Chapter 165: Chapter 148: Marquis Yisha
"Hah!"
What a touching mother-daughter embrace.
On the trial stage, the bloodstains Gu Deming left behind had not even been wiped clean.
Yu Lan lifted her gaze to meet Louisa’s, her lips moving without a sound.
’You’d better be careful. Don’t give me any leverage.’
’Otherwise, I won’t let you off.’
A vicious glint flashed through Louisa’s eyes as she was held in Queen Belina’s embrace.
Watching Yu Lan turn to leave, she knew their situation had long been one of mutual destruction; they were locked in a struggle to the death.
’Has she only just figured that out today?’
’Ridiculous.’
Louisa’s sweet, gentle voice piped up:
"Mother, why did Lanlan just turn and leave?"
"She didn’t even come up to check on me. Could it be that she resents me for not seeing through Gu Deming’s plot?"
Queen Belina’s voice was cold and mocking:
"Why do you care so much about what she does?"
"Gu Deming deserved to die and more. He almost got you imprisoned. If he hadn’t stepped forward to reveal the truth himself, then the Garbage Star..."
The rest of her words were lost to the wind.
Their paths had diverged.
After this incident,
Yu Lan had finally made up her mind.
Something called ambition—a desire for power—wrapped in a cloak of rage, burned wildly in her heart.
Between her and Louisa, it would be a fight to the death!
She took one last, long look at the two people embracing tightly on the trial stage.
Yu Lan turned and walked away from the stage.
Huo Zhanting and the others, waiting in the aristocrats’ section, were already at the entrance.
When they saw Yu Lan appear, they rushed forward.
Huo Zhanting said:
"Lanlan, don’t worry. I’ve already sent my men to follow the Garbage Star delegation."
"Nothing will happen to them."
Although he didn’t know what method Queen Belina had used to make Gu Deming confess,
the Garbage Star delegation had almost revealed the truth during the trial. Even though a middle-aged man had quickly stepped in to smooth things over,
there was no guarantee that Louisa and Queen Belina wouldn’t hold a grudge and send assassins after them.
That’s why, while still at the scene, Huo Zhanting had arranged for his own men to meet the delegation and escort them away.
Hearing this, Yu Lan breathed a sigh of relief.
She nodded, stepped forward, and suddenly hugged Huo Zhanting.
"Thank you."
Yu Lan was clearly emotional.
Even Pei Shiyi, who was prone to jealousy, stood quietly and waited for Yu Lan to compose herself.
Taken by surprise by the beautiful female’s embrace, Huo Zhanting reached out and patted her shoulder reassuringly.
His voice was steady and strong.
"Lanlan, don’t be afraid. We’re always here for you."
They would always support Yu Lan.
No matter what she wanted to do.
Not far away, Marshal Qi Jingshen of the Second Legion saw this, and his gaze darkened.
He sneered.
’Would the high-and-mighty nobles of the Empire really feel pity for the wretches from the Garbage Star?’
’This disgusting Central Star.’
’One day, I will bring it all down.’
An attendant quickly ran up to him.
"Marshal Qi, the Queen summons you."
Qi Jingshen concealed the scorn in his eyes, gave a slight nod, and followed the attendant’s direction.
Meanwhile, Yu Lan, Huo Zhanting, and the others were leaving in the opposite direction.
Like strangers crossing paths.
It was nothing more than that.
*
"Haaaah~"
Yu Lan took a deep breath, quickly composing herself.
She began to review the incident, replaying it in her mind frame by frame.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, she turned to the men beside her.
"Oh, right. Who was that woman standing next to the Queen today?"
"She looks so much like Queen Belina."
Su Xingye was quick to answer:
"That was Marquis Yisha."
"Queen Belina’s younger sister."
"She’s known for being virtuous, gentle, and poised."
"Back when Louisa was brought to the Imperial Palace to bond with Her Majesty the Queen, there were concerns that if Marquis Yisha remained on the Central Star, she might interfere."
"If there was any...collusion between internal and external forces..."
Su Xingye didn’t elaborate, simply raising an eyebrow at Yu Lan.
The succession struggles among the noble houses are already fraught with conflict, to say nothing of the Royal Family.
Marquis Yisha and Queen Belina are both SS-level females. But compared to Belina’s mediocrity, Marquis Yisha displayed a talent for governance from a young age.
She was gentle and kind, possessing a powerful empathy even for commoners.
She was widely adored.
At the time, countless people believed the throne was destined for Marquis Yisha; Belina was merely the elder sister.
But things turned out the complete opposite of what the great figures of the Central Star had predicted.
It was only later, after Yu Lan disappeared and Louisa was brought into the Imperial Palace to be groomed as the next queen, that many of the great figures who knew the history of the matter nodded to themselves in understanding.
It felt as though a destiny that had gone astray was finally being set back on the right track.
That’s why Louisa was always so popular on the Central Star; Marquis Yisha’s reputation was no small part of it.
So that Louisa could receive the full benefit of a Royal Family upbringing, Marquis Yisha voluntarily exiled herself to a Remote Star to keep her distance from the Royal Family.
This time, she only rushed back from the Remote Star because Louisa’s crime was so great, and she feared her daughter would truly be executed and she’d never see her again.
As the men took turns explaining the history to Yu Lan,
the truth, buried for years, began to slowly emerge.
Huo Zhanting and the others were intimately familiar with the affairs of the Central Star, but Pei Shiyi, a Merfolk from the Deep Sea Star, couldn’t get a word in edgewise.
Bored, he trailed behind the group, arms crossed, only half-listening.
Suddenly, he looked as if he’d realized something.
His eyes widened. He scanned Yu Lan’s features again and again, then quickly compared them to the image of Marquis Yisha in his mind.
He suddenly blurted out,
"Come to think of it, Lanlan, I think you and Marquis Yisha look a bit alike."
Pei Shiyi quietly added, for emphasis,
"Even more than you look like Queen Belina."
As soon as he said it,
Huo Zhanting and the others froze.
Li Yucheng, always the quick one to speak, shot back,
"That’s normal. I mean, Lanlan could call Marquis Yisha ’aunt.’"
"Besides, Queen Belina and Marquis Yisha already have a 70% facial similarity."
’Isn’t it normal for relatives to bear some resemblance to each other?’
’Wasn’t Yu Lan found on the Garbage Star precisely because her features resembled those of the Royal Family?’
’It was practically irrefutable proof of her bloodline.’
But Huo Zhanting, Jun Lin Yuan, Shen Zueran, and Su Xingye all furrowed their brows, their gazes intently scanning Yu Lan’s face.
The more they looked, the more startled they became.
A thrilling, nervous tremor washed over them, the feeling that they were on the verge of uncovering some great secret.
Even Shen Zueran, the calmest and most self-restrained of them, couldn’t help but add his final verdict:
"On closer inspection, the resemblance between Lanlan’s features and Marquis Yisha’s is indeed striking."
But what he left unsaid was,
that not even Louisa shared such a strong resemblance.
’Could it be...?’
