Dantai Ji froze for a moment, then seemed to remember something. His expression darkened as he said coldly, “I will deal with Zhu Wangbei!”
Cui Huaiyin closed her eyes, too exhausted to say anything more. Perhaps she should write to Yaoyao first and ask what she wanted.
“Your Majesty, I’m tired.”
Dantai Ji hurriedly rose to his feet, speaking with unusual fluster. “Rest for now. I’ll call someone in to attend to you.”
After leaving the bedchamber, Dantai Ji pondered Cui Huaiyin’s question. Had he said something wrong?
Meanwhile, Eunuch Wang Zhong, who was waiting outside, suddenly remembered something of the utmost importance.
Consort Cui had once given birth to a daughter! As far as he knew, the child was not Zhu Wangbei’s. If His Majesty truly was the lecher who had abducted Consort Cui, then… that child had to be His Majesty’s daughter!
His Majesty had gained another princess! And he had even met her outside the palace!
Wang Zhong paced back and forth outside the hall, waiting for the Emperor to come out.
Judging by the Emperor’s expression, his thoughts were entirely occupied by Consort Cui. He had surely forgotten all about this matter!
After waiting for quite some time, His Majesty finally emerged.
Suppressing his excitement, Wang Zhong rushed over with a flushed face. “Your Majesty! Your Majesty! You’ve finally come out! This servant has been waiting for ages!”
Dantai Ji’s brows drew together. “Consort Cui is resting. Keep your voice down.”
Wang Zhong was far too anxious to worry about that. Unable to contain himself, he pitched his voice high and said, “Your Majesty! The princess! It’s about the princess!”
Impatience filled Dantai Ji’s eyes. “What happened to Shengping?”
Wang Zhong waved his hands frantically, nearly bursting with excitement. “No! Not Princess Shengping!”
Then he pointed toward the inner room behind Dantai Ji and shouted, “It’s the princess born to Consort Cui! You’ve met her before! Have you forgotten, Your Majesty? Some time ago, this servant found out that Consort Cui’s daughter is already six years old. She was born to Consort Cui and the lecher who abducted a common girl! We just established today that the lecher was none other than you, Your Majesty! Did Consort Cui never tell you about this?”
Dantai Ji’s pupils contracted. He spun around and stared at the tightly closed inner room before charging inside.
Pushing past everyone, he hurried to Cui Huaiyin’s side and gripped her shoulders, trembling with excitement.
“That child—is she mine? She’s mine, isn’t she?”
He remembered the little girl he had seen at the Bai Xiang Pavilion that day. She looked so much like Cui Huaiyin, with bright, lively eyes that had gazed at him like shining pearls. She had been so short that she barely reached halfway up his leg, and her soft, childish voice had made him want to pick her up and toss her into the air.
She couldn’t eat seafood either, just like him! She must have inherited that from him!
Cui Huaiyin pressed her lips together, her eyes reddening. “Thank you for still remembering that she is your daughter.”
Dantai Ji suddenly swept Cui Huaiyin into his arms. His heart felt as though it were being scorched by blazing flames.
“It was my fault. I was terribly wrong! I failed you and our daughter. I’ll go bring her back right now. Right now!”
Cui Huaiyin bit her lip as tears silently slid down her cheeks.
…
The Cui Residence.
The palace officials had taken the Cui family’s old servants to the palace without saying a word.
They had returned soon afterward, however.
At that moment, the old servants stood in a row, recounting what had happened in the palace.
“It was the Emperor! The Empress Dowager too! And the Empress! There were so many noble personages. Our young lady was kneeling on the floor, and we had no idea what crime she had committed. The Emperor ordered me to identify a certain consort. When I looked up, I nearly thought my eyes had failed me! Although that consort was dressed in splendid clothes, I could tell at a glance that she was Yunxiang!”
“That’s right! That consort was Yunxiang, the girl who grew up alongside our young lady. Wasn’t she dead? How did she suddenly become a consort?”
“I also heard them call her Consort Chen. She holds the rank of consort! Our young lady is only a Worthy, so how did that ordinary-looking woman catch the Emperor’s eye? Her rank is even higher than our young lady’s.”
“I just don’t know what crime our young lady committed or why she was punished. Did she offend the Emperor? I secretly stole a glance at her, and her eyes were swollen from crying.”
Zhang Yingmei’s voice rose sharply with anxiety. “What? Huaiyin was punished? We only learned yesterday that she had been promoted to Worthy. How did she end up being punished today?”
The five old servants of the Cui family looked at one another, clearly unable to offer any explanation.
Cui Yeping’s expression was equally grave.
Cui Huaiyin’s three brothers had all changed color as well.
“If our sister truly offended the Emperor, what are we supposed to do? Will she be punished?”
“No! We can’t just sit around and do nothing while our sister is in danger! I’m going to rescue her!”
“Rescue her? Cui Huaiyi, you may have plenty of strength, but you clearly weren’t blessed with any sense! Our sister is in the imperial palace. How exactly do you intend to save her? Are you planning to storm the palace with a blade in hand? You wouldn’t even get close before being run through by the guards!”
Cui Huaiyi clutched his head and crouched down. “Then what are we supposed to do? We can’t just stay home and wait for something to happen!”
The Cui family fell into chaos, everyone frowning anxiously as they tried to think of a solution.
Only Rongyao, sitting to one side and eating fruit, looked bright-eyed, as though she had encountered some wonderful news.
When everyone had finally fallen silent, Rongyao timidly spoke up. “Mother will definitely be fine.”
Everyone turned to look at her.
Even Cui Huaiyi, who had been burying his face and sobbing softly, lifted his head and asked, “How do you know she’ll be fine?”
Rongyao hopped down from the tall chair, fruit still in hand. She raised her fair chin with a proud little tilt and declared, “Yaoyao knows, of course! Yaoyao already said that the Emperor is my daddy. He’ll definitely come to take me home.”
The hall fell silent for a moment.
The only sound was Cui Huaiyi’s choked muttering. “I really shouldn’t listen to things children say! Sob… What are we going to do about our little sister?”
Cui Huaiji, the eldest brother, could take no more. He glanced at his third brother and smacked him on the head.
“Keep it in!”
Cui Yeping suddenly spoke. “Huaiyin may truly come out of this unharmed.”
Everyone looked at him, and Zhang Yingmei hurriedly asked, “Why do you say that?”
Cui Yeping explained, “The Emperor summoned the people from our residence to identify Consort Chen. That means Consort Chen concealed her identity and is guilty of deceiving the Emperor. She must have been afraid that Huaiyin would recognize her, so she tried to harm our daughter!”
Zhang Yingmei wiped away her tears. “Yes, yes, that must be it! Our daughter has always been blessed with good fortune!”
Cui Huaihao’s face lit up. “Father is right! Consort Chen has harmed our family time and again. Our little sister must have fought back.”
Cui Huaiyi nodded. “Exactly! Our little sister is so lovable. There’s no way the Emperor would be willing to harm her.”
Cui Huaiji glanced at Rongyao, a trace of uncertainty flickering in his eyes. He seemed about to speak, but stopped himself.
The family’s anxious hearts eased somewhat, and they were just preparing to send someone out to inquire about the situation when an urgent voice suddenly came from outside.
“My lord! Madam! People from the palace are here. Hurry to the front hall to receive the imperial decree!”
The entire Cui family abruptly rose to their feet. They exchanged glances, each seeing panic and confusion in the others’ eyes.
Cui Yeping scooped up his granddaughter, Yaoyao, and hurried toward the front hall ahead of everyone else.
