CH 94

Chapter 94: Events Of The Past.

After seeing the little ghosts and the corpses from the river pounce on him, Qi Ci was suddenly dragged into the darkness.

When he opened his eyes again, he was taken aback.

None other than Empress Dowager Xianyi stood right in front of him. Her robes were torn, and her hair was untidy. Although she looked a bit pitiful, her face still showed her usual indifferent and cold expression.

“Empress Dowager!?” Qi Ci shouted. 

“I saw you while I was hiding in the dark, so I reached out my hand and pulled you. Can you still walk? The Crown Prince is right in front of us, let’s go find him.” Empress Dowager Xianyi said with indifference.

Qi Ci nodded as he thought: ‘It seems that at the gate of Guimen Pass, only blood relatives can feel each other’s presence. It was really useless for me to shout for the Crown Prince at that time.’

This place wasn’t like the Road to the Yellow Springs and the River of Forgetfulness1. Here, there were no wandering souls, and at plain sight, there was only complete darkness in the surroundings. Qi Ci couldn’t see anything except for the Empress Dowager Xianyi, who was beside him.

Empress Dowager Xianyi, on the other hand, walked forward with certainty. With firm steps and a calm gaze.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of them!

Not knowing whether it was an enemy or a friend, Empress Dowager Xianyi and Qi Ci slowed down and walked very carefully towards it.

However, when they approached the figure, they realized that something was wrong.

The figure in front of them wasn’t even a person.

Instead, it was like a shapeless shadow. This ‘shadow’ had no physical presence, so it wouldn’t block the path for Qi Ci and the Empress Dowager. However, these shadows seemed to be doing something.

Suddenly, Empress Dowager Xianyi sensed something and frowned slightly.

As they got a little closer to the shadows, they could hear voices.

At that moment, the cries of a young lady could be heard extremely loudly. Although Qi Ci wanted to ignore the shadow, when he heard the screams, he couldn’t help but look where the shadows were.

The young lady was questioning, powerless, helpless, and hopeless: “Why do I have to marry him?! Why can’t I marry someone I love?”

“Presumptuous!!!!”

The shadow resembling a middle-aged man yelled angrily as he raised his hand and severely slapped the young lady on the face: “Do you want to disobey your Father’s words? How can you enter the Imperial Palace if you don’t marry the Prince? How will we consolidate our family’s position in the Imperial Court? How can you be so naive!?”

The young lady fell to the ground and cried bitterly, desperately, and helplessly: “I don’t want to enter the Imperial Palace. I don’t want to be trapped inside those red walls for the rest of my life.”

At that moment, Qi Ci suddenly realized who the young lady was. As he carefully glanced at Empress Dowager Xianyi, his heart was filled with fear and anxiety.

‘I don’t want to spy on other people’s scars, and yet, I have inadvertently watched a tremendously helpless moment from the past.‘

Qi Ci hurriedly lowered his head, covered his ears with his hands, and tried to walk faster.

When the Empress Dowager saw him do this, she reached out and took hold of one of Qi Ci’s wrists covering his ears. She then said in a low voice: “Don’t worry, it’s not important. To me, these things have already turned to dust that rises above the skies and disappears on the long road of life.”

When Qi Ci raised his head again, he met with a pair of indifferent eyes.

It turned out that this pair of eyes had also been ingenious and had soared with spirit, looking up at the immensity of the sky, and overlooking the vast expanse of the ocean.

But now, they were simply observing all beings in silence and peace.

The shadow continued to show the events of the past, showing the young lady covering her face and sobbing. However, suddenly, another young girl approached her and caressed her soothingly: “Miss, don’t be afraid. I will accompany you.”

Empress Dowager Xianyi looked at the shadow and whispered to Qi Ci: “This is your mother. That year, she was already engaged with a scholar, but for me, she broke her engagement and accompanied me into the depths of the Imperial Palace. She’s the only person I’m truly grateful to in my whole life. I miss her greatly.”

After saying this, Empress Dowager Xianyi and Qi Ci continued to walk forward.

At that, the forms of the shadows changed.

Now, it showed the young lady lying on a bed, holding a child in her arms. She cradled him gently as a smile grew on her lips.

It was the newborn baby of the young lady trapped within the walls of the Imperial Palace.

The young lady said: “I’ll be a good mother.”

Suddenly, the forms of the shadows shifted. Now, the young lady was kneeling on the ground. As she grabbed the clothes of a man, she cried hysterically: “He’s gone, my child is gone. Please find him, find him….”

The man simply picked up the young lady and said ‘reassuringly’: “We’ll have more children.”

The young lady kept shaking her head as she cried until her voice turned hoarse: “I only want this child.”

The man showed an impatient expression on his face as he shouted: “Don’t be capricious!”

Then, the shadows changed again.

Now, the young lady was sitting on the ground, staring in disbelief at nothing in particular. Next to her, there was a book lying on the floor.

This was something she had just found.

In the book, a particular paragraph caught her attention: Longevity Pill, it could cure every disease and heal hundreds of injuries. However, the refining of a Longevity Pill requires a blood relative of the injured person to be put into the furnace as the last medicinal ingredient….

That same year, the late Emperor had recovered from a serious illness. The Prince the young lady had married was also conferred the title of Crown Prince.

Qi Ci looked at the shadow in shock and felt a shiver run down his spine.

As for Empress Dowager Xianyi, she was actually quite calm: “From that day on, I found that it’s better to hold power in your own hands. Come on, let’s move on.”

The vague shadows were still showing the events of the past.

Two years later, the late Emperor, who had been in good health, suddenly died a violent death. At that, the Crown Prince finally became the Emperor.

Another year later, the young lady inadvertently discovered that her husband had an evil book filled with wicked spells that could curse people to death.

The death described in one of the evil spells was identical to the way the late Emperor had tragically died.

On the back of the book, there was a warning written in small letters: The spells in this book could only be used once. Those who used them twice or more, when they died, their souls would be scattered and they wouldn’t be allowed to enter the cycle of reincarnation. They wouldn’t have a chance of life after death.

Then, the shadow flickered and changed once again.

This time, the lady, dressed in luxurious clothes, was sitting upright in a pavilion. At that moment, a 5 year old child jumped into her arms, shouting: “Empress Mother!”

The woman gently stroked the child’s head, but in the end, she didn’t say anything.

A young woman next to her ran over and said: “Little Crown Prince! Let’s not bother the Empress, alright? Why don’t we go to play in the garden?”

“Rulan-jiejie, Rulan-jiejie!” The child shouted with a big smile.

Soon, however, there were other somewhat loud voices coming out of what the shadow showed. These voices were rambling about the woman.

“She’s the Empress, and the child she gave birth to is the Crown Prince! If you don’t get rid of them, you will never be free!”

“Isn’t the harem the place where all schemes are calculated?”

“You’re so kind-hearted, aren’t you afraid that one day, you will end up dead without a full body to bury?”

“Curse him! Only if the Crown Prince dies will the other Princes have a chance.”

That same year, the 6-year-old Crown Prince fell into the cold lake. When they rescued him, he was no longer breathing.

It was as if something strange had taken his life.

That same year, a rumor began to spread throughout the Imperial Palace. It was said that the fate of the Empress was to outlive her children.

“If one is born, one must die!”

At that moment, the shadow changed again. This time, it changed to the woman flipping through the evil book. Her eyes were deprived of any kind of feelings, and she was as cold as ice.

The following year, at the Lantern Festival2, several Concubines and Princes inexplicably disappeared from the Imperial Palace. In the early spring of the following year, these people were found frozen at the bottom of the lake.

Spring turned into Autumn, and in the blink of an eye, several years had passed.

At that moment, Empress Xianyi was resting on her bed, caressing her stomach with care. Her maid, Qi Rulan, knelt beside her with a happy smile: “He will grow to adulthood comfortably and without any harm!”

All of a sudden, the shadows disappeared….

And a man stood in front of Empress Dowager Xianyi and Qi Ci.

It was the Crown Prince!

As if he had heard them approaching, the Crown Prince suddenly turned around.

Qi Ci, who wanted to run over, immediately froze.

The Crown Prince was bleeding from all seven orifices3. He had bruises under his eyes, his cheeks were sunken, and his eyes were blank. He looked like he had died a horrible and violent death! The Crown Prince then pointed at the Empress Dowager and suddenly shouted: “It was you! You did this to me! You!”

Oof, the life of Empress Dowager wasn’t easy… her own husband killed her first born, and her second child was killed by the other concubines. That late Emperor was pure evil! I’m glad Qi Ci is not his son.