The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1193 - 1193 578 The Truth Revealed (Second Update)_2

Chapter 1193: 578 The Truth Revealed (Second Update)_2 Chapter 1193: 578 The Truth Revealed (Second Update)_2 Empress Dowager Zhuang sighed once more, “That’s why I didn’t suspect anything at the time. Nanny Cai had never had any contact with that child, so naturally, I didn’t doubt her even more.”

Eunuch Qin clicked his tongue, “This would have aroused suspicion in no one! Who would have thought that the tranquil Imperial Concubine gave birth to a Ning An and hid another Ning An! Even a tiger would not eat its cubs, how could she bear to give up her own flesh and blood to be made into an assassin?”

Empress Dowager Zhuang said coldly, “There are all kinds of people in this world.”

Eunuch Qin nodded, “That’s true.”

Empress Dowager Zhuang expressed regret, “The child didn’t show up in the palace very often, and after the age of ten, she never appeared in front of me again. If she had shown up a few more times, perhaps I would have noticed something.”

Huaqing Palace.

The Emperor, who had been smothered unconscious by Princess Xinyang with a pillow, finally woke up again.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw Princess Xinyang sitting beside the bed. His first reaction was to suddenly protect his head with his hands!

Princess Xinyang: “…”

Having smothered the Emperor unconscious, Princess Xinyang couldn’t escape. Unless she killed the Emperor, he would definitely hold her accountable for her crime.

But killing him would be troublesome, first, because it’s not easy to dispose of the body, and second, because she was currently serving as the Regent. If the Emperor died and the Crown Prince took the throne, she was worried she would have to continue acting as Regent.

This was quite annoying.

The Emperor, looking at Princess Xinyang’s conflicted expression, why did he feel a sense of unease in his heart?

“Cough!”

The Emperor cleared his throat, calmly lowered his hands, and pretended as if that moment of cowardice had never happened.

Princess Xinyang stood up.

The Emperor immediately wrapped his arms around his head again!

Princess Xinyang: Well then, I’ll just kneel down and admit my fault.

When the Emperor realized what was happening, he became irritated and shouted angrily, “Sit down! Don’t move!”

So she sat down.

It was you who didn’t let me kneel.

Princess Xinyang sat on the stool.

Princess Xinyang didn’t know martial arts, but having spent a long time with Long Yi, she honestly radiated a bit of a killer’s aura, not to mention she naturally possessed the aura of a royal sister. That pillow smothering left a deep impression in the depths of the Emperor’s heart.

Yujin had already been dismissed.

The Emperor steadied his nerves, sat up straight, and sharply commanded, “Wan Quan! Come in here at once!”

“Yes!” Eunuch Wan hurried in.

“What happened to your face?” The Emperor looked curiously at Wan Quan, who had a bruised and swollen face.

Eunuch Wan lowered his head and said, “It was a fall, a fall.”

He was beaten by Yujin.

Wan Quan had entered during the time the Emperor was unconscious. He had looked over Princess Xinyang’s Adam’s apple, her hands, and that certain area, and then, upon leaving, Yujin had beaten him for being a pervert.

“Princess Xinyang admits to her fault; please, Your Majesty, impose your punishment,” Princess Xinyang confessed her wrongdoing on her own.

“You’ve got quite some nerve!” The Emperor slapped his jade pillow, and his whole hand went numb…

“It’s up to Your Majesty to decide my fate.”

Please, dismiss me from my regency duties immediately.

The Emperor said indignantly, “I haven’t decided how to punish you yet, just leave it for now!”

“Oh,” Princess Xinyang responded with visible disappointment.

The Emperor: “…”

The Emperor said coldly, “Why did you knock me unconscious? I thought you were bent on regicide!”

Princess Xinyang honestly replied, “I misunderstood Your Majesty. I thought Your Majesty intended to shield Ning An.”

“I, I shield her?” The Emperor was seething with indignation. When had he ever said he would protect Ning An?

The Emperor glanced coldly at Princess Xinyang, who usually seemed so much like his elder sister, rarely showing the demeanor of a younger sister.

It was actually quite an intriguing feeling.

The Emperor cleared his throat, “Did you come to the palace today because you have something to ask me?”

I do not.

Princess Xinyang glanced at the Emperor, whose forehead was swollen like a pig’s head.

Alright, perhaps I do.

Princess Xinyang racked her brains and then asked, “Why did Princess Ning An attempt to assassinate Your Majesty?”

The Emperor said, “I saw the confession letter and knew the incident at Xianle Inn was her doing.”

Princess Xinyang looked at the Emperor with a half-believing gaze, “Your Majesty believes it?”

The Emperor coughed lightly and said, “I did not believe it at first, but then she suddenly ran into a pillar in an attempt to take her own life to prove her innocence. That scene reminded me of something long forgotten. Many years ago, when you and Ning An were not yet married, the late emperor was gravely ill. When I went to visit him, I found two Ning Ans there! One Ning An pushed the other, causing her to suffer a serious head injury, bleeding profusely, just like… just like what happened that day in the Imperial Study Room…”

“Two Ning Ans?” Princess Xinyang’s brow furrowed tightly.

The Emperor’s expression grew complicated, “That was the first time I saw two Ning Ans. I was so frightened at that moment, I even thought I had seen a ghost. Right then, Consort Jing appeared. Consort Jing took me back to the Sleeping Palace and told me not to speak of what I had seen. I asked Consort Jing what was going on, why there were two Ning Ans. If she did not tell me the truth, I said I would go to father. Consort Jing told me that Ning An had a sister, unfortunate to be born lifeless. She thought it was a stillbirth and, worried that it might displease father, she had the midwife quietly take the baby out of the palace to bury her. But, after being taken out, the child miraculously came back to life. It had already been announced that there was only one child, so to bring her back would reveal that she had disposed of the ‘stillbirth,’ which would certainly enrage father; therefore, she could only raise the child quietly outside the palace.”

“You didn’t believe that, did you?” That kind of plot twist sounded completely fabricated.

The Emperor fiercely retorted, “I, I, I of course did not believe it!”

Princess Xinyang curled her lips.

You did believe it.

“The one who pushed, was that Ning An the sister?” Princess Xinyang asked.

“How do you know everything?” The Emperor looked at Princess Xinyang with surprise.

Princess Xinyang did not say that even a fool could guess it; if there was a kind Ning An and a devilish Ning An in the world, then the Ning An who grew up with them must certainly be the kind one.

“What happened next?” Princess Xinyang looked at the Emperor.

“After that, Consort Jing pleaded with me to keep her secret,” the Emperor stopped abruptly.

Princess Xinyang spoke for him, “But Your Majesty is close to the Empress Dowager, almost like a real mother and son, you would definitely tell her.”

The Emperor did not deny it.

He was well aware of his nature; even if he had promised Consort Jing to tell no one, he would certainly confide in his mother afterward.

“The Empress Dowager would definitely not believe the story made up by Consort Jing. She would sense that something was amiss,” Princess Xinyang, linking it to what happened before, said, “So… that’s why Consort Jing was eager to make you break with the Empress Dowager and, fearing that the break was not complete enough, she administered the white medicine to make you comply with her wishes. Under the influence of the white medicine, you naturally forgot everything that might affect your relationship with your mother.”

The Emperor sighed and nodded, “Exactly.”

Princess Xinyang had a moment of realization, “That makes total sense now.”

The Emperor continued, “That collision in the Imperial Study Room was a clumsy mistake that instead prompted me to remember what I saw in the late emperor’s Sleeping Palace. I then concluded that she was the other Ning An, not the one who grew up with me!”

So that was it; she knew that a mere confession letter couldn’t have swayed His Majesty against Ning An.

Princess Xinyang spoke with gravity, “What does Your Majesty plan to do with her?”

The Emperor said sternly, “She is not Ning An, I will not be lenient with her.”

That’s more like it.

Princess Xinyang rose slowly, “It is getting late, Princess Xinyang takes her leave.”

“Xinyang,” the Emperor suddenly called out to Princess Xinyang.

“Hmm?” Princess Xinyang looked at the Emperor, puzzled.

The Emperor hesitated for a moment, then spoke with difficulty, “Do you think… Ning An is still alive?”

Princess Xinyang did not speak, she simply bowed slightly and turned to walk out.

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