What Chu Hengyuan held in his hand was nothing less than a human skin mask. The corpse inside the coffin had long since rotted into a pile of dry bones; only the opulent robes, accessories, and hair remained, along with this mask. The mask had been spread over the skull within the coffin, and the makeup depicted upon it was none other than that of Meng Wanqing.
Emperor Chujing took the mask. "Well done. Truly well done. What incredible nerve—to spirit someone away right under my very nose!" Once he had examined the mask, how could he fail to realize that he had been the victim of a conspiracy all those years ago?
Chu Hengyuan blamed himself. If he had only been a little more mature back then, if he had paid a little more attention to his mother, she would never have been taken away, and her fate would not be shrouded in such uncertainty today.
Chapter 288