Hibiscus as a Painting

Chapter 130

The old woman pulled Zi Jin to the prayer mat and gestured for her to kneel in the center. Zi Jin was unwilling, but not wanting to argue with the old woman any longer, she reluctantly knelt down.

The old woman slowly picked up three incense sticks, lit them, and handed them to Zi Jin: "You haven't returned for several years. First, let us let our ancestors know that you are safe and sound, and then I will tell you everything slowly."

Zi Jin stared blankly at the woman in the painting, her heart filled with a bittersweet feeling for some reason. The woman in the painting held a scroll, gazing into the distance, her sorrowful expression heartbreaking to behold. She was clearly saying: What good is gaining the world?

After offering incense, the old woman pulled Zi Jin aside. Looking up, they saw portraits of young men arranged in order on either side of the portraits of women. Each man was exceptionally young, the oldest no more than thirty, and each could be considered a peerless beauty.

The Nalan tribe has existed for over five hundred years since Empress Taizu unified the world. Since the founding of Nalan, there has been a prophecy that "the reincarnation of the Empress will bring blessings to all living beings, and the Nalan dynasty will last as long as the heavens. When the Empress reappears, the world will change, and the remnants of the divine race will be wiped out by the wind." Later records state that when Empress Taizu heard this, she smiled slightly and said: "All things come and go, and there is cause and effect."

For hundreds of years, the Nalan Nan clan had only one son per generation, but every heir had to be a male until your birth... That year, the white hibiscus flowers were in full bloom. A gentle breeze would cause the pink petals to flutter in the wind, like a rain of flowers. But the court was in a state of panic. The ministers had different opinions about the legend of the imperial princess and urged the emperor to have another son for the sake of the country, but all their advice was rejected... But no one could have imagined that the Nalan Nan clan's ancestral legacy would really be destroyed by your hands... It's all my fault... It's all my fault... I didn't watch over you... Jin'er... You've suffered so much all these years..." The old woman held Zi Jin's hand tightly, looking at the portrait in front of her, her eyes red.

Zi Jin suddenly shook off the old woman's hand: "I think you've mistaken me for someone else! I am not the person you're talking about! My father is Zi Yinfeng, the Prince of Yingyuan of Yue Kingdom. I am not the Jin'er you speak of. I hope you won't make things difficult for me."

The old woman suddenly raised her head, her eyes reddening again, as if she had something to say, but she swallowed it back. She just silently looked at Zi Jin, and after a long while, she finally spoke again: "Although I am old, I am not confused. I know in my heart whether I have mistaken you for someone else!"

A cold glint flashed in Zi Jin's dark eyes: "What exactly do you want?!"

Seeing that Zi Jin was truly angry, the old woman slowly reached out and pulled Zi Jin to sit down on a chair. She gently smoothed the stray hairs on Zi Jin's forehead and said, "I know you've suffered a lot these past years. I... didn't want it to be like this... but if I didn't let you suffer a little, how could you see... how your empire was... completely divided up by them after you left? Now you've seen it all. All those vows of eternal love, all those entanglements of love and hate, all those lingering resentments, in the end, they can't compare to this vast land!"

Zi Jin suddenly stood up, her face growing even colder: "I told you you've mistaken me for someone else! What past dynasties, what past lives! I don't care about any of that. I can live the life I've always wanted. I have nothing! I don't want anything anymore! Don't keep pressuring me, or don't blame me for disregarding my mother-in-law's life-saving grace!"

The old woman sneered, "You want to live your own life? You'll have to be alive to live it!"

"You!...What did you do?" Zi Jin grabbed the old woman's hand and said in a harsh voice.

The old woman smiled confidently. With light footsteps, a man dressed in a royal blue robe entered. In the light, his long hair was black with a reddish tinge, and his captivating emerald eyes were as clear as crystal and as alluring as the night.

Zi Jin was startled and squinted at the man. Apart from his strange emerald eyes, this was clearly happy Bao, who had been with her for four years: "Heh... it seems that none of them are easy to deal with."

The man walked up to Zi Jin, lifted his robe, and performed a courtly salute: "Xi Bao greets Your Highness."

Zi Jin, her face cold, didn't even glance at happy Bao: "Is there anything else? If not, Zi Jin will take her leave."

The old woman's smile faded slightly as she calmly sat down in the chair: "Tell me, what was poisoned on your master?"

Bao Xian immediately stood up straight and looked at Zi Jin with difficulty: "There are three kinds of drugs that Master has been given for a long time. The first is the Life-Suppressing Powder that Yu Luo has been giving Master for a long time; the second should be the Soul-Soothing Powder that someone gave Master in Chen Kingdom. Although the Soul-Soothing Powder can save Master's life, if it is used at the same time as the Soul-Soothing Powder, I'm afraid that person will go crazy, or even lose all four senses, and suffer a fate worse than death... It is said that the greatest function of the Soul-Soothing Powder is to seize the soul. I suppose that person did not want to harm Master's life, so he gave Master the priceless Soul-Soothing Powder in advance... However, that person did not know that Master's body has been weak since childhood, and General Zi used countless precious medicinal materials to save Master's life... At that time, although Yu Luo fed Master the Life-Suppressing Powder every day, the medicinal materials she used every day were a large amount of precious tonics... If Xi Bao is not mistaken, Master has now lost his sense of taste, and his hearing has also been damaged..."

Zi Jin revealed a strange smile: "Aren't there three kinds? What about the other one?"

“There is another one, which should be recent, called Lunar Eclipse. This medicine is not life-threatening... It occurs every fifteen days. If there is no temporary antidote, a person will suffer unbearable pain, wishing they were dead.” Xi Bao lowered her head and looked at her toes as she spoke.

Zi Jin's eyes were icy cold: "I suppose this lunar eclipse is happy Bao's doing?"

"happy Bao was only thinking of her master," happy Bao said timidly, her head bowed.

Zi Jin glanced expressionlessly at the old woman leisurely sipping her tea: "Others may not know, but happy Bao has been following me for four years. She should know that I have been practicing poison since childhood. I may not take this little lunar eclipse seriously."

Xi Bao lowered her head even further: "Xi Bao started learning about poisons at the age of five, and studied under the Poison Immortal Muranzi... When you were in Taiping Pavilion, the poison manuals that you learned were all written by happy Bao."

"You! ...You treacherous, ungrateful lackey!" Zi Jin suddenly turned her face, her gaze shooting at Xi Bao like a poisonous blade.

happy Bao looked up at Zi Jin and said, "My mistress once said that happy Bao was not born a servant. happy Bao is just like everyone else..."

"You were a human being back then! Now you're nothing but a dog! You don't even deserve the title of servant!" Zi Jin glared at Xi Bao and said fiercely.

happy Bao stared blankly at Zi Jin for a long time, her eyes filled with resentment: "Master, press the second rib below your chest."

Zi Jin was slightly taken aback. Without making a sound, she pressed the spot happy Bao had mentioned. Her face turned pale instantly, and she bit her lip hard to keep from crying out in pain. Her eyes blazed with anger: "What exactly do you want!"

The old woman smiled slightly: "Jin'er is really becoming more and more like she used to be..."

"What do you mean 'before' and 'now'! I am who I am! I am neither before nor now! Tell me! What will it take for you to give me the antidote!" Zi Jin shouted angrily.

The old woman picked up her teacup and shook her head: "Such shrewdness is quite different."

happy Bao retreated behind the old woman, staring intently at her toes.

Zi Jin stood there watching the two treacherous masters and servants. After a long while, she smiled, walked to the opposite side of the old woman, and sat down properly: "What do you want me to do, Mother-in-law? Please speak freely."

The old woman put down her teacup, a smile she couldn't hide on her lips: "Grandma wants you to be her granddaughter."

Zi Jin feigned surprise and said, "Oh? What benefit could Zi Jin possibly gain?"

"Don't you want revenge?" the old woman asked softly, her eyes gleaming.

“Revenge? Zi Jin doesn’t want revenge. They, like her mother-in-law, are just pitiful people clinging to the past. If Zi Jin disappears, all the past events will be swept away by the wind. Besides, they are all in high positions of power. With Zi Jin’s own strength, she has no way to make a move…”

"Are you willing to just disappear like this? You treated them with all your heart, and how did they treat you in return? How did they scheme so meticulously to seize your Nalan Kingdom..."

"What do you mean by seizing my Nalan kingdom... Zi Jin is the third daughter of King Yingyuan of the Yue Kingdom, not a member of the Nalan clan!" Zi Jin stared at the old woman, her voice devoid of any warmth.

The old woman's smile was unusually kind: "Alright, let's not talk about the past. Now, I'm giving you a chance to get revenge. You just need to follow my arrangements, and I'll make sure you get back all the humiliation you suffered before."

Zi Jin sneered: "What if I don't obey my mother-in-law?"

"Then I guarantee you won't live more than ten days, and your death will be extremely tragic," the old woman said softly.

Zi Jin squinted at the old woman for a while, then shook her head with a smile: "Zi Jin thinks that Mother-in-law wouldn't dare to. Mother-in-law is determined to restore the Nalan Kingdom, and must have placed all her hopes on Zi Jin. If Zi Jin dies... what bargaining chips will Mother-in-law have left?"

The old woman smiled and said, "Since you don't acknowledge that you are a member of the Nalan family, there's no use for me keeping you around. Even without you, I can still unify the Nalan family's empire; it will just take a little effort."

"Does your mother-in-law treat Zi Jin like a three-year-old child?"

The old woman slightly raised her hand, and happy Bao stepped forward, taking out a tiger tally from her waist: "This was obtained from General Wang Ziyingfeng. This military tally can command two-thirds of the Yue Kingdom's military force."

"So what if you can command two-thirds of the Moon Kingdom's forces?" Zi Jin's face turned cold as she snorted.

The old woman's eyes gleamed as she gazed out the window, and she said bitterly, "If Mother-in-law cannot restore the Nalan Kingdom... then she will not let those heartless bastards live in peace. She would rather destroy it with her own hands!"