Chen Yunxiang shook her head. “No! I don’t know what you’re talking about. What face? I know nothing.”
Dantai Ji’s brows drew together. Clearly, he had not expected that even now, she would still refuse to speak.
Dantai Ji said, “What if I offered you Yuer and Chang’er’s lives in exchange?”
Chen Yunxiang went rigid. She raised her head in disbelief and looked at Dantai Ji. “Chang’er is your child! And Yuer—Yuer is a child you watched grow up with your own eyes. How can you bear to use them to threaten me?”
Dantai Ji stared at Chen Yunxiang coldly. “Whether they live or die rests entirely on your decision.”
Chen Yunxiang trembled all over. She lifted her head and laughed madly at Dantai Ji and Cui Huaiyin. “What harm is there in telling you? Fine, I’ll tell you! My Yuer is Heaven’s Chosen Daughter! A Fairy Descended to Earth! She is an Immortal from the heavens. So what if you kill me? When I reach the underworld, Yuer will pull me up!”
Her face twisted with hatred as she glared at Dantai Ji. “Treating an Immortal this way—the heavens will not forgive you! I’m warning you: you’d better restore Yuer’s status as a princess, or you truly will suffer divine retribution!”
Having said that, Chen Yunxiang pointed at Cui Huaiyin and Rongyao.
“You mother and daughter are the true culprits. Heaven will punish you!”
Cui Huaiyin’s expression darkened as she wrapped an arm around her daughter. “Even now, you refuse to repent!”
Chen Yunxiang curled her lips and shouted, “Repent? What do I have to repent for? Do you want me to be your servant for the rest of my life? Yuer said it herself—everyone is equal! I am no different from you; you were simply luckier than I was! A person cannot choose their birth, but they can change their fate! I want to change mine! What is wrong with changing my child’s fate?”
“I gave birth to an Immortal. I am an Immortal’s mother! If you treat me this way, you will surely face retribution! You will die horrible deaths!”
Rongyao said, “But you are the first to be punished.”
Chen Yunxiang glared at Rongyao with murderous hatred.
Rongyao’s clear, innocent eyes met hers. “Is she really an Immortal? Shouldn’t Immortals be kind to others? How could she kill her own mother? How could she steal someone else’s father?”
“The books say that above the Nine Heavens dwell Immortals, and beneath the earth lie the eighteen levels of hell, where ghosts reside. Both possess supernatural powers. Immortals are good, while ghosts are evil. Yaoyao thinks she is more like an evil ghost.”
The crisp, childlike voice echoed through the prison cell, making everyone’s skin crawl.
Chen Yunxiang, in particular, glared at Rongyao as though she wanted to tear her apart.
“You’re lying! What nonsense are you talking about?!”
Cui Huaiyin drew her daughter Yaoyao into her embrace. “Exactly! What kind of Immortal is she? Even at such a young age, she was already full of schemes. She even wanted to kill you, the person who truly loved her! How could she possibly be an Immortal?”
“Chen Yunxiang, you should ask yourself when you became this way. You want equality—but search your conscience. When have I ever truly treated you as a servant? Eight years ago, when you said you wished to marry, I immediately returned your deed of sale to you. I chose a husband for you and prepared a dowry. Ever since we were children, whenever I had something, I would prepare a share for you as well. When have I ever treated you poorly?”
Chen Yunxiang stared blankly at Cui Huaiyin, her hands clenched tightly. A flicker of guilt passed through her clouded eyes, but it quickly vanished without a trace.
“I don’t want your charity!”
Cui Huaiyin gave a bitter laugh. The last lingering shred of attachment she had felt for Chen Yunxiang disappeared from her eyes.
She had had no sisters growing up—only an older brother. Whenever she saw others with sisters, she had longed for one of her own, and so she had treated Chen Yunxiang as an elder sister, calling her Sister Yunxiang day after day.
She had even sworn sisterhood with her.
Now, it was nothing more than a joke.
Between the two of them, one had to die for the other to live.
If not for Yaoyao, she would have died at Chen Yunxiang’s hands long ago!
Even now, Chen Yunxiang was still cursing her—cursing her daughter. There was no way Cui Huaiyin could soften her heart for her again!
Cui Huaiyin drew her daughter into her arms and looked at Dantai Ji. “Your Majesty, I’m tired.”
Dantai Ji put an arm around Cui Huaiyin and said gently, “All right. Let us leave this place.”
Thus, the three of them headed outside.
But before they had taken more than a few steps, Chen Yunxiang’s cry rang out behind them.
“Wait!”
Dantai Ji frowned impatiently.
Cui Huaiyin stopped, holding her daughter’s hand.
Behind them came Chen Yunxiang’s weakened voice. “You... for the sake of what we once had, could you—could you look after Chang’er for me? He is all alone in the palace. I’m afraid he...”
“No.” Cui Huaiyin’s voice was firm, cold. “There is no longer any bond between us. There is only hatred.”
With that, Cui Huaiyin lifted her foot again and walked away without the slightest hesitation.
Rongyao allowed her mother to lead her along. She turned back to give the despondent Chen Yunxiang a solemn look, then curled her lips into a smile and tightened her grip on her mother’s hand.
Dantai Ji did not even glance back at Chen Yunxiang. He simply followed behind mother and daughter as they left.
Leaning against the wall, Chen Yunxiang stared fixedly at Cui Huaiyin’s departing figure. Her dry lips parted slightly.
She wanted to call her “Miss” one last time.
To repay, in that small way, the kindness she had received over all those years. But now, she could no longer bring herself to do it.
She lay on the ground, gazing at the filthy ceiling. She remembered that long ago, when she had still been very young, before she had been sold to the Cui family, her home had been just like this—run-down and dirty...
Later, she had been sold into the Cui household and became a maid by Cui Huaiyin’s side.
She was a maid, yet Cui Huaiyin had never ordered her about. The Cui family’s laundry was washed by hired washerwomen from outside; she only had to wash her own clothes. Her young mistress loved going out and wandering the streets, and whenever she bought rouge or cosmetics, she would always bring back a share for her as well.
Everything she wore and used had been provided by her mistress. She had lived well, and had even wished to remain in the Cui household for the rest of her life, at her mistress’s side, repaying her kindness.
Later, many people said that once a girl grew up, she ought to marry. Even Madam had begun looking for a suitable match for her mistress.
Chen Yunxiang, too, met a refined and handsome young man. He could read and write, and he treated her kindly, just as her mistress did.
Once, when she met him in secret, they passed through a dense grove and saw a shameless pair of lovers, half-undressed and entwined.
Both of them were terribly embarrassed and fled from the scene in a panic.
They hid in an even more secluded spot.
She asked him what that had been. He told her it was something married couples did.
They were already betrothed and would soon be wed. They, too, would become husband and wife.
It had been a secluded place—no one around, not a sound to be heard.
For some reason, the two of them had ended up in each other’s arms.
Clinging tightly together, they imitated the pair of wild mandarin ducks in the woods. Unable to restrain themselves, they undid each other’s clothes. They held one another close; she kissed him, and he kissed her back. At the time, she had believed they would be together for the rest of their lives. She was certain she would marry Sun Yi, and so she thought it did not matter if she gave herself to him beforehand...
But later, she became pregnant.
Later, the young lady became pregnant as well.
And later still, she suddenly began to hear the voice of the child in her womb. Only she could hear it. The child told her that she had a chance to marry the future emperor and become an imperial consort...
Chen Yunxiang raised a hand to cover her face. Tears spilled through the gaps between her fingers.
And she had indeed succeeded. She had betrayed the young lady, betrayed the man she had once loved, and betrayed the person she had once been.
For many years, she had truly lived in splendor.
She had surpassed most women in the world; none could compare with her. For a time, she had even eclipsed the Empress.
But now... how had things come to this?
