Chapter 168: A Question For You
A Tong.
Ever since that young girl from the startled horse incident was thrown in front of him by Wei Jiao, this name had been echoing in the emperor’s heart.
Although at the time he only glanced at her once before ignoring the young girl.
But while sitting in the hall listening to the empress and Princess Pingcheng recount the debate, he was thinking of A Tong.
While hunting in the mountain forest with the young military generals, he was thinking of A Tong.
While hosting the night banquet to reward everyone with drinks and merriment, he was thinking of A Tong.
While on the road back to the capital city receiving the civilians’ prostrations, he was thinking of A Tong.
However, no matter what, he could not recall A Tong’s appearance.
Was it because he had not dared to think of her for so many years that he forgot A Tong’s appearance?
No, it was all because of that child.
That child did not resemble A Tong.
It caused his memories to become confused, blurring A Tong’s face.
This would not do, absolutely not.
He had to see her again. Since she was A Tong’s child, she could not entirely resemble that accountant; there must be some resemblance to A Tong.
So he disregarded everything, leaving the imperial palace in the middle of the night with only a few secret guards, riding there himself to the temporary palace.
He only wanted to carefully look at this young girl’s face and find some resemblance to A Tong, but he had not expected…
The emperor looked at the face before him.
Dim night light, the young girl with a faint smile, her brows and eyes shimmering with radiance.
The person he thought was blurred and unforgettable instantly appeared clearly before his eyes.
“Deng Shan, you got into a fight with someone again?”
A Tong sat on the ox cart, setting down the book scroll in her hand, looking at him with a gentle smile.
“Did you win or lose this time?”
He won. He won, not only against those in the village who bullied him, but against everyone under heaven.
But…
There was no more A Tong asking him.
The emperor reached out to cover his face, letting out a sob, as the female voice sounded lightly in his ears once more.
“I look a lot like my mother, don’t I?”
The female voice carried a smile.
“Everyone has thought so since I was little.”
The emperor suddenly raised his head. The scene before him darkened again; there was no young girl sitting on an ox cart, only Miss Yang and her maidservant.
This face resembled A Tong very much, but in the end, it was not A Tong.
No one was exactly like A Tong.
The emperor’s gaze fell on this maidservant, then shifted to Miss Yang behind her.
“Miss Yang” had been keeping her head lowered. Perhaps perceiving the emperor’s gaze, she raised her head and glanced at the emperor.
Her face had not changed; it was just as it was when Wei Jiao threw her to the ground.
“This is my maidservant. I am Yang Luo. We swapped identities.”
The maidservant’s voice came again.
The emperor’s gaze returned to her face once more. He wanted to open his mouth to ask, but the maidservant spoke first again.
“Why we swapped identities is a long story, but also simple— it was for safety. Your Majesty will understand with just a thought.”
Safety.
Yes, he understood as soon as he heard it. Far from just thinking, he had seen it with his own eyes: the startled horse, the crossbow bolt that shot toward her, and the empress’s punishment staff.
And also
The palm strike he had sent people to administer.
The emperor’s hand hanging at his side clenched: “You…”
This maidservant interrupted him again.
“I know Your Majesty has many questions to ask,” she said. “But please allow me to ask first.”
From entering the room until now, this maidservant had been very calm, speaking nonstop, while he, the emperor, was nervous, restrained, and panicked, unable to utter a complete sentence.
A Tong’s daughter, indeed.
A Tong was the same; she never panicked no matter what happened…
Back then, when Chai Feng burst in shouting that she was the empress, his wife, even with such sudden news, she had not panicked.
She merely paled, her gaze scattered.
While he was panicked, terrified beyond measure, stammering: “A Tong, listen to me—”
A Tong stopped him.
“I know you have many words to say!” she looked at him. “But please let me ask first!”
The emperor closed his eyes, took a deep breath, looked at the young girl before him, and nodded.
Ask away.
But the maidservant looked at him without speaking as promptly as before.
He saw that “Miss Yang” standing behind her reach out and gently pat her arm.
“Don’t be afraid,” that Miss Yang said softly.
……
……
Yang Luo was actually a bit afraid.
The events had come very suddenly. After she sent off Zhang Sheng You and Tao Hua and returned to the palace room, Mo Zheng also returned, saying that Uncle Hong’s ambushes along the way had spotted someone coming from the imperial palace direction.
Secret guards escorted a tall, heavily cloaked figure who passed unhindered from the imperial city through the gates, already approaching the temporary palace.
It must be the emperor.
After the startled horse incident, the emperor had glanced once, then ignored “Miss Yang,” just like when the Ji Ying White Horse Town case broke earlier—he still suppressed all matters related to Miss Yang.
She had thought the matter was over just like that.
Why had he suddenly returned?
“Does he want to finish off Miss Yang completely?” Yang Luo laughed and said.
Mo Zheng also smiled: “Even if he is the emperor, it won’t be that easy.”
Yes, with Mo Zheng protecting her by her side. Yang Luo looked at Mo Zheng: “A Zheng, if he makes a move, you absolutely must not save me.”
Mo Zheng nodded: “I will.”
Since she was going to die this time anyway, she would do everything possible to take the emperor down with her.
She could not die in vain twice.
She and Mo Zheng each lay on their beds, quietly waiting.
The emperor arrived, but instead of a falling blade, he stood by the bed like a thief, just looking.
Did he want to see if this face resembled someone from his past?
Yang Luo reached out and touched her own face.
Before lying down, she had asked Mo Zheng for a towel to wipe off the makeup powder: “I’ve used two lifetimes to finally stand before him. I’m no longer hiding.”
But when truly facing this person and about to ask the question she wanted to ask, she was still a bit afraid.
Don’t be afraid.
She heard Mo Zheng say from behind her. She could feel the blade gripped in Mo Zheng’s palm when she patted her arm—icy cold, chilling.
Yang Luo could not help but smile.
“Your Majesty.” She looked at the emperor before her, her brows and eyes smiling. “Was it you who sent people to kill my mother in White Horse Town?”
……
…….
He, killed whom?
The emperor looked at the young girl’s bright smile, somewhat dazed. Hearing her question, he was even more stunned.
It was as if A Tong’s voice rang in his ears again.
“Deng Shan, are you going to divorce me?”
How could he! He was not divorcing her! He would never kill her!
The emperor pressed his hands over his eyes and shook his head forcefully.
“I did not.” he said. “How could I kill her?”
That was A Tong.
He knew why this young girl was asking this. He remembered A Tong’s death; he had not forgotten. He would not let it rest.
He looked at this young girl: “Listen to me.”
The young girl seemed unconcerned with what he said and interrupted again.
“It wasn’t Your Majesty.” she said. “That’s good then.”
That’s good…
The emperor’s nose stung again. Back then, A Tong had said the same thing, then told him to send Chai Feng away.
“We can’t say divorce her.” she had said. “She can only count as a concubine. Sell her off.”
The emperor closed his eyes. Back then, he had had no way to respond to her words…
He…
The emperor took a deep breath and looked at this young girl now.
“What is it that you want…” he said.
He would agree to it.
He had disappointed her mother, so he would fulfill her daughter.
The young girl looked at him, smiled again without speaking, and instead raised her hand to pull a jade pendant from around her neck.
“You have answered my question. Before I ask others, let me return this to you first.” she said, extending the jade pendant forward. “This should be yours.”
His?
The emperor hesitated, then stepped forward to take the jade pendant, recognizing the dragon pattern on it at a glance.
It was his.
The dragon pattern was imperfect, crooked and twisted, because he had carved it himself.
A Tong said she was pregnant, and he was overjoyed, wanting to personally carve a gift for his and A Tong’s child.
“I’ll carve the jade. A Tong, you carve the child’s birth time later.”
The emperor’s fingers traced from the dragon pattern to the inscription; it was a birth time, and a light female voice sounded in his ears.
“…This is my birth time, carved by my mother.”
Her birth time.
The emperor looked at the year, month, day, and hour on the jade pendant. The night light was too dim, but his vision was clearer than ever.
This handwriting was A Tong’s.
This time, this time, this time!
It was as if A Tong’s joyful voice came to his ears.
“…A Shan, our child should be born around this time.”
The emperor raised his head to look at the young girl before him.
“Yang Luo.” the emperor murmured.
A Tong’s daughter, his daughter.
The emperor’s vision went black.
