“Good days, good days. When you come, I must kneel and bow, giving you an advantage for nothing while only exchanging pleasantries. How boring. Wei Chenbi, I’m here to tell you something, a big matter.” She sat by Xi Qi’s bed, examining the infant: “Little prince, I am Tai Qing, a Taoist nun.”
“A big matter? What big matter?” Wei Linxia asked, bewildered by this sudden appearance of Tai Qing.
“It’s someone who claims to be my father, insisting on sending me to be a concubine to Xi Linxuan,” Tai Qing replied.
Tai Qing’s abrupt words only added to Wei Linxia’s confusion.
“Oh,” Wei Linxia said.
Tai Qing glared: “Xi Linxuan, whom you treasure, is far inferior to Wei Chenli in my eyes.”
Her words were as straightforward as years ago.
“Then you must first tell me who this father who popped out is?” Wei Linxia asked.
“Remember the person who left a silver ingot in our small wooden house? It’s him. During my wanderings, he suddenly appeared one day, holding a portrait almost identical to my appearance, claiming it was my mother and saying the senior monks at the temple confirmed it. He dragged me to the North Army Marquis’s residence, as if a celestial master had appeared.” Tai Qing said disdainfully.
Wei Linxia recalled that person, who seemed to have a face full of grief when seeing Tai Qing. The North Army Marquis was an official in charge of the capital’s imperial guards, and though only third-rank, his importance could not be underestimated.
“If you find it untrustworthy, why stay there?” Wei Linxia asked.
Tai Qing snorted, “Isn’t it for you? I don’t want Wei Chenli’s only sister to die. He rages at the memorial tablet at night, saying the emperor forced his wife to death and wants revenge by placing the emperor’s least favorite son on the throne. Who else could be less favored than Xi Linxuan? If successful, fine. If not, wouldn’t you and Xi Linxuan be chopped into meat paste? By staying, I can at least give you a heads up and prevent you from becoming wronged ghosts.”
