A Farce

Chen hour.

Wen Ying followed Prince Jing, walking up the stone steps before the main hall of Xingqing Palace.

This was the first time he had stood here. He looked at the towering and majestic palace ahead. The morning light reflected in his eyes, and his gaze was calmer than ever before.

After waiting outside for a moment, the chief eunuch of Xingqing Palace came out and politely invited Prince Jing inside. Prince Jing turned back to instruct Wen Ying, "Wait here for a while. I'll go in and speak with His Majesty."

Wen Ying nodded without a word.

Prince Jing patted his shoulder and stepped inside.

It was already the dead of winter. The eaves of the palace were covered in white snow, and new plum blossoms peeked out from the corners of the walls. The color of the flowers reflected against the snow, and the snow melted among the flowers, adding a rare touch of gentleness and warmth to the solemn and dignified palace.

Standing at the top of the stone steps before the main hall of Xingqing Palace and looking down, it was as if one stood amidst the clouds, overlooking all living beings and gazing down upon the world.

Since the two preceding dynasties, this had been the bedchamber of successive emperors. The person who lived here wielded the most supreme power in the world, receiving the reverence and worship of the masses—both a man and a god.

Wen Ying stared downward, motionless for a long time.

In the beginning, he had only wanted to stand out from the crowd.

Later, holding on by a thread, he had climbed upward fearlessly, disregarding life and death, all for the sake of one day reaching the pinnacle of officialdom.

But today, standing here, he was certain that one day, he would be here, and he would make everyone, all the people under heaven, submit to him.

Since he had the chance, he would never let it go.

An hour later, the eunuch from Xingqing Palace came out again and invited him in.

Wen Ying entered, lowered his eyes, and, following Prince Jing's prior instructions, knelt respectfully and performed a grand salutation to the person on the throne: "Your subject, Wen Ying, kowtows and greets Your Majesty."

The Emperor's hands were trembling slightly. Supported by Prince Jing, he rose and walked down, his voice shaking, "Raise your head... let Zhen see you."

Wen Ying raised his head, his gaze still calm, and looked at the Emperor before him.

The Emperor stared at him fixedly, his expression one of profound grief.

He had seen this person three years ago. At that time, he had personally issued a verbal decree to expel this person from the Imperial Academy and strip him of his scholarly honors. But he had never imagined that this person was actually his child, his own flesh and blood, his biological son. Only today did he find out. His son had been lost for twenty years, and only today did he finally know!

"Unfasten your upper garment. Let Zhen see the birthmark on your chest." The Emperor's voice was hoarse, already tinged with a sob that he was struggling to suppress.

Wen Ying calmly untied his sash and pulled open his clothes. His body was covered in scars of all sizes from the battlefield, but the blood-red mole over his heart was exceptionally conspicuous.

The Emperor stared fixedly, and finally, tears streamed down his face. Anger, grief, regret, and self-blame surged through him all at once, making it almost impossible for him to stand.

Just by looking at this birthmark, he no longer had any doubt.

This person was, without a doubt, his biological son who had been swapped away.

Prince Jing supported the Emperor's arm and advised in a low voice, "Your Majesty, take care of yourself."

After a long while, the Emperor managed to compose himself. He wiped his tears, personally helped Wen Ying up, and patted the back of his hand. Taking a deep breath, he said with resentment, "These twenty years, you have suffered. Rest assured, Father-Emperor will definitely get justice for you."

A great weight lifted from Prince Jing's heart. For his imperial brother to speak this way meant he had already acknowledged Wen Ying as his son.

Wen Ying's lips moved. Prince Jing gave him an encouraging nod. Wen Ying composed himself and changed his address: "...Thank you, Father-Emperor."

Suppressing his sentimental feelings, the Emperor's mind and reason were completely consumed by a towering rage. He was the emperor of the Great Cheng Dynasty, yet he had raised someone else's son for twenty years for nothing! That counterfeit had occupied his son's position, enjoying twenty years of glory and wealth, while his own flesh and blood had been lost, facing life and death several times. Father and son had met but had not recognized each other! How hateful!

"Guards!" The Emperor's teeth ground together audibly as he commanded sternly, "Summon Elder Princess Huaying to the palace, tell her to bring the person at once! Go to the Palace of Phoenix Grace and ask the Empress to come immediately. Then go to Prince Yu's Manor and tell Prince Yu to come to the palace for Zhen at once!"

Upon hearing the words "Prince Yu," Wen Ying's gaze flickered, but it quickly returned to being calm.

Prince Jing wanted to speak but hesitated. In the end, he didn't directly tell the Emperor that the village woman who had swapped the babies was none other than the daughter of the Marquis Zhenbei's Manor, Lady Yun.

Ling Qiyan strolled lazily into Xingqing Palace. He had just gotten up when someone from the palace rushed over, urgently saying that His Majesty had summoned him to the palace immediately. Ling Qiyan thought about it; he didn't seem to have offended anyone recently, so he didn't think much of it.

What he hadn't expected was that so many people would be here waiting for him.

The grim-faced Emperor, the deeply embarrassed Prince Jing, the Eldest Princess with a complex expression, and the bewildered Lady Shen. There was even that poor scholar he hadn't seen in three years, who had suddenly appeared!

Ling Qiyan's eyes suddenly widened. 'How is this kid in Xingqing Palace?!'

Wen Ying raised his eyes to look at him, his expression dark and obscure, as if sizing him up, yet there seemed to be a barrier in his gaze.

Ling Qiyan's heart inexplicably began to pound.

Before he could ask, the Emperor said with a dark face, "Everyone is here. Prince Jing, you can tell the Empress and the others."

Both Ling Qiyan and Lady Shen looked at Prince Jing in confusion. Prince Jing cleared his throat and explained succinctly: "Qiyan is not your and His Majesty's child, Imperial Sister-in-law. The child you gave birth to in the wilds of Jizhou was swapped by someone. This Wen Ying is your child. The Eldest Princess and I have already confirmed it. This child has a birthmark identical to the late Emperor's and His Majesty's. The people the Eldest Princess sent to Jizhou have also brought back the culprit who swapped the children back then. It's the wife of the hunter family who took you in. She has already confessed. She's being held outside the hall right now. You and His Majesty can question her personally."

Ling Qiyan stood there, stunned.

Lady Shen subconsciously covered her mouth with a handkerchief, barely stopping herself from screaming. Her eyes immediately reddened, her body swayed, and she suddenly looked at Wen Ying.

"...Is this real? Is this really real? He is my child? My child was swapped?"

Lady Shen's voice trembled, her words completely incoherent. Prince Jing sighed, "It's true."

Dazed, Lady Shen walked towards Wen Ying. Her trembling hand slowly rose to touch his cheek, and she asked with a sob, "You are my child? You are my real child?"

Wen Ying's expression was tense. He didn't make a sound.

Prince Jing quietly told Lady Shen, "This child resembles the late Emperor. He is, without a doubt, your and His Majesty's child."

Unable to bear it, Lady Shen covered her face and broke down, crying.

After a long while, Ling Qiyan, who had been summoned but ignored, managed to open his mouth with difficulty and asked hoarsely, "He is the Emperor's son... then what about me? What am I?"

The Emperor's face grew colder. Before he could say anything, Lady Shen suddenly turned around and stared at Ling Qiyan, her eyes filled with a bone-deep killing intent. "You still dare to ask what you are?! What do you think you are?!"

No wonder. No wonder she could never feel close to this beast. No wonder this beast never sided with her. She knew it! How could she have given birth to such an unfilial, disrespectful, and worthless beast! It turns out he wasn't her son at all!

Not giving Ling Qiyan another chance to speak, Lady Shen ordered through gritted teeth, "Drag that wretched woman in! This Empress will interrogate her personally!"

The sound of footsteps soon came from outside the hall. Ling Qiyan woodenly turned to look. A disheveled woman in dusty, gray commoner's clothes was dragged in and forced to kneel on the ground.

She raised her head and indifferently surveyed everyone in the hall. Her gaze met the Emperor's shocked and stunned eyes, and she sneered before quickly looking away. Finally, her eyes landed on Ling Qiyan, who was standing in the corner with a pale face, and a complex, scrutinizing look appeared in them.

"It's you! It's actually you!!"

Lady Shen finally lost control and screamed, so furious that her entire face was distorted. She wished she could lunge forward and tear Lady Yun, who was kneeling on the ground, to pieces.

Lady Yun glanced at her contemptuously. "So what if it's me? Shen Ruyu, have you had a good time all these years? How does it feel to raise another person's son?"

"How dare you! How dare you!! You bitch! Bitch!!!"

Lady Shen cursed hysterically, but Lady Yun just laughed. The angrier Lady Shen became, the more triumphant and pleased Lady Yun's laughter grew.

"If you have time to curse me, you might as well reflect on why you're so stupid that you let me swap the children so easily. This was Heaven taking pity on my miserable state and granting me an opportunity. Even Heaven was helping me!"

If this twenty-year-old memory hadn't been uncovered now, she herself would have almost forgotten it. But seeing these people in such pain and anger, Lady Yun felt extremely gratified. It was truly a case of just deserts.

Back then, when Lady Shen arrived in a sorry state with her maid, Lady Yun herself was about to give birth. She rarely went out. Seeing Lady Shen appear through a crack in the window, her heart, which had been like dead ashes, was reignited with fury. Remembering all the hardships she had suffered, her hatred was so intense it was as if she could bleed from it.

That night, they both went into labor. Her child was born quickly. Lady Shen struggled for half a day longer than her, giving birth prematurely and fainting without even a glance at the baby. The maid was busy taking care of Lady Shen and paid no attention to the child at all.

The one who delivered their babies was the hunter Wen's aunt. Afterwards, that same aunt helped take care of them. Lady Shen remained unconscious, and the baby was crying from hunger. The aunt brought Lady Shen's baby to Lady Yun and asked her to help nurse him.

Almost in the instant she took the baby, Lady Yun made up her mind and swapped the two children.

Lady Shen was unconscious for a day and a night. She was woken up by a doctor summoned from the village who forced herbal medicine down her throat. By the time the baby was handed back to her, it was already another child. No one noticed.

For the next month, the two new mothers stayed in separate rooms for their postpartum confinement and never met. Lady Yun nursed both babies until Prince Jing arrived with his men.

Lady Shen's maid did come to Lady Yun's room a few times to pick up and drop off the baby, but Lady Yun had just given birth then. She was covered in dirt and grime, dressed in coarse linen clothes, and bore no resemblance to the noble lady of Shangjing she once was. Although her outstanding looks made the maid mutter to herself a few times, she didn't think much of it.

She didn't recognize Lady Yun. She had only been a low-ranking maid by Lady Shen's side before. When Lady Shen went to socialize with the young ladies from other manors, it wasn't her turn to attend, so she had never seen Lady Yun. This time, she was lucky to have survived to the end, protecting Lady Shen as they fled into the wilderness.

Until they were taken away, they never discovered that the child had long since been swapped.

Hearing Lady Yun's nearly insane laughter, the Emperor finally regained his senses from his shock. Countless complex emotions churned in his eyes as he looked at her.

Once, this woman had been the cinnabar mole on his heart, an unforgettable, deeply etched memory. He had countless times blamed himself for not protecting her back then. He had thought her long dead, missed her day and night, gave her a grand burial, invited eminent monks to perform rites for her, lit an ever-burning lamp for her, and chanted sutras to pray for her.

But she was actually still alive. Not only was she alive, but she had also stolen his child and become such an insane, cold-blooded, unreasonable madwoman.

The Lady Yun of today had long lost the nation-toppling beauty that had once outshone all of Shangjing. Although she was still pretty, she had become lost in the crowd, vulgar and unbearable. The savage smile on her lips made her face even more detestable.

The Emperor looked at her, and it was as if the shadow hidden in the depths of his heart for so many years had vanished into thin air in that very instant.

"Why did you swap Zhen's child?"

The Emperor's voice was icy, devoid of any of the warmth from the past.

Lady Yun's laughter faltered, stung by the Emperor's gaze. Her voice suddenly rose as she said agitatedly, "Why did I swap your child?! Of course it was to take revenge on you! You heartless, faithless man, you owe me! You owe me everything! I should have been the Empress! My child should have been the Crown Prince! Back then, my father and brothers, my entire Marquis Zhenbei's Manor, were convicted because of you! You killed my whole family! You abandoned me! You will owe me for the rest of your life!"

"Shortly after Zhen ascended the throne, Zhen already exonerated the Marquis Zhenbei's Manor, and restored the status of your sisters. Zhen sent people to look for you. Zhen does not owe you." The Emperor, suppressing his rage, reminded her coldly.

Lady Yun laughed maniacally. "A fine 'restored the status,' a fine 'sent people to look for me'! My father's and brothers' lives! The lives of all the men in my Marquis Zhenbei's Manor! The lives of my grandmother and mother who hanged themselves, can you give them back to me?! You could find your empress and son, so why couldn't you find me?! I was abducted into a bandit's den, lived in darkness for so many years, and was tormented to the brink of death. Where were you then?!"

The Emperor's face was ashen. The Marquis Zhenbei's Manor had indeed taken the blame for him. At that time, he was leading troops on the border and was framed by the Second Prince's faction. That battle caused heavy losses to the imperial army, and the Marquis Zhenbei took responsibility for him. It should have been a matter that could be resolved by just stripping him of his post, but under the meticulous planning of the Second Prince's faction, the Marquis Zhenbei's Manor was ultimately framed for treason and collaborating with the enemy. All the men of the family were executed. By the time he rushed back to the capital, the matter was already set in stone.

Although he had exonerated the Marquis Zhenbei's Manor shortly after ascending the throne, returned their residence, released the female family members who had been made official slaves, and even allowed them to adopt a boy from a collateral branch of the Yun clan to inherit the title, in the end, the Marquis Zhenbei's Manor had indeed suffered this great disaster because of him.

He had indeed sent people to look for Lady Yun, but they only brought back a corpse with an unrecognizable face.

Lady Yun was not the only one who had fallen into madness; so had Lady Shen. She took a step forward and slapped Lady Yun hard across the face, roaring, "You still want to come back? On what grounds?! You were already married and had a child with another man, on what grounds do you dare to come back?! The men His Majesty sent out couldn't find you. To tell you the truth, it was this Empress who had someone procure a corpse for them and made them think it was you! This Empress wanted you to die out there! Don't even think of coming back in this lifetime to fight and steal from this Empress!"

A bright red handprint immediately appeared on Lady Yun's face. She raised her hand and wiped it fiercely, spitting at Lady Shen, "If my life is miserable, don't you think you can live well either! You deserve it! If you hadn't brought this upon yourself by being unable to tolerate me, perhaps your son would have returned long ago. This is retribution! Retribution! You deserve to have raised my son for me for nothing! Why do you think I didn't just strangle your son? I wanted him to live and suffer! I wanted him to be a backwoods peasant from childhood and live a hard life forever! This is your greatest retribution!!"

Lady Shen was so full of hatred she nearly vomited blood. She tried to hit Lady Yun again but was quickly pulled away by Prince Jing's men. Lady Yun started laughing again, tears streaming down her face. She cried and laughed at the same time, hatred and gratification surging alternately in her eyes.

"You don't have to act so aggrieved," the Eldest Princess, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly spoke coldly, reprimanding Lady Yun. "Back then, when Prince Jing brought men to find the Empress and the others, if you truly wanted to come back, you could have shown yourself and asked him to bring you back. But by then, you were already married and had a child. You were afraid His Majesty would despise you and no longer want you. On top of that, you had a guilty conscience for swapping the children and didn't dare to come out. Am I wrong?"

Before Lady Yun could retort, the Eldest Princess continued contemptuously, "But you were still unwilling and restless. Not long after, when you heard that His Majesty had exonerated your Marquis Zhenbei's Manor, you abandoned your husband and son without a moment's hesitation. You didn't leave a single coin of the money Prince Jing left for you for your husband and child. You took it all. How cruel your heart is!"

"You wanted to return to the capital alone, without letting anyone know you had been married and had a child. Then you could use His Majesty's guilt to enter the imperial harem. His Majesty would at least make you a high-ranking consort, and in the future, you might even replace the Empress. And you could snatch back your biological son who was swapped with the Empress and raise him yourself. Weren't these your calculations?"

"Unfortunately, you weren't fated for it. On your way back to the capital, you encountered bandits again and were taken to their den, losing your freedom ever since. This time, if I hadn't sent people to investigate the past and rescued you along the way, I'm afraid you would have never left that bandit's den until you died. But what does this have to do with His Majesty? It was all your own doing."

"If you hadn't been so foolish, if you hadn't swapped His Majesty's son, and had returned to the capital with your husband and son after the exoneration, His Majesty would have surely compensated you. Your husband might have even gotten an official post. With the Marquis Zhenbei's Manor as your backing, you could have lived a life of wealth and without worry. Who can you blame for how your life has turned out?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Lady Yun screamed, angrily interrupting the Eldest Princess. "I didn't! It's all your fault! You owe me! You deserve it! You deserve it!!"

Exposed sentence by sentence by the Eldest Princess, Lady Yun was utterly humiliated and enraged. She cursed hoarsely, cursing the Emperor, cursing the Empress, cursing all of them.

Ling Qiyan watched the farce before him numbly. He could no longer hear a single word of Lady Yun's ravings. His mind was buzzing constantly, and everyone's faces seemed to have blurred. In the end, the only thing he could see clearly was the pair of dark, silent eyes that belonged to Wen Ying, who was standing beside the Emperor, as he looked at him.

"Enough!"

A sudden voice abruptly broke into the main hall. Everyone followed the sound and saw the Empress Dowager, her brows tightly furrowed, being helped in by Xihua. Her gaze slowly swept across the room before she asked the Emperor in a deep voice, "What has happened? Why are you all here, and why was I not told?"