Chapter 53: Exposed

"Do any of you recognize this person?" Noble Consort Rou scanned the assembled women and asked.

Seeing that the man was dressed in black, with disheveled hair, and looking so disheveled that his features were completely obscured, the women all shook their heads.

Noticeable to Yan Ziyu, Concubine Qian's expression was somewhat unusual. Guessing that she recognized the bound man, Yan Ziyu kept her guard up.

"Yesterday, when I left the palace to burn incense and pray for blessings, I was ambushed on the road. Had it not been for the many guards accompanying me, I fear he would have succeeded in taking my life," Noble Consort Rou said, slamming her hand on the table with a face full of fury.

The women were startled. To dare attempt the assassination of a noble consort—what audacity!

Immediately, confusion set in. Such a major event as an assassination attempt on the consort had not been heard of beforehand, let alone explained; what was Noble Consort Rou's intention in bringing the bound assassin to the Prince Xiao's Estate? She had just stated that the purpose of her visit was directed at someone present here. Could it be... that the mastermind was among them?

"What? To think someone is so daring as to move against Noble Consort Rou! Such a matter cannot be taken lightly. Has Your Ladyship discovered who the mastermind behind this is? Such a rebellious and treasonous wretch must be severely punished to prevent such evil trends from spreading," Yan Ziyu said, her face registering utter shock followed by deep indignation and concern, as she rebuked sternly.

"Thank you for your concern, Princess Xiao. I have my own ways of dealing with this; there is no need to trouble Your Highness," Noble Consort Rou replied indifferently.

"Take a close look, everyone. Do you recognize this person?" Noble Consort Rou noticed that Concubine Qian's complexion had grown somewhat pale and her eyes held a trace of panic. "His Majesty is aware of this matter. The crime of deceiving the emperor incurs the punishment of execution of the nine agnatic kin. You all had better think carefully."

"This man has shifty eyes and a mean, rat-like appearance. This concubine does not recognize him," Su Qing said with a look of extreme disgust.

"This concubine doesn't recognize him either," Lady Mu said softly, shaking her head.

……

Even the maidservants present stepped forward to take a look, yet none of them recognized who the man was. In the end, only Yan Ziyu, Concubine Qian, and Ah Li had not spoken.

"Does Princess Xiao recognize this person?" Seeing that Yan Ziyu seemed intentionally silent, Noble Consort Rou asked.

Hearing this, Yan Ziyu hesitated slightly, shook her head, and said softly, "This consort finds this person somewhat familiar, yet cannot recall when or where I might have seen him. Please allow this consort to think on it a bit longer."

"And you?" Noble Consort Rou nodded, turning her gaze to Concubine Qian and Ah Li.

Ah Li shook her head, shrinking her neck back slightly. After giving the man a thorough look, she frowned with total disdain. "Don't know him, don't want to know him, wouldn't know him even if I died... So filthy, and stinks to high heaven..." After making up her mind repeatedly, she still wore a look of utter repugnance.

Yan Ziyu helplessly supported her forehead. This girl—her tongue was simply too sharp!

The last one was Concubine Qian. Whether by deliberate arrangement or pure coincidence!

Concubine Qian's complexion was even worse than before, especially when Noble Consort Rou called her name directly. The tightly bound man, who had kept his head lowered the entire time, also raised his head to glance at her. Yan Ziyu attentively noticed that when Noble Consort Rou spoke Concubine Qian's name, the man's entire body stiffened momentarily.

"This concubine... this concubine does not recognize this man." Taking a deep breath, Concubine Qian turned her face away to avoid looking at the bound man, a flash of panic and lingering attachment crossing her eyes.

From her angle, Yan Ziyu could clearly catch the expression on Concubine Qian's face. A thought stirred within her, and in an instant, she understood everything.

Looking back at Noble Consort Rou's confident demeanor, she surmised that the consort had prepared this long in advance. At the same time, she now understood why Noble Consort Rou had dismissed Consort Yu—it was clearly to avoid suspicion!

Unable to strike directly at Consort Yu, she was first going to eliminate Concubine Qian, who posed a threat to Consort Yu? And she had even pulled out the formidable backing of Noble Consort Rou, staging an entire assassination attempt. It seemed Noble Consort Rou truly pinned high hopes on this biological sister of hers!

"Do you truly not recognize this person?" Noble Consort Rou narrowed her eyes, gazing sharply at Concubine Qian as she asked.

Concubine Qian nodded and said softly, "Replying to Noble Consort, this concubine truly does not recognize..."

"Let me go—let me go—" Before Concubine Qian could finish, the bound man kneeling on the ground suddenly broke free from the guards' grip like a madman, rushing furiously toward Concubine Qian, his bloodshot eyes glaring at her with venom. "Do you truly not recognize me?"

Startled, Concubine Qian clutched her chest and stepped back two steps, her face pale and her whole body trembling.

"Say it again, do you truly not recognize me?" The man pressed closer step by step, his hoarse voice carrying a chilling edge as his eyes stared fixedly at Concubine Qian like a venomous snake.

"I... I... Save me... Princess, save me..." In her panic, Concubine Qian suddenly ran up to Yan Ziyu, clutching the hem of her robe tightly and crying tears as she begged Yan Ziyu for help.

Yan Ziyu frowned slightly, clearly not expecting Concubine Qian to pull such a stunt. "Sister, calm yourself first. With Noble Consort here, you will certainly come to no harm. Don't be nervous, you are carrying a child after all!"

While Yan Ziyu was comforting Concubine Qian, the bound man was subdued once more by the palace guards, forced back to his knees and unable to move.

"I don't know this person, I truly don't know this person, I don't know him..." Concubine Qian wept with rain-pear blossoms, sobbing continuously as she repeated these words like a discarded puppy, her face looking deeply innocent and pitiful.

With no small effort, Yan Ziyu finally managed to pull the hem of her dress from Concubine Qian's grasp. Shifting away a few paces without drawing notice to maintain a safe distance, she spoke, "If you don't know him, you don't know him. Sister, there is no need to be so emotional."

"I..." Concubine Qian did not know how to respond and could only lower her head to sob.

"Hmph! You don't know me? Yuan Qian, do you truly not know me? Do you dare swear to the heavens that you don't know me?" Letting out a cold laugh, the bound man glared at Concubine Qian with a deeply wounded expression, his hoarse voice rising once more.

"I..."

Before Concubine Qian could speak, Noble Consort Rou furrowed her brow slightly and cut in ahead of her. "Could it be that you truly recognize this lady?" The lady she referred to was, naturally, Concubine Qian.

"I'd recognize her even if she were burned to ashes!" The man gnashed his teeth as he glared at Concubine Qian. "You are truly ruthless! For your sake, I nearly lost my life, yet you dare say you don't know me! If not for me, could you have attained this wealth and status? If not for me, could you have known peace?"

"You're slandering me—"

"I'm slandering you? Hmph!" The man sneered, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile that made the scar across his face look like a living centipede, appearing all the more ferocious.

"Ha... hahaha... Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! It was worth it... well worth it! For me, Wang Hu, to give the renowned Prince Xiao a green hat in this lifetime—even death is worth it... Ha... hahaha..." Suddenly, the man burst into wild laughter, uttering words that shocked everyone present.

Gasp!

Hearing this, the crowd drew in a sharp breath, gazing with utter astonishment and shock at the man calling himself Wang Hu and at Concubine Qian.

For him to give a prince a green hat meant that...

"Clang—"

The cup in Yan Ziyu's hand slipped to the ground and shattered. Her eyes widened, her lovely face written over with shock. "You... is what you're saying true?"

"Lies! He's lying, Princess... he's lying to frame me..." Concubine Qian knelt before Yan Ziyu with a face full of tears, clutching the hem of her skirt as she wailed in grievance.

"I'm lying? You're still carrying my seed in your belly, and you say I'm lying? Could I just talk a few lies and get you pregnant with my seed? You damned, stinking bitch, you spread your legs and used me like a dog, and now that I've fallen on hard times, you pretend you don't know me..." Wang Hu was evidently provoked into a fury by Concubine Qian's constant accusations of lies and framing. Glaring at her with wide eyes, he launched into a torrent of abuse, his foul and unrepeatable language causing Noble Consort Rou and the others to frown in distaste.

Compared to Wang Hu's vulgar and crude cursing, the actual content of his words was even more shocking!

The crowd shifted their gazes one after another toward Concubine Qian's belly, their eyes filled with deep suspicion...

Faced with the doubtful and probing looks of everyone around her, Concubine Qian's complexion turned as pale as paper. Her gaze scattered as she collapsed limply to the ground, her bodily posture already betraying the truth of it all.

"To think we thought she was carrying a dragon's seed, only for it to be a bastard's spawn. How laughable!"

"This is what they mean by heaven's net being vast, with no one escaping. A cheap woman is a cheap woman—what good could ever come out of a pleasure house?"

"It's just that His Highness will be heartbroken. His Highness was looking forward to this child so much, only to find out that..."

……

Previously, relying on her pregnancy, Concubine Qian had subjected others to sneers, jeers, and arrogance to the extreme. Now that her lies had been exposed and her unborn child revealed to be a bastard's offspring, Concubine Qian instantly became the target of public condemnation.

"Who ordered you to assassinate me? Could it be that she directed you as well?" Noble Consort Rou demanded.

"No... I didn't... It wasn't me..."

"Since you are heartless, don't blame me for being unrighteous! The night you asked me to assassinate Noble Consort Rou, you gave me a map of the terrain. I didn't take it with me when we made love that day, and right now, that terrain map is still on your person." Wang Hu smiled hideously, his facial scars looking all the more terrifying with his grin.

Hearing this, Concubine Qian trembled violently. Her pretty, tear-stained face was filled with shock. Could it be...

Reflexively, she raised a hand to touch her hair. Yan Ziyu's gaze sharpened. Moving faster than Concubine Qian, she snatched the hairpin from Concubine Qian's head. Fumbling with it in her palm, she discovered that the hairpin was hollow in the middle and contained something inside. Pulling it out for a closer look, she found it was indeed a map of the terrain.

"It is a terrain map," Yan Ziyu said after inspecting it closely, raising her eyes to look at Noble Consort Rou.

As Yan Ziyu had someone hand the terrain map over to Noble Consort Rou, a trace of puzzlement flashed in the depths of her eyes—the handwriting on that map looked exceptionally familiar, giving her a distinct sense of déjà vu.

It really was very familiar...

It seemed... she had seen it not long ago. Where on earth had she seen it?

……

Suddenly, a flash of realization struck Yan Ziyu's mind, a cold light springing into her eyes!

She remembered. No wonder the handwriting looked so familiar—it belonged to none other than her...