"The Empress Dowager and He Jingyan tried to harm me and Zhizhi several times, and even tried to trick Zhizhi into going to General Zeng's tomb."
"We found the body of General He Jianzhang, who had fought to the death with a group of assassins, inside the tomb. There were also traces of daily activities in the tomb. We suspect that it was the divine physician Bai Lizi who fled again with the Empress Dowager and whose whereabouts are unknown."
"Father, things have come to this. If you still refuse to say anything, we will not know the whereabouts of Mother, nor will we know He Jingyan's purpose..."
"With a formidable enemy at hand, how will you win this battle?"
When Emperor Guangqi heard this, he finally reacted.
He looked at Pei Yunyi with tearful eyes, his gaze filled with a mixture of admiration and exhaustion.
It was unclear how much time had passed before Emperor Guangqi's hoarse voice finally rang out again in the Hall of Mental Cultivation: "Someone, come in."
Pei Yunyi watched as the eunuch outside the hall pushed open the door and entered, awaiting Emperor Guangqi's instructions. The emperor paused for a long, long time before speaking in a low voice:
"Have the Marquis of Anding enter the palace tonight and secretly surround it without letting anyone know. Then go and invite the Empress Dowager... I want to have a talk with her."
Upon hearing this, the eunuch was startled, but he still retreated without showing any emotion and hurriedly carried out Emperor Guangqi's instructions.
Once the hall fell silent, Emperor Guangqi spoke to Pei Yunyi again: "The Crown Prince has grown up and is better than me. I am very pleased..."
He looked up and saw Pei Yunyi's eyes, and knew what he was thinking. So he said, "Are you wondering why I trust you so much just because of one sentence from you?"
Pei Yunyi nodded: "Yes."
Emperor Guangqi chuckled self-deprecatingly, sounding utterly exhausted as he spoke: "I also wish I could have watched you grow up from childhood, and I also wish I could have trusted you unconditionally..."
"It was only because of your words that I finally understood what the Western Rong people wanted to do?"
Seeing that he had relented, Pei Yunyi's muscles tensed up at that moment: "Father, so what exactly do they want?"
Emperor Guangqi rubbed his temples, his eyes seeming to grow distant in an instant: "They want the Imperial Seal, they want the secret edict, they want my throne, they want the vast empire?"
Pei Yunyi froze: "Imperial seal? Secret edict?"
Emperor Guangqi slowly nodded at him, his eyes bloodshot: "The Imperial Seal is lost. It is not in my possession. It disappeared along with your mother."
Pei Yunyi stood rooted to the spot, feeling as if all the blood in his body was flowing backward.
Emperor Guangqi's hoarse voice continued, "The Western Rong have long coveted Daqian, and they have infiltrated every nook and cranny. Daqian is being devoured like termites, and even my soldiers fighting on the border have been falsely accused of treason. The ministers have been incited to punish the Empress."
"One by one, Han's soldiers were falsely accused of treason and collusion with the enemy. One by one they disappeared and one by one they died. The Han family was almost wiped out at that time."
Pei Yunyi knew these things, so he didn't answer, but listened quietly as the emperor continued:
"And it was at that time that Wei Yi became pregnant. I watched her grieve every day while carrying the child. I had no choice but to take drastic measures to protect the child and the country of Daqian."
"I ordered Su Mingyue to develop incense to fake death, so that the Empress would fake her death and leave with her unborn child. I will send you to the White Horse Temple to follow Master Yuanhui, while I will stay in the capital."
"The army is divided into three groups, and all three are legitimate. They want the Empress to step down, but if I actually pretend to execute the Empress and exile you, everyone in the world will say that I am heartless. But this is precisely my plan."
As Emperor Guangqi finished speaking, he slowly raised his eyes again, his gaze towards Pei Yunyi filled with profound meaning:
"If I fail to cleanse the court and die, you will be the rightful crown prince. With the support of Master Yuanhui, the people's regret, and the love of the ministers, you will be able to inherit the throne."
Upon hearing this, Pei Yunyi felt a surge of anger rising within him: "I have the right to do so, but what about the Empress Dowager? She faked her death, is pregnant, and is about to bear the infamy of the past. What do you want from her?"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Guangqi was filled with endless regret.
“I actually wanted to protect her. I was also worried that the child in her womb would be suspected, so I handed the imperial seal to her, along with a secret edict.”
"If you succeed, she will return with the secret edict and the imperial seal to stabilize the country. If you fail, she will use the imperial seal and the child in her womb to lead the old Han family to re-ascend the throne and ensure that the country will remain in the hands of the Pei family."
"A three-pronged approach, a major push, won't lead to ruin. But that's precisely what ruined her..."
Pei Yunyi took a deep breath, his Adam's apple bobbing, and his voice becoming hoarse: "And then?"
“I specially sent my trusted confidants to protect her, and I pretended to punish all the members of the Han family, intending to lure them out and fight the Western Rong to the death.”
"For some reason, the news of the empress's faked death leaked out, and the once powerful Western Rong people suddenly disappeared and went into hiding."
"Until the Empress's whereabouts completely disappeared, and He Jianzhang and Bai Lizi were nowhere to be found, I completely lost track of the Empress's whereabouts. Her feigned death was as if it had become real. I secretly sent out countless trusted confidants to search for her, but no one knew whether she was dead or alive."
“I have been filled with regret all the time. It was only after Su Mingyue’s death that I realized that those people had always wanted to know the Empress’s whereabouts, and they wanted the imperial seal and secret edict in the Empress’s possession.”
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