Chapter 157: Who Is the Woman

“Ah—brr—” Ah Bao, too curious, slid out of the tyrant’s arms and pointed at the large wooden box being brought in. A chill spread through the hall.

The tyrant cleared the hall, with Feng Zhuo waiting outside. The guards opened the wooden box, revealing an ice coffin.

Immediately, the hall of Qingyun Palace fell into a deathly silence, where even a pin drop could be heard.

Inside the ice coffin were the bodies of an adult and a child. The adult wore luxurious robes, but her bloody, slit-open belly was exposed, and beside her was a small skeleton of a baby.

It was horrifying!

“Ah!!!”

“Ah—”

Madam Xu and Concubine Hui both screamed in terror.

They huddled together, unable to stop themselves from vomiting, feeling both terrified and nauseous.

Di Li’s face was extremely dark.

The tyrant, however, remained calm and composed.

Ah Bao, on the other hand, was curious, her chubby face showing no fear. She was like a little king of hell; she lived with ghosts every day.

With a thud, Feng Sheng collapsed onto the ground.

The tyrant wisely kept silent.

Concubine Hui rushed to Feng Sheng, pointing at the ice coffin. “What’s inside? It was dug up from your residence, wasn’t it?”

She had felt this chilling, unsettling sensation in the residence yesterday.

No.

Not just yesterday, but every time she had been to the residence, it was the same feeling.

“Who is the woman inside? Who is she?” Concubine Hui screamed, clutching Feng Sheng’s collar, as if she was about to unravel a long-standing mystery. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll smash my head against the ice coffin.”

“Don’t die,” Feng Sheng panicked.

Concubine Hui was extremely irritated. “Then tell me, who is she?”

It seems like they’ve been dead for a long time.

Madam Xu’s sobbing voice was heard. “I know who they are. It’s the woman who died in the carriage twenty years ago. It must be her.”

“Mother, how do you know?” Concubine Hui was stunned, staring at Madam Xu.

Madam Xu trembled all over, not daring to look at the ice coffin. “It’s what the old crone said.”

Concubine Hui vaguely remembered hearing about the old crone.

“It was the old crone who handed Di Li to me. The child I swapped for you, Jiaojiao, you know, your child was stillborn. For your position, for our Wen family’s position, you needed to have a prince by your side,” Madam Xu muttered, her thoughts drifting back to the child’s small skeleton.

Concubine Hui wanted to cover Madam Xu’s mouth, but it was too late.

The tyrant had heard everything, and every word Madam Xu spoke was enough to have her executed!

“Yes, it’s that woman! Di Li is that woman’s child!” Madam Xu grasped Concubine Hui’s hand. “That woman isn’t from our Tiansheng Dynasty; she’s from Feng Country. Feng Sheng must know who that woman is.”

The old crone had said that the woman’s attire and jewelry were not from the Tiansheng Dynasty.

Concubine Hui was shocked by the mention of Feng Country. Could it be that she and Feng Sheng came from the same place?

Concubine Hui wasn’t aware of the details regarding the child’s adoption back then.

Madam Xu had only told her that the child was brought from outside the palace by someone she entrusted, with a very clean background, and that no one would cause trouble. Concubine Hui had believed her mother’s words.

“Mother, look at this,” Di Li placed a broken piece of blood jade in Concubine Hui’s hand. “It has my birthdate on it.”

Concubine Hui was taken aback.

“You didn’t know?” Di Li pressed his lips together.

Concubine Hui shook her head. “I didn’t know.”

Feng Sheng hadn’t mentioned this to her, and because she didn’t like the jade, Concubine Hui had never closely examined it.

“Why did Mother want me to carry it when making offerings? Ten years ago and again yesterday.”

Twenty years!

Twice in total!

The first time he carried the blood jade, he went mad for three days.

The second time, he was on the verge of madness, but it was Lan Yixuan’s amulet that protected him from going insane.

Concubine Hui opened her mouth. “It was Feng Sheng who told me to give it to you. I…”

“So, ten years ago, when I went mad, Mother knew about it, right?”

Concubine Hui bit her lip. “Yes.”

A deep pain crossed Di Li’s eyes. His mother and outsiders had conspired against him. Even if he wasn’t her biological child, after being raised for twenty years, even if he were a dog, shouldn’t she have some feelings for him?

“Di Li, it was Feng Sheng who told me you would only go mad for three days, and after that, you would be fine.”

“Mother trusted that man,” Di Li said bitterly, “but never considered whether I would die or what suffering I would endure.”

【Little Concubine Hui is completely used by Feng Sheng.】

【If Concubine Hui knew Feng Sheng’s true intentions, she would definitely go mad.】

Both Di Li and the tyrant looked at Ah Bao.

The little girl knew everything about Feng Sheng…

This made them recall the intelligence Ah Bao had revealed earlier.

Concubine Hui was someone destined to die early; she borrowed time to live until now, and it seemed this matter was related to Feng Sheng.

The tyrant was about to ask, but Di Li spoke first, “Mother, he may not be sincere to you.”

Though he indulged in pleasures daily, he understood his mother’s betrayal was due to loneliness in the palace, dissatisfaction, and complaints against the Emperor.

At the same time, it was a way to find solace and real affection for himself within the palace.

“Doesn’t Mother want to know why he gave me to you? Why he sought you out? If he truly cared for you, how could he lure you into committing a crime punishable by death?”

Di Li’s words were like needles piercing Concubine Hui’s heart, waking her up.

She clasped her hands on the ground tightly, staring blankly at Feng Sheng. “Who is that woman?”

Feng Sheng gazed at the ice coffin with a fixed, almost identical expression to how he looked at her earlier.

Concubine Hui was in a state of panic, her mind racing. She recalled the tyrant’s question, “Why did you look for Concubine Hui?”

Yes, why did Feng Sheng specifically target her?

Feng Sheng pressed his lips together and laughed softly.

He wouldn’t say, letting them figure it out themselves!

After all, death was inevitable. Why should he make it clear to them?

He wouldn’t be satisfied until everyone else was as miserable as he was!

【Oh, Feng Sheng’s revenge is coming, his inner resentment is palpable.】

【Look at that expression, so smug, as if he’s the only one who knows the secret under the heavens.】

Ah Bao was indignant. 【Feng Sheng isn’t a good person. Hmph, I love playing games with villains!】

Ah Bao became animated, waddling up to the ice coffin with her short legs.

Feng Sheng clearly didn’t take Ah Bao seriously, thinking of her as a mere baby, easy to disregard.