“Don’t be anxious. What I promised you will certainly be fulfilled,” Xi Linxuan replied with a smile.
“Betrayal isn’t exclusive to you. You should be more worried about me betraying you,” the official said, turning to Wei Linxia. “Shen Bi, let’s eat.”
Wei Linxia felt confused by their conversation. After the meal, Xi Linxuan called Feng Shou to escort the female official to the Southern Quarters.
“Do you have an agreement with Tai Qing?” Wei Linxia asked after the woman left.
“She wants to find Shen Qi, and I’m just letting her take care of the Grand Emperor for a while,” Xi Linxuan answered calmly.
“Take care of the Grand Emperor? You want Tai Qing to acknowledge her ancestry? This seems ill-timed,” Wei Linxia remarked, concerned that even an innocent person could be slandered if the truth got out.
Xi Linxuan stared at the swirling tea leaves. “How could the Grand Emperor accept a traitor’s daughter?” A subtle smile played on his lips. “Zhao Chengru treated her as an illegitimate child, bringing her to the inner palace to make the imperial family lose face with incestuous relationships. But he wronged his wife; the child was indeed his.”
Years ago, his wife died in the taoist temple where Tai Qing grew up, leaving a blood letter.
Wei Linxia’s hands clenched, trembling: “So you… you had Tai Qing kill him…”
She wasn’t mourning Zhao Chengru’s innocence but was shocked by Xi Linxuan’s calm in telling her this. Tai Qing was like a sister to her, and yet he did this.
“This is for Tai Qing’s good. Better to live high up than be killed as a traitor’s daughter. Shen…”
“Xi Qiushui, you’ve gone too far,” Wei Linxia suddenly stood and pushed through the curtain into the inner room.
He had told her Tai Qing was a child from the Grand Emperor’s past indiscretion, which was why they staged this performance. But in the end, he had deceived not just Tai Qing but her as well.
How would she face Tai Qing in the future? Was this palace so terrifying that they could no longer be honest with each other?
“You’ll understand eventually, Shen Bi. Rest early. I have many matters to handle,” Xi Linxuan did not enter, speaking only through the curtain, his voice without emotion.
