and ordered that she be taken away.
As Shengping was led away, she did not beg for mercy like her mother. She simply allowed herself to be taken without saying a word, as if she had already accepted her fate.
Nearby, Sun Niujin glanced at Shengping, his face full of pity. He seemed to want to say something, but in the end held his tongue.
Sun Liuzhi likewise looked at Shengping several times. Her hands clenched tightly, yet she too did not dare utter a single word.
In the end, Shengping was taken away and imprisoned under lifelong confinement at the Dali Temple outside the palace.
Sun Niujin was expelled from the imperial palace.
As Sun Liuzhi had helped Commoner Chen commit acts of harm against others, she was thrown into prison and would not be released until she had served ten years.
Noble Consort Chen, meanwhile, was sentenced to death and would be executed three days later.
That day, the news that Princess Shengping was not truly a princess spread throughout the entire palace.
And not only through the palace, but across the court and the realm as well.
People discussed it endlessly. Whenever they spoke of Princess Shengping again, they called her Sun Yu.
After all, she was no true princess, but a false princess through and through. The Emperor had already decreed the stripping of her title and her imperial surname.
The Empress Dowager fell gravely ill over the matter, clearly heartbroken by what had happened to Princess Shengping.
Princess Shengping had once been the Empress Dowager’s most beloved granddaughter.
The Empress Dowager had truly cherished her. Now that the truth had been exposed—that the grandchild she had loved was not her own by blood—how could she possibly accept it so easily?
Two days later.
The news spread through the capital like wildfire.
And the day after that would be Commoner Chen’s execution.
That day, Cui Huaiyin stood uneasily in the courtyard, staring at the plum tree by the gate, her hand clenched tightly around her handkerchief.
“His Majesty has arrived,” a young eunuch announced.
Cui Huaiyin looked up to see the Emperor approaching in dark robes.
She stepped forward to greet him with a bow.
Dantai Ji casually reached out to help Cui Huaiyin up, studying the worry on her face. “What is it?”
Cui Huaiyin asked, “Will Chen Yunxiang truly be executed tomorrow?”
Dantai Ji’s gaze turned cold. “Yes. She will be executed by hanging. Has my Consort gone soft-hearted?”
“No! She tried to kill me—she tried to kill my Yaoyao. She deserves to die!” Cui Huaiyin said urgently. Her hand tightened around Dantai Ji’s robe as she added, “I want to see her one last time.”
“Very well. I will go with you.”
“I want to go too!” Just as they spoke, a clear young voice rang out beside them. Who else could it be but their daughter, Yaoyao?
Dantai Ji and Cui Huaiyin both lowered their heads to look at the little child bouncing at their side, helplessness flashing in both their eyes.
Dantai Ji said, “A prison is no place for you. What would you go there for?”
Rongyao asked, “Why can’t Yaoyao go?”
Cui Huaiyin said, “Let her come. As long as she is with us, nothing will happen.”
In the end, Dantai Ji agreed.
The three of them left the palace together and went to the Ministry of Justice prison, where Chen Yunxiang was being held.
The prison was tightly sealed and heavily guarded.
Soldiers stood watch everywhere.
Rongyao stood between her father and mother, observing the cells.
The prison was filthy and foul-smelling. Even during the day, lamps had to be lit to see clearly inside.
Chen Yunxiang was confined in the innermost cell.
Her clothes were ragged, and her body bore marks of injury. She sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, her head buried against them, muttering something under her breath.
The three stopped before the cell. Dantai Ji fixed her with an icy stare and called out three words:
“Chen Yunxiang.”
Only after a long while did Chen Yunxiang raise her head. Her face was smeared with dirt, and her hair covered half of it. When she saw who had come, she scrambled to her feet and crawled toward the prison door.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please spare Yuer. Please, she is innocent. She knows nothing. It was all me—it was all my own doing. I was greedy and insatiable. Back then, for wealth and status, I took my mistress’s place.”
“Please, Your Majesty, do not blame her. She was so young; she understood nothing. It is all my fault!”
Dantai Ji stared coldly at her face. “Your face is still the same. What kind of sorcery did you use?”
Chen Yunxiang seemed not to hear him. She only continued weeping and begging the Emperor to spare her child.
“Your Majesty loved Yuer so dearly once. You watched her be born and grow up with your own eyes. How can you be so heartless? How can you so cruelly cast her aside?”
Cui Huaiyin said, “You want to save her, yet she tried to kill you.”
Chen Yunxiang screamed herself hoarse, glaring at Cui Huaiyin with utter hatred in her eyes. “Impossible! She would never kill me! I gave birth to her! She’s always been so filial! She would never kill me! Cui Huaiyin! What more do you want? Did you come here just to mock me? To laugh at me?”
Cui Huaiyin said, “How pitiful you are. Do you truly not know, deep down, whether she intends to kill you or not?”
Chen Yunxiang collapsed onto the ground, her eyes bloodshot and blazing red. Shaking her head, she kept muttering, “Impossible... I don’t believe it...”
“Chen Yunxiang, do you want to live?” Dantai Ji suddenly asked.
Chen Yunxiang jerked her head up and stared at Dantai Ji as though he were her last remaining hope. “I... are you willing to spare me?”
Dantai Ji fixed his deep, unreadable gaze on Chen Yunxiang. “Tell me what is going on with that face of yours, and I will consider sparing your life.”
