novelraw Chapter 2564 - 2565: It Was You After All
Chapter 2564 - 2565: It Was You After All
Bai Ruozhu laughed, "You disguised yourself as a coroner and tampered with the corpse in the prison cell, but when you were removing your gloves, you accidentally lifted a bit of the fake skin, revealing the Fen Xianhua mark."
Miaoluo realized suddenly, then showed a look of regret, "I didn’t know you were hiding nearby, but I did help you, right?"
"So I don’t understand, why did you do all this, and what was your purpose for approaching me?" Bai Ruozhu said, signaling to Gao Zhou with a glance, "We still need to remove your disguise to see who you really are."
Miaoluo’s eyes flashed with panic, "If it wasn’t for my help, the wound on the corpse’s tongue would have been exposed. I haven’t harmed you; why are you plotting against me?"
"How is this plotting against you? I didn’t intend to harm you, just wanted an answer." Bai Ruozhu laughed, she didn’t find Miaoluo unpleasant, in fact, she felt a sense of familiarity, which made her feel very strange.
"I beg you, let me go. I won’t bother you again in the future." Miaoluo pleaded, her eyes reddening as if she were about to cry.
Bai Ruozhu felt a bit soft-hearted but still sighed and said, "I won’t tell anyone about your affairs, and it shouldn’t affect your marriage to the Crown Prince."
Gao Zhou didn’t have much sentimentality, striding over and pressing a few points on Miaoluo’s face before tearing off the human skin mask.
"This is quite exquisitely made; an ordinary person wouldn’t easily notice." Gao Zhou said as he examined the human skin mask in his hand. He hadn’t interacted with Miaoluo before, so he hadn’t noticed the problem until Bai Ruozhu mentioned it earlier, prompting him to pay close attention and discover the flaw.
At this moment, Bai Ruozhu wasn’t looking at the human skin mask at all; her gaze was fixated on Miaoluo’s face.
"It’s you!" she couldn’t help but exclaim, the face wasn’t particularly special, it was even somewhat ordinary, yet it was indeed familiar, it was Lingzi who had recently disappeared!
Miaoluo couldn’t meet Bai Ruozhu’s gaze, she turned her head sadly and after a while said, "Since you already know, do whatever you want."
Bai Ruozhu sighed heavily, "What have you done to make me want to do anything?"
Miaoluo thought Bai Ruozhu would reprimand her, but she couldn’t react when she heard those words and after a long time said, "I deceived you all."
"Yes, you did deceive us, despite me searching for you for so long. If I hadn’t guessed you left on your own, I wouldn’t know how much more worried I would have been." Bai Ruozhu was somewhat upset; she had rescued Lingzi on the Black Pirate Ship and learned a lot about Fusang from her, she had considered Lingzi a friend for a long time.
"Whether you are Lingzi or Miaoluo, I don’t even know which one is the real you." Bai Ruozhu was somewhat lost, if Lingzi was fake and she disguised herself as Miaoluo to marry the Crown Prince, then the previous claim by her father Anben that the family was in danger, was that all an act too?
Lingzi felt uneasy seeing her expression, speaking with a choked voice, "I am Lingzi, I didn’t want to deceive you, but I..."
She had unspeakable difficulties; she was not alone, there was her family and her parents behind her.
"What about the original Miaoluo then? You posing as her to marry into the Imperial family, what about her?" Bai Ruozhu asked, a bad feeling creeping in.
"She is very ill, it’s a congenital illness from birth, she probably won’t survive past these two months." She said with some reluctance, "That’s why I was required to become her, forced to leave you all. I initially stayed hidden on the Black Pirate Ship, being rescued by you was completely accidental, I never intended to harm you, really treated you as friends, and never did anything to harm you."
Bai Ruozhu thought carefully, indeed Lingzi hadn’t done anything.
"I know the matter of Lord Xinye involves you all, fearing improper handling would implicate you, I disguised as a coroner to examine the corpse, unexpectedly exposing myself." She smiled bitterly.
"Apart from hiding your identity, you haven’t wronged me, but your father is the one behind plotting against the Second Prince, right?" Bai Ruozhu felt increasingly upset as she spoke, "His ambition nearly cost Master Puru’s life and he repeatedly sent people to attack us; although you didn’t secretly harm us, we are already on opposing sides!"
Bai Ruozhu sighed again, "Your father is the one who had an affair with the late Empress, you have a close relationship with Empress Shangzi, don’t you know your father gave a bracelet to Empress Shangzi from the late Empress, causing her to never have children? Facing Empress Shangzi now, don’t you feel any guilt?"
Lingzi’s eyes filled with surprise, "How is that possible!"
Bai Ruozhu sneered, "When I first met Empress Shangzi, she gave me the Jade Bracelet which she had worn for many years, you know about my medical skills, there was something wrong with that bracelet. And it was given by the late Empress, it was also her lover who handed it to her to harm Empress Shangzi!"
"I really don’t understand, what is your father’s purpose in orchestrating all these schemes? Is he just blinded by greed, or is he stubbornly wanting to support the son of his beloved to become Emperor?" Bai Ruozhu found it laughable, "It’s not even his own son, why be so attentive? And making his biological daughter disguise as someone else, with a fake face for the rest of her life, she’ll never truly be herself again!"
Lingzi was struck in her sore spot, she didn’t want to live hidden under a mask every day, cautiously mimicking every move of the former Miaoluo, and gradually losing herself.
Bai Ruozhu indeed couldn’t understand; the Crown Prince had already been discovered to awaken the Merfolk Bloodline, which Master Puru had confirmed.
This means the Crown Prince definitely has royal blood, since he isn’t Anben’s son, why would Anben crazily scheme for him?
But Lingzi pressed her lips together, seemingly knowing she couldn’t say more.
"I don’t want to make things difficult for you, but if I reveal your identity, your father might find it hard to continue, right?" Bai Ruozhu asked.
Lingzi couldn’t help but shed tears, "The matters of the Fusang Royal Family are unrelated to you, so why do you insist on helping them? I don’t agree with everything my father does, nor do I want to be your enemy, but I also can’t betray him."
"It originally wasn’t my concern, but he nearly burned Master Puru alive. I have some connection to Zhaoti Temple, and I cannot watch Master Puru suffer in vain. Furthermore, he sent Shadow Ninjas to ambush me several times, even injuring my friends, this debt I won’t forget, nor overlook just for your sake."
Bai Ruozhu gritted her teeth; on this matter, she wouldn’t and couldn’t soften. She could understand Lingzi’s plight, but she wouldn’t let Anben go because of Lingzi.
"You, you shouldn’t expose him, that would only force him to stage a coup immediately, who knows how many lives would be lost then." Lingzi said in a panic.