Chapter 445: What did she see? (1/2)

Chapter 445: What did she see?

Baili Mingxiang never expected to see that on esteemed wangfei’s back!

It was a reddish mark shaped like a phoenix with its wings spread in flight—the winged phoenix birthmark. The color was so faint that she never would have noticed without such close range scrutiny. Baili Mingxiang was stunned by the sight as her heart began to pound!

This birthmark is too formidable!

If she remembered rightly, it was the unique mark possessed by all members of the West Qin imperial clan. When she was younger, she had seen records about it in one of the Tang Clan’s volumes on the secret history of the Great Qin’s imperial customs. Without exception, every female member of the West Qin imperial clan was born with this birthmark!

This wasn’t public knowledge, but Baili Mingxiang had happened upon the record by chance. The Tang Clan had about a dozen books on the various secrets of the Great Qin. She couldn’t recall which book this tidbit had come from, but she was certain it was true. His Highness Duke of Qin, Aunt Ru and the rest had all been carefully monitoring any news of the Seven Noble Families. They hadn’t given much thought to the West Qin imperial clan because all of its members were supposed to be dead! It was common knowledge that the last heir to the clan had been shot to death by the Nether Clan. By now, the West Qin imperial clan was supposed to be ancient history, so there was no point in investigating them anymore.

But why does esteemed wangfei have a winged phoenix birthmark on her back?

Baili Mingxiang had no time to consider how West Qin still had an imperial orphan left. She was a calm person, but ever her hands were shaking now.

This is too serious! It was impossible to fake the birthmark, which meant esteemed wangfei had to be the West Qin imperial orphan. But that means her existence is fatal to His Highness Duke of Qin!

And yet, His Highness Duke of Qin doted on this woman.

Does His Highness Duke of Qin know what the winged phoenix birthmark represents? Has he ever seen it on esteemed wangfei’s body before? Does esteemed wangfei herself realize the significance?

When Han Yunxi noticed that Baili Mingxiang wasn’t moving, she asked, “What is it? Are my burns too scary for you?”

Zhao mama turned around at the question as well, causing Baili Mingxiang to give a start and resume applying medicine. “It’s not bad. I’ve already applied medicine to everything, so I wanted them places to dry a bit.” She shot a glance at Zhao mama and saw that the woman looked scared out of her wits. It was likely Zhao mama hadn’t even noticed the faint phoenix birthmark when she covered esteemed wangfei in that quilt. Still, even if she did, she’d probably take it as an ordinary birthmark—she knew nothing of West Qin matters. Actually, Han Yunxi’s back was covered in red splotches now, so Baili Mingxiang would’ve missed the mark too without a careful look.

“You don’t need to put as much medicine in the other places, they’ll be alright,” Han Yunxi spoke up. But her words convinced Baili Mingxiang that esteemed wangfei had no idea about the birthmark on her back. Or at least, she didn’t know what it represented. Otherwise, esteemed wangfei would never have let her apply medicine so casually.

Esteemed wangfei was the eldest daughter of the first wife from the Han Estate, child to Lady Tianxin. Han Congan’s bearing didn’t fit that of any noble clan at all, but his wife was mysterious enough to be suspect. Since Lady Tianxin had died in childbirth, she never got a chance to tell esteemed wangfei about her origins. Baili Mingxiang felt ill at ease with all the thoughts in her head, feeling pressed in on all sides.

Should she tell esteemed wangfei about this secret? What would be the consequences? What about the consequences if she didn’t say a thing?

Esteemed wangfei was her lifesaver and the first—and only—person in this world to treat her with sincerity. But her status as the West Qin imperial heir was… Baili Mingxiang grew more conflicted as she thought. She really didn’t know what to do. Moreover, she not only had to consider esteemed wangfei’s status, but His Highness Duke of Qin as well. Did he know of the secret? Should she tell him instead?

If His Highness Duke of Qin was still ignorant, then as his subordinate, she was duty-bound to tell him the truth. But once she did that, what would happen to esteemed wangfei? How would His Highness Duke of Qin treat esteemed wangfei afterwards?

If His Highness Duke of Qin was already long aware of the birthmark’s existence but still doted on esteemed wangfei like so, then what? If she told him what she found, would he silence her to get rid of all witnesses?

In the midst of Baili Mingxiang’s helplessness, Han Yunxi spoke up. “Mingxiang, go find Xu Donglin and have him call all the servants to the Sunset Cloud Pavilion. I’ll go afterwards and bring an end to the exploding stove and leaky storehouse mystery.”

Baili Mingxiang silently exhaled and told herself to calm down. It was better to take care of the matters at hand first. “Esteemed wangfei, the culprit won’t be able to escape. You should lie down and treat your wounds first,” she urged earnestly.