Chapter 201: Twin Siblings

Su Wan had not yet recovered from her thoughts when she saw a boy and a girl enter through the door. They appeared to be around ten years old, the boy bearing a resemblance to the Empress, while the girl looked like the Consort.

Noticing Su Wan’s gaze, the two children turned their heads toward her. Upon seeing Su Wan’s striking resemblance to the Empress, their eyes suddenly widened in surprise.

The princess’s gaze shifted rapidly between the Empress, the prince, and Su Wan, filled with confusion. She pulled the prince to sit down with her, observing Su Wan secretly.

Su Wan glanced at the prince again. Seeing how similar he looked, her emotions grew even more complicated.

She looked toward the Regent by her side and noticed that his gaze followed the Empress as she moved, watching her ascend to the throne. His brows furrowed slightly but soon relaxed, and he lowered his eyes to look at Su Wan.

“What’s the matter?” His expression remained calm, yet there was a hint of concern in his gaze as he asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”

Su Wan shook her head and tugged lightly at his sleeve with her fingers.

The Regent leaned down, tilting his head to listen closely.

Su Wan whispered softly, “Father, I find it very strange. I am your daughter, yet when you fed me a piece of pastry, the Empress saw it and began suspecting our relationship. That is entirely inappropriate.”

She was the daughter of Qi Min and the Regent, and her appearance greatly resembled Qi Min’s. If Qi Min were to doubt anyone, it would never be about an improper relationship between Su Wan and the Regent.

Upon hearing her words, the Regent glanced at the Empress. Her radiant face showed no traces of time’s passage. Instead, age had added a touch of grace to her, and her features bore a striking resemblance to Su Wan, almost seven to eight parts alike.

The Consort handed her a cup of wine. The Empress tilted her head to glance at him, her eyes filled with deep affection. She accepted the cup, and when her gaze swept across the room, it lingered on the Regent for a moment. The Regent withdrew his gaze, his eyes as cold and still as a deep abyss, betraying no hint of his thoughts.

The Empress raised her cup and addressed the gathering, “Honored envoys, you have traveled from afar to attend the ceremony for the official conferment of the Crown Princess of Xiliang. I offer this toast to all of you.”

With that, she drained the cup in one go.

The envoys and the ministers of Xiliang stood and followed suit, drinking the wine from their cups.

The Regent remained still, so Su Wan drank a cup of wine on his behalf.

Everyone in the hall turned to look. What they had not noticed before now struck them—her resemblance to the Empress was uncanny.

The guests’ minds began to stir. They had heard that the Empress had found someone in Great Zhou. Judging by Su Wan’s age, could it be that she was a child the Empress had borne while away, only now brought back?

Even the Empress couldn’t help but glance over. Just then, the Regent covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed. Sharp-eyed observers noticed traces of blood on his pale lips. The Empress’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, but she concealed her emotions, casting another subtle glance at Su Wan.

Yesterday, Zhou Wen had gone to receive the Regent and Su Wan, and upon returning, she informed the Empress that the Regent’s health was poor, with Su Wan staying by his side to care for him. Their relationship, Zhou Wen remarked, seemed anything but ordinary.

The Empress hadn’t slept well that night, troubled by the thought. Now that she saw them today, their closeness confirmed her suspicions—it was indeed too intimate.

“Please, make yourselves comfortable,” the Empress said. As soon as her words fell, the sound of musical instruments filled the hall, and a procession of dancers entered gracefully, beginning their elegant performance.

The Empress, still unsettled, glanced toward the Consort. In response, the Consort gently patted the back of her hand, offering her some comfort and reassurance.

Su Wan waited in vain for the Regent’s response, her attention still fixed on the Empress. Observing how much the Empress seemed to rely on the Consort, Su Wan couldn’t help but turn her gaze toward him as well. Like the Regent, he had a military background, but his appearance leaned toward refinement, exuding a gentle elegance. However, compared to the Regent, his presence felt less imposing, and his looks slightly inferior. In Su Wan’s heart, the Regent excelled in every way.

Lost in her thoughts, she was suddenly interrupted by someone hurrying over and whispering a few words into the Empress’s ear.

The Empress’s expression changed drastically. Without a moment to explain, she quickly rose and left the banquet.

The guests exchanged uncertain glances. The Consort leaned in and murmured softly, “It seems the Noble Consort is unwell. The Empress has gone to check on her—what could have happened?”

The Empress dismissed the people around her, taking only two trusted aides as she headed toward the inner palace.

The heavy palace doors closed firmly behind them.

The Empress entered the innermost chamber, a room enclosed by gauze curtains, where the thick scent of medicine filled the air, carrying a hint of bitterness.

On the bed lay a frail, slender woman. Besides a female doctor, there was only one other attendant present, tending to her.

“Sister, how are you?” The Empress approached and sat by the bedside. The two women bore a striking resemblance, as if carved from the same mold. However, compared to the Empress, the woman lying on the bed was much thinner, her figure gaunt and fragile.

Hearing the Empress’s words, the woman struggled to open her eyes and whispered weakly, “My bones ache.”

The Empress’s eyes grew misty. She gently touched the woman’s forehead, feeling its burning heat, and asked softly, “Have you taken your medicine?”

The woman shook her head slightly, but even that small movement caused a sharp pain to throb through her head.

The female doctor hurriedly explained, “She vomited everything she took, including the broth Your Majesty gave her earlier. If she continues to be unable to keep down medicine or food, in this condition…”

The doctor trailed off, leaving the gravity of the situation unsaid, her expression filled with concern.

The doctor left her sentence unfinished, but the Empress understood all too well: if things continued like this, her sister would not survive.

It was precisely because of this that the Empress had made the decision to officially confer the title of Crown Princess ahead of schedule. She sent letters to the other three kingdoms, inviting them to witness the ceremony, but her true intention was to bring the Regent of Great Zhou and Su Wan here.

Initially, the Empress thought it would take considerable effort to get them to come. Unexpectedly, they had come of their own accord, without any need for scheming.

“Sister, I took the liberty of inviting someone from your past,” the Empress whispered, leaning down on the bed until she was nearly touching Qi Min. Seeing the confusion in Qi Min’s eyes, a bitter taste welled up in the Empress’s mouth. “Shall I have them come to see you tomorrow?”

Back then, their mother, the Empress, was pregnant with twins. In other nations, the birth of twin daughters would have been a joyous occasion. However, in Xiliang, where women ruled, it was considered a misfortune—only one child could be kept.

When she was born, she was inherently frail and showed signs of a short life. A high monk from Baima Temple once remarked that her life was destined to be thin and fragile, unable to bear the weight of royal wealth and privilege. Thus, she was taken away and raised in seclusion until she turned eighteen, at which point she could return to the palace. Officially, it was announced that only one princess had been born, and that princess was her sister, while her own identity was kept hidden.

The Empress had also made a promise with their father that one of the children would be given to him. Seizing an opportunity during a summer retreat outside the palace, the Empress arranged for the elder sister to be sent to Great Zhou, publicly announcing that the princess had been kidnapped by bandits and was missing ever since.

Though physically weak, she was remarkably intelligent. Each time the Empress visited her at Baima Temple, she would sigh, inevitably thinking of her elder sister in Great Zhou, who had grown into someone exceptional.

The other sisters were mediocre, their abilities not matching their ambitions, and with each passing year, the Empress spoke more frequently about the elder sister in her presence.

Then, one day, her sister unexpectedly returned to Great Zhou, seeking medicine for the man she loved. That was when the Empress’s resolve began to shift.

When the elder sister developed rebellious intentions that threatened the Empress’s throne, the Empress personally traveled to Great Zhou. In secret, without their father’s knowledge, she fed the sister a drug that induced a state of feigned death. Claiming that her sister would die unless given the antidote in time, the Empress used this as leverage to force their father into compromise, taking her sister away from him.

Everything had unfolded according to the Empress’s schemes, but she had not anticipated that the elder sister would be harmed by the poisonous Gu in her body, which caused her to lose all her memories of the past.

The elder sister became a sharp blade in the Empress’s hands, eliminating the Empress’s hidden threats and becoming what the Empress considered a perfect candidate for the throne. Things continued smoothly until the Empress arranged a marriage, intending for the elder sister to wed the son of General Weiyuan.

The elder sister, knowing that the man in question was hers, agreed to the arranged marriage. On the wedding day, she boldly pulled off a ruse of switching identities. She deliberately made herself ill, her face taking on a sickly pallor.

This allowed her to impersonate her elder sister during the wedding, ensuring that no one would notice the deception. In the future, whenever both the Empress and Consort were required to appear together, the elder sister would either act alongside the Consort herself or have her stand-in—posing as the elder sister—accompany him in public.