OBS Chapter 1468 Discovery of the Human Skin Mask
Chapter 1468 Discovery of the Human Skin Mask
The yard was overgrown with weeds, and the autumn wind was bleak.
A single, thin coffin sat forlornly in the center of the dilapidated main room, without a single guard, making it appear exceptionally desolate.
Princess Wenshu stood in front of the coffin, her simple dress swaying slightly in the bleak wind.
Looking at the glaringly simple coffin, and thinking of the once dashing myna bird lying inside, her heart felt as if it were being tightly gripped by something, a bitter and indescribable ache welling up inside her.
Princess Wenshu turned her head and softly instructed the two maids accompanying her: "Open the coffin lid."
Upon hearing this, the two old women immediately showed hesitation and worry on their faces, and stepped forward to advise, "Princess, this...this may not be appropriate..."
"The one inside is, after all, a criminal, and he went there in such a manner... His appearance was probably indecent, and I'm afraid it offended you."
"Furthermore, what if His Majesty finds out..."
The old woman didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear.
Nangong Xuanche was a serious traitor, and his execution was a favor from the emperor. It is already a rare privilege that his body can be placed in a thin coffin.
As a princess of noble birth, she should not have come to see this ominous sight, much less touch it herself. If word gets out and displeases His Majesty, then the loss would be far greater than the gain.
Princess Wenshu naturally understood the concerns of the nannies.
She slowly turned around, looking calmly at the two old women, her gentle eyes now filled with deep sorrow: "Old women, I know you mean well."
"But what lies inside is, after all, my myna bird..."
At this point, Princess Wenshu paused, her gaze returning to the cold coffin: "My eighth brother treated me well when he was alive, but in the end... I didn't even get to see him one last time."
"Now that he's gone, all his sins have vanished. Can't I even let him leave with a little more dignity and cleanliness?"
Princess Wenshu's voice trembled slightly, her tone filled with suppressed sorrow: "Since Your Majesty has already granted Eighth Brother permission to leave his body intact, it means you don't want to go too far."
"I am here today only as a younger sister to see my brother off on his final journey, to clean his face and change his clothes so that he will not be too disheveled when he goes to meet our ancestors."
“My brother wouldn’t be so indifferent to even this small favor.”
Seeing Princess Wenshu's insistence, the nanny knew that further persuasion would be useless.
The eldest princess usually appears to be gentle, but once she makes up her mind about something, her stubbornness is unyielding and no one can change it.
She sighed, said no more, glanced at the coffin with concern, and then worked with another nanny.
The two men stepped forward and, with some effort, slowly moved the coffin lid, which was not yet nailed shut, open a crack.
A musty, woody smell, along with an indescribable odor, instantly filled the air...
Princess Wenshu took a deep breath, suppressing the tremor in her heart, and stepped forward: "You all go outside and keep watch."
"No one is allowed to enter without my permission."
The old woman opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only took a deep look at Princess Wenshu's thin back and said, "Yes."
"We old servants are right outside the door. If the Princess feels unwell, please be sure to call us."
After saying that, they retreated to the outside of the dilapidated door and gently closed the creaking wooden door.
The room was even dimmer, with only a few slivers of light filtering through the holes in the tattered window paper.
Princess Wenshu stood alone beside the coffin, gazing at the swollen, bluish-purple body inside, dressed in rough prison clothes. She closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, her eyes were clear.
She rolled up her sleeves, revealing her fair wrists, picked up a clean cloth prepared beside her, and dipped it into a basin of water.
Princess Wenshu wrung out a handkerchief and gently and carefully wiped away the dirt and unnatural bluish-purple tinges from Nangong Xuanche's face.
However, as soon as she started, she realized something was wrong.
This skin...
Princess Wenshu paused, looked closely, and indeed noticed that Nangong Xuanche's face was not quite plastered.
She reached out her hand, trembling, and her fingertips touched a sensation different from normal skin...
Princess Wenshu initially thought the wrinkles were caused by changes in the body.
But as she moved closer and examined the area more closely in the dim light streaming through the broken window, she discovered that the edges of Nangong Xuanche's skin were too neat, even slightly raised, which was definitely not normal...
An absurd and terrifying thought surfaced in Princess Wenshu's mind, making her blood seem to freeze in an instant...
She held her breath, her fingers trembling as she carefully dug at the edge with her fingernails and gently lifted it.
She slowly peeled off a layer of "skin" that was as thin as a cicada's wing and had a peculiar texture!
Beneath the mask was a completely unfamiliar face—that of a young man.
It's not Nangong Xuanche at all!
Princess Wenshu's hand trembled, and the damp handkerchief and the human skin mask she had just removed fell to the ground at the same time...
She staggered back a step, crashing into a cold pillar. Her face instantly turned deathly pale, and her eyes widened in utter shock.
This person is not a myna bird!
The myna bird... isn't dead?!
Who died?
Where did this incredibly intricate human skin mask come from?
Where is the myna bird now?
Countless questions flooded Princess Wenshu's mind, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
Bihen and the two nannies who were waiting outside the door heard the commotion and their hearts tightened. They exchanged a glance and saw worry in each other's eyes.
"The eldest princess?"
Bihen tentatively called out softly, but there was no response from inside.
Without further hesitation, the old woman pushed open the creaking wooden door, and the three of them quickly went inside.
Princess Wenshu was seen leaning against the coffin, her face deathly pale, one hand tightly clutching her chest.
Her eyes were fixed, as if she had just seen something extremely terrifying.
On the ground was a damp cloth and a thin, almost transparent object with slightly curled edges.
Bihen rushed forward to support Princess Wenshu, asking with concern, "Princess, what's wrong?"
The two old women hurried to the coffin and looked inside.
That one glance made them gasp instantly, their faces filled with horror!
"This this……"
An old woman pointed to the completely unfamiliar face in the coffin and exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't this...?"
"who is he?!"
Bihen followed the old woman's gaze and when she saw the true face of the corpse in the coffin, she was so frightened that she almost cried out and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
They were all Princess Wenshu's most capable and trusted people, often accompanying her to various royal banquets, and were very familiar with Nangong Xuanche's appearance.
The person in the coffin, although somewhat similar in build, clearly had the face of a stranger he had never seen before!