Ye Zhen's brow twitched, and she moved further in.

Xie Tingzhou didn't play along, whispering in her ear, "Because Father Emperor is the son of Prince Dingyuan."

"this……"

Did the Prince of Dingyuan covet the late emperor's woman? And she even gave birth to the emperor?

Such audacity suggests ambition and makes one even more unreliable.

Several thoughts flashed through Ye Zhen's mind in an instant.

Xie Tingzhou knew what she was thinking and smiled, "It's not what you think. Our ancestors Helian and Xie family ancestors fought together to conquer the world, and their achievements were equally great."

However, the Xie family was better at governance, while the Helian ancestor was better at conquering and defending the country. Therefore, the Helian ancestor gave the dragon throne to the Xie family.

The two had a deep affection for each other. The Xie family ancestor was grateful to the Helian family ancestor and felt that this matter was unfair to the Helian family. However, there was only one dragon throne, and they could not take turns sitting on it. So he discussed with the Helian family ancestor about switching his son with the Helian family's child.

The second emperor of the Great Yuan Dynasty was of the Helian family bloodline, and the third emperor was of the Xie family bloodline.

Since then, every emperor of Dayuan would secretly switch a child with the Helian family after ascending the throne. This was because Dayuan did not have an explicit rule of establishing the eldest son as heir. In fact, any outstanding member of the imperial clan had a chance, and the Helian family was no exception.

Only two rulers know this secret, and they will inform the next ruler during the transition between the old and new rulers, and make them swear to continue this practice.

However, as time went on, the later emperors lacked the deep affection and the vows that the two ancestors had made. Moreover, over the years, the Helian family not only did not develop ambitions because of this practice, but also remained devoted to the royal family.

Therefore, the matter of switching sons continued, but the Xie family was unwilling to give up the throne again.

Therefore, my father was not valued after being transferred to the royal family, and his ascension to that position was purely by chance.

Originally, the Prince of Dingyuan's Mansion never participated in the factional struggles of the court, but the late emperor could not tolerate the father emperor and wanted to kill him.

The oath made by the two families was not only about exchanging sons to continue the lineage, but also about not mistreating each other's bloodlines.

Prince Dingyuan didn't want anything to happen to his son so his father could ascend the throne, so he secretly helped him.

"So that's how it is."

Ye Zhen was shocked, not expecting such a thing to happen. "Did the Emperor tell you?"

"Yes, Father said I will be the next ruler sooner or later. It doesn't matter whether he tells me sooner or later."

Hearing him say this, Ye Zhen knew that the emperor truly cared for Xie Tingzhou.

"So, the Prince of Dingyuan and the Emperor have recognized each other?"

Such royal secrets were passed down during the transition between the old and new emperors, and since the emperor had usurped the throne, the previous emperor could not have told him.

That means it could only have been revealed to the emperor by the head of the Helian family.

Xie Tingzhou nodded, "However, in recent years, Prince Dingyuan has never referred to himself as the father in front of the Emperor, nor has he made any unreasonable demands. He has even rarely come to the capital."

But after his younger family members met with misfortune one after another, he worried that the Helian Army would be left without anyone to lead it, so he secretly gave the Helian Army's tiger tally to his father, the emperor.

Therefore, it was absolutely impossible for the Prince of Dingyuan to betray the emperor.

Especially since all his sons are gone, and now only his father, the emperor, remains as his son.

"So that means even if Li Heng harmed Prince Dingyuan and won over Helian Qing, he still wouldn't actually get Helian Jun?"

Xie Tingzhou nodded, "Yes, my father also told me this secret after he learned of Li Heng's ambition, fearing that I would worry."

"I see!"

Ye Zhen suddenly realized, "No wonder Li Heng had the ambition to usurp the throne, but Xie Jinyao's records show that he did not obtain the throne, but rather a member of the imperial family inherited it."

Therefore, Helian Qing will not only not become an aid to Li Heng, but will instead be an obstacle.

However, the fact that Xie Jinyao was able to choose him indicates that Li Heng held a high position and great power before Xie Jinyao's death, and may even have been able to surpass the imperial power.

Ye Zhen didn't know the specifics, so he simply put that aside and asked about something else, "Which of you three brothers was traded from the Helian family?"

The Prince of Dingyuan told the emperor this secret, presumably to uphold the ancestral instructions and continue the practice of son-swapping.

The emperor would also follow that.

Xie Tingzhou didn't want to keep any secrets from Ye Zhen, so he told the truth, "Prince Ning, he is Helian Qing's older brother."

Ye Zhen was shocked once again.

Prince Ning and the Empress have such a good relationship, and he relies on the Empress so much—does Her Majesty the Empress know this?

"I know, Father has no secrets from Mother."

Oh, now there's a secret: the Emperor has secretly reunited with him behind the Empress Dowager's back.

Ye Zhen sighed, "Her Majesty the Empress knew that Prince Ning was not her biological son, yet she treated him so well. Her Majesty is so kind."

The emperor treated Prince Ning well, but Prince Ning was the emperor's own nephew, so it was only natural that he treated him well.

After learning the truth, Xie Tingzhou also thought so.

He felt more and more that he had been too rigid in the past and should have trusted his mother more, so that they wouldn't have been separated for so many years.

But if it weren't for that separation back then, he wouldn't have met Ye Zhen, so he felt relieved and thought that everything was the best arrangement.

Ye Zhen's curiosity was piqued, "Then the Empress's own son... wouldn't she be in a lot of pain?"

After all, the Helian family now only has Helian Qing as its sole heir.

"No."

Ye Zhen leaned closer to look at him. "What do you mean?"

Xie Tingzhou: "My younger brother is not dead. The Prince of Dingyuan was afraid that something would happen to Helian Qing, so he raised him as a girl."

Similarly, fearing for my younger brother's safety, he secretly sent him to be raised by the childless Prince Yan and his wife. He is now the Prince of Yan's heir.

Ye Zhen sat up as if realizing something. "So, the prince of the royal family that the Empress supported in my previous life was the heir of the Prince of Yan, the Empress's own son, and your own younger brother?"

Xie Tingzhou nodded, "That's probably it. I've inquired about him, and I heard he's quite good."

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