Xing could realise the atmosphere in the room was not fine and wanted to leave as soon as possible as she was never used to such situations where she did not know what was going on or how to act." Do you know what day is today?", AoTian"s cold voice made Xing snap out of her thoughts.
Xing tried to remember but she could not find that day to be any special.
Geez! Can"t you just tell me, father? Xing thought.
AoTian saw Xing"s reaction and his face filled with disappointment and he just let out a sigh which confused Xing more. Lord Zhong who was drinking tea enthusiastically said,
"Hey, brat! Did you know that Elder Shu and two of his grandsons died last night?"
"Oh", Xing said nonchalantly as if she"d expected that.
"That was sudden, even though that Elder was old those boys were just young and the entire Shu family is in deep mourning", Lord Zhong continued.
" He brought that on himself and he dragged his family too", Xing said in a calm tone.
"Brat! What do you mean?", Lord Zhong asked surprised and AoTian was shocked too as he remembered her talking weirdly to that Elder last night.
" I don"t know if you believe it or not but that Elder had used a spell to hide from the G.o.d of Death and the spell was broken last night. Of course that G.o.d would be angry and he will make the entire family pay. Those two grandsons won"t be the last", Xing said as a matter of fact shocking everyone.
Spell? G.o.d of death? So was it her that broke the spell last night? How? So what the Elder said about his daughter knowing G.o.ds is true? AoTian wondered.
" Spells for cheating the G.o.d of death?", Lord Zhong asked surprised.
"Yes, they are forbidden and people who use such spells will be cursed. That Elder Shu was a fool to use such spell. Even other G.o.ds fear the G.o.d of death. But, He would have gotten away with it if only he didn"t anger me last night. I accidentally broke it when I told him to rest well. I sensed the enraged G.o.d of death who.. ", Xing stopped herself realising the petrified look of her father. She was used to such looks when she was young and somehow it was hurtful when her father looked at her like that. But he cannot be blamed..
Xing! Remember what Haru used to say.. You cannot talk about G.o.ds with others! Why can"t you keep your cursed mouth shut?
So she was the one who broke the spell! Wait.. Didn"t that Elder also said that she will end the four High n.o.ble families? AoTian got a bit scared looking at that beautiful creature in front of him talking about those supernatural things so normally.
"Brat! Pour me some more tea.. I cannot get enough of your tea", Lord Zhong broke the awkward silence with his loud voice.
Xing served him tea and he was happily drinking it when noticed something odd about him,
"Old man! Are you sick?", she asked startling Lord Zhong.
"No! What are...", Lord Zhong tried to dodge but looking at that deep dark eyes focused on him, he couldn"t and he took a deep breath,
"Little brat! I am getting old! Of course I get sick more often. Nothing to be worried about", he patted her head.
"Old man! I can get you medicines.. Back in the village even the pharmacy owner speaks highly of my medicines. There is no medicine I cannot get! ",Xing spoke concerned. She had come to love this old man for some reason as he was always treating her like a little child and she felt the vibe of a grandfather from him.
" No need, brat! It will go away on it"s own. Also the doctor had prescribed medicines for me too. So you don"t worry", he slapped her back.
Somehow Xing felt he was lying,
"Old man! You are lying to me aren"t you?", she asked and Lord Zhong laughed in response when a teacup shattered right near Xing"s feet startling her,
"You unfilial ingrate! If you are as great as you say with your knowledge about G.o.ds and medicines, why did you let your mother die? And you even... ", AoTian shouted and only stopped after the angry roar of Lord Zhong.
"Kneel!", Lord Zhong shouted at him and AoTian knelt down immediately looking at the mad Lord Zhong .
Xing looked at her father, who looked hurt and in painful expression,
" Fa...", she stopped after realising the one in front of her is not her father but her mother"s husband.
Xing stood frozen in her spot and could not even move. Even she did not know why the medicine she gave her mother the last time didn"t work on her. But the past cannot be changed and she did try her best to save her mother. So she had no regrets regarding that matter and once one"s time is over nothing can save them.
But seeing her bereaved father made her remember how much she was worried when Shengli was sick last night. She could empathise with her father and that made her wonder how she will react if something bad happened to him and she immediately wanted to find Shengli.
Lord Zhong looked at the girl who was white as a sheet standing frozen and his heart fell. He just put his arms around her and he felt she was cold. He just shook his head in disappointment at AoTian who was shocked himself and started to walk with Xing"s shoulders wrapped in his arms,
"Little brat! It is time already. Shouldn"t you meet the Emperor? Go change and take a carriage to leave,ok? Did you realise, my stupid son didn"t recognise you? Don"t tell him who you are and let us find out when he would realise it ok? Also.. ", Lord Zhong spoke nonstop and brought her out of the room when Uncle Feiye and Shengli entered their Manor.
Xing saw Shengli and her face immediately brightened up and Lord Zhong sighed in relief.
After telling Shengli that she was to meet the Emperor, Lord Zhong and Feiye got back to the room while Xing was escorted by Xu mama to her courtyard.
Before leaving, Xing just held Shengli"s hands and looked at him deeply for a while before saying, "Thank you for being alive! " and letting go making him wonder what was wrong with her and if AoTian punished her for him staying at her place last night.
Xing came back dressed in her usual male attire and both of them left to the Imperial Palace. Her mind was wandering about how the Elder said may have affected her father. Surely no one would be happy to have a child who is said to bring an end to his own family.
Shengli realised her mind was elsewhere and also he had noted Lord Zhong acted weird too and wondered what might have happened inside the room. He just brought her to a stall and bought her some sweet buns and Xing ate it with all her heart and soon her mood lit up. Shengli saw her smile and was happy and Xing asked about how the situation with the fake had been resolved.
Shengli explained how some men who had secret letters with the Prime Minister"s seal were caught and obviously the seal was fake and how he left those men unconscious near the Ran Manor. But soon the people from Ran house had gotten them to the Justice Department saying they had discovered the plot against the Huang family meticulously planned by the Dong family who were offended by the Prime Minister before. According to those who were caught, the Dong Family had learned that Lord Táng had good relations.h.i.+p with the Huang family and so they used a fake Lord Táng to create fuzz and in turn accuse the Huang family of treason but their plan failed.
"But no one knew of my ident.i.ty and how would they know my connection with the Huang family? And what about the drugged wine and the attempt on the Emperor?", Xing questioned.
Shengli laughed and patted her head, "That"s true. The real intention of this hastily planned plan was to know your ident.i.ty by s.h.i.+hong. They planned to cause a commotion and make you come out and possibly eliminate the Emperor and the Huang family while at it. But since you and Seiren recognised the drugged wine and stopped the distribution, their plan failed and no one knew the wine was drugged except very few.But now we have learned that the Ran family is involved with s.h.i.+hong and s.h.i.+hong had learned your ident.i.ty. The Ran family always wanted to change the ruler as Lord Ran wanted to be the Prime Minister which was always guarded well by your father. Guess now he had allied himself with s.h.i.+hong to get his wish granted. So he would sacrifice even his own people to gain his wish and so it will be advantageous to us too. This is the first time Ran family had almost revealed their secrets"
Xing who was listening felt her head ache.
"Well! What do you expect? He even tried to kill his own daughter. His allies won"t be of much value. But why is s.h.i.+hong interested about me? Also why does the Ran family want to make you Emperor and why have you left them all this time?"
"s.h.i.+hong has many underground businesses and you might have unknowingly disturbed something. And Ran family is too smart for me to handle and deflecting their moves itself takes too much effort much less planning against them. But this time they had lost one of their ally and others would be a bit disturbed by the Ran family"s move to protect themselves. So we could use this situation to build a rift between the Ran family"s allies. After all the best way to cut a big tree is to chop down the branches first", Shengli smiled.
"Wow! Everything here is just complicated. I was just wondering if what that Elder said about me ending the four high n.o.ble families true. Now the Shu family had started to fall and the Ran family had allied themselves with s.h.i.+hong, a bad person and..."
Before she finished Shengli flicked her hard on the forehead,
" Silly girl! Didn"t I tell you you won"t be able to hurt others deliberately? If those families fall, it would be because of their own deeds and not because of you. Don"t let anything that Elder said get to your head", he said firmly.
By now they had reached the palace and they were escorted to the Emperor"s Study and they were waiting outside for the Emperor who still hadn"t returned from the Court.
Meanwhile in the Prime Minister"s Manor.....
Feiye entered the room to see AoTian kneeling and he tried to get him up when Lord Zhong said coldly,
"Your brother told his daughter who just lost her mother that she killed her mother and she should have died instead of her mother"
Feiye stood still for a moment before regaining his senses when AoTian said,
"That"s not what I meant"
Lord Zhong harrumphed,
" Still not regretful? So what else does "unfilial ingrate" and "you let your mother die " mean? That little girl looked pale as a sheet after you said that. Since when is that a duty of a child to protect their parent? Isn"t the other way around always?", he looked at Feiye, " Talk to him! I don"t even want to look at him anymore! "
" Xiao Tian! What was that about? You were fine till last night! What happened? ", Feiye asked.
AoTian had tears in his eyes," She... She wrote a letter... And she said our daughter was too much like me that she felt guilty of hiding her from me and that"s why she never came to see me. But how is she like me? She looks like a celestial maiden and carries sword like a part of her and smarter than me and.. that Elder... He said many things about her and she wasn"t even fazed and she just says weird things about G.o.ds like they are her next door neighbours and Uncle Yingjie... How can you handle that after that Elder said she"ll end the four high n.o.ble families and sitting in the Dragon Throne and everything? And more importantly how could she forget her mother"s birthday? ", AoTian kneaded his forehead.
" AoTian, if she forgot her mother"s birthday, you could have reminded her. No need for using those kinds of words. Remember she was the one with MingLing in thick and thin all these years and you just spoke like she had nothing with her mother, over something she had no control over? Shame on you! Did you think she has no other place to go? She"s staying here just because you are her father and she had promised her mother, nothing else.. Remember that! ", Feiye poured a cup of tea and sat on a seat clearly angry, " And if that wolf knows you said that to her you"ll never see your daughter again in your life", he mumbled.
Lord Zhong looked at AoTian,
"You were worried about what that Elder said about her? So what if everything is true? Does that make her not your daughter? If you think so, send her to me.. I can raise her like a princess! That Elder.... You know what he said to me? By the end of this year there will be no Zhong family left! This is what he said and so what? It might happen or it won"t! ", he just pulled AoTian up and grabbed his shoulders,
" Xiao Tian, let me tell you something only my wife knows! I thought I should hide it from you but...", he took a deep breath, "That brat was right.. I am sick.. The same illness as the previous Emperor.. Ha... Ha... Fate is cruel isn"t it? I thought he deserved to die in such a pitiful way and my life is going to end that way too"
"Uncle Yingjie!", both AoTian and Feiye were shocked and saddened. Lord Zhong was a close friend to their parents and they had a close relations.h.i.+p as long as they knew.
"There is nothing to do right? Even the previous Emperor could not get the medicines before then how can I? Also my younger son is just carefree and only knows to spend money while the elder son has only muscle brain and cannot handle those who plots against us. I know for a fact after me the Zhong family has not much hope.. So how can I blame something like this on someone else. Also that brat has such brightness around her and it makes me feel warm to be around her too. Watching her play with sword and drinking her tea... I consider those my blessings in my last days. Too bad I cannot keep her in my Manor ", Lord Zhong spoke emotionally.
AoTian didn"t know what to say and as he calmed down he was filled with extreme guilt of his behavior towards his daughter and he wondered if he"ll be forgiven. He knew she smiled brightly so as to hide her true feelings and what use is pus.h.i.+ng her away does? She is the only thing left of MingLing is what he had thought till now... But, she is her own person and she is different.. And now she might think that her father hates her...
AoTian was grief-stricken and he decided to clear the air during dinner if his daughter allows him to...