On the sixth day after the imperial edict was issued, Xu Tianze finally walked out of the Princess's Mansion. He was wearing a dark purple silk dress, with eyes like stars. He stood in front of the mansion gate, looked around, and then got on the carriage directly.
At the moment the carriage started, many figures, both in the open and in the dark, gathered in front of the Princess's Mansion, and finally ran in their respective directions.
The familiar palace gate, the familiar upper study, and the familiar standing positions of three people, but there was no place for Long Muse among these three people. Instead, the old Duke Zhenguo was sitting on a chair.
"Your Majesty, I am honored to meet you. Long live the emperor." Xu Tianze lowered his head and knelt on the ground to pay respect to Emperor Gan.
"Get up." Emperor Gan and the old Duke Zhenguo looked at each other and directly exempted Xu Tianze from the ceremony, without showing any resentment for Xu Tianze's delay.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xu Tianze stood up and bowed to the old Duke of Zhenguo beside him. "Greetings, Duke of Zhenguo."
"Good boy, get up." The old Duke Zhenguo smiled happily, stood up and helped Xu Tianze up.
After the greetings, Xu Tianze stood quietly with his head lowered, showing no trace of his previous misbehavior.
Emperor Gan and the old Duke Zhenguo did not speak either. The upper study fell into silence for a moment, as if a gear was stuck on a small wooden stick while turning. It wanted to continue but did not know how to do so.
Just when Xu Tianze was silent, Emperor Gan and the old Duke Zhenguo exchanged glances and started arguing.
Emperor Gan: Old man, speak up, don’t you hate to be able to speak?
Old Duke of Zhenguo: You did it yourself, why do you need me to speak up?
Emperor Gan: You talk as if you had no involvement. Look at your son first!
The old Duke Zhenguo's eyebrows jumped, and he glared at Emperor Gan in dissatisfaction: "What? Your son didn't do it?"
Emperor Gan: Hey, I have three sons!
Old Duke of Zhenguo: Damn, old thing!
The old Duke Zhenguo's face turned blue, as if he was constipated. He drank some tea to calm himself down, and then reluctantly broke the silence under the urging gaze of Emperor Gan.
"Child, don't you have anything you want to ask?" The Duke of Zhenguo coughed a few times and said this after careful consideration.
"Your Excellency, I don't have anything to say." Xu Tianze lowered his head and bowed respectfully to the Duke of Zhenguo.
In fact, it’s not that he has nothing to say. He has many questions he wants to ask, but he doesn’t know where to start. It’s like he is alone in a small boat on the vast ocean, not knowing where to go.
So he chose to remain silent, because he knew that Emperor Gan and the Duke of Zhenguo would definitely tell him something first, so that he could unravel the truth and find the most fundamental and deepest facts.
Xu Tianze's words immediately silenced the Duke of Zhenguo, so much so that when he opened his mouth again, he didn't know what to say.
Emperor Gan was also somewhat helpless. He gave the Duke of Zhenguo a look that said he was really useless, but in the end he decided to go on the field himself.
"Xu Tianze, your father and brother have indeed been executed by me." Emperor Gan opened his mouth and announced a bombshell, his tone so calm that it seemed as if not a single splash was made.
"Yeah." Xu Tianze lowered his eyes to hide the hatred in his eyes.
But as soon as Emperor Gan spoke, he clenched his fists and his body trembled involuntarily.
Emperor Gan was choked after receiving Xu Tianze's answer. Only then did he realize what he had just said. He could only look at the Duke of Zhenguo for help.
When Emperor Gan directly released the bombshell news, the Duke of Zhenguo's eyelids twitched. Sensing the strange atmosphere at the scene, he couldn't help but shudder. He would rather go to the battlefield and see a few more enemy heads than sit here on pins and needles.
But Emperor Gan had already asked him for help. What could he do? He had to pamper his own Majesty, so he had no choice but to take on the responsibility.
"In fact, Prime Minister Xu volunteered to die, and even your elder and second brothers knew about it." The Duke of Zhenguo held his chair with both hands, his tone calm but with a hint of sadness.
Xu Tianze looked up blankly. He was a little confused for a moment. What did it mean?
Volunteering to die? Did all the over a hundred members of the Xu family volunteer? Why didn't he know?
"You have been fighting fiercely with Jiang Xue since you returned to Shangjing City. You should also know that there is someone behind the Jiang family, right?" The Duke of Zhenguo looked at Xu Tianze's confused expression and did not give him too much time to digest it. Instead, he continued to output.
"The people behind the Jiang family are very secretive. Your father, brother and I have been tracking them, but we have never found any clues. That's why we had the idea of fishing." The Duke of Zhenguo sighed. Whenever he thought of this, he hated himself for not being motivated enough, otherwise he wouldn't have done this.
"So, this bait is the lives of everyone in my Xu family?" Xu Tianze took over the words of the Duke of Zhenguo and directly asked his guess.
There was expectation and pleading in his eyes. He expected that his guess was wrong and pleaded with the Duke of Zhenguo to say something different from what he thought.
But he was destined to be disappointed, because even with such a pitiful look, the Duke of Zhenguo still frowned and nodded, indicating that what he said was right.
In an instant, it was like a bolt from the blue, shocking Xu Tianze to the point of losing his mind. In a trance, he suddenly remembered the scene of the last meeting between his father and brother.
"Second brother! What are you doing?" Xu Tianze roared at the young man who was four or five years older than him and a bit sturdy.
"Hahaha, it's nothing, I just saw the little lazy pig sleeping so soundly." Xu Shiping smiled and dodged his brother's invisible hand.
"You are the lazy pig, your whole family is lazy pigs!" Xu Tianze directly retorted and cursed back.
He was sleeping soundly on the lounge chair in his yard, but when he was half asleep, he felt his nose itchy, and it kept itching for several times. When he opened his eyes, he saw his second brother laughing beside him.
There was a piece of furry grass in the second brother's hand. Seeing this, Xu Tianze had nothing to understand. It was just that his second brother saw that he was sleeping too soundly and was deliberately causing trouble for him.
His second brother was just taking revenge, pure revenge. Wasn't it just that he made his second brother take the blame last time? Was it necessary for him to come and disturb his nap whenever he had time?
"Yes, yes, you are right." Xu Shiping was also stunned when he heard what his brother said, and then he laughed heartily, while agreeing with what Xu Tianze said.
When Xu Tianze heard his second brother's approval, he was a little confused, and then he heard his eldest brother joking beside him.
"So, Xiaoze, you are still that little lazy pig." Xu Jixue reminded his younger brother with a smile in the corners of his eyes.
"Second brother!" After hearing what his eldest brother said, Xu Tianze realized what he had said. He was so angry that he chased Xu Shiping and was about to hit him.
Xu Shiping didn't want to be punched by his brother, so he laughed and dodged. For a moment, the whole courtyard was filled with the sound of the two brothers fighting.
Xu Jixue was sipping tea and watching the interaction between his two younger brothers with a smile.
"You're so old, yet you still play around like this!" Xu Li walked in from outside the yard, grabbed his second son and started scolding him.
But the smile in his eyes and the upward curve of his mouth showed that he was not angry at all. He just wanted to scold those two naughty boys.
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