The Tyrant's Beloved Empress

66

Edited and Proofread by KitKat

What Hu Shifei brought was a crumbling old book. It was unknown where he got it from but, its cover had long been torn off and the pages had turned yellow.

He pointed excitedly to one particular paragraph and read out loud, "Beyond the Southern sea, there lived a tribe of people of mermaid descent. They were not classified by genders and were all physically attractive. The ones who bore the red marks were fertile. Those people were also skilled in weaving mermaid silk. Mermaid silk is impenetrable by any weapons. One foot is worth a thousand gold."

Physically attractive, red marks, fertility, these were all congruent with An Chang Qing's current situation.

Xiao Zhige re-read the passage several times. "Southern Sea mermaid tribe? I have never heard of it?"

He had heard of mermaids in folk tales being passed down from ancient times but legend had it that these creatures had a fish tail and repulsive appearance. They were also violent creatures that fed on humans. Although the stories might have been distorted over thousands of years, there had never been a single mention of a tribe that carried mermaid blood.

"I have never heard of it either," Hu Shifei's expression turned heavy, "Do you remember I once requested a portrait of Wangfei?"

At the time, An Chang Qing had gone to Hu Shifei's clinic in search of a cure for his mother's illness. Instead of monetary payment, Hu Shifei had demanded that he let him draw his portrait. Back then, he did not know that An Chang Qing was the Northern Warlord's Wangfei.

"I remember." Xiao Zhige nodded. He still had the portrait and was being properly stored.

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Hu Shifei stroked his beard and said, "Actually, I wanted Wangfei's portrait because a friend in Yu Ze had asked me to find a person in a painting. That person has at least six to seven points similar to Wangfei. I did not know Wangfei's identity at that time and wanted to draw his portrait and send it to him."

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Hu Shifei did not expect that An Chang Qing was the Northern Warlord's Wangfei and the portrait had also been taken away by Xiao Zhige. Furthermore, his friend was from the Yu Ze Empire, so it was highly inappropriate to send him the portrait of Da Ye Empire's Wangfei. Afraid of courting death, he just ignored the matter like it had never happened.

He had eventually forgotten all that but the recent events had reignited his curiosity about his friend's painting. He dug out the painting and upon close examination, found that the person in the painting also had a fish scale mark on their forehead.

"This is the painting. Wangye, please have a look." Hu Shifei took out the small scroll and laid it flat on the table.

The painting depicted a roughly sketched male figure with features very similar to An Chang Qing's, down to the mole under his eye.

The only difference was the position of the red marking. It was on the man's forehead which was partially covered by his hair while An Chang Qing's was behind his ear.

Xiao Zhige and An Chang Qing exchanged glances. They both thought of the portrait that Xue Wuyi had ordered his men to deliver to them. The person in the painting had hair covering his forehead and most likely, it was hiding the red mark as well.

The Xi Wei Empire, and now followed by the Yu Zer Empire, they all seemed to be searching for the person in the painting. Xiao Zhige's eyes darkened, "This absolutely has to stay a secret. I'll send more people to investigate."

Hu Shifei saw Xiao Zhige's gloominess and quickly agreed. He added, "Would you like me to inquire about the identity of the person in the painting? That friend of mine is a traveling doctor and loves to collect strange tales from around the world. Perhaps he might know more about the mermaid tribe."