The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1192 - 1192 578 Truth Revealed (Second Update)

Chapter 1192: 578 Truth Revealed (Second Update) Chapter 1192: 578 Truth Revealed (Second Update) “Empress Mother! Empress Mother! Empress Mother—”

“Empress Mother, I know I was wrong—give me another chance!”

“Just give me another chance, ah… Empress Mother—”

I did give you a chance, from the day you returned, I knew you weren’t Ning An.

I also knew that my Ning An probably couldn’t return.

The tear I shed was for Ning An.

That night, you went to the Nunnery.

I thought you were simply paying respects to your deceased mother. As her flesh and blood, there’s nothing wrong with remembering her. I had no objections.

You once brought me warmth during the days I needed it most. I felt that as long as you didn’t kill Ning An, as long as you sincerely wanted to return as a princess, I could accept you.

But why… why did you move against my Jiaojiao with poison! Why did you collude with the people of Yan Country? Why did you harm the Sixth Prince? Why did you commit so many unforgivable acts?

…

Empress Dowager Zhuang boarded the carriage to return.

Eunuch Qin was originally sitting outside, but seeing that Empress Dowager Zhuang was in a foul mood, he thought it over and boldly took a seat inside.

Eunuch Qin looked toward Empress Dowager Zhuang: “Empress Dowager.”

Empress Dowager Zhuang pinched the bridge of her nose, signaling her discomfort: “What do you want to say?”

“Nothing,” Eunuch Qin instinctively denied. Frankly speaking, he was still digesting the news himself.

The letters had been delivered to Capital City urgently by courier service arranged by Gu Changqing. They had just arrived that morning and he hadn’t read them; the Empress Dowager had sorted them by herself.

So actually, he too had just heard the shocking truth for the first time.

“That thing… I feel like my brain isn’t quite working right now,” said Eunuch Qin sheepishly.

Empress Dowager Zhuang said indifferently, “If you want to ask, ask. No need to beat around the bush.”

“Yes,” Eunuch Qin said with a hollow laugh, “Princess Ning An used to be scared of the dark one moment and then not the next. Could it be that they were actually two different people from the start?”

Empress Dowager Zhuang closed her eyes faintly: “Mhm.”

Eunuch Qin took a weak breath of cool air: “Then, after she left the Imperial Palace, how did she come back in?”

Empress Dowager Zhuang said lightly, “Her mother was the Empress; is it difficult to bring a child in? It’s not as though she lived in the Imperial Palace year-round; it was only occasionally, to let her reunite with her mother and daughter.”

“That makes sense,” Eunuch Qin suddenly realized, “Does Princess Ning An know about this?”

Empress Dowager Zhuang pondered for a moment and shook her head: “She should be unaware.”

With Ning An’s personality, she couldn’t keep such a thing secret, at least not from the Emperor.

I wonder what the child was thinking then?

She saw the luxurious life of the carefree Ning An and thus made a request to Noble Consort Jing: “Mother, I want to be a princess too.”

So Noble Consort Jing dressed her in Ning An’s clothes, allowing her to pretend to be Ning An for a day, a half day, or even just two hours.

Afterward, she returned to her own place.

Eunuch Qin remarked with emotion, “Thinking about it this way, she’s quite pitiable. Just because she was born two hours later than her sister, their lives were worlds apart. I’m not a dead servant, so I don’t know what their lives are like, but I suppose it cannot be as fortunate as a princess’s.”

Empress Dowager Zhuang said, “Compared to a princess? She’s far worse off even compared to common folk.” The hardships of a dead servant aren’t something ordinary people can endure.

“That’s even more tragic,” Eunuch Qin lamented, then asked, “So, the one who married off to the remote border areas was the real Princess Ning An, right?”

Empress Dowager Zhuang sighed, “Yes, it was her.”

Perhaps from that time, they began planning to have the younger sister replace Ning An.

Whether or not Noble Consort Jing had any affection for Ning An is no longer a question; maybe there was some, but it was overpowered by her selfishness.

The carriage moved slowly along.

Empress Dowager Zhuang leaned against the sidewall, and Eunuch Qin quickly placed a pillow behind her. The Empress Dowager reminisced, “After Noble Consort Jing passed away, I had interrogated Mamasan Cai. Mamasan Cai had a conversation with me.”

Eunuch Qin inquired, “What did she say?”

Empress Dowager Zhuang recounted, “After the Emperor and Noble Consort Jing became estranged, Noble Consort Jing planned to use the imperial edict to perish together with me. Mamasan Cai begged her not to be impulsive, to think of Ning An, saying that she had not only the Emperor, but Ning An as well. Her expression then was peculiar, and her words were odd. She replied to Mamasan Cai, ‘Ning An will never return in this lifetime… never return…'”

“Just like Mamasan Cai, I assumed that when Noble Consort Jing said Ning An couldn’t return, it was because of the harsh words I had once said to Ning An, ‘Ning An, if you dare to marry off to the border, you’re not allowed to come back for the rest of your life.'”

Eunuch Qin nodded eagerly, “This servant remembers you indeed said that! This servant even advised you at the time!”

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