"I was wrong, I was terribly wrong."

The old man's tears soaked his clothes, and he was too grief-stricken to speak long sentences. Gu Qingyan paused upon seeing this. Min Fu was his father's teacher back then.

Min Fu was completely caught in a vicious cycle of emotions, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

He knew that King Xiang had not died in battle, and that he had successfully returned to the capital.

He knew these things because King Xiang had asked him for help more than once.

Just as he was tossing and turning in bed, the late emperor issued an edict summoning him to the palace.

"Your Majesty." Min Fu at that time did not look as old as he does now. As a veteran minister who had served two dynasties and was also the prince's tutor, Gu Heng could not easily make a move against Min Fu.

"Has the Prince of Xiang gone to see the Master?"

Gu Heng's words sent a chill down Min Fu's spine. Having risen from a poor scholar to the imperial court, he knew that serving the emperor was like walking on thin ice; a single wrong word could wipe out all his years of hard work.

So after hesitating for a few moments, Min Fu chose to confess:

"The King of Xiang did indeed approach me, hoping I could do him a favor."

"What kind of help?"

"King Xiang did not tell me, he only said that he would tell me if I agreed."

Min Fu's words made Gu Heng sneer. He stood up and walked directly to Min Fu, saying, "The Prince of Xiang delayed military operations at the front, causing heavy losses to our Great Qing. Instead of being willing to give his life for the country, he deserted and returned to the capital."

“According to the laws of Daqing, he should be executed.”

“How could Prince Xiang…” Min Fu began instinctively, but lowered his voice under Gu Heng’s gaze, “Your Majesty, what about Prince Xiang now?”

"I was willing to let him go because he is my brother, but he managed to escape the capital and contact officials everywhere. Sir, what do you think the King of Xiang is thinking?"

"Your subject acknowledges his guilt."

Min Fu immediately knelt before Gu Heng, saying, "Your subject will certainly not collude with the Prince of Xiang."

Even though he knew that, given the way Xiang Wang acted, he probably wouldn't do such a thing, he still chose to abandon Gu Lin in the face of Gu Heng's confident words.

He abandoned his once most prized student.

Gu Heng dispatched the Imperial Guards to garrison around the Min residence, quietly waiting for Gu Lin to walk into their trap.

The following night, a fierce fight broke out outside the Min residence, and he sat in his study all night without sleeping.

The smell of blood lingered for a long time. He didn't know whose blood it was, nor did he know what had happened to the King of Xiang.

Then he heard the news that the body of the Prince of Xiang had been found. He thought that the late emperor had spared the Prince of Xiang's reputation and made the world believe that the Prince of Xiang had died in battle.

He's completely wrong!

Back then, King Xiang risked his life to go to his residence, knelt before him, and begged him to grant him a request.

He still doesn't know what King Xiang really wants.

Min Fusheng cried until he went blind. When he looked up, he could no longer see the faces of the people around him.

"Cen Hai, is that all you wanted to say?"

Gu Qingyan's words drew everyone's attention back from Min Fu to Cen Hai. Cen Hai's pupils constricted sharply. Was there something else he hadn't said?

He only left the matter of the Empress Dowager unmentioned.

Could it be that Your Majesty...

Cen Hai became extremely uneasy. Seeing this, the other officials became even quieter. Was there anything more serious than the late emperor personally harming the Prince of Xiang?

So serious that even Eunuch Cen dared not speak of it...

"The Empress Dowager has arrived!"

Wanji's voice rang out, and a figure slowly walked in from outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Gu Qingyan immediately stood up from the dragon throne and personally walked down the steps, saying, "Your son greets Your Majesty."

Jiang Yu smiled.

In her previous life, she had never set foot in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, yet she was accused of interfering in politics and became a demon empress.

In this life, she stands in this vast land, yet none of the officials dare to utter a single word against her.

"Cen Hai, there are still some things you haven't told me about me."

Jiang Yu's words made Cen Hai's face turn pale. Qin Wei brought a chair for Jiang Yu, but Jiang Yu's expression did not change. She only glanced at Min Fu lying on the ground.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty, please spare this servant, please spare this servant's life!"

Cen Hai began kowtowing to Jiang Yu repeatedly, and soon blood began to flow from his forehead, but he seemed completely oblivious.

"Why was the Prince of Xiang poisoned on the day of the late emperor's wedding to me, and why did he disappear after our wedding?"

Jiang Yu's voice pierced straight at Cen Hai, who finally stopped kowtowing and collapsed to the ground.

"Isn't Your Majesty afraid of the criticism from the people of the world?"

"I am not afraid."

If those who are betrayed and hurt must bear all the consequences alone, then the world should be torn down and rebuilt.

Hahahaha!

Cen Hai suddenly burst into laughter and turned to look at the assembled civil and military officials around him.

"You all...look up and see if our Emperor and Empress Dowager have the exact same eyebrows and eyes?"

Cen Hai's words stunned everyone present, who all forgot the distinction between ruler and subject and looked up at Gu Qingyan.

"You actually doubt the Emperor's background? That's ridiculous." Cen Hai was starting to go crazy. "If any of you have met the Prince of Xiang, can't you see that the Emperor and the Prince of Xiang are extremely similar?"

"The Emperor's background is indeed unusual."

"He is the child of King Xiang and the Empress Dowager. He is the child that was replaced by the Empress Dowager back then."

Cen Hai stood up and walked shakily toward Jiang Yu, but was stopped by a guard with a knife.

"The late emperor made the Empress Dowager Empress, but he did not want to consummate the marriage with her."

"At that time, Consort Rong gave the late emperor a suggestion: to have a death row inmate consummate the emperor's marriage, using the lowest of people to defile the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Dingyuan's family." Some officials' legs went weak and they knelt on the ground. After hearing such royal secrets, would they still be alive?

"The Emperor told the imprisoned Prince Xiang, and Prince Xiang used the Imperial Seal to reach a deal with the late Emperor."

"On the night of the wedding, the Prince of Xiang took poison on his own initiative, then entered Zhaoning Palace, and after ten months of pregnancy, the Empress Dowager gave birth to the Emperor."

"Bang—" A gust of wind came, and Cen Hai was kicked by Gu Qingyan to the palace door, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Shameless! How dare you treat my father and my mother like that!"

Even though he knew about what happened back then, Gu Qingyan was still like a furious lion, biting Cen Hai tightly, "Make me and my mother and son separate, and make my mother raise the enemy's child for ten years!"

ten years.

Inside the hall, apart from Gu Qingyan who was standing and Jiang Yu who was sitting, everyone else was kneeling or lying down.

A sudden clap of thunder came from outside.

The rain poured down instantly.