The Pampered Fake Princess (Four)

Listening to his regretful sighs, Jiang Xuefu felt little. But she had to pretend she had just lost her parents, so her little face filled with sorrow.

Seeing her sadness, Jimo Cheng immediately changed the subject.

"Fu'er? May I call you Fu'er?"

"I've already sent word of this to His Majesty by swift courier. I expect someone will be sent from the capital to fetch you before long. For now, Fu'er, stay here in Jade City, and I'll have Xiao Chi show you around."

Jiang Xuefu nodded obediently. Her childish voice was delicate and sweet, as though its sweetness could reach right into a person's heart. "Thank you, Uncle Jimo."

In fact, Jimo Chi had already told her about Qi Jingshu in the carriage last night. When Jiang Xuefu first learned that Qi Jingshu was the emperor's own elder sister, she was utterly stunned. She had even been frightened to tears; the shock was no less than seeing the Jiang Family slaughtered with her own eyes.

Even if she often lied and could cheat and swindle with ease, that was the emperor! The ruler of all under heaven!

She had once heard her master say that offending the emperor wasn't something a beating could settle. It would cost her her head!

To five-year-old Jiang Xuefu, the emperor was the most exalted person under heaven, the one person she absolutely must not offend. And he was the very person she had deceived!

But she had already said the words and admitted that she was Qi Jingshu's daughter.

Besides, although deceiving the emperor was a capital offense, as long as she wasn't exposed, the emperor would be her uncle. Wouldn't she then have anything she wanted?

Jiang Xuefu wrestled with herself, caught between the wealthy life awaiting her in the imperial palace and the frightening prospect of her lie being exposed and her head chopped off.

In the end, her greed won out, and she chose to keep the truth hidden.

As she dreamed of the wonderful life ahead, the fear in her heart gradually dispersed into the air, vanishing completely along with the dead members of the Jiang Family.

After Jiang Xuefu had spent a day at the Jimo Residence, Jimo Cheng returned from Wang City with the ashes of the Jiang Family.

The matter had been fully investigated. After the former crown prince's failed bid for power, he had been confined to the Eastern Palace, but he had refused to accept his defeat. As it happened, a spy in Wang City had discovered Qi Jingshu, who had disappeared ten years ago.

Determined to make Qi Yuan suffer even if he died, the former crown prince had used all the men he had left to wipe out the entire Jiang Family in a single night.

When news of Qi Jingshu's death reached him, he knew he had little time left to live. A day later, rejoicing in his successful revenge, he killed himself in the Eastern Palace.

This was a calamity that had caught them in its path. Qi Jingshu's body had not even been left whole; she had been brutally hacked into several pieces, her body covered in knife wounds. The entire courtyard had been stained scarlet with blood.

Jimo Cheng had looked only once. His heart had trembled violently, and he hadn't dared look a second time. With tears in his eyes, he had personally covered her with a white cloth and laid her to rest by cremation.

The burial site was on the summit of the tallest mountain in Jade City. Looking south from there, one could faintly make out the mountains around the capital.

It was at least a final comfort. She had been away from home for ten years and must have missed her family, friends, and homeland.

Dressed entirely in plain white, Jiang Xuefu knelt before the grave and kowtowed three times, her head striking the ground with each bow. Her small body was wrapped in a loose white robe, a sight that stirred pity for no particular reason.

Qi Jingshu's identity could not be made public, nor could she be buried with the rites due a princess. Even so, Jimo Cheng had sent people to seal off the mountain and had ensured that all the funeral provisions were of the finest quality, giving her dignity at the end.

Now there were only three people on the entire summit: Jiang Xuefu and the Jimo father and son.

After all three had kowtowed, they remained on the mountain for a while and spoke a few words. With that, the funeral came to an end.

As they prepared to descend, Jimo Cheng crouched in front of Jiang Xuefu. "Fu'er, Uncle will carry you down on his back."

Jiang Xuefu didn't climb on immediately. Instead, she glanced at Jimo Chi beside her.

It was cold at the summit, and a light rain was falling. His health had always been poor because of an illness he had been born with. After spending some time on the mountain, his complexion had grown even paler, and his breathing was visibly more labored.

"Uncle, A Chi doesn't seem well. Carry him instead. I can walk."

Jimo Chi glanced at her in surprise.

Still crouching before her, Jimo Cheng rubbed her head. "Oh, our Fu'er is so considerate. It's all right. Your brother Chi will go down in a sedan chair."

Having achieved her goal of earning favor, Jiang Xuefu didn't refuse. Huffing and puffing, she used her short arms and legs to climb onto Jimo Cheng's back.

Jimo Cheng bounced the little girl on his back and finally felt the satisfaction of raising a daughter. "Xiao Fu'er, hold on tight. We'll be going down the mountain fast!"

Much of the gloomy sorrow that had hung over the summit dissipated. A chilly mountain breeze swept past, lifting the snow-white ribbon tied in Jiang Xuefu's hair. It fluttered gently through the rain, tinged with a melancholy sorrow.

Lying on Jimo Cheng's back, she looked back at Qi Jingshu's grave. The woman's gentle, beautiful figure flashed through her mind one last time.

Madam Jiang, I'll live well in Jiang Xuefu's place.

She couldn't be blamed. It was all fate.