The woman on the stage opened her veil slowly, showing her face and it made the people around gasp in surprise. The woman was beautiful and it was a face that they would never forget... Not only because of its beauty, but also due to the scandal that had happened a long time ago.
People used to feel curious about what kind of beauty could make the current Han Emperor so besotted ah~! Thus, they kept trying to see the Ce Fei but failed. Until one day, the Han Emperor brought her to a banquet once. They knew that he just wanted to boast about the Ce Fei but they really couldn"t forget her beauty and she was even far more beautiful and elegant than his current favorite concubine. No wonder the Han Emperor really treasured her back then.
Besides, no one would ever forget a woman who chose to abandon a wealthy life as a Ce Fei and run away. No one knew the real reasons why she had run away, but they had made a guess... probably because she found a new man that she loved wholeheartedly. Otherwise, there was no possible explanation.
They knew how the Ce Fei didn"t love the Han Emperor at that time and that was the reason why they were sure that the Ce Fei had a new love, but they didn"t dare to say it out loud.
The older officials knew who that face belonged to and they were trembling in fear ah~! How could she appear here out of nowhere? There had been no news about her for so long... Was... was she dead? But... But why did her ghost appear here?
No real human would be able to stay as young as the ghost ah~!
"Ce... Ce Fei?" One of the older officials asked loudly while looking at the ghost with white eyes.
The ghost looked at the official who had just talk with wide eyes. The color of the skin that was surrounding her eyes were red and it looked so scary, making the older official regret his rashness to talk. He really wanted to slap his mouth because he made the ghost pay attention to him. What if she took him to the afterlife ah~?!
The ghost talked in a soft and broken voice which made their gooseb.u.mps appear once more. "You... you... know me?" She glared at him with a venomous look, like she was ready to devour him any time soon which made the old man almost peed his pants in fear. He wanted to run but her intense gaze made him root on the spot --- he couldn"t go anywhere. No, not couldn"t, but he didn"t dare to.
The older official could only close his eyes and didn"t dare to do anything at all. All of them had already believed that this woman was indeed a ghost. A ghost who seemed to come with a purpose. Did... Did the Han Emperor do something to her?
After that, the audiences" gazes turned to the Han Emperor at the same time --- they wanted to see the latter"s expression.
The Han Emperor couldn"t take his eyes away from the ghost"s face. They could see a lot of feelings from the Han Emperor"s expression --- fear, trepidation, yearn, love, and miss all at once. Above all, they could see his guilt. It made them start to realize that their guess might have been true.
She came because of the Emperor ah~!
The Han Emperor was still looking at the Ce Fei"s ghost intensely.
It... It was his Ce Fei... He also believed in the same thing as the others --- she was really a ghost, but he didn"t mind --- as long as he could see her once again. So many thoughts were fleeting inside his mind, but the memories of the past that he had been tried to lock... started to appear once again. His guilt... His love for his beloved Ce Fei. Honestly... she was the only one that he had ever loved wholeheartedly.
He had so many women but no one would be able to make his heart beat faster --- he just enjoyed their body, no more and no less. In a sense, he was only loyal to his Ce Fei ah~! The Han Emperor was really sick in his mind.
Because she had never reciprocated his love, the Han Emperor had made a lot of mistakes and bad decisions that he had regretted. He really had pushed her away. The Han Emperor didn"t realize that there were tears in his eyes.
The Empress Dowager was a Budha believer and no matter how strong her mentality was, she was already old --- thus, she was among the first batch of fainted people. Fortunately, she was helped by her personal Mo Mo or else, she might have fallen down from her seat. This was really a birthday to remember for her.
The wicked concubine"s face went paler and she was trembling in fear. If... If the Ce Fei really had turned into a ghost, she knew that she would be her number one target. No... Maybe number two, after the main culprit --- the Emperor. After all, she was the mastermind behind her demise. She had done all that just to strengthen her position in the harem. She shook her head... No... No... She didn"t believe in ghost!
She wouldn"t let anyone ruin her plan, her life, and her revenge --- even if her enemy was a ghost!
"Your... Your Majesty... I don"t believe that she"s really a ghost!" The wicked concubine quickly said. When the ghost heard what she said, the ghost turned her attention to her. The ghost smirked while showing her b.l.o.o.d.y teeth.
"You... don"t believe me...? Good! I will bring you along to the afterlife, so you can enjoy h.e.l.l!" The ghost said slowly with a maniacal laugh. The music turned louder and scarier when the ghost started to talk. The ghost walked again within the smoke, thus, no one could see the ghost"s feet.
Yao Ling who played the qujin saw her from behind. She couldn"t believe how clever the effect that they made, however, it involved a lot of people to make it this believable. The stage was quite high and some people were hiding under the stage while letting out smoke slowly so that the fog would look more real.
The wicked concubine fell down from her seat and Xiao Fang knew that she shouldn"t push her too hard. She needed to let the Han Emperor admit what had really happened to her mother with his mouth before she dragged this wicked concubine down along with the Emperor!
The Empress also felt scared at first but she could see how agitated the wicked concubine was. The woman was always so calm and it was hard to make her show any other expression --- except smug and taunting. Did she see the fear in her expression?
The Empress gripped her handkerchief tighter, trying to stop her tremble by hurting herself so that the pain could defeat her fear. She didn"t care whether she would be hurt in the process, but she needed to regain her sanity and use this chance.
She squinted her eyes and knew that something wasn"t right. Did she do something to the Ce Fei that made her look so scared? "Interesting!" The Empress thought inwardly. She smirked without realizing it. She had lost her mind a long time ago because of this woman and she didn"t even care about anything because this woman had ruined her family.
An Empress without a powerful background... she became nothing!
If the ghost was that woman"s enemy, then she could even become friends with a ghost! That was how much she hated the wicked concubine!
The Empress quickly said, "No... No... That is really a ghost! Your Majesty... she... she has no feet!"