"A drop of her son's blood? Are you a shaman?" Xuan Cheng and the others were startled by a soft but unpleasant chuckle. Xuan Cheng stood up and turned to see how the person was.
"Consort Xin?" Mama Xing muttered the name, and Xuan Cheng guessed it was a woman from the Harem, but she was taken aback by her deception. How does one sneak into the palace unannounced and listen in on their conversation?
"Greetings, Your Majesty," she bowed, her big eyes twinkling as she cast a quick glance at Xuan Cheng. "You scared me, you stupid girl!" The Grand Empress Dowager sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I apologize." Consort Xin lowered her gaze and said, as if she were sprinkling her charm, "I heard that this lady can cure the empress with a drop of her son's blood; forgive me, I cannot help but laugh at this foolish claim." She raised her eyebrows and gave a side look to the perplexed princess Cheng.
Xuan Cheng instantly knew that Consort Xin must be one of the few people who is aware of Qi Cultivation and is close to her great grandmother. It is highly possible that she shares more affection than she does with her.
Xuan Cheng saw a pure and clean aura around her, it was as if she had a natural, appealing charm. It gave rise to her suspicion, since she was immune to spells and magic, which gave her discerning eyes to prevent manipulations, it was easy for her to recognize the person bearing such odd energy.
"Consort Xin, do not be prejudiced; she is not some random cultivator; she is princess Cheng," Mama Xing smiled and informed her.
"Who knows? What if she is someone impersonating Princess Cheng and entering the imperial palace with ulterior motives? We cannot be sure because none of us here have seen her before," Consort Xin said as she approached Xuan Cheng and rotated around her, studying her appearance from head to toe.
"Should not Princess Cheng be malnourished and impoverished? Even a dog can detect it at first glance. Look at her Jade Headwear, Your Majesty," Consort Xin pointed out deftly.
This caused the Grand Empress Dowager to pause and take another look from a different angel. She previously only saw her great granddaughter, but now she sees her as a forgotten princess who is under house arrest with her grandmother.
"Consort Xin is correct; no matter how much money Grand Prince Consort saved, he could never have afforded such a valuable item." The Grand Empress Dowager questioned All emotions vanished, and her attention was drawn to a trivial matter that piqued Mama Xing's interest as well.
Xuan Cheng frowned as she read their expressions; it was as if she had never mentioned curing the nation's dying mother, the empress. The one that requires her to expend all of her energy and a drop of blood from the prince's son, the empress's biological offspring.
All the love and tears that they bore vanished into thin air, they didn't show their change of composure yet Xuan Cheng knew, her eyes reflected their changing auras. But again, Consort Xin puzzled her. There was no change in her aura. It was a sign that she was wearing an unseen cover, which could have been detected by her Jade Eyes.
Her great grandmother had just expressed her sorrow and told Xuan Cheng how she regretted her inability to cure the empress. Her eyes now appeared to indicate that none of this had occurred and that she was a completely different person.
'This woman from the emperor's harem is so vicious, she actually bewitched them,' Xuan Cheng thought to herself. For a brief moment, Xuan Cheng believed that the Grand Empress Dowager could assist her and that curing the empress would be simple. But now the air had changed, and a hostile aura began to emanate from the Grand Empress Dowager's body, even though she had not yet expressed it.
"How do you explain this?" Consort Xin questioned her; her eyes sparkled with utter hatred that only Xuan Cheng could sense. Huan wanted to speak, but then she remembered that she must stay within her limits.
"I seem to have miscalculated. I assumed that the tales of my grandmother about the imperial palace had enlightened me enough. Now I feel ashamed to have underestimated the power of people." Xuan Cheng raised her chin, and she looked into the eyes of Consort Xin. Her words penetrated through her skin, making her tremble in hate and despise.
Xuan Cheng's eyes shifted to the Grand Empress Dowager as she realized that words spoken by anyone in the imperial palace aren't reliable at all. Even a higher rank woman like her can act in such an unexpected manner. She smiled with her eyes and bowed her head, "I shall take my leave."
Huan followed her as she politely retreated with such a speed that none of them were able to stop her. As soon as she crossed the threshold of the main hall, Xuan Cheng stopped for five seconds and closed her eyes. Then, she rotated her index finger tip slightly without letting anyone notice. Threads of orange energy emitted from her nails and soon cocooned the entire palace.
It took her only sixty seconds to cover the palace with threads of orange invisible energy, in the next moment she let out a long deep sigh and opened her eyes, her pupils were dark orange as if she was a snake, but it took her few milliseconds to turn her eyes back to normal.
On their way back, the eunuch walked them out, extremely puzzled, as he too had forgotten that they ever made a trip to the palace where the Grand Empress Dowager resided.
"You seem confused," Huan asked her as she followed him behind, very closely.
"I should be honest, I perhaps forgot where I was taking you two," he stopped and turned, torturing his fingers, pressing them hard.
"To the Empress, Her Highness is here to pay her respect and express her gratitude, how can you forget this? I wonder how you have survived here," Huan joked because she remembered everything. Even Xuan Cheng squeezed out a small laugh, finding it funny and cute.