Chapter 34 The Drum of Petition
Outside the majestic palace gates, the deep, urgent sound of the Dengwen Drum resounded, one beat after another.
Everyone looked closely and saw a woman kneeling in front of the drum.
She was dressed in coarse linen clothes, which were already soaked in blood and their original color was no longer visible.
With her last ounce of strength, the woman shouted hoarsely toward the direction of the palace again and again.
"This humble woman, this humble woman wants to sue Princess Luanxue!"
"She stole my identity! Six years ago, she even took my place in the palace and became the second princess of the Great Yu!"
"I am the real princess! I have only recently regained my memories. I beg Your Majesty, I beg the Empress Dowager to do justice for my daughter!"
These heart-wrenching accusations instantly caused an uproar among the onlookers.
"Good heavens! Is this girl telling the truth? Suing the princess of the court? That's a capital offense!"
"I think it's pretty much true! If there wasn't a huge injustice, who would dare to beat this petition drum?"
"Look at all those injuries she's covered in! Tsk tsk, it looks painful! That second princess usually seems so gentle and virtuous, I never imagined she was so vicious!"
In the crowd, a burly butcher with a pig-slaughtering knife in his hand was so angry that his face turned red.
"I knew it! Although this girl is disheveled, her features and demeanor are so striking, she has the bearing of a dragon and phoenix! She is the true princess of our Great Yu! I never expected her to be bullied like this!"
"If I, Tiedan, find out who did this, I'll grab my weapon and go kill them! This is outrageous!"
Yu Zhaoning, who had just been carried from the dragon throne, hadn't even settled into her little bottom yet when she heard these words and immediately looked over.
He looked at the group of people, lost in thought.
On the stage, the woman was banging so hard she almost fainted.
A minor official who was in charge of guarding the Dengwen Drum couldn't bear to watch any longer and stepped forward with trepidation to persuade him.
"Young lady, why don't you rest for a while? His Majesty and his officials are currently holding court and it will take them some time to arrive."
He was thinking that it was still uncertain whether His Majesty would come or not.
Now that the Empress Dowager dotes on the Second Princess so much, she sends her any rare and precious treasures immediately.
How could anyone believe such absurd words just because of a woman of unknown origin?
But the woman stubbornly shook her head, her voice firm.
"No, I have been tricked by Luan Xue and my life is hanging by a thread. If we stop now, it will be too late!"
"Please, Your Excellency, do justice for this humble woman! Please, people of the world, do justice for this humble woman!"
As she spoke, she turned around and kowtowed deeply to the people around her, her eyes filled with tears and red.
That sense of despair and helplessness sparked a discussion among everyone present.
"What a tragedy! What a tragedy!"
"Look at this poor girl, she must be covered in wounds."
"That second princess not only impersonated someone else, but also tried to kill them all! She's utterly heartless!"
Even the minor officials on the stage were sighing repeatedly.
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps approached from afar.
The people turned around and saw a procession of golden-armored guards leading the way, followed by a grand procession of bright yellow dragon and phoenix ceremonial guards.
"His Majesty has arrived! The Empress Dowager has arrived!"
A high-pitched voice pierced the sky.
The minor official and the surrounding people were all stunned. After a moment, they realized what was happening and knelt down in a huge crowd.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress Dowager! Long live the Empress Dowager!"
The palace servants had already deftly placed two chairs covered with bright yellow brocade cushions in front of the drum platform.
Yuan Hua gently placed Zhao Ning on the dragon throne, then stepped forward, his phoenix eyes flashing with scrutiny and sharpness as he looked at the woman playing the drum.
"Is it you who is beating the drum to appeal for justice here?"
Her voice was cold, revealing neither joy nor anger, but her hands were clenched tightly.
In his life, Yuen Wah felt most indebted to his two daughters.
To alleviate the urgent crisis of the Great Yu Dynasty, the eldest daughter volunteered to go to the southern border for a marriage alliance, and never returned.
The youngest daughter had an even harder life.
In order to prepare for the enemy, she went to the battlefield herself and gave birth to her daughter on the front lines.
The war raged for over a year, and my daughter suffered alongside me for over a year.
Unexpectedly, the army won a great victory and was about to return to the capital when their daughter was lost.
Six years ago, she was finally found, but her daughter always lived cautiously, not daring to talk to her much, and never taking the initiative to enter the palace to talk to her.
The only time he knelt before her was when he wanted to marry Cui Li, the newly appointed top scholar in the imperial examination.
This was the second daughter's only request all these years, so how could she refuse? So she took out tens of thousands of taels of gold and stuffed the dowry with gold, silver and jewelry and various land deeds.
But she never managed to open her daughter's heart. Since getting married, her daughter had never said a word except to accept the things she sent.
Yuanhua tried everything he could to mend his relationship with his daughter, but to no avail, and he kept worrying about her.
Unexpectedly, they heard the news about the real and fake princesses.
She couldn't believe it was true, but when she saw the woman, she wondered what she would do if this really was her own daughter being abused like this.
Yuan Hua was stunned for a moment.
The woman on the stage, upon seeing the Empress Dowager, seemed to see a lifeline and was overjoyed. She tearfully recounted her previous grievances, word by word.
"Your Majesty! I am your true daughter!"
"The one in the palace now is just a country bumpkin! Taking advantage of the fact that her family once took me in when I had amnesia, she tried every means to steal my identity and you took me back!"
Her voice rose, filled with grievance.
"Actually, I am your real daughter! When I was little, I loved lotus flowers the most. You said there were no lotus flowers on the battlefield, so you made me a lotus flower hat yourself out of cloth! There were three small pearls on the hat as decoration. You even said that they were the bright stars in my eyes!"
"You also told your daughter that in your world, men and women are equal, and technology can help the country develop! One day, our world will become like that world!"
"These are all my daughter's childhood memories, there's absolutely no mistake! Please, Your Majesty, do justice for my daughter!"
Every word he uttered was filled with anguish.
Yuan Hua's body began to tremble uncontrollably.
The initial scrutiny turned into disbelief.
Finally, tears slowly welled up in those sharp and majestic phoenix eyes.
She spoke with difficulty, her voice trembling.
What you said is indeed true.
She took two steps forward, her gaze falling on the woman's red wounds, her heart aching as if being stabbed with a knife.
"But what about these injuries on your body?"
Seeing that the Empress Dowager was wavering, the woman's tears fell like beads from a broken string.
She cried out in anguish.
"It's Luan Xue! She sent people to kill my daughter!"
"She was afraid that her daughter would regain her memory and come back to expose her, so she wanted to kill her! She beat her daughter until she was covered in bruises, and even threw her into a wild animal cage, wanting the wild animals to tear her to pieces!"
"If it weren't for my daughter's good fortune in crawling out of the cage through the crack, I would never have seen you again today, Mother!"
The final cry of "Mother!" completely shattered Yuan Hua's psychological defenses.
She felt a sudden darkness before her eyes, as if the whole world was spinning, and she was swaying precariously, almost fainting on the spot.
"Mother, you must stand up for your daughter!"
"Mother, kill Luan Xue, tear her to pieces! I will never forgive her!"
The woman was still screaming pitifully.
The palace servants nearby were also frightened and quickly stepped forward to support Empress Dowager Yuanhua.
"Empress Dowager! Please take care of your health!"