Chapter 344 Suspicion

The old imperial physician was finally speechless and remained silent.

When the court officials whose cognition had been refreshed looked at Zhu Lan again, there was clearly a hint of admiration in their eyes.

Zhu Lan bowed his head and said to Emperor Liang:

“Your Majesty, although the birthmark of His Royal Highness is similar to that of Chen’s mother and daughter, and their blood can also mix, but now it has been proven one by one that these two things are extremely uncoincidental, and cannot be used to determine His Royal Highness’ identity.

The most important thing is that the emperor's eldest grandson was just born today. If he was not of royal blood, how could he attract a real dragon to circle around him for such a long time?

I think that the heavens foresaw that His Royal Highness would encounter such a disaster today, and thus sent down a miracle to correct the world's perceptions!"

Wu Chengqi understood that Zhu Lan was determined to stick to the issue of Xiangrui today and would not give in.

You tell her about the birthmark, and she tells you it's a good omen.

You tell her about the blood test, and she tells you it's a good omen.

If you tell her that all of this is just coincidence, she will still talk back to you and say it is a good omen.

Anyway, he insisted that auspicious signs had come from heaven to the East Palace and that the prince was the true heir to the throne, and no one could stop him.

But no one dares to refute this one point!

Damn it... Wu Chengqi gritted his teeth. If this wasn’t in front of the emperor, he would have jumped up and acted disgracefully.

All the ministers in the hall were finally convinced by Zhu Lan's words, and Emperor Liang also nodded secretly, thinking that Zhu Lan was right.

Yan Xiuyun never thought that this number one scholar, who had no friendship with him at all, would stand up for him when he was in trouble and speak for him so wholeheartedly.

He raised his head and for the first time gave Zhu Lan a look of great gratitude.

Seeing that people's hearts were once again on the side of the prince, Wu Chengqi wanted to say something else, but Yan Changwen glanced sideways, his eyes cold, and shook his head gently at him.

Wu Chengqi closed his mouth, and in his heart he admired His Royal Highness Prince Qi for being able to remain calm at such a time.

But he never noticed that Yan Changwen's hand holding the tablet had already turned slightly white in his knuckles.

After a long time, Emperor Liang finally spoke.

"Zhu Xiuzhu is knowledgeable and talented. Today, he opened my eyes. If you hadn't stepped forward, I would have almost wronged the prince today.

Since this is a sign of good fortune from heaven, and heaven’s will cannot be violated, it is natural that the whole world should celebrate together.”

Emperor Liang then issued an edict, in recognition of the merits of Yan Xiuyun and Crown Princess Dong in giving birth to the emperor's eldest grandson, as well as the auspicious omen from heaven, so the previous reward was doubled, and the originally set tax reduction was also reduced by 20%.

Civil and military officials bowed their heads in worship, praising the emperor's benevolence.

The court meeting, which lasted for nearly three hours, finally ended, and Emperor Liang coughed and dismissed all the officials.

After leaving the palace and coming to a place with fewer people, Wu Chengqi caught up with Yan Changwen in front of him in just two or three steps.

"Your Highness, today..."

Yan Changwen knew what he was going to say. His eyes were dark. He stopped and said:

"Go check what's going on with the dragon energy in the East Palace."

Wu Chengqi immediately nodded in agreement, but was a little worried about the future.

"Now that His Majesty no longer doubts the Crown Prince's identity, I'm afraid we will have a hard time moving forward..."

"Haha, do you think Father really believes it?"

Yan Changwen suddenly sneered, "Master Wu, you don't know our emperor at all."

Wu Chengqi was stunned.

"The heart of the emperor has always been suspicious. Although today's incident failed to overthrow the prince, it must have become a thorn in the heart of the emperor.

It just so happened that the so-called celestial phenomenon happened, and my father was just pretending to do it in order to reassure people.

Things here are far from over, you and I will wait and see."

…

East Palace.

The courtyard at the entrance was covered with thick, choking white smoke.

In the white smoke, there were many figures moving back and forth, all wearing white masks on their faces.

Xu Shiming was still there, lighting sulfur - that was the sulfur he had just hurriedly asked Zhou Da for from the Military Equipment Bureau. The sulfur had been specially treated, and when it was lit, it produced a large amount of white smoke that was several times thicker than ordinary sulfur.

Five or six maids were holding huge fans and fanning the smoke outside the wall of the East Palace.

On the other side, where the sun was shining brightly, several servants were holding up bronze mirrors that were half a person's height, reflecting all the sunlight onto the bronze mirror in the middle.

Xiao Yuan held up the wooden board engraved with a snake pattern. The bronze mirror in the middle reflected the strong sunlight onto the inside of the board. The light then passed through the hollow space and was reflected in the white smoke rising not far away.

From afar, the floating white smoke looks like a dragon flying in the clouds.

"Fan harder, make the smoke higher!"

"Oh no, oh no, a cloud came and blocked the sunlight - hey hey hey, the cloud passed away, it's okay, it's okay!"

Amid the voices coming one after another, Xiao Yuan called out to Xu Shiming from afar.

"Mr. Xu, will this trick really work?" Xiao Yuan frowned as he looked at the shape he had carved with his sword.

Because time was tight, Xu Shiming only told him to carve a snake-like pattern as quickly as possible, but he didn't say he had to use it to forge a dragon.

If I had known his purpose earlier, I would have carved it more carefully, but it would have taken more time.

Now this...except for the body, it doesn't look like the legendary dragon at all. I don't know how those people outside can believe it.

Xu Shiming was no longer panicking. He calmly walked to Xiao Yuan, raised his eyebrows and smiled:

"You don't understand this?

The more abstract the theories about ghosts and gods are, the more people believe in them.”

People are naturally afraid of the unknown.

Xiao Yuan didn't know what "abstract" meant, but just by looking at the people outside who were bowing down to the East Palace, he had to admit -

Xu Shiming's move... was amazing.

Yan Xiuyun returned to the East Palace with extremely complicated feelings. As soon as he came in, he was choked and had to retreat while covering his nose.

"Your Highness, Your Highness is back!" Zhao Nei appeared out of nowhere and quickly handed Yan Xiuyun a mask soaked in water.

When Xu Shiming heard that Yan Xiuyun had returned and that there was no decree to depose the crown prince from the palace, he finally ordered everyone to remove their equipment and go to welcome the crown prince.

After some explanation, Yan Xiuyun finally learned the truth about "Auspicious Signs".

After a long time, Yan Xiuyun finally smiled, but his smile was extremely sad.

“I thought… it was because I have royal blood flowing in my veins that the auspicious sign from heaven fell.

I didn’t expect…”

Unexpectedly, the auspicious sign was also fake.

Then who am I?

Yan Xiuyun suddenly felt that he was too tired and he didn't want to think about it anymore.

He swayed slightly, his voice sincere and full of fatigue:

"Today, it is all thanks to Mr. Xu's wisdom that the Eastern Palace has been able to maintain its temporary prosperity. I would like to thank him here."

He bowed deeply to Xu Shiming.

Xu Shiming quickly returned the greeting.

Yan Xiuyun looked at Eunuch Zhao again and asked about Dong Lanxin and the child, without noticing that Xiao Yuan beside him also looked a little nervous.

When they heard Eunuch Zhao say that Dong Lanxin and her son were safe, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Highness." Xu Shiming said.

"After my humble calculations, I have chosen an auspicious name for the emperor's eldest grandson. How about 'Yan Chen'?"

"Why?" Yan Xiuyun asked.

"Chen means the place where the emperor lived in ancient times. There is an ancient word called 'Chenji', which means that the emperor's eldest grandson is extremely noble and has an extraordinary destiny."

"Extremely noble..." Yan Xiuyun's smile was bitter, even a little self-deprecating.

"Forget it, just call me Yan Ning."

Xu Shiming was stunned.

Yan Xiuyun was already dragging his tired steps towards the inner courtyard, his voice seemed to be talking about the child, but also seemed to be talking about himself.

"Yan Ning, if I could live in peace for the rest of my life, I would have nothing to ask for."

…

As soon as Zhu Lan returned to her residence, Zhu Qingyan couldn't wait to greet her and ask her how things were.

After listening to Zhu Lan's account of what happened in the court today, Zhu Qingyan broke out in a cold sweat.

"It's so dangerous..."

Zhu Qingyan knew that after today, there would be no reconciliation between the two of them and King Qi, so he asked Zhu Lan what he was going to do next.

After all, today Zhu Lan just muddied the waters and ruined the plan that King Qi had already prepared.

She helped Yan Xiuyun, but she couldn't prove that Yan Xiuyun was the real prince, so she could only delay time.

After all, the theory of celestial phenomena can silence the gossips of the people, but it cannot silence the suspicions in people's hearts.

Seeing that Zhu Lan didn't speak for a long time, Zhu Qingyan felt a little strange and asked her what was wrong.

Zhu Lan was silent for a long time, and his tone became uncertain for a rare moment.

“I just… I haven’t figured out a lot of things. I can’t explain this feeling, but it seems very wrong.

Something has been wrong since Chu Xiuning's death."

When Zhu Qingyan mentioned Chu Xiuning's death, his expression changed slightly, and he said softly:

"By the way, Chu Xin..."

"Do you suspect Chu Xin?"

Something flashed in Zhu Lan's eyes, and he asked almost immediately.

(P.S. Some random thoughts. I've been busy tinkering with my new home recently, so if I update once more I'll try to put in as many words as possible. The little princess will be back soon.

Also, now is the beginning of the political conspiracy line. I would like to ask what everyone thinks of it. It should be better than the previous academy plot?

When I first started writing, I was advised that novices should not touch upon political intrigues, and should just write about newbies farming and face-slapping stories. But after trying, I found that I was not really good at it orz. After the imperial examination, I felt that I had returned to my comfort zone. I don't seek to write any grand political intrigue dramas, but I just hope that it doesn't look brainless or childish.

Most of the low-star book reviews are about the early plot, but I don’t have time to make a major revision, so I’ll try to write the rest of the story first!

Finally, I would like to ask for some five-star book reviews with praise to calm my mind, thank you very much! )