Chapter 147: The Fake Imperial Consort

Not knowing the exact details of the situation, the only option left was to accompany Yan Hecheng back to take a look.

"Let's go back together and see what is going on," Shen Hezhi said.

Naturally, Yan Hecheng had no objections. The only reason he had come here in the first place was because that woman wanted to see the Ninth Prince. Another reason was that he also wished to reunite with his elder sister, whom he had not seen for a very long time.

Thus, the three of them headed together to Yan Hecheng's temporary dwelling.

Yan Hecheng had only arrived at this place by chance while executing a mission, and it was pure coincidence that he had encountered the woman. Therefore, his dwelling was not a permanent residence, but merely a makeshift shelter.

Yet, even though it was only a temporary shelter, Yan Henu's heart ached bitterly the moment she laid eyes on it. The dwelling was utterly dilapidated, nothing more than a tiny shack pieced together from a pile of wooden planks.

Her younger brother had never lived a life of great luxury, but he certainly should not have been reduced to living in such a wretched little hut.

Had it not been for enlisting in the army, he would never have fallen into such dire straits. A heavy, bitter feeling weighed upon Yan Henu's heart, yet she found herself powerless to voice any complaints.

After all, this path was not only chosen by her, but also by her younger brother himself. Therefore, no matter how arduous the journey might prove to be, her younger brother would press on to the end.

Shen Hezhi was also somewhat startled by the profound shabbiness of the hut. This small wooden shack was even more dilapidated than the one he had previously seen Nan Xing inhabit.

He had already thought that previous shack was barely habitable, yet he had never imagined that an even more primitive shelter could actually serve as a home.

Shen Hezhi glanced at Yan Hecheng, at a loss for words.

However, while Yan Henu and Shen Hezhi were deeply saddened, Yan Hecheng himself felt no particular emotion. To him, as long as there was a place to sleep, its appearance mattered little; it was enough as long as it kept out the wind and the rain.

"Why are you both just standing out here? Aren't you going in?" Yan Hecheng asked, looking at the two of them in bewilderment, unable to understand why they had frozen in front of the shack.

Yan Henu and Shen Hezhi exchanged a glance, smiled helplessly, and stepped inside together.

Although the little wooden shack was dilapidated, the interior was reasonably spacious. A woman sat inside, quietly sewing a garment.

The moment he laid eyes on this woman, Shen Hezhi's breath caught instantly in his throat, for her back bore an uncanny resemblance to that of his late imperial concubine mother!

Yet, the resemblance ended at her silhouette; the aura she emitted was entirely different. Moreover, the feeling this woman projected was one of deliberate and forced imitation of his deceased mother.

This realization filled the Ninth Prince with deep resentment. He was now certain that the woman before him harbored ulterior motives. Since she had come prepared with a scheme, he decided to play along and humor her for a while, just to find out who was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

The woman sitting inside sewing seemed to sense that people had entered the room, and she laid down her needle and thread. When she looked up, she met the Ninth Prince's gaze, instantly displaying a look brimming with shock and profound longing.

Shen Hezhi had not expected this woman to act with such consummate skill, managing not to betray a single flaw upon their very first encounter.

That overwhelming display of shock and yearning—how she wished to make it appear as though she were truly his imperial mother! Yet, his own mother would never have worn such an expression of sheer shock, nor would she have gazed at him with such overt yearning.

If the person before him were genuinely his mother, he knew her well enough to realize that she would have worn an expression of utter helplessness and profound guilt.

He knew how deeply his mother had regretted entering the imperial palace and becoming an imperial consort. If given a second chance at life, she would never have chosen to step foot into the palace to serve the emperor.

Consequently, whenever his mother had looked upon him in the past, her heart had always been heavy with remorse, believing that she had failed to secure a bright and prosperous future for her son.

"Could you be... Zhi'er!" Upon seeing the Ninth Prince, the woman's emotions surged with increasing agitation, though she still maintained an air of desperate restraint.

Deep inside, Shen Hezhi sneered with utter contempt at the woman's performance, but on the surface, he maintained his customary cold and distant expression.

"Who are you?" Shen Hezhi asked, feigning complete ignorance.

Hearing this, the woman froze slightly, then offered a bitter, strained smile as she replied, "I am your mother! Having been apart from you for all these years, you are still blaming me in your heart, aren't you?"

Standing to the side, Yan Henu also sensed that something was amiss with the woman. However, when she turned to look at her husband, she caught a flash of cunning amusement in the depths of his eyes. Realizing that her husband had already formulated a plan, she wisely chose to remain silent.

Although Yan Hecheng was the youngest person present, he possessed a sharp and agile mind. Sensing that the atmosphere among the three adults was peculiar, he cast a sideways glance at his sister's expression.

Noticing that his sister wore the look of a spectator enjoying a fine show, he decided to follow her lead and detach himself from the situation. Standing completely apart like a mere passerby, he quietly watched the unfolding drama between the Ninth Prince and the woman.

"You claim to be my mother? That is impossible. I watched my mother being laid to rest with my own eyes. How could she possibly return from the dead after all this time? You must be an imposter trying to pass yourself off as my mother!" Although Shen Hezhi accused the woman of impersonation, his voice trembled with agitation, perfectly simulating a man who found the situation hard to believe while secretly yearning for it to be true.

Knowing the Ninth Prince's temperament well, Yan Henu nearly laughed out loud at his performance. Fortunately, her self-control was strong enough, and she managed to swallow the laughter at the very last crucial moment.

"I know that being separated from you for so many years has caused you immense pain. My feigned death back then was also my fault, but I truly did not die," the woman replied.

Hearing her words, Shen Hezhi deliberately amplified his look of shock and staggered backward a couple of steps in feigned disbelief.

As he stared at her as if words failed him, a fleeting, almost imperceptible trace of smug triumph crossed the woman's face.

Though that smile vanished in a split second and was extremely subtle, all three people present had already long since harbored deep suspicions regarding her true identity.

When Yan Hecheng had first heard that this woman was the Ninth Prince's mother, he had felt a measure of doubt, yet he had initially chosen to give her the benefit of the doubt. However, the moment he observed his sister's and the Ninth Prince's reactions, he realized instantly that they both doubted her.

Therefore, there was a very high probability that this woman was not the Ninth Prince's mother at all.

Armed with this realization, he comfortably settled into the role of a spectator, quietly waiting to see what game the woman was truly trying to play.

"But I clearly watched with my own eyes..." Shen Hezhi trailed off, leaving his sentence hanging.