The little boy was frail; a slight push sent him stumbling into a bedpost with a "thump!"
Even so, he clutched the bowl of medicine in his hands, terrified of spilling its contents.
This bowl of medicine had not been easily obtained; if it were broken, it would be difficult to procure another.
"Mother, please drink your medicine."
"No—I don't want to drink medicine. I want to find someone. Will you find someone for me?" Nan Wengmiao pushed herself up from the bed.
The little boy looked at her with eyes as still as a deep lake and asked, "Who does Mother wish to find?" kanshuwu.xia
Nan Wengmiao looked at his face, her dazed and scattered gaze slowly focusing. Then, she cried out, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, it was all my fault. Emperors are heartless, yet for the sake of a queen's position, I framed you, abandoned you, left you in peril, and ultimately cost you your life. I'm sorry, it was all my fault..."
The little boy, startled by her piercing cries, put down the bowl and carefully ran to support her, "Mother..."
With tear-blurred eyes, Nan Wengmiao gazed at the face before her, so strikingly similar to the Emperor's. Hatred surged within her. "Scram, you illegitimate child! You are not worthy to call me Mother—"
*Slap—*
A harsh slap landed on the boy's fair, tender cheek. His head was knocked to the side, his lip was split, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Seeing your face fills me with the desire to kill you. Get away from me, stop calling me Mother, and don't come near me again! Scram—get out of here immediately—"
Another year passed—
*Creak~*
The door was pushed open, and the boy, now taller, stepped inside. He was no longer in ragged clothes as before, but dressed in a magnificent brocade blue robe, exuding an air of nobility.
"Mother, your son has come to see you."
There was no response from within the room; it was silent, like an empty chamber.
The room's doors and windows had been tightly shut, with thick curtains obscuring the bed. As the door was pushed open, light poured in like water, spreading across the cold, greyish-white stone bricks. A shadow on the ground swayed slightly.
The little boy's pupils constricted sharply. Hesitantly and blankly, he slowly raised his head and saw a body hanging from the roof beam.
Everything seemed to freeze suddenly—sound, air, even his heart and blood.
The boy's face showed no fear, no sorrow. Or perhaps, due to the overwhelming emotional shock, he was completely stiffened.
After a long while, he lowered his eyes.
One drop, two drops... tears wet the ground at the tips of his toes.
"...Mother, do you hate me that much? Do you hate Father that much?"
—
In the imperial court, the ministers discussed.
"The Queen has passed away. A new Queen should be chosen as soon as possible."
The cold-blooded and stern Emperor's face showed no grief or emotion. He stated icily, "Consort Ji is virtuous and upright, fitting for this position. Let the Imperial Observatory choose an auspicious date, and in accordance with tradition, present the decree and the imperial seal to her as Empress."
—
Two years later
The son of Empress Ji captured the grown boy and imprisoned and whipped him. "Imperial Brother, you shouldn't blame me for framing you. Who told you that you would still be the Crown Prince! Why did you stand in my way?"
The Emperor arrived and looked at the boy, covered in blood, his eyes filled with chilling murderous intent. "Why? You are clearly my son, yet the older you grow, the more you resemble that person? Could it be that you are not my son at all, but an illegitimate offspring born from Nan Wengmiao's illicit affair?!"
"Hahahaha..." Hearing this, the boy burst into uncontrollable laughter, blood spilling from his mouth. He panted, "She hated this face, and you hated this person, so why did you give birth to me, this illegitimate child?"
—
A month later
The Emperor was stabbed to death on his throne. The person who wielded the sword was the current Crown Prince. The previously arrogant and triumphant Consort Ji and her son, Prince Rui, stumbled to the ground in terror, surrounded by an army with chillingly sharp blades.
That day, outside Chenyang Palace, the blood in the square flowed into streams, and bodies piled up like mountains.
—
As Prince Rui grew older, he increasingly resembled someone whose name was unspoken in the court, someone the late Emperor had forbidden anyone to mention. It was precisely because of this face that he survived the bloody massacre.
Months later, Consort Ji brought back a woman named Nan Fengmiao. This maiden, whose name and appearance closely resembled the deceased former Queen, quickly caught the attention of the new Emperor.
—
Several years flew by in the blink of an eye.
During a war between two nations, the Emperor personally led the army into battle. However, due to faulty intelligence, he faced tens of thousands of enemy soldiers with only tens of thousands of his own. After holding out for half a month, he could no longer endure, and with no reinforcements from the Chao Kingdom's army, he finally died in a mass grave.
—
"Hahaha, he's finally dead!" A man in a blue python robe embraced a beautiful young girl. He kissed her forehead with delight, saying excitedly, "A'miao, thank you. It's all thanks to you for charming him over these years, making him trust you implicitly, which led him to reveal the military seal and other important matters. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to trap him so easily. Now that he's dead, the throne is mine! Don't worry, I will keep my promise and marry you as my Empress."
Nan Fengmiao, in his arms, felt a chill in her heart, but forced a smile to her face. "It is my duty. Aunt specifically brought me into the palace to use my resemblance in appearance and temperament to the late Queen to charm him and gain his trust."
"Yes, A'miao, you are one of us. So you definitely won't be foolish like your aunt, Nan Wengmiao, and fall in love with him while playing the part, will you?"
"Impossible. I would never. I have always loved only Your Highness, I don't like him at all." Nan Fengmiao denied it immediately, but her quick and agitated denial caused Prince Rui's expression to turn cold.
"A'miao, you must be good. Don't be like Nan Wengmiao, who was unappreciative and ended up with a tragic fate. Do you understand?"
—
Nan Fengmiao walked alone to the riverbank and stared at her reflection in the water. The ripples rippled, and her eyes suddenly reddened. Then, she covered her face and wept uncontrollably, "Yes, yes, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I never thought I would truly kill you. I'm sorry... I finally understand my feelings, but it's too late. Everything is too late. I'm sorry..."
As Prince Rui ascended the throne and was about to marry Nan Fengmiao, the people sent to escort the bride pushed open the door, only to be met with a sharp, terrified cry.
"The bride has hanged herself! The Queen has committed suicide—"
—
Life is like a dream. The past memories surged into the Human Emperor's mind like a tide; these were his memories from when he was human.
He suddenly opened his eyes. With the complete removal of the seal, his true self, his true appearance, was no longer hidden by a mask.
"So..." The reincarnation of "Nan Wengmiao" he had been searching for was actually his own mother. But with his confused memories, he had misidentified someone. He had projected not himself, but someone else.