Qi Heng held a lotus jade pendant in his hand.
Kneeling beneath were two guards armed with long swords, one named Zheng Yi and the other called Zheng Er.
Casual names, but he knew that these two were his trusted confidants, or more precisely, the confidants of his current identity.
He was the Prince of the Celestial Kingdom, yet not quite.
Qi Heng’s thoughts drifted for a moment, but his usual dignified demeanor ensured that no one dared to raise their heads to notice his momentary distraction.
“Zheng Yi,” Qi Heng regained his composure and spoke in a hoarse voice. “Go and bring her back for me.”
“Your Highness? Just now…” Zheng Yi lifted his head in near astonishment, his handsome face as cold and unfeeling as ever. But only a stick of incense ago, the Prince had promised the Prince’s Consort and Princess Huimin that he wouldn’t bring the real Princess back for now.
“She is the bloodline of this Prince.”
Zheng Yi hesitated for a moment, then realized he had overstepped and immediately lowered his head.
“Yes,” he replied.
Qi Heng dismissed the two of them, unaware of their hesitant expressions. He caressed the lotus jade pendant in his hand, finally retrieving all the memories related to the identity of the Prince of the Celestial Kingdom from the recesses of his memory.
This was the first world he had crossed into, and also the world he was most obsessed with. In this world, he had transmigrated into the powerful Prince of the Celestial Kingdom during the Jin Dynasty—Qi Heng.
As the beloved youngest son of the former emperor and empress dowager, the single character “宸1Chen. It refers to the imperial palace or the inner court” in his name signified his father’s high expectations for him. Unfortunately, his older brother, the Crown Prince, had already come of age, and there were no major faults to be found with him. In such a situation, even the former emperor couldn’t easily shake the Crown Prince’s position.
The original host of his current body had thoughts of coveting that position, but he was not the protagonist. So, even with military power at his disposal, he still played the role of an ambitious prince.
The true favored child of destiny in this world was his adopted daughter, Qi Jing, who had taken fifteen years of prosperity and wealth from someone else.
In that lifetime, he had also learned about Qi Jing’s true identity and, after comforting his wife and adopted daughter, had brought his biological daughter back from her exile.
Although the biological mother of his adopted daughter had switched the identities of the two girls, he had no intention of pursuing the matter.
He had the idea of raising both daughters together, after all, he was a prince, and money was not something he lacked. He considered his actions perfectly normal. However, he never imagined that Qi Jing was actually the predetermined protagonist of this world. She had been reborn. Because of his desire to bring back his biological daughter, Zhao Yuyao, Qi Jing held a grudge against him.
Qi Heng lowered his gaze, his eyes falling on the lotus jade pendant. His biological daughter was a very kind child. Even though her rightful identity had been taken from her, she still advised him and the Prince’s Consort to treat Qi Jing as their own. It was just that they had raised Qi Jing for fifteen years, and they couldn’t easily let go of their emotional attachment. She didn’t want to see him and the Prince’s Consort upset over this matter.
Unfortunately, that kind-hearted child had been tortured to the point of being unrecognizable.
He knew what Qi Jing had done, but it seemed as if he were being controlled by something, helplessly watching himself step into the trap Qi Jing had set and handing over his power.
The lotus jade pendant still lay quietly in his hand. Qi Heng’s expression remained indifferent. His slender fingers suddenly closed, and after a moment, they slowly opened again. The lotus jade pendant had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a pinch of fine powder.
“Your Highness,” a maid knelt hurriedly at the door, her face filled with alarm. “Just now, madam accidentally heard about your intention to bring Miss Zhao back and fainted in distress.”
Sure enough, it was the same scenario again.
Qi Heng’s heart remained unmoved. In that lifetime as well, he had temporarily postponed the idea of bringing Zhao Yuyao back to appease his consort after she fainted. He had settled her in the house of a subordinate.
“Has the royal physician been summoned?” Qi Heng asked in a calm tone.
“The royal physician has already examined her,” the maid choked up a bit. “The royal physician said that madam’s condition is due to emotional distress…”
Qi Heng stood with his hands behind his back, interrupting her, “Let my consort calm her heart for now. When Zheng Yi brings the princess back, I will explain everything to her.”
“But…”
“Step back,” Qi Heng’s voice carried a hint of thin anger.
The maid bit her lip, wanting to convey the Prince’s Consort’s instructions to change his mind. Fearing his anger, she suppressed her words and returned to the Purple Bamboo Courtyard with a heavy heart.
When the maid returned, the Prince’s Consort had already regained consciousness. The maid saw Princess Huimin, the prince’s adopted daughter, smiling forcefully and feeding the Prince’s Consort spoonfuls of medicine prepared by the servants.
“Huan’er!” Qi Jing put down the medicine bowl. She glanced behind but found it empty. Qi Jing was taken aback, her voice urgent and tinged with grievance as she asked, “Did you see Father… the Prince?”
The maid named Huan’er hesitated and said hesitantly, “This servant saw the Prince, but… the Prince said he wants to bring Miss Zhao back first before discussing with the Queen.”
“Cough, cough, cough…” Suddenly, the Prince’s Consort, who was leaning against soft pillows, started coughing violently. Her pale cheeks turned an abnormal shade of red due to the intense coughing.
“Mother!” Qi Jing rushed to the bedside, supporting the Prince’s Consort. She gently patted her back to ease her breathing while silently shedding tears.
“My Jing’er!” The Prince’s Consort turned her head and grabbed her daughter’s arm. Qi Jing pretended to avoid her gaze but didn’t move away. Seeing her beloved daughter, whom she had cherished since childhood, now full of tears, the Prince’s Consort couldn’t bear the heartache.
“Jing’er, my Jing’er.” The Prince’s Consort held Qi Jing tightly, sobbing in a choked voice. “You are the child we raised with our own hands. How could your father be so heartless?”
“Don’t be angry at Father, Mother,” Qi Jing said, nestled in her embrace, her face showing a sense of accomplishment, but hidden from everyone’s view.
She comforted the Prince’s Consort, her voice full of grievance and understanding, “Jing’er was never Father and Mother’s child to begin with. I took Miss Zhao’s identity and received Father and Mother’s favor. It’s only natural for Father to want to bring Miss Zhao back. Jing’er has always felt guilty, and I don’t blame Father.”
“My poor daughter…” The Prince’s Consort sobbed, feeling heartache for the girl she had raised with her own hands, to the point where she even harbored a bit of resentment toward her unknown biological daughter.
Why did she have to appear at this moment, even though the switch had already happened?
Qi Heng stood in front of a bronze mirror, and in its yellowed reflection, he saw himself. In the mirror, his sword-like eyebrows met at his temples, and his phoenix-like eyes were like stars, resembling two clear and cold icy pools, clear but distant. Half of his inky-black hair was elegantly tied up with a dark gold hairpin, and the other half hung loosely. He wore a black robe and a golden python-patterned robe, exuding elegance and nobility.
Qi Heng couldn’t believe his eyes because the person in the mirror was none other than himself.
But because of the curse of the antagonist, in every lifetime, he used someone else’s body, but he still remembered the appearance of the Prince of the Celestial Kingdom himself.
Only in that particular lifetime as the Prince of the Celestial Kingdom, his appearance was relatively rare, so the memories were particularly vivid.
Qi Heng was shocked, and he wondered if he had made a mistake. He paced back and forth for almost half an hour, then summoned a maid.
The maid knelt in the center, and because Qi Heng had not spoken for a long time, she couldn’t help but tremble, wondering if she had somehow angered the Prince.
“Raise your head and look at me,” the cold and unfeeling voice came from above. The maid’s heart quivered as she slowly raised her head.
Like the brilliance of a full moon, all the radiance in the world seemed to gather on that person, causing the maid to lose her focus for a moment. Fortunately, fear quickly brought her back to her senses. She averted her gaze and dared not look again, only focusing on the golden python pattern.
Qi Heng had been paying attention to the maid’s reaction and naturally did not miss her expression. He had a guess in his mind.
What the maid saw was his true appearance. Could it be that his method from the previous world had succeeded, causing the curse of the antagonist to lose its effect, and he had reverted to his true form from the depths of his soul?
Qi Heng lowered his gaze in contemplation. Since the curse of the antagonist no longer existed, did that mean he could change other things too?
He dismissed the maid and, to confirm his speculation, he accessed a breathing technique he had acquired in a previous world from his memories, one that allowed him to channel energy into his body, and began to practice it.
This world had its own legend of martial arts leading to enlightenment. His aptitude in this identity was decent, and the original host was skilled in martial arts as well. In that particular lifetime, he had almost killed Qi Jing with his martial skills, but the curse of the antagonist was too powerful. Any fatal attack he aimed at Qi Jing would deflect in another direction.
A breath passed, and Qi Heng opened his eyes. There was an unrestrainable delight in his eyes. His soul strength was still from the previous world. Although his soul had suffered severe damage, likely due to forcibly removing the curse, he had accumulated merit from previous worlds. Now, the remaining merit was slowly repairing his soul, even though there was almost none left.
Qi Heng attempted to release his spiritual consciousness.
The sound of petals unfolding in the distance, the sound of fish swimming in the water below, the fine dust particles in the air, and the intricate patterns on distant tree leaves—all of these were now incredibly clear to him, both audible and visible.
This was the enhancement of the five senses that came after practicing the breathing technique.
With a thought, Qi Heng’s spiritual consciousness landed in the Purple Bamboo Courtyard. This was the residence of the original host’s wife, and now, the impostor was conversing with the original host’s wife.
After listening for a while, Qi Heng smirked. He had never understood the logic of these people before. Clearly, Zhao Yuyao was the biological daughter of the original host and his wife. However, the original host’s wife seemed to be acting irrationally, hating her own biological daughter and treating the impostor as precious. She even helped the impostor frame her own biological daughter.
Later, after experiencing multiple worlds, he accidentally captured a soul similar to his own once and used some means to gain that soul’s memories. That was when he learned the nature of these worlds.
It turned out that everything illogical was for the sake of the plot. The plot would correct all irrational behaviors, and because he had awakened his consciousness, a curse of the antagonist had been placed on him to correct his actions.
