Princess Consort Cui's words struck like a thunderbolt splitting stone. Everyone, including Huo Qilang and Li Yuanying, froze in shock, their faces draining of color.
Once the floodgate of truth opened, secrets guarded in her heart for years poured out in a torrent. Cui Lingrong spoke without pause: "Ciyin is Prince Yiyang's granddaughter. Years ago, her grandfather was reduced to a commoner for plotting rebellion, and she was fostered with my family from childhood. We grew up together. Though we shared no blood, we were closer than sisters, dear friends who kept no secrets and understood each other's hearts. We once swore to take religious vows together, to stand by each other in life and death, never to grow apart.
"Who could have known that Hexi and Longyou would fall one after the other? During the peace negotiations, the king of Tubo asked for Princess Wanshou's hand. The Sage could not bear to part with his own daughter, so he chose the most helpless orphan among the imperial clanswomen to marry in her place. And so Ciyin took the true princess's place and was sent to the Foreign Lands ten thousand miles away. From then on, countless rivers and mountains stood between us, with no hope of meeting again..."
Tears glistened in Cui Lingrong's eyes as she said bitterly, "Among the barbarians, a son inherits from his dead father, a younger brother from his elder brother. After the king of Tubo died, Ciyin was forced to marry his son, suffering this tragedy that defied all human decency. Your Highness was born of the Noble Consort, with dragon's blood and phoenix marrow, exalted in rank and powerful. Your sister was a pearl beyond price, not to suffer the slightest harm; my sister was worth less than cattle and sheep, fit to