The Celestial Commissioner had set up a dungeon where all the criminals were locked up who could not see the light of day.
In order to escape, Prince Xiang used Ji Xingxuan and her son in exchange for Zhu Muzhao's release. Three months ago, when Ji Xingxuan was locked up in the dungeon, Yu Shu had not visited her even once. Now that Zhu Muzhao had passed away, there was no one to restrain Yu Shu. She felt that it was time to end things between her and Ji Xingxuan.
It was the coldest day of the year and the dungeon was dark and damp. The cold air rose from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. Yu Shu was draped in a spotless snow white sable coat and her hands were tucked into her sleeves. She carried a small hand warmer in her bosom and the deerskin boots on her feet were thick with cotton soles. There was no sound when she stepped on the ground.
The black-robed guard held a torch in his hand and stood in front of her, protecting her in the middle. They came to the door of Ji Xingxuan's cell. The dungeon was filled with stone walls and iron doors. The prisoners locked up here did not see each other and did not see the light of day. The jailer who delivered their meals every day was a mute. After a long period of time, it was easy for a person to get sick. In the end, they would either go crazy or commit suicide.
The cell door opened and the torch dispelled the darkness in the room, illuminating the situation inside. Ji Xingxuan was curled up in a pile of hay in the corner. She was wrapped in a dirty and tattered quilt and was trembling. Her hair was disheveled and her face could not be seen clearly. One could only see that her cheeks were sunken and she was pitifully thin.
She covered her eyes and slowly raised her head. When she saw Yu Shu standing outside the door, her eyes widened and she crawled towards the door agitatedly. However, when she was within five feet of Yu Shu, she was kicked back by the black-robed guard.
"Stay here obediently!" The black-robed guard scolded.
Ji Xingxuan collapsed on the ground. The quilt on her body fell open, revealing her skinny body. She struggled to sit up and wrapped the quilt around her in a flurry. She looked up at Yu Shu, her teeth chattering. "Where, where's my child?"
"He's doing very well. He eats well and wears well. He's never been wronged." Yu Shu told the truth. Seeing that Ji Xingxuan had fallen to such a state, she no longer had the mood to add insult to injury.
"I don't believe you. Are you that kind?" Ji Xingxuan's voice was filled with suspicion. She knew very well that they already knew that her child was the flesh and blood of the late Emperor, but she didn't know why they took away her child. What she was most afraid of was that the current Emperor also knew of this child's existence and would not spare this little life.
Yu Shu asked her, "Don't you want him to live well? Why do you want something to happen to him?"
Ji Xingxuan's expression instantly turned savage. "If you harm him, even if I become a ghost, I won't forgive you!"
Yu Shu shook her head, her face full of disdain. "You should have known that by giving birth to him, you were giving him a path to death. But you still chose to selfishly take this child. Now you're worrying about his life and death. Isn't it too late? I really don't understand. With your intelligence, why would you lower yourself to such a state? Is it because of that Shifu of yours whose face you haven't even seen? Ji Xingxuan, you are not fit to be a mother. "
A look of regret floated onto Ji Xingxuan's face. The viciousness from before had disappeared. She lowered her head and gave a series of bitter laughs.
"Ha ha ha … it was you who ruined my family and left me with nowhere to go. You're asking me why I lower myself to that state? If it was you, you wouldn't be any better off than me. I know Shifu is using me. But if I didn't listen to his arrangements, I would have become Ning Wang's slave. How would I be any better than now? Now that I think about it, I really made a wrong move. When I first met you in Jing City, I shouldn't have been greedy for your Liu Yao Technique and provoked you, a fiend. "
She was remorseful but it was too late.
Yu Shu looked at her remorseful expression but her heart didn't waver. She said, "You know that you only have yourself to blame. You can't blame anyone else."
Ji Xingxuan mumbled, "Yes, if I want to blame someone, I can only blame myself for not being as skilled as others, not as lucky as you, not as skilled as you. I tried my best but failed to follow my grandfather's wish to enter the Celestial Commissioner Bureau. But you, in a short two years, have already become the chief of the Kun Ling Bureau. "
She was trapped in the dungeon and didn't know how long it had been outside. She didn't know that Zhu Muzhao had died and that Yu Shu was now the head of the Celestial Commissioner Bureau.
Yu Shu didn't say it to hurt her but asked her, "You sought death to see me just to say such nonsense?"
Ji Xingxuan hung her head, her messy hair covering her expression. Her tone was sorrowful, "I know that the Great Tiandao will not let me go. I know too many secrets that I shouldn't know. Only by dying will you be at peace. I'm not asking you to spare my life, but I'm begging you to spare my child. He's still so young and doesn't know anything. Find a remote place and send him away. As long as he can live in this world, I have nothing else to ask for. “
As she spoke, she supported her weak body and slowly knelt in front of Yu Shu. Her posture was extremely humble.
"I beg you."
Yu Shu didn't move and asked her, "What's the use of begging me?"
Ji Xingxuan said, "As long as you are willing to plead for me in front of the Great Tiandao, I believe he will listen to you. After all, you are … that person."
Yu Shu raised her eyebrows and thought that she had guessed her identity as the person who broke her life. Yu Shu suddenly felt pity for Ji Xingxuan. She had this intelligence but used it in the wrong place.
"Why should I plead for you?"
Ji Xingxuan replied, "I can tell you a secret, a secret that you definitely don't know in exchange."
Yu Shu was interested. She waved her hand at the black-robed guards and asked them to leave. She took a step forward and half-squatted in front of Ji Xingxuan. She stretched out her hand and lifted Ji Xingxuan's chin with her fingertips. She made Ji Xingxuan look into her eyes.
Ji Xingxuan's body stiffened. She didn't dodge. She softly revealed the secret that she had buried in the deepest part of her heart. It was also the last talisman that her Shifu had left for her to protect her life. She would rather die than reveal it unless she had no other choice. At this moment, for her child, she was willing to take this risk.
"The Crown Prince, Liu Tan, is not the flesh and blood of the late Emperor. He is the child of Noble Consort Xue and another man."
Yu Shu had always felt that there were few things that could make her change her expression since she had reached her current position. However, this statement shocked her. Liu Tan had already become the Emperor. Now, someone was telling her that he was not the son of the late Emperor?!
"Say that again?" She exerted force in her hand and squeezed Ji Xingxuan's chin. Her ears perked up and her pair of sharp eyes firmly locked onto her.
"The Crown Prince, Liu Tan, is not the flesh and blood of the late Emperor. He is the child of Noble Consort Xue and another man."
Yu Shu slowly took a breath and asked her again, "With whom?" She had a bold guess in her heart, but it was hard to believe.
"I don't know." Ji Xingxuan was afraid that she wouldn't believe her and quickly explained, "It was my Shifu who told me. He said that one day, when I am in a situation where I can't live or die, I should tell this secret to save my life. I don't ask you to spare my life, I only ask you to spare my child. I swear that what I said is the truth. If there is even half a word of falsehood, let me fall into the eighteen levels of hell after I die, never to be reincarnated. "
She raised her finger and swore to the heavens. Yu Shu expressionlessly looked at her and said, "You can swear that what you said is the truth, but how can you guarantee that what your Shifu said is also the truth?"
Ji Xingxuan fiercely bit her lips and said, "If you don't believe me, you can verify it. My Shifu said that the Crown Prince, Liu Tan, has a snake shaped birthmark on the inside of his thigh. His birth father also had the same birthmark on the same place, but the late Emperor did not. If you can find out which man Noble Consort Xue had an affair with before she married, then you can verify what my Shifu told me is true or false. "
Yu Shu closed her eyes and calmed the raging waves in her heart. Her [Great Insight Art] had a small success so she could naturally distinguish whether Ji Xingxuan was telling the truth or not. As for whether her Shifu was telling the truth or lying, that was something worth considering.
The Shifu that Ji Xingxuan wholeheartedly followed was the Prince of Xiang himself. And according to what she knew, the Prince of Xiang and Empress Dowager Xue had an affair. This meant that the Prince of Xiang who had personally told Ji Xingxuan this secret could be the man who caused Empress Dowager Xue to secretly bear the child!
It could be imagined that if this secret were to be spread, it would definitely lead to chaos.
She let go of Ji Xingxuan and rubbed her fingers together. She stood up and said, "Regardless of whether this matter is true or false, I guarantee that the child will live well."
Actually, even if Ji Xingxuan did not beg her, she would not kill a child. She would let Xiao Yu live in this world with a different identity. He would never know who his birth parents were, and she would not destroy his life for the sake of revenge.
Hearing this, Ji Xingxuan's dark eyes had a glimmer of light. She did not hear the power behind Yu Shu's confident tone and thought that she would plead in front of the Great Insight to protect her child.
"Thank you very much." As a mother, her words of thanks came from the bottom of her heart.
Yu Shu looked down at Ji Xingxuan bowing and scraping in front of her for the sake of the child and felt a little relieved. She looked at her one last time and turned to leave. The grudges of the past were written off.
Seeing the heavy prison door close in front of her, Ji Xingxuan let out a big sigh of relief and softly fell to the ground. Few people knew that she was born with a kind of talent. She could distinguish between good and bad intentions from others, so she could avoid many disasters. She could feel that Yu Shu did not have any bad intentions towards her. She had really promised to help her keep the child.
"Baby, mother has let you down. I can only do this much for you. I hope that you can grow up peacefully and be an ordinary person. Mother can die in peace."
Ji Xingxuan muttered to herself. Only a mother who had given birth to a child could understand this selflessness. She was willing to sacrifice her own life in order to protect the little life that flowed in her veins. In the darkness, she suddenly heard voices coming from outside the door.
"Would the Great Secretary please tell us how to deal with this female criminal?"
"There is no need to care about her. Let her live for as long as she can."
"Yes."
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