The imperial physicians waited day and night outside Weiyang Palace. Upon hearing that Jiang Yunshu had regained consciousness, they immediately filed in. The head of the Imperial Medical Bureau stood at the forefront, carefully observing Jiang Yunshu’s complexion before asking, "How does Her Majesty the Empress Dowager feel now? Is there any discomfort?"
Jiang Yunshu was stunned. She glanced left and right, but she was the only woman in the room.
Where was the Empress Dowager?
Who was the Empress Dowager?
Xie Lin, noticing Jiang Yunshu’s confusion, chuckled softly and instructed the palace attendants beside him, "Inform His Majesty that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has awakened. The Emperor may now come to pay his respects."
At Xie Lin’s words, Jiang Yunshu’s face filled with shock.
The Empress Dowager… was her?
The physicians addressed her as the Empress Dowager, and so did Xie Lin.
Wait… wait a minute… Had she crossed into some parallel world again?
Xie Lin even mentioned letting the "young emperor" visit her, the "Empress Dowager." But the young emperor, Ji Taian, wasn’t even a year old—how could he possibly come to see her?
Jiang Yunshu stole a glance at Xie Lin, then another… Was this Xie Lin the one who had shared her bed, or was he another Xie Lin from a parallel world?
She scrutinized him carefully and indeed noticed several differences.
This Xie Lin was thinner, more haggard, with deep dark circles under his eyes…
Heavens, could this truly be a different Xie Lin? Had she crossed into a parallel world?
How had she become the Empress Dowager here? Had she borne a child for the late emperor?
As Jiang Yunshu’s thoughts spiraled, a palace attendant carried the young emperor into Weiyang Palace. Before entering the hall, the child insisted on being set down and toddled eagerly toward her on short legs, calling out, "Mother—!"
Jiang Yunshu’s eyes widened in disbelief. The "young emperor" running toward her, addressing her as his mother, wasn’t Taian—it was Yuancheng!
So she hadn’t crossed into a parallel world after all!
While she was unconscious, Xie Lin had made Yuancheng emperor and elevated her to Empress Dowager.
Yuancheng had always been the heir apparent—Jiang Yunshu had guessed as much. But no one had told her she’d become Empress Dowager!
She stared at Yuancheng in shock. Was this child now her son? Had she just gained a son out of thin air?
"Where is Empress Dowager Wu? Where is Taian?" Jiang Yunshu blurted out.
Xie Lin looked at her with an amused smile. "Has Her Majesty the Empress Dowager lost her senses from illness? What Empress Dowager Wu? What Taian? This subject does not understand."
Jiang Yunshu understood immediately—Xie Lin intended to erase all traces of Empress Dowager Wu and Taian.
There had never been a Taian. The emperor had always been Yuancheng.
There had never been an Empress Dowager Wu. The Empress Dowager had always been her!
Xie Lin’s ability to twist the truth left Jiang Yunshu speechless.
The palace attendants and physicians had already adapted seamlessly, speaking with such ease that Jiang Yunshu began to doubt her own memory. Had she always been the Empress Dowager?
From now on, everyone would pretend this had always been the case. The palace records would be rewritten… By the time this generation passed, no one in the future would ever know the truth.
In the annals of history, she alone would be recorded as the Empress Dowager.
As Jiang Yunshu sat dazed, the physician stepped forward to take her pulse. "Her Majesty is in good health, though her constitution remains cold and will require gradual nourishment. The frostbite on her ears and hands must be treated daily with ointment."
Hearing this, Xie Lin finally let out a relieved breath.
Jiang Yunshu asked, "How long was I unconscious?"
During her unconsciousness, Xie Lin had defeated the Prince of Yanbei, installed Yuancheng as emperor, and made her Empress Dowager… She suspected she’d been out for a very long time.
Xie Lin’s answer surprised her. "Your Majesty was unconscious for a single day."
Jiang Yunshu was stunned. "Just one day? How could a war be fought in one day?"
Xie Lin smiled. "Naturally, it wasn’t during the day Your Majesty was unconscious, but while you were held captive in the mountains."
Xie Lin hadn’t waited for the Prince of Yanbei to attack the capital. Once he confirmed the location of the prince’s forces, he immediately marched out and annihilated them a hundred li northwest of the city.
Now, the Prince of Yanbei, Empress Dowager Wu who had defected to him, the turncoat Marquess Xiping, and Duan Jinxing… all had been captured.
Xie Lin summarized it in a few words, but Jiang Yunshu was astonished. While searching for her, he had also defeated the Prince of Yanbei?
Mention of Duan Jinxing reminded Jiang Yunshu of Jiang Zhaohua.
"Duan Jinxing was captured—what of Jiang Zhaohua?" she asked.
Xie Lin replied, "Beaten to death by Duan Jinxing."
The answer didn’t surprise Jiang Yunshu. When she fled the mountain cabin, Jiang Zhaohua had already seemed unlikely to survive.
She found it bitterly ironic.
Jiang Zhaohua’s frenzied final words had revealed enough for Jiang Yunshu to piece together the truth.
Jiang Zhaohua had been reborn. She knew Duan Jinxing had become prime minister in her past life, so in this life, she stole Jiang Yunshu’s betrothal, eagerly awaiting the day her husband’s success would bring her glory…
She had longed for Duan Jinxing to win her the title of first-rank noble consort, only to die at the hands of the very man she had pinned her hopes on.
