Chapter 109 Zi Ji of the Great Zhou Dynasty
「Central Continent!」
Eleven years ago, the current Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, while incognito on a personal expedition, traversed various lands and chanced upon a commoner woman, with whom he ultimately fell in love. He lived with her for several months in a small village before he departed. However, he was unaware that the commoner woman was already pregnant with his child. A year later, she gave birth to a daughter, whom she named Zi Ji.
When Zi Ji was three years old, the commoner woman brought her to the Emperor. The news of their arrival caused a sensation throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty. Speculation ran rampant within the royal family. Many officials in the imperial court, eager to protect the Emperor’s reputation, repeatedly advised him to have the commoner woman and the child executed. The Empress at the time was even more ruthless, dispatching assassins to eliminate the commoner woman and three-year-old Zi Ji. Miraculously, they both narrowly escaped death each time. The Emperor, enraged upon learning of these attempts, was constrained by his imperial dignity and could not openly intervene. He could only secretly arrange for the commoner woman and Zi Ji to be sent away.
However, they could not escape their tragic fate. On a day of torrential rain, the commoner woman lay dying in a pool of her own blood, leaving behind only a letter with her last words: "You are well! I miss you."
The Emperor, consumed by imperial fury and no longer concerned with his imperial dignity, stormed with a group of Imperial Guards into a dilapidated courtyard. There, he found three-year-old Zi Ji. She was curled up in a corner, drenched by the rain, her small body trembling, her lips pale. She was diligently obeying her mother’s instruction not to make a single sound. Only upon seeing the Emperor did she finally faint. When she awoke, the Emperor had brought her back to the Imperial Palace.
As the illegitimate child of a commoner, Zi Ji had no status to speak of. After entering the palace, she was repeatedly humiliated and bullied. Even some palace maids would beat and kick her, making her life one of constant suffering. Yet, Zi Ji endured it all without a word of complaint. The Emperor, consumed by guilt, visited her every few days. Still, Zi Ji never complained, silently bearing everything.
One day, she fainted. The Emperor happened to arrive just then and, upon seeing the scene, flew into a rage. He ordered a thorough investigation to find the perpetrator, vowing that if the culprit was found, their entire clan, down to the ninth degree of relations, would be exterminated. The true culprit, fearing discovery, framed a palace maid. In his fury, the Emperor did indeed order the extermination of the maid’s entire clan; even distant relatives could not escape execution. After this incident became known, Zi Ji’s life finally began to improve.
Thereafter, the Emperor ordered people to teach her to read, paint, play music, and dance, but Zi Ji remained unmoved, as lifeless as a piece of wood. Even when the Emperor spoke to her, she would just tilt her head, wearing a baffling expression. If not for a King Tao powerhouse in the palace who chanced upon Zi Ji’s innate talent, it would have been completely overlooked. Zi Ji was no fool; she was an unparalleled genius.
As news of this spread, it once again caused an uproar throughout the imperial court and the land. The faction of the imperial harem was particularly displeased. Since Zi Ji had entered the palace, the Emperor had grown colder toward them, sometimes not gracing them with his presence for weeks. Now that Zi Ji’s talent has been discovered, if she begins to cultivate, will we in the harem ever see the Emperor again? they wondered. And what about the Princes and Princesses? Will they be ruthlessly cast aside by the Emperor?
Driven by these fears, they tried every means to assassinate Zi Ji, even attempting to prevent her from accessing cultivation. Some, more vicious, schemed to cripple her Dantian. Fortunately, with the protection of the King Tao powerhouse, Zi Ji was spared from these calamities.