As soon as Zai Zai stepped out of the side hall and entered the rear courtyard, the old nun who had been scolding harshly immediately fell silent. The other nun, who had been sweeping, lifted her head and stared at him, her expression trembling with emotion. Her lips parted slightly, as if she had a thousand words to say, yet not a single sound came out. Gradually, her eyes reddened.
Lu Huan noticed it too—this nun clearly had something to tell him. The spirit who had tugged him here, could it be that she wanted him to hear what this nun had to say?
He turned to the elder nun and said, “Daoist Master Huijing, may I speak with her alone for a while?”
Huijing Daoist gave an awkward nod and withdrew.
Only Zai Zai and the middle-aged nun remained in the quiet rear courtyard.
Zai Zai looked at her and said, “You have something to say to me? Please make it brief, I still have someone important to meet.”
The nun knew this was likely her only chance to tell him the truth. If she didn’t speak tonight, she might never be able to again. Taking a deep breath, she began to tell a story.
On Su Xi’s screen, the full account of Zai Zai’s origins finally unfolded—or rather, the version told by the nun before him.
【All the eunuchs, guards, and palace maids in the imperial palace—and even the princes themselves—knew of one taboo: never mention, before the emperor, the Ninth Prince who died unborn in Consort Qing’s womb. Over twenty years ago, the emperor had a most beloved concubine, the daughter of the prefect of Yunzhou. He fell in love with her at first sight, brought her into the palace, and from then on devoted all his affection to her, ignoring the rest of the harem entirely.】
【But precisely because of this, Consort Qing made countless enemies. Her maiden family was not powerful, and could offer no protection. In the palace, she lived entirely under the shelter of the emperor’s favor. Yet even an emperor could not protect the one he loved most. When Consort Qing was over eight months pregnant, she fell into a pond—whether by accident or design, no one knew—and though she was pulled out, both mother and child perished.】
【The emperor was devastated. For three days, he held Consort Qing’s body in his arms, dazed and grief-stricken, before finally agreeing to bury her with honor in the imperial tombs. He had once awaited with great joy the birth of her Ninth Prince, but after that tragedy, no one dared mention either Consort Qing or her unborn child in his presence. Anyone who did would be executed, their entire family wiped out. Consort Qing’s father, the widowed prefect of Yunzhou, despaired upon hearing the news and hanged himself at home. Thus, the family line of Consort Qing was completely severed.】
【Yet what no one knew was that, before falling into the pond, Consort Qing had already gone into premature labor one stormy night. She knew she was powerless within the depths of the palace and that the child might not survive if left there. So she entrusted the baby to a palace maid she had once helped—a maid who was to leave the palace upon turning twenty-five—to secretly smuggle the infant out under cover of darkness.】
【The nun standing before the protagonist was that very maid. Knowing she could not raise the child herself—and fearing that if she suddenly appeared with a baby, suspicion would fall upon her, drawing the attention of those who had caused Consort Qing’s death—she resolved to find a safe place for the infant.】
【At that time, one of the concubines in Prince Ning’s manor happened to be about to give birth. By misfortune, her newborn was stillborn. Terrified of being deemed inauspicious and cast out, the concubine begged her nursemaid to find a living infant to replace her own, to keep up the deception.】
【And so, through this nun and that nursemaid, the protagonist was brought into Prince Ning’s manor and became the concubine’s child. The concubine died not long after childbirth in the dead of winter, and the nursemaid managed to raise the boy only until he was barely grown before passing away herself. In this world, the only person left who knew the truth was this former palace maid standing before him.】
As the nun spoke, Su Xi kept her eyes on the temple gates. When she saw the Minister of War appear in haste, she made faint tapping sounds to lure him toward the rear courtyard.
By the time the nun finished, her voice was trembling with tears. To her, Consort Qing had been a benefactor—and so, too, was Consort Qing’s Ninth Prince.
She had once intended to take the secret to her grave, but recently she heard that the newly appointed Commander Qi was in fact the child she had smuggled out of the palace all those years ago.
She did not know who had truly caused Consort Qing’s death, but she feared that the ruler Lu Huan might one day serve could be connected to that tragedy. Thus she had gone to great lengths to find him and tell him the truth.
Su Xi had long suspected that Zai Zai’s origins would be something like this. After all, in the deep palace, for a concubine to live peacefully to old age was almost impossible. She had prepared herself for it—yet seeing the nun’s tear-streaked face now, her own heart still ached faintly.
But Zai Zai’s expression turned skeptical. Completely ruining the solemn mood, he interrupted the weeping nun with cold indifference and said, “Do you realize that spouting such nonsense tonight is a crime punishable by death? What proof do you have for your words?”
Su Xi: …
The nun quickly described in detail the physical features of the nursemaid who had raised Zai Zai in Prince Ning’s manor, then said she still kept the keepsake that nursemaid had left behind.
Zai Zai looked over the keepsake—it was indeed something that had belonged to that nursemaid. Yet he still refused to believe. “This proves nothing. Perhaps you merely picked up the nursemaid’s belongings and fabricated this story.”
The nun had never expected Commander Qi to doubt her. At last, with trembling hands, she produced a jade pendant and handed it to him. “This was Consort Qing’s personal possession—she brought it from her maiden home. Only His Majesty and a few officials who attended the banquet on the night Her Ladyship entered the palace would have seen it. If Your Highness delivers it to the Emperor, he will surely recognize you and restore your identity!”
Zai Zai glanced at the jade pendant, his gaze sharp and unreadable, as though weighing whether her words were true.
Su Xi grew anxious—she could hardly resist the urge to grab the pendant for him herself. This was proof of the Ninth Prince’s identity! Zai Zai, don’t you want your title back?!
Zai Zai finally accepted the pendant and tucked it into his robe, but his face showed no change. He said to the nun, “I will investigate this matter myself. If you have indeed done me a kindness, I will repay it. But tonight’s events must not be known to a third person.”
The nun nodded quickly, tears welling up again.
The moment Zai Zai accepted the pendant, Su Xi’s screen flashed with a notification—
【Congratulations on completing Quest 9: Learn the protagonist’s true origins from the sweeping nun at Changchun Temple! Reward: +12 points.】
Still lost in the emotions of the nun’s tale, Su Xi absentmindedly opened the current status panel in the corner of the screen. Her eyes widened—the point total now stood at 90, and in the character profile, under Ninth Prince, Zai Zai’s portrait had finally appeared—wait.
Su Xi’s thoughts jumped elsewhere. That portrait—wasn’t that the original art? She hadn’t unlocked Zai Zai’s original art for nearly half a year, and the sudden sight of it left her stunned by how strikingly handsome he looked.
Meanwhile, in the shadows of the courtyard, the Minister of War—who had overheard everything—stood motionless, his expression grave.
He had been one of the few officials present at that banquet twenty years ago who had seen Consort Qing’s jade pendant. It was unique, the dangling ornament beneath embroidered personally by the consort herself.
Lu Huan might not believe the nun’s words, but the Minister of War, having heard them by chance, believed eight parts of ten.
No wonder—the imperial physician who had examined Consort Qing after she was pulled from the pond and declared the fetus dead had resigned and returned to his hometown shortly afterward. So he had been concealing the truth—that the child had already been born alive.
Neither the Minister of War nor General Zhenyuan had ever fully pledged allegiance to any prince. Both cared more for the people than for their own gain. Previously, General Zhenyuan had judged that among the princes, the Crown Prince was too mediocre, the Third Prince too wanton, and the Fifth too ambitious and reckless—none fit to rule. Only the Second Prince, modest and sincere, seemed worth cultivating; under proper guidance, he could become a good emperor.
But the recent rebellion in the northern territories had revealed the Second Prince’s selfishness. Though he knew the common folk suffered, he feigned illness to avoid going north—afraid that if he left the capital, his influence there would wane. That had greatly disappointed General Zhenyuan.
And now—if the youth they both admired as exceptional truly turned out to be the Ninth Prince thought long dead…
Countless thoughts flashed through the Minister of War’s mind in an instant.
───♡───
After Zai Zai left the rear courtyard, he strode quickly back to the side hall. At the same time, Su Xi saw the Minister of War hurrying away as well, carrying his newly found daughter—still wrapped up in her blanket—down the mountain with a weary look.
Su Xi knew immediately that he had overheard everything. Quest Ten, linked to Quest Nine, must have been completed too.
Sure enough, the next message appeared on-screen:
【Congratulations on completing Quest 10: Convince an official of zheng second rank or above to stand with the protagonist! Reward: +8 points.】
The total points in the upper-right corner leapt to 98!
Perhaps this was what people meant by “accumulated strength bursting forth at last.”
After managing his farm for a full year, Zai Zai had painstakingly gathered thirty thousand shi of grain, won the admiration of both the Minister of War and General Zhenyuan, and now—because of all that groundwork—he could swiftly complete one main quest after another.
Su Xi still remembered what the system had said: once she reached one hundred points, she would be able to communicate directly with Zai Zai—and receive a “grand gift pack.” She didn’t know what the gift would be, but her heart thumped with excitement. If she could just finish one more side quest, she’d quickly unlock the new map beyond the hundred-point threshold!
Zai Zai returned to the side hall, took the jade pendant back out, and examined it closely. Then, in a low voice, he asked Su Xi, “Do you believe what that nun said tonight?”
His expression was clouded with doubt.
He didn’t believe it. Everything the nun had claimed seemed far too fantastical.
What he did believe in was the spirit by his side—the one who had pulled him to the back courtyard. If she had done that, then surely it was because she wanted him to know the truth. In that case…
Su Xi tugged gently at his sleeve, indicating that she did believe it.
Zai Zai smiled faintly, tucked the jade pendant back into his robe, and shook his head. “Such tokens can be forged at will. I don’t believe it for now. But no matter what, the truth will come to light eventually.”
Su Xi had thought that after learning his true identity—that he was actually the Ninth Prince—he would feel happy. Anyone would, wouldn’t they? To go from a concubine’s son in Prince Ning’s manor to a royal prince of the imperial palace, it should be cause for joy.
And besides, he had finally learned who his birth parents were.
But Zai Zai’s expression barely changed.
Su Xi couldn’t help tugging at his hand again.
He gazed into the empty air, thinking for a while, then said softly, “To me… knowing who my father and mother are—I do wish to know. But at the same time… I’m not sure if I should know.”
“To serve as an official, to bring benefit to the people, to do something meaningful—that has always been my wish. As for everything else, I’ve never thought much about it.”
Zai Zai’s dark eyes were clear as polished inkstone.
He looked into the void before him, as if wanting to say more—but his lips parted, then closed again. He merely stood there quietly, gazing at the figure of Su Xi he imagined before him.
Su Xi understood what he meant.
Though Zai Zai had stepped into the whirlpool of power in the capital, he had never harbored the desire to be a prince or an emperor. He had ambition, yes, but his ambition was not for rank or glory.
Su Xi couldn’t tell whether his mindset was good or bad.
The throne was a lonely height; perhaps Zai Zai truly had no wish to climb it.
But sometimes, a person’s fate is decided from the moment they are born.
It was the first time she had ever heard Zai Zai speak to her like this, and her heart felt tangled and uncertain.
Before she could think further, two Daoists’ voices came from outside: “Commander Qi, the wandering Daoist has arrived.”
…He—he’s here already?!
Zai Zai’s eyes lit up. He turned quickly and strode toward the doors to greet the visitor.
