The Earthshaking Secret of Sworn Sisterhood (3)

Yvonne Li's golden serpent tail was enough to shake every last one of them to the core. Ivy Shen stared at the scene, so stunned she nearly stumbled. Lucian Vane rushed to steady her. "Ivy..."

"Are you scared?" Seeing Ivy's reaction, Yvonne Li frowned slightly. She knew just how dangerous her true identity was at a time like this.

"Mistress..." Lanny saw the flash of sadness on Yvonne's face and hurriedly called out, heart aching for her.

"You..." Ivy looked at her in disbelief. How could this be? How could this be? She...

She was actually her sister?!

Her real sister?!

Because in this world, nobody else could possibly have a golden tail—that's the exclusive trait of the Song Imperial Clan!

Right now, Ivy was sure: Yvonne had to be her half-sister. Her mother only gave birth to her and her sister, and at thirty-five, who else could she be? No way she's some random aunt, right?!

But if she was a princess, why was she left behind in the Serpent Realm? Plus, she looked a bit older—was there some deep, hidden secret behind all this?!

"Are you scared?" Yvonne saw Ivy so shocked and quickly retracted her tail, forcing a smile. "My tail surprised you, huh? Don't worry, I won't bring you any danger. The current Crown Prince and Empress have no idea I exist." That line made it clear she knew just how dangerous Cao Wan'er could be.

But Yvonne's next words actually helped Ivy let go, finally easing the weight on her heart.

"That was thirty-five years ago. The Emperor had just taken the throne, and the Empress Dowager was still alive. She wanted to strengthen her grip on the court, so she arranged for the Emperor to marry the prime minister’s daughter—Cao Wan’er, who’s now the Empress. My mom told me, back then the Emperor was only twenty, and Cao Wan’er was just fifteen. The Empress Dowager even spiked his wine with an aphrodisiac, hoping to force them together. But the Emperor didn’t stay in the room she set up—he left Cao Wan’er alone and just wandered off by himself."

When the drug started working, the Emperor ended up in the palace’s Peach Blossom Grove. It was March, and the whole grove was filled with peach blossoms. My mom hadn’t been in the palace much longer than a year, and she loved peach blossoms more than anything. That night, she sneaked out to pick petals for peach-blossom wine, and ran into the Emperor—who, totally out of it, mistook her for a peach-blossom fairy and took her to bed. That one night was how I came to be!" Yvonne explained.

Her words were obviously full of helplessness and pain.

Everyone listening couldn’t help but sigh. Ivy thought to herself: being part of the imperial family isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Just to win the court’s support, her own grandma would force Father Emperor and Cao Wan’er together. But if she knew her son would be killed by the very woman she tried to push onto the throne, would she regret it?!

"When your mom got pregnant, there’s no way Cao Wan’er would’ve let her off, right?" Butterfly Rogue pressed, unable to hold back.

"Back then, the Emperor hadn’t married Cao Wan’er yet. When the Empress Dowager found out, she wanted my mom beaten to death. The Emperor may not have really loved my mom, but since he’d slept with her, he begged the Empress Dowager to spare her. But the Empress Dowager said even if she let it go, the prime minister wouldn’t, and the Emperor needed their support—he couldn’t afford to offend anyone." Yvonne gave a bitter smile, knowing her mom was doomed to stay hidden away.

"The Emperor promised my mom: if she let her go, he’d marry Cao Wan’er as Empress. Later, my mom begged him not to make things hard for himself. She could tell he didn’t care for Cao Wan’er at all, but he told her—even if it wasn’t for her sake, he had no choice. The prime minister was untouchable, and he needed his army, so it had to be this way. After that, all the palace maids who knew about the pregnancy were silenced, and my mom was sent away. The Empress Dowager probably only spared her because I was imperial blood, so she gave my mom tons of money and let her live in luxury. But the catch was: my identity could never be revealed, or we’d be killed." Yvonne’s explanation laid everything bare.

"Did the Emperor ever visit your mom?" Ivy couldn’t help but ask. She suddenly felt Yvonne was even more pitiful than herself—at least her own mom was recognized and got to live openly with Father Emperor in the palace, even if it was only for a while. That sweetness was real.

Yvonne shook her head. "No, but he secretly sent her piles of jewels. That’s why my place is so fancy and why I have so much money." She lowered her head, voice choking with sadness. "But... but I don’t care about any of that. I’ve never even seen his face. He gave me life, but he took away my chance at fatherly love."

Seeing this, Ivy quickly hugged her. "It’s not that he didn’t want to come. If he’d ever visited your mom, Cao Wan’er would have found out, and then neither of you would have been safe. Back then, the Cao family was basically untouchable!"

"But... but I really want to meet him. I want to see what he looks like. You know, my mom loved him her whole life. She never remarried, and she said after that night in the Peach Blossom Grove, her heart was already gone. No matter what, she’d never love anyone else again."

"Sis..." Ivy thought, her own mom was the same—she gave up everything for love! But Ivy knew her mom didn’t regret it.

"My mom was so kind, she wouldn’t even step on an ant. She never fought for favor in the palace. She just wanted to stay there and watch him from afar... that was enough for her."

Listening to Yvonne’s sobbing, Ivy’s heart ached. It was all because of her, all because of Cao Wan’er, that they lost their childhoods.

"When my mom was dying, all she did was mutter his name. I wanted so badly to go to the palace and find him, but she wouldn’t let me. She was afraid for me. Back then, there were no heirs in the palace, and the ones that did exist kept dying mysteriously. My mom said that had to be Cao Wan’er’s doing. She wouldn’t let me take the risk, so she kept her love buried deep in her heart." Yvonne cried as she clung to Ivy, recounting the past.

"I know."

"Why did she have to be so cruel? Didn’t she love him? If she loved him, why kill all those innocent unborn children?" Yvonne’s voice was thick with grief.

"That’s just how imperial families are." What a tragedy, honestly!

"Xin’er..." Yvonne couldn’t hold back and cried even harder. Years of repression, and she’d never told anyone until now. Telling Ivy was a risk, but if fate was kind, she’d finally found someone genuine. If not—well, she’d accept whatever came.

"Stop crying," Ivy lifted her up and wiped away her tears. "Seriously, if you keep crying you’re gonna look ugly!"

"Pfft!" Yvonne couldn’t help but laugh at Ivy’s comment.

"Don’t be sad, because I’ve never met him either. I’ve never seen our Father Emperor!" Ivy said, word by word, very seriously.

Yvonne froze, and after a few seconds, frowned. "Sis, what did you just say...?"

"I said, I’ve never met our Father Emperor either!" Ivy smiled softly, then shifted—and a golden serpent tail, identical to Yvonne’s, appeared behind her.

"Ah!" Yvonne gasped, quickly covering her mouth in shock. She... she’s a princess too?!