Empress Yan was furious, but Consort Meng had come fully prepared. With a wave of her hand, she summoned several witnesses—physicians and palace attendants—who all testified in unison that the Empress had never allowed anyone near Ming Xian.
The Empress stubbornly denied the accusations, and the hall erupted into chaos.
"Enough!" Ming Li suddenly slammed his hand on the golden throne with a thunderous crash, instantly silencing the court.
Taking a few ragged breaths, his trembling finger pointed at Mingyi. "You—explain what happened."
Mingyi bowed her head slightly. "I was raised as a boy since childhood. Even if I were truly a woman, I have undeniably secured Sunspire City's victory in the tournament for seven consecutive years. Without me, Sunspire City would not be where it is today."
Her words immediately drew discontent from Wei Changsheng and others nearby, who sneered, "Without you? You’re just a little stronger in Essence Power. But did you win the championship alone? Are the rest of us worthless?"
Mingyi glanced at them and chuckled. "I could still win the championship in any other city. But you? Without me, you’re all useless. How dare you even speak?"
Wei Changsheng, enraged, slammed the table. "Who are you calling useless?!"
"Whoever needs rescuing every year at the Six Cities Tournament is useless," she said disdainfully. "Did you really think you got into the Academicians' Court on your own merit?"
The Wei family had close ties with the Yan family, and it was only through Empress Yan’s influence that Wei Changsheng had been forced into the Academicians' Court, with orders for her to support him. Over the years, Mingyi had grown accustomed to carrying four mediocre Fighters to victory. Yet now, those very same mediocre Fighters actually believed they were the reason for their success.
Wei Changsheng’s face flushed crimson, but after their humiliating defeat in Flying Blossom City, he had no ground to retort.
Turning her gaze back to the Minister Superior, Mingyi continued, "If not for Consort Meng, this secret might have remained hidden forever, and I would have remained Sunspire City’s tool for victory. But unfortunately, Consort Meng was too eager to overthrow Empress Yan. She investigated for four years and finally found a crack—she discovered my true identity."
"Knowing it was one thing. Empress Yan was cunning enough to ensure no one could verify my body. But fate had other plans. I was not her biological child, and I was born with Crimson Meridians. She was desperate to control me, so from the age of ten, she fed me 'Sky of Eternal Regret,' giving me the antidote each month to keep me in her grip."
"'Sky of Eternal Regret' is a poison she specially commissioned to control Fighters." Mingyi’s eyes narrowed as she turned to the Empress. "Now, I have a question for Empress Yan. Do you know where this poison was developed?"
Empress Yan’s face turned ashen. "You vile witch, spouting nonsense—"
"It was developed in a Slave Arena in Star Yearn City," Mingyi continued calmly. "Tested on living slaves. Out of countless lives, only one child survived."
Ji Bozhai’s fingers twitched at his side. Frowning, he looked toward the Empress on the throne.
The Empress, however, paid no mind to such trivial matters, frantically defending herself instead. "Minister Superior, I knew nothing of this!"
"Let her finish," Ming Li said coldly.
Mingyi nodded and turned back to Consort Meng. "Your Highness must have also discovered where Empress Yan hid the antidotes, which is why you seized the chance to burn the entire courtyard to ashes. Without the antidote, my meridians were ravaged by the poison. And Empress Yan, without hesitation, ordered her people to execute me—lest Consort Meng use the opportunity to verify my identity and expose her."The ministers erupted in uproar: "How—how can this warrant execution?"
"Ming Xian was the hope of our Sunspire City, even if she's a woman... alas."
"Didn't you hear? Poison destroyed her meridians—she's not as formidable as before. That's why Consort Si discarded her."
"But after raising her for so many years, even if not by blood, shouldn't there be affection? How could she be so heartless?"
"Exactly..."
Amid the murmurs, Ming Li seized Yan Si Hou's wrist and demanded angrily, "Ming Xian isn't your biological child?"
Yan Si Hou panicked: "She—she is still a child of my clan. Our bloodline is naturally gifted."
"Then why abandon your own child?" Ming Li's voice darkened with fury. "If you could discard your own flesh and blood, others must mean nothing to you."
"No, it's not like that, Minister Superior! This concubine reveres you—I never intended to deceive you!" Yan Si Hou fell to her knees, tears streaming. "Back then, you desperately wanted a child with Crimson Meridians to revitalize Sunspire City. Naturally, I wanted to share your burden. But the child I bore after ten months... didn't have crimson meridians. With everyone's expectations weighing on us, how could I bear to disappoint you? So I took a newborn from my clan who had the crimson meridians."
"She is still a child of my clan, and she brought glory to Sunspire City. Minister Superior—"
"Then where is our real child?" Ming Li's eyes burned as he glared at her. "Did you kill them?"
"No! I didn't deliberately kill them!" Yan Si Hou shook her head frantically. "I was just too flustered and busy at the time and neglected them. By the time I remembered, the eunuchs had already taken them away in the chaos. I don't know where they went."
"You don't know?" Ming Li laughed bitterly. "Your eunuchs, the people you sent away—and you claim you don't know where they are?"
Yan Si Hou wept openly. "This concubine truly doesn't know."
She couldn't have deliberately harmed her own child. But with the crimson-meridian child to care for and the need to conceal her gender, she simply had no time to spare. Later, whether out of guilt or something else, she never inquired further—knowing would only give others leverage, with no benefit to herself.
That child... was probably dead by now.
The hall was spellbound, even the guards slackening their vigilance. Seeing his chance, Ji Bozhai excused himself under the pretense of freshening up and slipped out through a side door.
Mingyi wasn't the biological child of Sunspire City's Empress—no wonder the Empress had been so cruel to her. Now, Ji Bozhai was deeply curious about the role Ming An had played in all this.
...
"Ming An was my most trusted eunuch. The Minister Superior also trusted him, which is why he bestowed upon him the Ming family name," Yan Si Hou continued to sob. "But I never imagined he would betray me, letting that witch escape and bringing shame upon Sunspire City today."
She Tianlin could bear no more and scoffed coldly: "So according to Consort Si, you committed no wrong in swapping the children—the fault lies with the eunuch who didn't kill Ming Xian, with Consort Meng for exposing the truth, and with Mingyi for daring to return here?"
Yan Si Hou gritted her teeth. "I only sought to uphold my family's honor and share the Minister Superior's burdens! What wrong have I committed?""To taint the inner court's bloodline is a grave crime!" Ming Li slammed the table and stood up. "You poisonous woman! Had I known you were so audacious and wicked, even if your bloodline could bring glory to Facing Sun, I should never have welcomed you into the inner court!"
"A-Li, we've been husband and wife for so many years, sharing the same bed through honor and disgrace. How can you abandon me just for this one mistake?" She sobbed, tears streaming down her face.
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