The group settled into the Regent's mansion. Considering the three special "guests" in their entourage, they were assigned the largest courtyard, Qingyi Courtyard.
The next day, the group woke up early. Lu Yuzhi and Su Muqing were to accompany Kebite to the palace, while Leng Ren and the others would wait at the mansion.
Kebite, being a Prince of the First Rank, could drive his carriage directly through the main gates of the Imperial Palace. Normally, when attending court, he would wait outside the palace gates like other officials.
However, today he had an important matter to attend to, and he was bringing outsiders with him, so he drove his carriage directly into the palace. Su Muqing quietly lifted a corner of the carriage's curtain, wanting to see what the palace here was like.
The palace gates were similar to those depicted in television dramas. Besides the main gate, there were many smaller side gates. As she looked, long queues had already formed on both sides of the palace gates.
The queue on the left comprised officials dressed in red official robes. Those standing progressively further back wore deep blue, dark green, and plum purple. The people on the right were all dressed in the armor of military generals.
In their Heavenly Radiance Kingdom, the higher the official rank, the darker the color of the official robe. Among all the ministers, Kebite held the highest rank. He wore a dark smoke-colored python robe embroidered with a four-clawed golden dragon.
After passing through the main palace gate was a long passage. The walls of the corridor were made of greyish-green stone bricks, about three to four stories high. Due to the extreme height of the walls, the light in the corridor was not very good.
Every few dozen meters, there was a corner gate. On either side of these corner gates were large lamp stands, on which hung several large, warm yellow lanterns. Every day, palace staff carried embers and patrolled, ensuring the lanterns would not be blown out.
They sat in the carriage, swaying forward. Patrol soldiers appeared from time to time on both sides. Upon seeing Kebite's carriage, they would stop and salute them.
After passing through the passage, the area ahead opened up considerably. The ground was entirely paved with bluestone slabs, and many small paths led to different palaces.
The carriage traveled for about another twenty minutes before they alighted at the entrance of a majestic palace. After Su Muqing and the others disembarked, they followed the Regent.
Kebite adjusted his court attire and then instructed the two, "Wait here for now. A eunuch will come to summon you shortly."
The two nodded and watched him enter, remaining in their spot. Two sword-wielding guards stood at the palace gate, and about ten feet away, two well-behaved palace attendants, appearing no older than teenagers, stood with bowed heads.
Su Muqing looked up. Soldiers and palace attendants were stationed every few steps. At just this one palace entrance, dozens of people were standing.
After waiting for about half an hour, the red wooden door in front of them slowly opened. A man emerged from within. His face was very pale, as if coated with powder, yet his lips were very red.
The man was visibly stunned when he saw the handsome man and beautiful woman standing outside the door, a flicker of astonishment quickly crossing his eyes. Soon, his face broke into a smile, and he bowed before Su Muqing and the others, performing a proper salutation.
"You must be Miss Su and Young Master Lu, whom His Highness recommended? This humble servant, by the Emperor's decree, has come to invite the two into the hall."
The man asked with a smile, then flicked his horsetail whisk and stepped aside, making way. Lu Yuzhi and Su Muqing raised their hands in return and followed him, walking unhurriedly into the palace.
As they walked, Su Muqing couldn't help but marvel inwardly, "As expected of a royal palace. Every piece of surrounding decoration, every carving, is exquisite. And from the incense burners along the path, I don't know what is being burned. The scent is delicate and pleasant, making one feel involuntarily relaxed."
The two, led by the palace attendants, arrived at the inner hall. Kebite was still at the head discussing something with the Emperor. Su Muqing and Lu Yuzhi lowered their heads and knelt five paces away from them, performing a grand salute to the Emperor.
"Su Muqing / Lu Yuzhi, pays respects to His Majesty, the Emperor of the Heavenly Radiance Kingdom. May His Majesty enjoy robust health and eternal peace."
The greeting postures for men and women in the Heavenly Radiance Kingdom differed. To avoid mistakes during the imperial audience today, Su Muqing had specifically reviewed them last night. Now, she knelt on both knees, her hands clasped together at her forehead. Lu Yuzhi, beside her, knelt on one knee, his right fist placed over his heart.
"You honorable guests need not be so formal. Please rise!"
The Emperor's voice carried a smile, but Su Muqing was somewhat taken aback. The voice sounded so familiar. It seemed like...
After expressing their gratitude, the two slowly stood up. Su Muqing then slowly raised her eyes to look at the Emperor seated on the dragon throne. The man was around forty years old. The corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and there were distinct smile lines around his eyes and brows. He wore a bright yellow dragon robe and a court crown with twin dragons playing with a pearl.
How could this be?
Su Muqing stared unblinkingly at the man seated at the head. Gradually, her eyes filled with tears. Overwhelmed by emotion, her lips began to tremble.
Lu Yuzhi also quickly glanced up at the Emperor after standing and was about to step aside to await questioning. However, when he turned to look at Su Muqing, he found her already in tears. Her mouth was opening and closing, and her expression was highly agitated, as if she wanted to express something.
Lu Yuzhi was surprised! Having known her for so long, he couldn't recall ever seeing Su Muqing cry like this. In her eyes, besides deep sorrow, there was the joy of finding something lost, and an unshakeable lingering affection.
"Dad... Dad!" Su Muqing looked at the man seated above, whose appearance was identical to her father in her previous life. She couldn't hold back any longer and finally cried out.
It felt like she hadn't seen her father in a very, very long time.
She vividly remembered the car accident, how tragic it was. When she returned to her hometown, although the funeral home staff had made efforts to beautify the appearance of her parents, her relatives wouldn't allow her to see them, fearing it would leave a psychological scar.
How could she ever forget this face? No matter how much time passed, no matter how many small worlds she traveled to, her father's appearance was etched in her heart. But her father? Did he still remember her, his daughter?
Ke Biyou suddenly stood up, looking at the tear-streaked girl below. When he heard Su Muqing call out "Dad," his heart felt a sharp tug, and a peculiar soreness welled up in his throat. He felt as if something important had been forgotten by him.
Since falling gravely ill last year, he had felt a profound emptiness within him from time to time. For a long period afterwards, he would have dreams of a blurry figure.
He could only vaguely discern that the person was a young girl, who always held his arm and called him "Dad." Sometimes she was happy, sometimes sad. But no matter the tone, he felt a warmth in his heart.
It took him a long time to realize that "Dad" was a form of address. But what did "Dad" mean? Why would this Su Muqing know this form of address?
Ke Biyou descended from the dragon throne and rushed to Su Muqing's side, his eyes fixed on her. "What did you just call me? Why do you use the address 'Dad'?"
To his surprise, Su Muqing responded to his question by breaking into tears of laughter. She then rushed forward and hugged Ke Biyou's waist. "Dad, is it really you? Am I dreaming? I miss you so much! I really, really miss you all! Why did you leave me alone... woo woo woo!"
She choked out her words, and as she spoke, she began to weep uncontrollably. Hearing her cries, Ke Biyou's heart ached. He instinctively reached out and patted her back, comforting her in silence.
Although he was the Emperor of the Heavenly Radiance Kingdom, he had remained childless until now. Somehow, he now experienced a doting fatherly sentiment towards this young girl he had just met.
Watching the girl's tears fall like broken strings of pearls, Ke Biyou didn't even reach for a handkerchief. Instead, he unfurled the sleeve of his dragon robe and began to wipe Su Muqing's tears. He even uttered words of comfort naturally.
"Alright! Stop crying, or your eyes will be ruined. You won't be pretty then."
The Emperor's demeanor astonished everyone present, their jaws practically dropping, and goosebumps likely prickling all over their bodies. What was wrong with His Majesty? Had they blinked and been replaced by someone else?
Ironically, the Emperor's words only caused Su Muqing's tears to flow more torrentially. She clung tightly to her father, wanting to make up for over a hundred days of longing, and more importantly, to compensate for the regret of never seeing him one last time in her previous life.
Seeing that the young girl was crying so heartbrokenly, Ke Biyou raised his hand to stop the Regent, who was about to step forward. He then indulgently patted Su Muqing's back, letting her cry to her heart's content.
After about ten minutes, Su Muqing finally lifted her head. In this short time, her eyes had become red and swollen from crying. She looked at the person before her. Even though her arms were still around his waist, she still felt as if it wasn't real.
"Alright! You've cried enough. Now can you tell me what 'Dad' means?" Ke Biyou smiled and wiped her tears again. The girl's skin was very tender, and the dragon robe was adorned with golden embroidered patterns, which made her face turn red from the wiping.
"You don't know? Dad means father! Has Dad forgotten me?" Su Muqing's heart filled with bitterness as she saw that he had no memory of her.
She slowly released her hold on Ke Biyou and looked at the familiar face before her with a look of sadness and disappointment. So, her father hadn't transmigrated; this person merely looked very much like him.
Those present, hearing Su Muqing explain that "Dad" meant father, looked at them with very subtle expressions. Could it be that His Majesty had a romantic entanglement somewhere in his youth?
Ke Biyou also had a sudden realization. Seeing the light in Su Muqing's eyes gradually fade and her face fill with disappointment, he felt a pang of unhappiness himself.
"More than half a year ago, the Empress and I were simultaneously struck by a severe illness, and the treatment lasted for dozens of days. During that time, I repeatedly had the same dream every day. In the dream, a girl whose appearance was unclear would always hold my arm and call me 'Dad.' I asked her what 'Dad' meant, but I couldn't hear her words clearly."
"More than half a year ago, more than half a year ago..." Su Muqing murmured the date.
She had been in this small world for about half a year. Her parents had left more than two months before she arrived. Calculating this way, it was exactly half a year ago, wasn't it?
Could it be that her father had also transmigrated? Perhaps he hadn't transmigrated completely, or maybe he had forgotten some things after transmigrating? Otherwise, the frequent dreams couldn't be explained.
Ke Biyou pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered something important. "Right! I remember that although I couldn't see the girl's face clearly, she seemed to be wearing a small green jade ruyi pendant around her neck."
Lu Yuzhi's eyes widened in disbelief upon hearing this. How was this possible? This was too bizarre! Wasn't Muqing the daughter of the Chu family? How could the Emperor of the Heavenly Radiance Kingdom be her father?
But if not, then how could Su Muqing's behavior today be explained, and how did the Emperor know about the jade ruyi pendant that only she had seen?
Su Muqing's eyes, which had just lost their light, slowly regained it upon hearing this. She fumbled around her neck for a moment, then took out the jade green ruyi pendant, a birthday gift from her parents in her past life.
When Ke Biyou saw the item she took out, he too found it hard to believe. He took it and examined it carefully before murmuring, "Yes, yes! It is this item! So the girl in my dream was truly you!"
"Imperial Brother, what exactly is going on?" Ke Binna asked, completely bewildered by what he was witnessing. Imperial Brother had never had children; how could he be Miss Su's father? Could it be that this woman had cast some sort of spell on His Majesty? Did she intend to control the Emperor, and thus control the entire Heavenly Radiance Kingdom?
"It's a long story. This matter is too extraordinary, so I have never spoken of it to anyone else."
Ke Biyou patted the Regent's shoulder and briefly recounted what had happened to him when he fell ill. At that time, he thought he was having strange dreams due to his illness and excessive worry.
He had originally intended to ask the Empress, who was also ill at the time, if she had been having any strange dreams. However, he didn't know the meaning of the word "Dad" and was worried that if he mentioned another woman to the Empress, she might overthink things, which would be detrimental to her health. Thus, the Emperor abandoned the thought, and consequently, he never spoke of it to anyone.
After listening to his account, there was a long period of silence. The others had not encountered such a situation, so they could not truly comprehend the sense of reality. Their most genuine feeling was that this matter was extremely strange.
It was indeed difficult for ordinary people to accept and believe such things. However, after careful observation, Kebite found that his Imperial Brother was no different from usual. Then, how could his knowledge of "Dad" and the pendant Su girl was wearing be explained?
Once Su Muqing was certain that this was her father from her previous life, she no longer cared about others' thoughts. She herself had transmigrated, and was even a divine envoy between heaven and earth. Therefore, no matter how strange things were, they seemed not strange to her. Perhaps this was an arrangement made by Bujie out of kindness?
(Phoenix God protests! It was this deity who reviewed your past life's memory recordings and saw you crying miserably every day after your parents' accident. That's why I mercifully arranged this!) wΑp.kanshu伍.net
"Your Majesty, may I go and see your Empress?" Su Muqing thought of his illness more than half a year ago, and then her father arrived. What about the Empress who was ill at the same time? Was she their mother? They had an accident together. Had she also transmigrated?
Ke Biyou readily agreed. "Guards! Quickly summon the Empress. Wang Deming, serve them tea. You arrived early this morning; you must not have had breakfast yet, right? I will have the imperial kitchen prepare something for you to eat."
Wang Deming was the palace attendant who had previously led the two in. He had served the Emperor for over thirty years and was most adept at guessing the Emperor's thoughts. Seeing the current Emperor's attitude towards this girl, it was likely that she would soon rise to prominence.
Since she was someone valued by the Emperor, she was someone he needed to serve well. Wang Deming bowed and withdrew from the hall, then personally went to the tea room to supervise the palace staff in preparing tea. This was a future noble, and mistakes could not be made in these trivial matters.
The Empress's Fengyi Palace was likely quite far from here. After waiting for more than half an hour, and after the snacks had been largely consumed, the Empress finally arrived in a sedan chair, hurrying towards them.
"Granny Sun, why would His Majesty summon this concubine at this time?" The Empress asked the governess beside her, adjusting the phoenix crown on her head, somewhat puzzled.
It was almost time for court, and the various ministers were waiting in the Grand Council Hall. In the past, the Emperor had never summoned any consort from the harem at this hour. Had something important happened today?
Granny Sun walked quickly, tidying the creases on her clothes. "Your Highness need not worry too much. Perhaps His Majesty wishes to have breakfast with you this morning." Read books喇
The Empress nodded, her brow furrowed. She had a strange feeling in her heart, as if someone or something unexpected awaited her. "Never mind! Thinking too much is useless; I'll find out what it is when I get there."
Su Muqing was eating ancient imperial cuisine when she suddenly heard a palace attendant loudly announce the Empress's arrival. She quickly put down her chopsticks, stood up, and hastily wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.
The Empress entered the hall with a smile. Just as she was about to pay her respects to the Emperor, she suddenly saw three other people seated at the imperial table, two of whom were unfamiliar faces.
But that young girl... why did she look so familiar? Why did she feel an urge to cry as soon as she saw her?
Su Muqing had been intently watching the entrance. When she clearly saw the Empress entering, she couldn't help but run towards her quickly. It was her mother! Her mother had also transmigrated.
"Mom... Mom..."
"How dare you! What young lady are you? How can you be so disrespectful in front of the Empress!" Granny Sun, seeing a woman rush towards the Empress, quickly stepped forward to block her with her arm.
The Empress raised her hand to stop Granny Sun's reprimand, then looked at the delicate young girl before her with a frown. "Why are you running so fast, acting so rashly? What if you fall? You're already so grown up, why are you still so undisciplined?"
Looking at the delicate young girl smiling through tears before her, the Empress unconsciously began to scold her. But strangely, as she spoke, her eyes began to feel sore and swollen.
And as soon as she finished speaking, everyone in the hall stared at her with expressions as if they had seen a ghost. Especially Granny Sun beside her, whose eyeballs almost fell to the ground.
The Empress then realized. She raised her hand to cover her mouth in disbelief. She didn't know what had happened just now; why had she inexplicably uttered such admonishing words?
The words that slipped out, and the concern and affection evident in her tone, felt as if they had been repeated countless times before. It was as if she were facing a beloved junior relative, yet the Empress carefully examined the young girl before her and finally concluded that she had never met this woman before.
Su Muqing, however, felt her heart warmed by her words. She was now certain that her parents had indeed transmigrated. It was just that for some reason, they had lost their memories of their past lives.
It had been a long time since she had heard her mother's nagging. Su Muqing, with teary eyes, stepped forward and hugged the Empress tightly. It was the same in her previous life. Her mother would always scold her, and her father would protect her. It felt wonderful to experience this feeling again!
Granny Sun, seeing this woman dare to offend the Empress, prepared to reprimand her again. But before she could even call out to summon the palace staff, she saw the Empress lovingly raise her arm and pat the girl's back. The look of filial affection was evident on her face, with no trace of anger from being offended.
The Regent, who had initially suspected the Emperor was controlled by sorcery, saw that his Imperial Sister-in-law was not only not angry at a stranger but also treated her like her own daughter.
Kebite finally believed that the karma between the three of them was truly extraordinary. He couldn't help but ponder, could it be that there truly was such a thing as past and present lives in this world?
After their emotions had calmed down, the Emperor dismissed all the palace staff. He also instructed the chief eunuch, Wang Defu, to inform the ministers who were waiting for the morning court that the Emperor had important matters to attend to and would therefore not be attending the morning court.
After the palace staff had withdrawn, the Emperor and the Empress had some breakfast together. Su Muqing held her arm throughout, her expression one of great affection. The Empress also felt a sense of happiness from her closeness.
After they finished breakfast, they asked the palace staff to change the tea. Then, they all sat together, waiting for Su Muqing to recount the entire story.
Su Muqing organized her thoughts internally. She did not reveal the complete truth but instead chose a different way of explaining. She said that, like the Emperor, she had been having dreams for the past year. In her dreams, she was in a completely different world, and the Emperor and Empress were her parents in that dream world.
Their family had lived together for nearly twenty years. Later, they had died in an accident, and she, being mentally distraught, had also passed away two months later, following her parents. When she awoke, she was in the next life.