"Duke of Chu?" The Noble Consort Dowager narrowed her eyes.
Chu Huaishan strode up to her. "Noble Consort Dowager, your adopted daughter is truly formidable! Since arriving in the capital, how much trouble has she stirred up! If I didn't know your character, old man, I would think all this was done under your orders!"
"Nonsense!" the Noble Consort Dowager rebuked. "Roumin has been by my side all along. What could she possibly have done?"
"That's hard to say. Didn't the incident with the Mei family girl also happen right under your nose?"
The Noble Consort Dowager was left speechless for a moment, then flicked her sleeve. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Chu Huaishan looked at her coldly, pointing at Roumin. "If you want to protect your adopted daughter, I won't interfere. But she has repeatedly bullied my daughter. This matter must be settled!"
Frowning, the Noble Consort Dowager looked at Roumin. "What exactly have you done?"
The young girl, prostrate on the ground, was about to offer a cunning excuse when Chu Ruoyan said calmly, "If the County Princess lies again, it will be quite embarrassing to be exposed on the spot."
Roumin's heart trembled; she didn't know how much evidence the other held.
But after the incident with Mei Fangru, the Noble Consort Dowager's trust in her was not what it used to be. If she were exposed again, she feared even her protector would abandon her...
Gritting her teeth, she confessed everything: how she had instigated the Xue family to scheme against Chu Jing, and how she had then eliminated the Xue family to frame Chu Ruoyan.
The Noble Consort Dowager listened in shock. Chu Ruoyan said, "And what else?"
"There's more?!" The Noble Consort Dowager nearly fainted. Roumin, bewildered for a moment, then remembered and said, "Also... previously, when the Emperor bestowed beauties upon the Chief Minister, it was also I who suggested the plan to Princess Jiahui..."
The Noble Consort Dowager was rendered utterly speechless. After a long while, she finally stammered, "You... you fool! What grudge do you hold against County Princess Changle? Every single incident has been aimed at her!"
Roumin let out a bitter laugh. "Your Highness, I thought... you would understand me..."
The Noble Consort Dowager, realizing something, drew a sharp breath. "The previous dynasty... you... you did this for the previous dynasty!"
Roumin remained silent, but Chu Huaishan gave a cold laugh. "Correct! She thought harming my daughter could strike a blow at the Chief Minister and myself. A pity... it was all wishful thinking!"
Roumin instantly looked up. The Noble Consort Dowager said sharply, "Duke of Chu!"
"No... let him speak. What do you mean by 'wishful thinking'? Am I not a person of the previous dynasty?"
Her voice trembled on the last sentence.
If she wasn't, then what was the meaning of all the suffering and hardship she had endured over the years?
Chu Huaishan's face was cold and stern. "Correct. Back then, the Noble Consort Dowager did indeed take a young girl to see the King of Xijiang to resolve the crisis in the capital. But you are not that girl." He then turned to glance at the Noble Consort Dowager. "What? You're still keeping it from her? The real Third Miss Yun was taken back long ago by the King of Xijiang to be raised. As for you, you were merely adopted from a peasant family to serve as a decoy."
The Noble Consort Dowager's body trembled, and she closed her eyes.
Roumin cried out in disbelief, "No... that's impossible! How could I not be Yun Miao? I am Yun Miao!"
If she wasn't Yun Miao but some peasant girl, wouldn't that make her a complete joke?
"Your Highness... Your Highness, say something!"
Roumin groped on the floor, trying to clutch the hem of the Noble Consort Dowager's robe. Heart aching, the Noble Consort Dowager knelt down, took her hand, and said, "Good child, no matter who you are, I raised you with my own hands. I will surely treat you as my own..."
"No! No!!"
Roumin broke free from her grasp. Remembering something, she suddenly cried out, "Then what about my birthmark? What about this birthmark?"
"What birthmark?" Chu Huaishan was puzzled.
She pushed aside her long hair, revealing the butterfly-shaped birthmark on the back of her neck.
Chu Huaishan's face changed dramatically. He quickly stepped forward to look. "Noble Consort Dowager, did you do this? No... that's not right... This is clearly—"
He abruptly fell silent, staggering back several steps.
Chu Ruoyan supported him. "Father!"
Chu Huaishan said nothing for a long while, only staring at the butterfly-shaped birthmark. Finally, trembling, he asked the Noble Consort Dowager, "This... what is this? You clearly told me back then that Third Miss Yun had been sent away, that the King of Xijiang personally came for her!!!"
His aged, stern voice was full of accusation. The Noble Consort Dowager closed her eyes and, after a long time, let out a heavy sigh. "I deceived you..."
"Duke of Chu, Roumin is indeed the child of the Prince Regent... Back then, after I took her from your mansion, I did intend to entrust her to the King of Xijiang. But the King of Xijiang said he was already in his twilight years and wouldn't last much longer! Moreover, Xijiang itself was rife with factions. He feared a mere child like Roumin couldn't handle such a situation, so he returned her to my care."
"The King of Xijiang said the late Emperor would never dream he dared leave his granddaughter behind. As a precaution, he also forced the late Emperor to agree to cease hunting down the descendants of the Yun clan... I kept this from you all along, fearing that if you knew, you might give yourself away before the late Emperor. That's why I lied to you, saying she had been taken by the King of Xijiang."
Each word she uttered made Chu Huaishan's face grow paler.
By the end, he stood utterly dumbstruck, his eyes fixed on Roumin with an indescribable mixture of shock and complexity.
"That's right! Right! I am Yun Miao! I am the real Yun Miao! Chu Huaishan, you received great favor from my royal father, yet not only do you fail to repay it, you dare to move against me? Kneel and confess your crime!"
Roumin was beside herself with joy. The Noble Consort Dowager wanted to say something, but she saw Chu Huaishan's lips moving as he reached out towards Roumin.
"You... you..."
His state was deeply unsettling; even Chu Ruoyan felt a pang of fear and reached out to steady him.
But then, with a thud.
Chu Huaishan knelt down entirely, his voice filled with heart-wrenching sobs and remorse. "It is I who have wronged you... I have wronged you!!"
