si-mexico Chapter 199 The Living Abandoned Empress of the Cold Palace X The Invading Unruly Buddhist Son 33
Chapter 199 The Living Abandoned Empress of the Cold Palace X The Invading Unruly Buddhist Son 33
She had a strange feeling, which she couldn't describe. She always felt that the dead young man in front of her... But how could it be? After so many years, Yun Hou couldn't remember clearly. When she saw Qi Jueyu that day, she was still a little dazed. Now that she thought about it, the two of them were indeed somewhat similar.
Yunhou stood in a corner of the chamber, her gaze never leaving the corpse. Firelight flickered around her, and the air was filled with a stale aroma. The silence was so complete that only the faint crackle of burning torches could be heard. Her brow furrowed, and her fingers gently stroked the jade pendant beside the corpse, almost too deliberately.
A jade pendant with the name of a royal heir printed on it was placed on this person...
Being suspicious by nature, Yunhou thought it was Qi Jueyu's conspiracy, but her intuition told her that perhaps this was the truth.
The past flashed through her mind. That pale and familiar face made her thoughts churn, but she couldn't sort them out.
She stared at the face, feeling vaguely familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before. Between the eyebrows and eyes, there was a hint of... someone she knew. The feeling was incredibly strange, yet it lingered.
"How could this happen..." she murmured softly, a flicker of hesitation in her eyes. A hazy image in the depths of her memory gradually became clearer. It was a late autumn day many years ago. She hurriedly walked down the corridor and caught a glimpse of a boy standing in the silent hall. The boy's features bore a striking resemblance to the deceased before her. And that day...
She didn't dare think about it anymore. Over the years, she had learned to keep things she didn't want to face deep in her heart, but at this moment, those memories were like sharp blades, cutting through her sanity again and again.
"Call the Imperial Master." She suddenly raised her head and ordered in a cold voice. She seemed to suddenly remember what the Imperial Master had told her: Qi Jueyu's life lamp was very weak...
The guards took their orders and left, and silence fell once again within the secret chamber. Queen Yun took a step closer to the corpse, carefully examining every detail of its face. She had indeed felt a bit dazed when she first saw Qi Jueyu that day, but she hadn't thought much about it at the time, simply blaming her own restlessness. Perhaps it was because after her daughter's death, she'd easily made associations with everyone she saw.
But now when I think back on it, that feeling of déjà vu becomes even stronger.
After about an incense stick of time, the Imperial Master hurried in, robed in a long robe. His face looked slightly tired in the firelight, but he remained respectful. He stood at the doorway and bowed to the Queen, "Your Highness."
Queen Yun didn't answer. Instead, she raised her hand and pointed at the corpse, saying coldly, "Look at him. Do you recognize him?"
He frowned slightly, as if trying to force the absurdity and incredibleness of all this before him into a certain grid in his mind, but he couldn't make sense of it no matter how hard he tried.
A flash of surprise flashed across his eyes, then disappeared, replaced by deep thought. He lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over the corpse's closed eyes, sliding across the sharp brow bones, and finally stopping at the clearly defined lips.
The Imperial Master exhaled softly and raised his hand, as if searching for some answer among the withered knuckles. His thumb slowly touched each knuckle in turn, so gently that even the air seemed to tremble slightly at the subtle touch. The silence in the secret room enveloped everyone like a tide, oppressive and suffocating.
"Your Highness," he finally raised his head, his voice low and hoarse, with a hint of imperceptible coldness. The life lamp... has gone out.
He whispered, "Your Highness, it is indeed Qi Jueyu. I have paid attention to his life star before, and it is extremely weak. At that time, I thought that Qianqiu Temple was protecting him, but now it seems that this is not the case..." As he spoke, the old man shook his head, as if lamenting his previous misjudgment.
"What did you say?" Queen Yun's voice was filled with unquestionable majesty. "If he is Qi Jueyu, then who was the person who came to see me that day?"
The Imperial Master's expression instantly grew more serious. He placed his hands behind his back and pondered for a moment before slowly speaking, "Your Highness, Qi Jueyu's life lamp has indeed always been extremely weak. You should remember this. I once said in my youth that he might have a short life, but because he has lived in a Buddhist temple for many years, he seems to be protected by some power, and his life lamp has not been extinguished. Now it seems that it is not the heavens that are protecting him."
The Imperial Master lowered his eyes, as if arranging his words. His fingers trembled slightly, and the fists hidden in his sleeves tightened secretly. A deep voice echoed in the secret room, like the surging of a deep pool: "Your Highness, when I read Qi Jueyu's fortune, I sensed a strange aura in his fate... It felt like two wicks burning under a lamp, intertwined yet consuming each other."
He raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the corpse with a complex expression. "In the early years, I was out investigating and didn't know what was going on in the palace. It wasn't until a while ago, when you asked me, that I recounted the events of the princess falling into the water. But it's been so long, I've forgotten. Qi Jueyu's life should have ended. Because he was born with a weak destiny and little connection with the human world, his life lamp was dim. But now it seems that perhaps... there may be another hidden reason for him to be alive today."
Yun Hou's fingers clenched slightly, the lines of the sleeve tightening between her fingers into a sharp mark. She stared at the corpse, as if trying to discern more answers from the pale face. The familiarity between the eyebrows and eyes made her feel even more uneasy and resentful—not just a "resemblance," but a faint impression etched into her bones, as if she had seen it countless times before.
She recalled the first time she'd met Qi Jueyu, when he'd returned from Qianqiu Temple, dressed in plain monk's robes, his features picturesque, his aura cold and distant. She'd been momentarily lost in thought, thinking he looked just like... just like the child she'd met that year. But then, she suppressed the thought.
Now, the appearance of this corpse has torn that memory apart again.
"Qi Jueyu," she bit the name, the coldness between her brows almost turning into reality, "If this person is the real Qi Jueyu, then... who is the one in Qianqiu Temple?"
The Imperial Master lowered his eyes and whispered, "Your Highness, I have a suspicion. Perhaps... the Qi Jue Domain in Qianqiu Temple was fake from the very beginning."
"Fake?" Queen Yun sneered, her smile so cold it made people tremble.
"It's fake. Fake. She's really dead." Yun Hou's tone was as cold as ice, yet her words were resounding. She surveyed the chamber and spoke coldly, her gaze glazed over. The one she had been searching for was now dead, right before her. The thing she had wanted to give her daughter was gone after all.
The Imperial Master looked up at her, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "Your Highness, there are many strange things going on here, especially why this body appeared here, and why it was only a few days old. This is particularly worthy of further investigation."