Chapter 138 The Identity of the Heavenly Decree

"What! How is this possible!"

Zhou Jiming was the first to speak up in rebuttal; his favorability toward Emperor Xirui far exceeded that toward Gu Huiming.

Furthermore, he had grown up with Xiruidi and considered him family, so he simply couldn't believe he would do such a thing.

Gu Huiming ignored him and instead stared at Shao Yanzhe with great interest, wanting to see how he would react after hearing the information.

Shao Yanzhe seemed not to have heard him, and looked at him to ask, "Prime Minister Gu, you came here in person, surely not just to say this?"

Seeing this, Gu Huiming couldn't help but feel a little bored.

"Of course not. I heard you met with His Majesty before?" He looked at the group.

"right."

Gu Huiming looked at him with a smile: "Then do you know your identity?"

Shao Yanzhe was taken aback. He recalled the original owner's memories, but there was nothing special about them.

However, since Gu Huiming asked this question, then there must be something wrong with the original owner's identity.

Combining his previous question with the melodramatic novels and TV series he had read in his past life, he came to a conclusion.

"Don't tell me I'm His Majesty's child who was lost away from home."

Gu Huiming: ...

Gu Huiming: ...

"You know?" He looked at Shao Yanzhe in shock.

Zhou Jiming and the others couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

What!

Shao Yanzhe is actually a prince!

Gu Huiming's mood soured as he was deprived of his enjoyment.

"Where did you learn that?" he guessed. "It couldn't have been His Majesty who told you, could it?"

Shao Yanzhe shook his head: "No, did His Majesty tell me? Don't you, Chief Minister Gu, know best?"

Gu Huiming was truly baffled this time. He asked, "So where did you find out? Who told you?"

Shao Yanzhe looked at Gu Huiming with an innocent expression: "I didn't know before. I only guessed it from the question that the Prime Minister just asked."

After he finished speaking, he smiled and said, "Now it seems that I guessed right."

Gu Huiming didn't believe he could guess. He guessed that he must have learned about this from someone but hadn't made it public.

"Where did Chief Minister Gu find out? After all, even His Majesty doesn't know about this."

Gu Huiming sighed, but made no attempt to hide anything.

"Of course I know. Your mother was a palace maid who was about to leave the palace. She was favored by His Majesty after drinking, but she did not want to stay in the palace. So she left while His Majesty was still asleep. When the day came for her to leave the palace, she went back to her hometown on her own. Later, she married a hunter in the village and then gave birth to you."

Shao Yanzhe thought to himself, "Just as I thought."

"If that's the case, how can Chief Minister Gu be so sure that I am His Majesty's child?"

Gu Huiming glanced at him and said, "Of course I have my own way."

"So, Prime Minister Gu, you might as well speak frankly. We are about to leave Kyoto to take up our posts, and time is running out." Shao Yanzhe was a little impatient.

Gu Huiming stared at him and smiled: "Alright, the reason I came here this time is actually just to remind you to be careful of His Majesty."

Zhou Jiming finally recovered from the shocking information he had just received, and then he heard these words.

"Brother Shao is His Majesty's child, how could His Majesty possibly harm him!"

Gu Huiming smiled and shook his head: "His Majesty is old, but he will not be willing to abdicate. You have told His Majesty the secret of our body replacement. So, what do you think His Majesty will think?"

Shao Yanzhe seemed to understand something, and soon guessed it.

Zhou Jiming, standing to the side, said confidently, "His Majesty will definitely find a way to bring you to justice!"

Gu Huiming stared at Shao Yanzhe: "You guessed it?"

Shao Yanzhe nodded slowly, looking down at his fingertips.

Zhou Jiming took a deep breath and began to discard his romanticized view of Emperor Xirui, treating him as the supreme emperor.

If an emperor is old and frail, and has only one young and vigorous child, and happens to know a way to continue living and maintaining power.

What will he do?

Zhou Jiming's breathing became heavier and heavier. He suddenly closed his eyes, not wanting to think about it anymore.

But the thoughts in his mind suddenly became beyond his control and provided the answer to the question.

Blood ties and kinship are as fragile as a candle in the wind when faced with immortality.

Not to mention that His Majesty and Shao Yanzhe had never spent time together; it could be said that there was no emotional foundation between them.

Choosing between the two was not particularly difficult for His Majesty.

No matter what, His Majesty is still the emperor.

Gu Huiming stood up from his chair, straightened his sleeves, and looked at Shao Yanzhe.

"Alright, I've said everything I wanted to say. You'd better give up your idea of ​​leaving Kyoto to take up your post as soon as possible; His Majesty will not allow it."

After saying that, he flicked his sleeve and left without looking back.

With Gu Huiming's departure, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

Zhou Jiming, Wen Yanqing, and the others looked at Shao Yanzhe sitting in the chair, their eyes filled with worry.

At this moment, Shao Yanzhe did not think about his current situation. Instead, he thought of the spider he first saw when he first came to this world.

Just now, when Gu Huiming got up to leave, he saw the same pattern as the spider in the fluttering corner of the other person's robe.

For some reason, he had a gut feeling that the spider was related to Gu Huiming.

He frowned. Could it be that Gu Huiming was responsible for the original owner's death?

Zhou Jiming glanced at Shao Yanzhe every now and then, and saw him shaking his head and frowning, looking like he had been hurt. He wanted to say something to comfort him.

"Brother Shao, don't be sad. What Gu Huiming said may not be true."

Upon hearing this, Shao Yanzhe couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

"Of course I'm not sad. Your Majesty and I are just strangers who have met a few times."

As he spoke, he looked at the group with a smile and said, "Have you all forgotten that I am not myself?"

Zhou Jiming and the others immediately realized that they had forgotten that Brother Shao was from another world. Apart from sharing the same physical bloodline as His Majesty, he was not actually His Majesty's child.

"That's good." Zhou Jiming breathed a sigh of relief.

The group sat down, but their expressions were far from relaxed.

"What should we do next? Since Chief Minister Gu said you can't leave the capital, His Majesty must have already sent people to keep an eye on us. It won't be easy to leave." Wen Yanqing picked up the tea beside him, took a sip, and frowned, looking somewhat troubled.

Zhou Jiming sighed and said dejectedly, "If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have been better off not coming to Kyoto in the first place."

Shao Yanzhe patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Alright, Brother Zhou, there's no need to be like this. What's done is done, and there's no use in regretting it now. It's better to find a way to solve the current problem."

Zhou Jiming immediately looked up at him and asked expectantly, "Brother Shao, do you have some ideas?"

Shao Yanzhe shook his head: "I haven't thought of anything yet. However, the information I received today has given me some other ideas. I'll think about it carefully and then I'll tell you."

"Oh well."

Shao Yanzhe looked at the others and asked, "What about you? Are you also leaving Kyoto to take up your posts?"

Although he already had the answer in his heart, he still asked.

“No, Brother Shao, you are in such a dangerous situation. As your friends, how could we leave? Although we are not very strong, we still want to stay. Maybe we can help you sometime.”

"Thank you!" Shao Yanzhe was deeply moved. He had never expected that he would gain several close friends after coming to this unfamiliar world.

Wen Yanqing, who had been sitting to the side, glanced outside before speaking, "Brother Shao, I have an idea. I wonder if you would like to hear it?"

Shao Yanzhe looked at her and said, "Why don't you tell me about it?"

The others also focused their attention on her.

Wen Yanqing smiled and said, "It seems that a tremendous change is about to happen in the capital. We are of lowly status and cannot do anything about it. But now, Brother Shao, your status has given us an opportunity."

Zhou Jiming: "What opportunity?"

Wen Yanqing glanced at him: "Of course, it's an opportunity to become a pawn."

Zhou Jiming frowned: "What kind of opportunity is it to become a pawn?"

"What does it matter if we become pawns, as long as we win in the end?"

Wen Yanqing looked at Shao Yanzhe and said, "I wonder if Brother Shao has this idea?"

Shao Yanzhe looked up at her and smiled gently: "Of course."

He and Wen Yanqing exchanged a glance, perfectly understanding each other's thoughts.

At 9 PM today, Emperor Xirui climbed out of the abandoned courtyard's dry well all by himself.

Hearing the commotion, Shao Yanzhe and the others, who still lived in the abandoned courtyard, came out of their rooms and saw a disheveled person climbing out of the dry well.

Zhou Jiming immediately gasped; the scene truly sent a chill down his spine for no apparent reason.

He looked at Shao Yanzhe and saw the other man frowning, which quickly turned into a worried expression as he watched him walk briskly toward the dry well.

At the same time, Shao Yanzhe's voice was heard: "Why is Your Majesty here?"

It seemed that a hint of worry could be heard in his voice.

Then came Wen Yanqing and the other two, who also went over and reached out to help Emperor Xirui out of the dry well.

Watching Shao Yanzhe and the other three fuss over Emperor Xirui, Zhou Jiming suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

But he also knew what he needed to do, so he stepped forward and interacted with Xiruidi as usual.

"I heard today that Gu Huiming came looking for you. I'm afraid he might harm you, but I have no way to fight him. So I came to check on you under the cover of darkness." Emperor Xirui took a few deep breaths, a bitter smile on his face. Combined with his disheveled appearance, he looked quite pitiful.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Shao Yanzhe and the others looked deeply moved.

Emperor Xirui was very pleased with himself. He knew that as long as he gave these poor students some verbal favors, they would be devoted to him.

"Did Gu Huiming say or do anything when he came over?" he asked tentatively.

Shao Yanzhe gave a wry smile and said, "Prime Minister Gu wants to win us over. He said that as long as we submit to him, he can let bygones be bygones regarding what happened at Songyuezhai."

Xi Ruidi's eyes flashed, and he asked, "How did you answer him?"

Shao Yanzhe and the others immediately knelt down in front of him.

"We are well aware that Grand Secretary Gu wields immense power, suffocating Your Majesty. We feigned agreement, hoping to infiltrate the enemy and help Your Majesty eliminate these parasites of the Dayong Dynasty. We beg Your Majesty to see the truth!"

Emperor Xirui immediately looked moved and said, "Very good! My dear ministers, please rise. I believe in you!"

He quickly reached out and helped the people up.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

For a time, the two sides presented a harmonious picture of mutual respect and agreement.

Emperor Xirui's face was full of satisfaction, and Shao Yanzhe and the others looked at Emperor Xirui with sincere eyes.

Author's Note: Sorry for the late update, I was so sleepy I accidentally fell asleep for half an hour. ORZ