Now that the Ye Dynasty, in all its entirety, was the title of Xie Xuanchen’s country, when others mentioned the royal court that was established by Xie Xuanji and his father, they would refer to it as the Southern Court. Hence, the person Xu Wuniang was referring to was none other than Xie Xuanji.
Suddenly mentioning the name of this old friend, Mu Mingtang thought for a while before matching the name with the person in her memory. Ever since she and Xie Xuanchen left the capital during the 5th year of Suihe, she had never seen Xie Xuanji and Jiang Mingwei again.
Like faded shadow puppets, these people had completely disappeared from her life.
Mu Mingtang was slightly sympathetic. In order to become the Empress, Jiang Mingwei had painstakingly worked her way up and in the end, she had managed to wear the ceremonial robes that were meant for an Empress’s stature, but died on the throne not long after. Xie Xuanji had shown nothing but love and benevolence towards his harem, but in the end, he was also murdered in the hands of a woman.
It was actually also pretty ironic. Xie Xuanji and Jiang Mingwei have been married for many years, but he didn’t even let his own Empress know that he had escaped. If that was the epitome of being a pair of husband and wife, then what was the point of wearing such glorious robes on a golden throne?
Mu Mingtang was actually rather fortunate that Jiang Mingwei returned and snatched away her supposed engagement with Xie Xuanji. Without Jiang Mingwei, Mu Mingtang would have probably married him in the end. Although she might not have had an ending like Jiang Mingwei, she would have most likely been destined to a life without love, interests and compassion.
Mu Mingtang felt a wave of panic in her heart for some reason, as if she had escaped from something invisibly.
Seeing that Mu Mingtang was distracted, Xu Wuniang called out to her several times before she came back to her senses. Facing the concerned looks of Xu Wuniang and Xu Qiniang, she blinked a few times, smiled and shook her head, “Sorry, I’m fine.”
No matter what all this was supposed to be like, from now on, her life was brand new. After everything that had happened to her, she would never be controlled by anything again.
Mu Mingtang also heard a few more things about her other old acquaintances. Empress Dowager Lu was stripped of her title by Xie Xuanchen and was labelled as a commoner. He didn’t kill her, but instead banished her back to Lin An for her to fend for herself. The real Empress Dowager was and was always meant to be Madam Yin, so the Lu family deserved no fortune nor the connections to link themselves as a branch of the royal family.
After Lu Shi’s death, there would no longer be any trace of her existence in the history books.
Xie Rui’s Empress, who was also Xie Xuanji’s mother, was so frightened that she fell seriously ill and passed away early on when Xie Xuanchen destroyed Beirong and was about to unify the northern section of the land. From there, Empress Jiang Mingwei perished in the palace, which also resulted in the Jiang family to fall into decline not long after. When Jiang Honghao heard that Xie Xuanchen was heading south, he was in panic all day long. After the City of Lin An was defeated, Jiang Honghao abandoned his family business and ran away in a hurry. Out of fear that Xie Xuanchen would chase him, Jiang Honghao hid in the mountains.
Can’t wait to read more? Want to show your support? Click HERE to be a sponsor and get additional chapters ahead of time!
Also check out my other novels: The Tanaka Family Reincarnates, Strict Wife Of The ’70s Manages The Household, and Villainess Wants To Turn Over A New Leaf