Chapter 106 My Mother's Surname Is Zhao?

Lu Jinlan's heart leaped into her throat. "Who is that person?"

"Gu Huaiyu".

"Gu Huaiyu, does she have any other name?" Lu Jinlan remembered very clearly that in the memories given to her by the system, Lu Jinzhao called that woman Feiqing.

Ling Zhijing said, "No, Gu Huaiyu is just Gu Huaiyu. He is a man with outstanding looks and refined temperament, who is unforgettable at first sight."

"A man?" Lu Jinlan was a little confused.

Ling Zhijing continued, "To be precise, you don't resemble one person, you resemble two people. Because Gu Huaiyu has an older sister who looks like him, named Gu Feiqing."

Lu Jinlan stared wide-eyed, her heart pounding like a drum.

Ling Zhijing closed her eyes, tilted her head slightly, and recalled the past.

The aged voice slowly said, "The last time I saw them was many years ago, almost eighteen years ago. That year, the late emperor was seriously ill, and the princesses were fighting openly and secretly for the throne."

"The late emperor had more than twenty daughters. One day, the most inconspicuous princess came to me, asking my sister and me to use the power of the entire Ling clan to help her ascend the throne. The person who was with her at the time was Gu Feiqing, who was then the commander of the Five Cities Garrison."

Mentioning her younger sister, Ling Zhijing's emotions welled up.

"Actually, if the Emperor hadn't poisoned my sister Zhichong, I wouldn't have taken such a desperate gamble and ended up like this today."

Lu Jinlan was eager to hear about their past, and seeing that the topic was about to veer off course, she quickly said, "The deceased is gone, don't think about it too much. Let's go back to what happened back then. Was the princess who came looking for you the current emperor?"

Ling Zhijing nodded slightly. "Yes, it's her. I've been thinking about it these past few days, and I'm really not convinced."

"In terms of foundation, my Ling family has prospered for three dynasties and is the number one clan in the world. In terms of strength, we both have hundreds of thousands of troops at our disposal, and we can launch an attack with a wave of our hand. But she ended up with a divine general like you, who turned the tide of the crisis and turned defeat into victory for her."

"Tell me, why is God so unfair to me? Where did I go wrong?"

Lu Jinlan sighed. It seemed that she wouldn't continue unless he helped her resolve this inner conflict.

Lu Jinlan said, "I'll help you review and analyze the situation. Tell me everything you know, okay?"

Ling Zhijing's dark eyes suddenly lit up. "Alright, I'd love to hear your opinion on me and the Emperor."

Lu Jinlan thought for a moment, "Actually, I haven't had much contact with any of you. But judging from some things, and to be honest, and don't take offense, I don't think any of you are good people."

Ling Zhijing chuckled, "You hit the nail on the head, that's right, go on."

Lu Jinlan said, "You said that back then, your Ling family gave their full support to help the Emperor ascend the throne. Before the situation was settled, you did something that could cost you your lives. Although there must have been many exchanges of interests involved, you were fighting side by side and should trust each other."

"But after the dust settled, you clearly had disagreements. You suspected, distrusted, guarded against, and opposed each other, even to the point of sacrificing the country and its people. This is neither the way of a ruler nor the way of a subject."

Ling Zhijing took a deep breath. "Back then, we discussed many terms of exchange. She made promises before the uprising, but she went back on her word after ascending the throne."

Lu Jinlan said, "Although I don't know the specific conditions you discussed, from what I've observed, the power of your Ling family is far too great. You hold military power and your army only obeys your orders, not the Emperor's."

"As an emperor, she finally climbed to the highest position, only to find that her power had been usurped. How could she bear it? She was bound to settle scores."

Ling Zhijing sneered, "If stripping her of her power means she has to settle scores, then she'll have to settle scores with more than just me."

Lu Jinlan said, "Then she will definitely settle accounts with as many as she can, it just depends on whether she has the opportunity."

"In your case, you may feel that she broke her promise first, and you harbor resentment, so you compete with her in many things."

“You keep reminding her that you have the strength to stand up to her. Maybe you still look down on her in your heart, and you think that if it weren’t for you, she would never have become the emperor.”

"But you've overlooked the most important thing: the situation has changed. She has become the emperor, the supreme ruler, above all others."

"You're still resentful about what happened back then, but a new situation has begun. If you don't submit, you'll pay the price."

"Would someone like her allow you to challenge her imperial authority time and time again?"

Ling Zhijing lowered her head and remained silent.

Lu Jinlan continued, "You just said you didn't know where you lost. I think you lost in many ways. For example, you acted too impulsively. That time you invited us to dinner, you knew the eldest princess was there, but you still deliberately acted rudely. She and her mother both couldn't stand that kind of cold treatment."

"Many things may seem like small things, but they can be like needles, piercing people's hearts and causing them to hold grudges to this day."

"Although I am young, I know that the biggest taboo in dealing with people is to only think about oneself and never about others."

"Actually, if you don't do that, it won't affect you at all, but you insist on doing it. You can't stand the people you've helped to rise to high positions acting superior to you."

"But people can't stand you either. You always act like you're not where you are today without me. If you were the emperor, would you allow someone like that to exist?"

Ling Zhijing looked at her, "Are you saying I lost because of my attitude?"

Lu Jinlan shook her head. "No, that was just the cause of the conflict, not the outcome. I think you lost in two ways: first, you misjudged people, and second, you colluded with the enemy."

“I’ve noticed that you particularly like to promote your relatives. If the relatives are good, then it’s fine to use them, but I don’t think the people you use are very good either. You’re not in the army, and the generals you send are not good either, so it’s no wonder you can’t win.”

"Of course, the second point is the most important: you shouldn't have done this. It may seem like you've got the Emperor under your control, but you've actually found yourself on a dead end."

“Those soldiers have eyes; you can’t treat them like fools. Selling out your country incurs the wrath of both gods and men. Once everyone understands this, will they still fight for you?”

Ling Zhijing frowned. "Back then... I was desperate. She forced me into a corner. My sister was dead, and I was next."

She rubbed her temples. "So, from the very beginning, I was caught off guard and entered a situation I was destined to lose?"

Lu Jinlan said, "Not necessarily, it's just that the timing of the advance was bad. At first, we were at a loss as to whether to advance or retreat, and later we were wavering between advancing and retreating. We were unwilling to take a step back, but we didn't have the determination to take a step forward, and it dragged on for seventeen or eighteen years. If you had made a decision earlier, the result might not have been like this."

Ling Zhijing looked at her in surprise, a hint of admiration on her lips. "You really are able to see things from other people's perspectives. You're right! Hesitating and wavering will only lead to missed opportunities, leaving you unable to advance or retreat, ultimately resulting in a desperate gamble that ends in utter defeat."

She paused for a moment, then suddenly asked Lu Jinlan, "If you were me, wouldn't you have rebelled long ago?"

Lu Jinlan hugged the iron bars of the prison door and thought seriously for a moment. "Not necessarily. If I don't have a sure chance of winning, I won't get involved in this mess. Is it worth risking my life and fortune to gamble on an uncertain outcome?"

"It's not like we can't afford to live. Those with nothing to lose aren't afraid of those wearing shoes. If that's the case, then it's like risking your life, daring to bring down the emperor. Why give up a good life and gamble with the lives of your whole family?"

Ling Zhijing smiled and shook her head, "If an opportunity to become emperor were presented to you, could you remain unmoved?"

Lu Jinlan said, "That depends on how much I have to pay. The path to becoming emperor will inevitably involve traversing mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Being emperor is certainly good, but fate doesn't bestow generous gifts for no reason; I will inevitably have to exchange something for it."

Ling Zhijing nodded. "That's right. If you had to trade the destruction of your family and the betrayal of everyone for the throne, would you do it?"

"No way!" Lu Jinlan answered firmly, then questioned resentfully, "Why? I don't want to lose my family and friends. Nothing is worth exchanging for everything I cherish now. I won't trade!"

Ling Zhijing sighed, "You understand very well, but sometimes fate doesn't give you a choice."

“After listening to your words, I understand a lot of things. But I’m still not convinced. She’s just luckier than me. But what is there about someone like her that I should submit to? If it happened again, I would still fight her to the death.”

"She was an ambitious and greedy person who would trade anything for supreme power, including family, friendship, love, and even the life of her beloved. What kind of heroine was she? I only admit that I am inferior to her in one aspect, and that is that she had a good daughter."

Lu Jinlan thought to herself: Zhao Zhiyu isn't much better than Ling Zhaoren, and your judgment of people isn't very good either.

But then Ling Zhijing said, "I'm not talking about Zhao Zhiyu. What's so good about her? She is indeed good at studying and quite talented. But in my cold eyes, she can only be described as cunning and ruthless, but lacking in magnanimity. She has short-sightedness but no great wisdom."

"In terms of vision, courage, and boldness, she is not as good as her mother, much less as good as you. She may be able to be a powerful minister, but if no one restrains her as an emperor, she will likely become a tyrant."

Lu Jinlan leaned her head against the railing and listened silently. The conversation drifted further and further away, and she was anxiously waiting for Ling Zhijing to return to the main topic.

However, when Ling Zhijing looked at her with an extremely complicated expression, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. A certain possibility popped into her mind.

"You...who else could you have been talking about if not Zhao Zhiyu?"

Ling Zhijing: What do you think?

Lu Jinlan's heart skipped a beat. "My mother... does my mother's surname include Zhao?"

Ling Zhijing sighed softly, "The last time I saw Gu Huaiyu, he was heavily pregnant and about to give birth. Your birthday should be in June."

Lu Jinlan gripped the railing tightly and asked anxiously, "Is my mother the current emperor?"

Ling Zhijing said, "It might be, or it might not be."

Lu Jinlan said urgently, "Don't give me such ambiguous answers, I want to hear the truth."

Ling Zhijing sighed, "Gu Huaiyu is her legal husband, and you should be her daughter, but your character is nothing like hers. You are so romantic, you really have nothing to do with that Zhao guy."

"You've probably already met her, and she certainly knows better than I whether you're her daughter. But she has no intention of acknowledging you, so why are you so insistent?"

Lu Jinlan pursed her lips. "She doesn't acknowledge me, and I don't acknowledge her either. But I want to know the truth about what happened back then. How did my... biological father die? Was someone chasing my aunt and me when I was just born?"

Ling Zhijing shook her head. "What use is the truth to you? You just made it clear that you cherish everything you have now. Since you have no desire for the throne, don't acknowledge her, and don't investigate the truth of what happened back then. Otherwise, you will lose a lot, and you will definitely regret it."

“I originally intended to tell you everything, but after talking to you so much, I changed my mind. I heard that you pleaded for my daughter, and I am grateful for your kindness. You are a person of integrity, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

"Don't ask again, and don't come again. It's best not to let anyone know that you saw me today, lest you bring disaster upon yourself."

Lu Jinlan was unwilling to give up and kept arguing with her for a while, but Ling Zhijing remained silent, determined to take the secret to her grave.

The jailer came to urge him, "Lord Lu, let's go, it's getting late. It's against the rules for me to let you in, and if someone finds out, I'll be in deep trouble too."

Lu Jinlan nodded and took out two silver notes from his pocket and handed them to her.

The jailer hurriedly declined, saying, "Lord Lu, you're too kind. I only let you in because I admire your reputation, I have no ulterior motives."

Lu Jinlan said, "Take it, consider it my treat for drinks. Don't tell anyone I came, and also..."

She glanced at Ling Zhijing and said to the jailer, "This person is about to leave. She's getting on in years, so make sure she gets some good food and drink and doesn't suffer anymore."

The jailer hurriedly said, "Then I'll take it. Don't worry, I'm the one in charge here."

When Lu Jinlan came out of the prison, she was filled with anxiety and didn't know where to go.

She wanted to confront Lu Jinzhao about what happened back then, and she also considered confronting Zhao Mincheng face to face, but in the end she decided to keep the secret to herself and keep quiet.

She rode her horse to the outskirts of the city and lay in the quiet, deserted forest for an afternoon.

She made the system play that distant memory on a loop, watching Gu Feiqing fight to the death with her pursuers while she was still an infant. Lu Jinlan was torn with inner turmoil.

She really wanted to know what kind of expectations Gu Feiqing had when he risked his life to protect her and used his last bit of strength to deliver her to Lu Jinzhao.

Is the hope that this child will grow up to avenge the Gu siblings? Or is the hope that she can live a peaceful life?

Ling Zhijing wouldn't lie to her; people on their deathbeds tend to speak kindly, so there's no reason for her to lie.

Does Ling Zhijing's advice against investigating the truth of what happened back then mean that the people involved in the truth are right next to her?

If the prophecy of family ruin, death, and betrayal is true, it means the other party holds a high position of power.

She was already the Marquis of Jing'an, and there were only a few people above her. Who could possibly cause her family to be destroyed and her people to turn against her?

Is it Zhao Mincheng? Or someone else, someone in a high position of power?

Lu Jinlan dared not think any further. The sun was setting in the west, dusk was falling, and it was already dark.

She should go home; her family, young and old, are all waiting for her to return.

Lu Jin returned to Zhongyong Garden in a daze, and as soon as he entered the gate, he suddenly heard a loud bang.

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Author's Note: Don't panic! I said the ending is coming soon, not immediately. The main story will be finished around the end of the month. This is the last arc, and I don't want to spoil it, but I can say that many, many things will happen. Please remember that this is a happy ending, a satisfying story. The process may be winding, but the ending will definitely be good. I can't say more, but please believe this. After the main story ends, there will be some side stories. Because it's the last arc, there are many serious matters to attend to, and I want to resolve the foreshadowing from earlier chapters, so there won't be much room for unserious content. But I've already thought of the side stories. To put it simply, after fighting for so many years, can't we at least enjoy ourselves? After finishing our serious business, we must showcase the ultimate enjoyment of imperial life. Report complete. I will remain silent from now on. Rest assured, I'll take my leave.