Chapter 14: Are You Worthy?!

Madam He lay motionless like a corpse, only able to stare blankly.

He Jianzhong's legs trembled, and with a thud, he suddenly knelt down!

Royal secrets—how could everyone be entitled to know them?

The very fact that Yuetang could reveal these truths was already proof enough.

Seeing their state, she smiled faintly and continued, "That monk said that if the calamity gains momentum, it would unleash a cataclysmic storm of bloodshed across the realm.

"At first, the late emperor did not believe in such superstitions. Not only did he grant the Second Prince the title of Duke of Jin at the full moon banquet, but he also bestowed the youngest daughter of Duke Duan the title of Princess Yongjia. Because she shared the same burden of calamity with the imperial prince, the emperor and empress treated her as their own flesh and blood.

"But perhaps that monk truly had some spiritual insight. In the five years that followed, misfortunes frequently befell the Duke of Jin and Princess Yongjia—injuries, illnesses, one after another.

"Eventually, that year the Duke of Jin contracted a sudden plague, and Princess Yongjia fell into a lake, exhausting everyone’s strength.

"After much deliberation, the emperor and empress sent the Duke of Jin to the estate of the King of Jiangling.

"As for Princess Yongjia, she stayed a while longer in the prince’s residence, but after the death of the Duchess of Duan when the princess was six, she was relocated to her own imperial estate on the outskirts of the capital under the protection of a specially selected guard detail personally chosen by Duke Duan.

"Until three years ago, on the third day of the seventh lunar month, just half a month shy of her sixteenth birthday, she was forced off a cliff through your conspiracy.

"But what you didn’t expect was that I have lived alone for years, surrounded by a handful of loyal followers.

"If you could guess that Wei Zhang was still alive, you shou