Chapter 407 The Truth About Rumors

After Zhu Qingyan asked, Zhu Lan also stared at Lin Xiaoqi with burning eyes - the woman who had been hiding by his side pretending to be the thirteen-year-old Chu Xin from the very beginning.

Lin Xiaoqi looked at them and said calmly:

"In the story you found, when the fire broke out in Concubine Lan's bedroom, she sent people to find out whether the surviving child was the real prince or Chen Zao, right?"

Zhu Lan recalled what Chu Xiuning had said to her. Chu Xiuning said that Concubine Lan had two very trusted maids beside her. Besides her, there was another person. And it was another maid who went to check the identity of the surviving baby, so Chu Xiuning was not completely clear about what they found.

"But Chu Xiuning lied to us about this matter. Since Chen Zao did not enter the palace at all, the surviving child could only be His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Why did Concubine Lan need to send people to investigate?" Zhu Lan said.

"Yes, this story was indeed fabricated to guide you, but it is true that Concubine Lan has two trusted maids."

"You wouldn't..." Zhu Qingyan covered his mouth in surprise, staring at Lin Xiaoqi up and down, completely unable to believe it.

It was twenty years ago that Concubine Lan gave birth to a child. If Lin Xiaoqi was indeed another maidservant beside Concubine Lan, she must have been at least a teenager at the time.

Then by now... wouldn't he be over 30 years old? ?

She knew that Chu Xin could imitate the voice of any age and gender at will, but her appearance did not show any signs of being thirty years old, unless she had unparalleled disguise skills.

This strange feeling also lingered in Zhu Lan's heart.

When I thought about Chu Xin, who used to call me "Sister No. 1 Scholar" all the time, it turned out that she was actually more than ten years older than me...

This feeling really makes my back feel a little cold.

"You're overthinking it. There's no such powerful disguise method in the world." Lin Xiaoqi glanced at the expressions of the two men.

“The other maid’s surname is Lin, she is my mother.

I take my mother’s surname and I am eighteen years old.”

Lin Xiaoqi told his life story in a few words.

It turned out that her mother Lin Xian and Chu Xiuning were both personal maids of Concubine Lan. The three of them had a very good relationship. Concubine Lan trusted them both very much and would teach them to read and write in her spare time.

Later, Concubine Lan passed away. Chu Xiuning stayed in the palace and became the director of the Shangfu Bureau, while Lin Xian chose to leave the palace, get married, and gave birth to Lin Xiaoqi.

However, Lin Xian's husband was unfortunately washed away in a flood, and Lin Xian raised Lin Xiaoqi alone until she was thirteen years old.

For thirteen years, Lin Xian also taught her to read and often mentioned Concubine Lan, her words full of respect. She even hung Concubine Lan's portrait in her home and worshipped it every day.

As for the events of Concubine Lan's life, Lin Xiaoqi had known them all since childhood.

Later, Lin Xian fell ill and could no longer raise Xiaoqi, so she asked her good sister Chu Xiuning to send Lin Xiaoqi to Emperor Liang. After training, she became a secret guard, specializing in secretly investigating some things.

"Not many people actually knew that Chen Zao failed to enter the palace. Many people believed that a child was burned to death and the identity of the surviving child was unknown, so the rumor of a cat replacing a prince gradually emerged.

The rumor was not widespread at the time, and Your Majesty knew the whole story and never took it to heart.

For more than a decade, this rumor was only occasionally speculated by palace servants in private, and it did not cause any disturbance. However, a few years ago, it suddenly spread out for some reason, and everyone began to secretly speculate about the identity of the prince.

At that time, I was already a secret guard beside His Majesty, and His Majesty ordered me to investigate who was behind the rumors, so I went to Prince Qi's mansion and found some evidence of Prince Qi's contacts with foreign tribes, and reported the matter to His Majesty. "

"Could it be that Your Majesty has already been secretly planning since then?" Zhu Lan asked.

"Yes." Lin Xiaoqi said.

“Your Majesty is very cautious about the selection of the crown prince, and he also wants to see the methods and personalities of the two princes.

Since rumors are spreading everywhere, Your Majesty might as well take advantage of the situation and make the rumor more true."

Zhu Lan said, "So not only are the Chen mother and daughter your Majesty's people, but even the guard that Earl Ning An saved back then never betrayed your Majesty. Later, it was he who schemed to make Gongsun Yushu believe that Prince Qi was a fake prince, and then misled us, and finally forced Prince Qi to rebel?"

"He wanted to rebel himself, why force him?" Lin Xiaoqi corrected.

"Prince Qi was born and raised in Daliang. When he was planning a rebellion, did he ever care about the soldiers and civilians at the border?

In the same desperate situation, he and His Royal Highness made completely different choices, which led to their irreparable fate. "

"Okay, then I have one last question." Zhu Lan looked into Lin Xiaoqi's eyes.

"Empress Lan insisted on finishing the Annotations to Various Philosophers before her death. This book must be extraordinary.

Since you made up the "V-shaped formation" to mislead us, can you tell me what the real secret of this book is?"

This time, Lin Xiaoqi remained silent longer than before.

"There are no secrets in this book."

"How could this be!?" Zhu Qingyan asked in surprise.

Even Zhu Lan looked at Lin Xiaoqi with some suspicion. At this point, was Lin Xiaoqi still unwilling to tell the whole truth?

"It's true." Lin Xiaoqi said slowly, looking at Zhu Lan and the others.

"You have all read that book. What do you think of its contents?"

Zhu Qingyan thought for a moment and said truthfully, "Well... when I read it, I felt that the content of this book was easy to understand and could be considered a good introduction. However, most of it was just compilation..."

Zhu Qingyan looked at Zhu Lan hesitantly before continuing, "It doesn't have too much profound content, it's just standard."

Zhu Lan remained silent, which was considered as his agreement with Zhu Qingyan's statement.

A faint smile appeared on Lin Xiaoqi's face.

"You two may seem ordinary, but among the tens of thousands of students in the world, how many top-ranked and third-ranked scholars can emerge?"