Chapter 109: Archaeological Discovery Unveils a New Secret History: Xiao Qidi Already Has an Illegitimate Child?!

Xiao Qidi remained silent.

Jiang Peihuan said softly, "I will hand over all my power; from now on, those officials who belong to me and Lao An in the court will surely serve you."

Xiao Qidi sneered, "Empress Dowager, are you trying to relinquish power to save yourself?"

"No..." Jiang Peihuan shook her head, "I have nothing left to cling to, so why seek self-preservation? Back in the Wasteland Nation I bore you; you were born a Hostage Prince, your life was hard, I could give you almost nothing. Now that you've grown, I will give you whatever I can… I only have that scrap of court influence left; everything else… is gone."

Xiao Qidi's cheeks tightened, his attitude growing icier, "Even if you don't give it, I can obtain it. If you think this way will earn forgiveness, it's ridiculous!"

Jiang Peihuan clutched her chest, breathing with great difficulty, "Qidi… I…"

"Empress Dowager, there's no need to say more," Xiao Qidi said, standing and turning his back to her, "From now on, you will continue to reside in Shun Palace; I will send guards, and you and I will never meet again, lifetime after lifetime."

Jiang Peihuan struggled to crawl down from the bench, kneeling at Xiao Qidi's feet, she lifted her head and pleaded, "I can accept lifelong confinement here, but… you are my only kin in this world! Di er, Mother begs you, please don't ignore me anymore, alright?"

A single "Di er" made Xiao Qidi's heart clench violently.

When he was young, that was how she used to call him.

"It's already late," Xiao Qidi squeezed out a few words between his teeth, "Empress Dowager, return to your chambers and rest."

Jiang Peihuan lowered her head, braced her hands on the ground, and with difficulty rose, silently walking toward the main hall's doors.

Just as she was about to step over the threshold, she turned and asked, "Could you… call me Empress Mother? Or like when you were little, call me Mother."

Xiao Qidi avoided her gaze, pressing his lips tightly shut.

Jiang Peihuan still clung to a sliver of hope, "I haven't heard you call me that in ages; could you… just once, just this one last time?"

Xiao Qidi turned away, gritting his teeth, "Empress Dowager, go slowly—I won't see you off!"

Jiang Peihuan felt that her heart, already riddled with a thousand holes like rotten mud, in this moment turned completely to ash, and even that ash vanished.

She finally stepped over the hall's threshold, descending the steps one by one.

Xiao Qidi gazed at the gate, watching the Empress Dowager's silhouette fade bit by bit into the dark night.

Outside it was quiet; inside the hall it was even quieter.

It seemed as if, at that moment, he was the only person left in the world.

The hall's candlelight shone brightly, yet it seemed unable to withstand the darkness that shrouded heaven and earth outside; the vast doors resembled a beast's gaping maw, ready to lunge and swallow him whole into endless darkness.

Xiao Qidi staggered backward, tripped, and slumped onto the bench, his head slowly drooping as he clutched his head with both hands.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the hall's doors.

Xiao Qidi startled, wondering, "Could it be… Mother returning again?"

But he immediately realized those footsteps were not hers.

She could not walk so smoothly and firmly.

Xiao Qidi clutched his hair, head down, and roared, "Didn't I say I wanted some quiet? Who dares to disturb me!"

"It's me," Ning Jinli's voice softly replied.

Xiao Qidi hastily lifted his gaze, his eyes dazed, beholding the tall figure appearing at the doorway.

Ning Jinli entered the hall, quickly striding to his side.

Seeing Xiao Qidi covered in blood, his complexion ashen, her heart nearly broke.

In fact, after she and Li Yao found the Marquis Le'an's strategist and turned that blank edict to their advantage, she had been acting together with Li Yao.

Including when Li Yao led the Shuncheng Army rushing to rescue the emperor, she also hid nearby, witnessing the whole process.

The reason she remained unseen during that period was that handling the Marquis Le'an and Empress Dowager affair could only be left to Xiao Qidi to resolve; no one could interfere, nor was any interference possible.

"Come, hug," Ning Jinli said without offering comfort, simply opening her arms.

Before she could bend down, Xiao Qidi fiercely embraced her legs and burst into loud, childlike sobs.

He wept until it felt heart-rending, his sobs painful to hear.

Ning Jinli instantly burst into tears, tightly embracing his shoulders, gently stroking his head, allowing him to cry uncontrollably and release the pent-up anguish within…

……

A few days later——

Within the Royal City, in a secluded manor, a person in green clothing respectfully reported from behind the study's door curtain.

"Sir, Marquis Le'an has been torn apart by five horses on Xiao Qidi's orders; his retainers and partisans have been secretly purged by the Shuncheng Army. Moreover, the Empress Dowager has also been placed under house arrest in Shun Palace."

"The court factions that originally belonged to those two have, in a very short time, become Xiao Qidi's own."

Having said that, a middle-aged man's voice came from within the study.

"Hmm, understood."

The green-clothed person felt puzzled; such astonishing intelligence, yet the sir seemed to show no reaction at all.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Sir, perhaps there's no need to immediately inform the Prime Minister?"

"Or how about you take this seat?" the middle-aged man said.

The green-clothed person hastily lowered his head, "I dare not! I merely… merely thought this matter is of great importance; we of the Qingyou Platform secretly serve the Prime Minister, so I…"

Swish——

A gold bar struck aside the curtain and fell at the green-clothed person's feet.

Then came the middle-aged man's voice again, "Your intelligence gathering was not bad; I reward you. But don't speak out of turn—keep quiet."

The green-clothed person rejoiced, holding the gold bar and kowtowing repeatedly, "I know my mistake! Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

"Withdraw."

"Yes, sir!"

The green-clothed person put away the gold bar and rose.

Just as he was about to leave, he pondered and added, "Sir, if the Qingyou Platform were solely under your command, we subordinates could all live good lives."

"Huh? What do you mean?" the middle-aged man's voice carried a hint of deep meaning.

The green-clothed person bluntly continued, "Sir! Please forgive my frankness; over these years, the Qingyou Platform has developed under your leadership. Your abilities far surpass those of a Platform Commander, and you treat your subordinates well. I truly believe that serving as Vice Platform Commander… is a terrible waste."

The middle-aged man chuckled lightly, "That's just what you think, huh?"

"No no no!" the green-clothed person said earnestly, "All of us subordinates feel this way! The commandant always doesn't put us in his eyes, clearly a useless fool, yet relying on being the prime minister's confidant, he rides over us, lording it! We've hidden our names and risked our lives to gather intel, but what then? When the job's done, he doesn't even give a word of praise! If there's the slightest slip, he docks our pay or beats and scolds us! We've endured him for a long time!"

"Enough!" the middle-aged man said in a low voice, "If you want to hold your heads high in the future, just endure a bit."

The green-clothed person's eyes lit up.

Obviously, there's hidden meaning in his words!

"I understand, sir!" the green-clothed person bowed, "I'll take my leave."

"Wait," the middle-aged man shouted, "come in, I'll give you something good."

The green-clothed person dared not delay, hurriedly and respectfully entered the study.

In the simple, crude but clean and tidy study, a middle-aged man sat beside the desk.

Beneath a pair of sword-like brows, his eyes were like stars.

Tall and slender, even though he wore only ordinary commoner's clothes, his graceful, jade-tree-like bearing could not be concealed.

"Take this, share it with your subordinates." The middle-aged man casually grabbed a cloth bag from the desk and tossed it to the green-clothed person.

The green-clothed person curiously opened the bag's mouth, and a rich fragrance he had never smelled before wafted out.

"Sir... what is this?" he asked, swallowing his saliva.

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Inside are some dried fruits, like raisins, dried mango, dried sweet potato, and such."

The green-clothed person had never even heard of those names.

But the scent grew more tempting the more he smelled it; he took out a piece and put it in his mouth, instantly widening his eyes, "How can there be something so sweet in the world?!"

"Tasty, right?" the middle-aged man's smile grew richer.

The green-clothed person couldn't help but ask, "Sir, where did you get this...?"

The middle-aged man curled the corner of his mouth, a hint of pride flashing in his eyes, "My wife sent it to me."

"W... wife?" the green-clothed person looked bewildered.

The middle-aged man said, "Oh, that's the lady; in my hometown we customarily call her 'wife'."

The green-clothed person exclaimed in surprise, "You have a wife?! I was saying, someone as outstanding as you, how could you have remained unmarried..."

"I'm married, I got married over twenty years ago, and I have a precious daughter!" the middle-aged man said, his face glowing redder as he spoke, "What you're eating are what my daughter sent to her mother, and then she sent some to me."

The green-clothed person chuckled, "So your family is so happy, it really makes me envy. I don't know when I'll be able to pay my respects to your lady and your esteemed daughter."

The middle-aged man casually remarked, "I haven't seen them in many years, especially my daughter—it's been ten years..."

This remark again left the green-clothed person puzzled.

"Cough," the middle-aged man gave a dry cough, "I didn't mean to say extra; just pretend you didn't hear it."

"Yes, I'll take my leave." The green-clothed person, holding a bag of dried fruits, backed out of the study.

The middle-aged man opened the desk drawer, took out the letters that had been sent along with the snacks these past days from Yuqi Mountain, and began to look at them with great satisfaction.

Although he had read the letters' contents many times, and despite maintaining correspondence these days, he could never get enough of looking at them, and as he read he even laughed out loud.

Zhiqiu, Xiao Li, we three can finally reunite, hahaha!

——

On the other side.

After Xiao Qidi dealt with the matter of the Marquis of Le'an and the Empress Dowager a few days earlier, he only rested a few hours that night after his emotions erupted, then he busied himself nonstop for several days.

This was naturally to finish everything that needed to be done before the prime minister found out.

Seeing that things were more or less settled, Ning Jinli planned to take Xiao Qidi around Hanhai City to relax for a while, but just as she was preparing to go out, she received a call from Professor Zheng Lao.

Professor Zheng Lao told her that there had been a new discovery in the archaeological work regarding Xiao Qidi's secret history.

Because Professor Zheng Lao had previously promised her that he would inform her promptly if any new data were found.

Thus, a phone call came through.

"Little Ning, we've discovered another major secret!" the voice on the other end, Professor Zheng Lao's, trembled slightly,

"Please speak." Ning Jinli perked up her ears.

She put the phone on speaker so Xiao Qidi could listen as well.

Professor Zheng Lao said, "As it turns out, Xiao Qi's two sons are not both his biological children!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qidi froze for a moment.

Ning Jinli wondered, "No, Grandfather Zheng, according to the secret history, Xiao Qidi had already become a human stick before achieving great unification and establishing the Xuan dynasty, and the ruling powers replaced his identity with a puppet; logically, the two sons of the Xuan Ancestor Emperor shouldn't both be offspring of the puppet, right?"

Professor Zheng Lao replied, "The first son is none other than the well-known eldest prince of the Xuan Ancestor Emperor, and he truly is Xiao Qidi's son! As for the second Xuan emperor, he is the offspring of the puppet!"

"Huh?" Ning Jinli blinked for two seconds, turned to look at Xiao Qidi beside her, narrowed her eyes and said, "Could it be... that Xiao Qidi already had an illegitimate son before becoming a human stick?"

If that were the case...

Looking at the timeline, this fellow beside me who exists in the parallel universe of Xuan Guo might also already have a child!

"I... I don't have one!" Xiao Qidi said, looking completely bewildered.

"Huh? Little Ning, is there someone else with you?" Professor Zheng Lao asked.

Ning Jinli hurriedly said, "My boyfriend is here; he's also very interested in the history of the Xuan Guo period, so I let him listen as well. Rest assured, I guarantee we won't leak your archaeological work to the outside."

"That's fine," Professor Zheng Lao said, "the content of Xiao Qidi's secret history is too shocking; if it's not an official announcement, even if you spread it, it would have no impact, at most being dismissed as wild gossip." He chuckled and then said, "Congratulations, Little Ning; when you get married in the future, remember to invite me to the wedding wine."

Ning Jinli's cheeks flushed, "Definitely, definitely!"

Professor Zheng Lao continued his previous topic, "After Xiao Qidi became a human stick, while he was imprisoned in the underground palace by the then‑powerful prime minister, a palace maid tasked with looking after him felt pity and wanted to leave him an heir; she secretly had relations with him and became pregnant. When the matter was exposed and the prime minister found out, since the child was a boy, he gave the baby directly to the puppet—that later became the eldest prince of the Xuan Ancestor Emperor. And the puppet, posing as Xiao Qidi, also had a son, who is the later Xuan Second Emperor."

"So those two sons ended up with vastly different characters and morals—one makes later generations sigh with regret, the other makes them hate to the bone."

After hearing all this, Ning Jinli was dumbstruck.

She covered the phone's mouthpiece and sized up Xiao Qidi from head to toe.

"What...?" Xiao Qidi felt ill at ease all over under her gaze.

"Tsk tsk tsk…" Ning Jinli sighed, "Your body's constitution and desire intensity really defy the heavens; you've been reduced to a Human Stick, yet you can still do that thing with an imperial maid—awesome…"

Xiao Qidi's face flushed to his neck, and in panic he blurted out, "Even if the imperial maid has that feeling, even if I can't move… oh no, the Xiao Qidi in your world, he can't move, but the imperial maid can move…"

"Hm?" Ning Jinli widened her eyes, "You're an ancient person, never married, how could you understand this? Have you ever visited a brothel! Or used the phone I gave you to sneak online and watch short films?"

"No, no, no, I didn't!" Xiao Qidi's face swelled to a pork‑liver color, and he asked, puzzled, "Short films… what are they?"

"Then how do you know that?" Ning Jinli extended a hand, pinched Xiao Qidi's ear, and asked harshly, "That means you've had a lover before, and you've had relations with someone, right? Admit it right now! Speak!"