Using his teleportation skill, he traveled to Imperial City in an instant but it took time to return to the store.
Fortunately, the surveillance in the outer sector has reduced by a lot, or one should say it returned to usual, ever since Mark left the city for good.
So, Mark had it easy as he arrived at his destination, where Lan Jingyi was waiting upstairs living room.
Upon seeing him, she commented, "You really could teleport, huh."
"One of my many talents I suppose," Mark shrugged his shoulders and calmly sat down. Looking at her, he then asked, "So, what is it that Queen Consort Lan had to ask me that she visited me during the dusk and even threatened my sibling using false accusations?"
He planned to deny it until he cannot do so.
Lan Jingyi took a deep breath and replied in a serious tone, "Lan Ju has told me that you were the one who abducted Shang Jiao and you were also the mastermind behind this war. The gold dragon, the demon king from hell, and the zheng, all of them just followed your orders and played in the grand scheme of yours."
Mark didn't expect the zheng would reveal his plan. He decided to confront him but for the moment, he needed to handle this woman.
Since the ultimate defense of the store has been upgraded and even demigods are useless, Mark was confident that this biological mother of his was completely at his mercy.
Adding to the fact that she probably came to see him in secret, Mark planned to keep her as a prisoner in case the situation gets out of his hand.
Looking straight into her eyes without any fear, he leaned back and said, "If you think I did all those, then, you can inform your husband, the Emperor. Since I'm no longer a citizen of your empire, I won't attend the summoning of the imperial court but he can use his connections with Western Moon's King to confront me. Why come here?"
"You know why," replied Lan Jingyi.
"What do I know?" Mark responded with the question.
Lan Jingyi looked at the floor and took a deep breath before answering, "The fact that you are not the child of Lu Yimu and Yi Zexi. Emperor Shang is your true father and I'm your…"
"You are my biological mother," finished Mark in place of her. He actually didn't expect her to come out with the truth. But, her timing didn't make it any better. Why did it have to be when Shang Jiao was abducted?
Lan Jingyi nodded as she continued to look down at her feet, not intending to lock her eyes on her son, "Yeah."
Mark stared at her for a while. After ten seconds of silence, he asked slowly, "Since, when have you known the truth that I know it?"
"It's been a while," replied her mother. After a brief pause, she added, "Your sister told me about it after she accidentally heard you talking with Lan Jing."
Mark then asked, "Tell me honestly. If your daughter hasn't been abducted, this day would never come right?"
Lan Jingyi raised her head in shock, not expecting him to take it this way. She tried to defend herself, "No, it's not what you think. I wanted to tell you a lot of times but you have hatred for us in your heart. Trust me, I thought of revealing it to you after we become a little closer but the opportunity never came due to various events."
Mark's words hung heavily in the air as he let out a deep sigh, his voice filled with a somber tone. "Well, it may seem that time has slipped away, Queen Consort Lan," he uttered with a hint of resignation. "Your husband is a notorious skirt chaser who precedes him, and I haven't been honest in the imperial court either. As many as 46 illegitimate children were killed and that sin was on his head.
As for you, you are also a selfish individual who was willing to forsake the sect that nurtured you and even your own child for the pursuit of personal happiness. Regrettably, it appears that no matter what path you choose to redeem yourselves, forgiveness may remain elusive." The weight of his words reflected the depth of disappointment and skepticism in his heart.
"I don't believe I deserve forgiveness either, my son," Lan Jingyi replied with a heavy heart. "We cannot change the past, but we must find a way to create a better future. There must be something we can do to make amends and rebuild what has been broken." Her voice carried a mix of regret and determination as she looked into her son's eyes, hoping to convey her sincerity and willingness to make things right.
However, the darkness in Mark's heart made him blind to see her sincerity. He said, "In the future that I want to build, there is no place for you or your husband in my story, Queen Consort Lan. Nevertheless, you still gave birth to this body. Hence, I would thank you.
As for my so-called sister, don't worry. She is safe and sound. Unlike you, I don't do injustice to my family. I may have used her to keep you away from the war, but in return, I'm compensating for it by training her.
Rather than imprisonment, you can consider it like she was cultivating in seclusion. She will be returned very soon, but not before I see your husband's doom."
"Can you atleast let me meet her once?" asked Lan Jingyi, dropping her plans of freeing her. "I promise you that I will just talk to her once and leave. Yu can trust me on that."
Mark, however, didn't intend to listen to her request too. He denied it right away, "Sorry but I don't trust you. You are someone who was even willing to see your husband bow his head in humiliation rather than lending your strength. In fact, with your strength, you wouldn't need to send me away in secret.
You wouldn't have worried about giving birth to a baby without the potential to become a Spirit Warrior. You could just stop your husband as he played around with the lives of the women. With you helping your husband, he wouldn't have depended on the major noble clans and perhaps be more righteous in his rule.
The princes and the nobles would probably be more afraid of committing crimes against commoners. Just a word from you would have been enough to make Li Zheng Kang and your dear mother-in-law stop their nefarious schemes of killing the innocents in the name of protecting your family's dignity.
A demigod in the imperial family of Phoenix will bring the foreigners to come here and settle. The Phoenix Empire would have been more prosperous. The Phoenix Empire would have gotten more allies.
Perhaps, I would have grown up as a prince and probably look up to you, trying to work hard as I follow the path of righteousness.
But, you chose to hide your strength and behaved as if you are a civilian. Why? It's because you are afraid that your husband won't love you when he realizes that you are a demigod that can destroy his whole empire on a whim. He would fear you.
To protect your secret, you continued to act for decades as a helpless queen who cannot do anything about the issues in the empire.
Now, tell me. Do you think you are trusted worthy?"
