"Your Majesty, even now, are you still planning to keep this from me? Sister! Can you really bear to see her like this..."

Princess Fran hosted a banquet under the name of Lady Baiwei, but Lady Baiwei was not at home at all. Instead, after receiving a message, she hurriedly went to the Cining Palace to see the Empress Dowager.

"Very well, I will say it."

The Empress Dowager's expression changed repeatedly before she finally sighed, as if she had made a great decision before deciding to recall that past event.

The daughter she thought she might not have survived long ago is still alive.

"Do you remember, twelve years ago, the late emperor banished me and Niannian to Qing'an Temple for his favorite concubine? At that time, Niannian was only four years old..."

As the Empress Dowager spoke, tears began to fall, and her voice trembled slightly.

When Lady Baiwei heard the nickname "Niannian," she immediately remembered something. It seemed that it was from that time that the Empress Dowager forbade everyone from calling the princess by her nickname, as if she was deliberately trying to forget something.

Unexpectedly... unexpectedly, after returning from Qing'an Temple, the princess had been replaced.

"I also sent people to look for her, but... but there was not a single clue. In addition, the late emperor always wanted her to abdicate in favor of his concubine, so I could only endure it."

I adopted a child who was similar in age to Niannian and had been abandoned by a peasant woman. And for all these years, I have never given up searching for Niannian, but so many years have passed, and there is still no trace of her.

After her son ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager was finally able to start searching, but many years passed, and she could no longer find him. Gradually, she lost hope.

No one knows where her sister got the information from, but she discovered that Fran wasn't her biological daughter.

"Sister, I have news about Niannian."

Ever since Lady Baiwei met Liang Qiuli, she has been suspicious of her identity.

After all, Liang Qiuli's appearance was at least 50% similar to her sister's back then, especially her eyes.

So they sent people to investigate the news and went to the palace to find out from the Empress Dowager. Unexpectedly, Liang Qiuli was able to achieve the annual success, while Fulan was not a real princess.

"What? Where is she? How is she doing?"

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager asked a series of questions, which instantly rekindled the flame of hope that had been extinguished in her heart.

She thought she would go to her grave with this regret, but she never expected to receive news about Niannian.

"she……"

"Is the person Auntie is talking about Liang Qiuli?"

Before Lady Baiwei could answer, the emperor, who had returned from outside the palace, stepped into the hall, his voice filled with certainty.

The Emperor's gaze darted back and forth between the Empress Dowager and Lady Baiwei, finally meeting the eyes of Lady Baiwei, who was hurriedly rising to pay her respects. He gently raised his hand to indicate that she did not need to be so formal.

"Yes, His Majesty has met with him?"

Lady Baiwei didn't keep them in suspense, but nodded and then began to tell them about the information she had found.

“Year after year, my year after year… it’s all my fault, back then… it was all my negligence…”

Upon hearing of her daughter's tragic experience, the Empress Dowager's eyes instantly filled with tears, which streamed down her face uncontrollably. She tightly gripped the handkerchief in her hands to wipe them away, but she couldn't dry them no matter what she did.

The emperor felt a pang of heartache. He had cherished his younger sister the most since she was born. So even though his mother had returned from Qing'an Temple and he felt that things seemed different every year, he still protected her because she was his sister.

Especially after his mother began to distance herself from Fran, he wanted to make it up to her even more, and often secretly brought her all sorts of rare and precious items.

After ascending the throne, he granted her every request, hoping to fill the void in her heart caused by her mother's indifference. However, he did not expect that she was not Niannian.

Moreover, because of her selfishness, Niannian is still unconscious, which has made the emperor completely disappointed in Fran.

"Your Majesty, how about taking me to see Niannian? As long as I can see her, whether she is willing to acknowledge me or not is entirely up to her."

The Empress Dowager spoke in a hoarse voice, almost pleading.

Upon hearing this, the Emperor did not immediately agree. His mother was already in poor health, and she was already emotionally distraught upon learning of Niannian's condition. If she were to learn that Niannian was currently unconscious, she might not be able to bear it.

"Mother, please wait a little longer. We still need to give Fulan an explanation. Once I've dealt with these matters, I will definitely take you to see Niannian. You don't want Fulan to harbor resentment towards Niannian, do you?"

"And your body can't withstand such strong emotional fluctuations."

The emperor's tone was reassuring, but he also wanted to give Fran, his beloved younger sister who had been loved for many years, another chance.

The Empress Dowager knew that her body could not withstand repeated torment. Hearing the Emperor's words, she was anxious, but she reluctantly agreed.

"Alright, Your Majesty, hurry up."

……

The emperor wanted to give Fran another chance, but Fran didn't think so. She felt that if she didn't do something, she would be kicked out.

Yes, Fran overheard the conversation between the three people inside the hall.

She was rescued from Lu Jingyan by the emperor and brought back to the palace, but she was still uneasy. So, disregarding the emperor's order to stay at home, she secretly followed him to Cining Palace.

But I never expected to hear such explosive news.

It turns out she wasn't the real princess; Liang Qiuli was!

Why!

Fran clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug deep into her palms. For so many years, she had always thought of herself as a princess, enjoying endless honor and pampering.

Now... now she's being told that it was all someone else's doing, that she was just a thief, and she's not reconciled!

She was unwilling to be stripped of her identity like this, especially since the other party was Liang Qiuli!

She wants her dead!

Before today, she only wanted to ruin Liang Qiuli's reputation and make her despise Lu Jingyan.

She was merely being used in that assassination attempt.

The man she had Zhao Yaoyao bring into the Baiwei Marquis's residence was only meant to defile Liang Qiuli, but unexpectedly, he was used by those who disliked General Lu or, to say, were at odds with the emperor, and they arranged for him to assassinate Lu Jingyan.

But now she felt that the assassination attempt was not bad; it would have been even better if the poison on the dagger had directly killed Liang Qiuli.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like