Chapter 32 Her own child is still alive...
"Later he told me to act in a play to save him."
The master was referring to the moment when Zhou Xinren suddenly collapsed and fell unconscious. It was on that occasion that the master's reputation truly took off in the area.
"Young Master Zhou told me to tell the people that I am a deity who descended to earth to repay a debt of gratitude, and that I cannot leave this town and must not mention it to outsiders, otherwise my magic will be lost."
Seventeen listened and found it utterly absurd, yet it had fooled so many people.
Do you know why he made you do this?
Long Zhaoming asked from the side, but the master shook his head: "I don't know. I asked him at first, but he told me not to ask, or he would kill me. Anyway, he paid me readily, and I enjoyed being fawned over, so I didn't bother with it anymore."
This master is indeed honest. Mingyue pondered for a moment and then asked, "Do you know Li Yan?"
"Li Yan?" The master seemed to recall something, vaguely remembering something.
"Is it that little girl? The one whose mother is the embroiderer in the palace?"
"right."
The master scratched his head, his tone somewhat uncertain: "I've heard of her, but I haven't had much contact with that girl."
If there was no contact, then it means that Li Yan's mother's death was really just due to illness.
Seventeen frowned and asked, "What about Yuan Man?"
"Yuan Man?" The master thought for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Isn't it that little mute boy?"
"You know him?"
"I know him. He seems to work for Young Master Zhou, but he's quite young. I don't know what he does."
Seeing that the master was indeed unclear about the specifics, the group decided to take him back and lock him up first.
On the way back, Seventeen asked Mingyue beside her, "Brother Yue, is what the master said true?"
Mingyue nodded: "It doesn't seem like a lie, and he has no reason to hide anything from Zhou Xinren."
After bidding farewell to the abbot, the three did not go to the government office, but instead returned to the inn to rest and ordered some food.
Today, all the people went up the mountain to watch the ceremony. At this moment, there are many people sitting in the hall, all discussing it.
Both sides were discussing the same thing.
Their meals were ordered to be served separately, and Xiao Wu brought them over.
"Please enjoy your meal, distinguished guests."
Xiao Wu smiled and put the food down. He turned to leave, but was stopped by someone who called out, "Thank you for today too."
He paused, his voice trembling slightly: "I didn't help much, I just wanted to seek justice for my mother."
Long Zhaoming sighed softly, staring blankly at Xiao Wu's departing figure.
"Poor thing."
"There's no other way. The dead can't be brought back to life. The only way we can give them an explanation is to expose Zhou Xinren and the master's conspiracy."
Long Zhaoming said softly, and Mingyue beside him nodded, "Your Highness is right, don't be sad."
Seventeen understood everything in her heart, but she couldn't help feeling a little bittersweet.
"Oh, right, the host asked me to pass on a message to... I think it was His Highness?"
Seventeen suddenly remembered what he had said to the host when they were talking alone. The host could have said it directly before leaving, but he didn't. Why did he have to go through him?
Long Zhaoming and Mingyue looked at him in confusion, and then they heard Seventeen mutter something in a cryptic tone.
"This...was this a message the host asked you to convey?"
The monk Long Zhaoming was completely baffled and didn't understand what the words meant. Why didn't the abbot tell him in person?
Mingyue pondered for a while, then suddenly looked up at Long Zhaoming as if she had just thought of something.
The other person, puzzled by his gaze, asked, "What's wrong?"
"...Your Highness, did the late Emperor, known for his amorous nature, have any illegitimate children who were left behind?"
After being told this, Long Zhaoming finally realized: "Does this mean that Father has an illegitimate child who is living outside and will threaten my brother's throne?"
Seventeen didn't understand how they knew the meaning of the sentence, but upon closer reflection, it did seem to make sense.
"But I heard before that the late emperor was a womanizer, and it's not unusual for him to have illegitimate children, right?"
Long Zhaoming pondered for a long time, his gaze fixed intently on Mingyue, but she calmly ate her food and said, "We don't know anything right now, so any thoughts we have are just guesses. Why don't we just ask Zhou Xinren tomorrow? As a member of the Zhou family, he must know something."
That makes sense. Seventeen thought to himself, but as he looked at Long Zhaoming and then at Mingyue, he felt that Yue-ge (Mingyue) seemed to have more control over the two of them. Shouldn't Yue-ge listen to His Highness?
......
Late at night, Seventeen vaguely sensed movement beside him and asked with one eye half-open, "Hmm... Is it dawn yet?"
Mingyue bent down to cover him with the blanket, her voice low and soft: "Not yet, go back to sleep, I'm going to the toilet."
Upon hearing this, Seventeen turned around and continued to drift off to sleep.
Mingyue looked at the sleeping person and a slight smile appeared on her lips. She quietly closed the door and opened the door to the next room.
"Royal brother."
Long Zhaoming was still awake, waiting for the bright moon to arrive.
"What exactly did the host mean by that?"
He was completely baffled. The words seemed to mean exactly what they understood, but...
"It probably means that the emperor has an illegitimate son outside the palace, and this illegitimate son is eyeing the throne."
Mingyue spoke casually, but Long Zhaoming was almost frantic: "It's one thing if others don't know, but how could we brothers not know? Where did Father Emperor get so many illegitimate children? How could there be any left behind?"
"Is this host just talking nonsense?"
Mingyue shook her head: "Probably not. I think there might be things we don't know about."
"Of course! Right now, we just don't know who this illegitimate child the host is talking about is."
"No, I think that's not what he meant."
Seeing Mingyue lost in thought, Long Zhaoming also quieted down and began to ponder.
The host's meaning is certainly correct; the Emperor has a son who is living away from home and threatens his elder brother, but...
Long Zhaoming scratched his head, still not understanding the key point.
Although the Emperor was a womanizer, he valued bloodlines very much. Outsiders spread all sorts of rumors, but his own people knew very well that the Emperor would never have a child with another woman outside the marriage.
Even if they did have a child, given the emperor's personality, he would definitely kill the child.
But what if a woman with extraordinary abilities hid the child?
Long Zhaoming felt that it was not impossible, but he still found it difficult to convince himself.
Mingyue fiddled with the hilt of her sword for a long time without saying a word. Long Zhaoming couldn't help but ask, "Why are you always playing with your sword?"
"What's the name of this sword?"
"Ah, the moon."
Long Zhaoming was baffled. What was going on? Was this a pop quiz?
Do you know what Seventeen's sword is called?
Long Zhaoming recalled for a moment, and thought, "Seventeen's sword... seems to be the companion sword of Longyue, right?"
"I don't know, I've rarely seen him use it."
Mingyue chuckled softly: "His sword is called Mingyue."
Long Zhaoming was taken aback, then looked at him speechlessly: "If you have nothing better to do, go back to sleep. You can keep a good eye on your little Seventeen."
"Nonsense."
Mingyue didn't know why, but when he saw Seventeen pull out the Mingyue sword today, he suddenly thought of this.
What was she thinking when she named Seventeen? Was she thinking of him? Which "him"? The one as the bright moon, or the one as Emperor Jing?
"I'm thinking, maybe the host is right, and maybe you and I are right too."
"Could it really be Father Emperor...?"
Long Zhaoming found it hard to believe. He didn't think that someone who valued the legitimate bloodline so much would have a child out of wedlock without being discovered.
"No, Father is not wrong either."
"?"
Long Zhaoming was speechless. Why did everyone like to keep him in suspense? He knew he wasn't very bright, which was why he had a hard time studying when he was young. Fortunately, his father didn't expect him to inherit the throne, which allowed him to live a carefree life.
"You said that Consort Ling previously denied that the former crown prince was her illegitimate son with an outsider, so why did she suddenly admit it before her death?"
This...this was indeed the question in Long Zhaoming's mind. If she didn't want to admit it, she shouldn't have admitted it until her death, otherwise it might implicate her maternal clan. But ironically, she admitted it at the last moment...
"Could it be that the former crown prince was indeed not the emperor's biological child, but he was not Consort Ling's either?"
These words exploded in Long Zhaoming's ears like a thunderbolt. He didn't understand what they meant and stammered, "W-what do you mean? Not Father's? Not Consort Ling's?"
"I've always wondered why someone as intelligent as Consort Ling would change her mind before she died."
Mingyue sighed softly: "If we insist on finding out whether the former crown prince was the emperor's biological son after she dies, we might touch on one of her secrets. Only if she simply admits that he is not her biological son will we give up the investigation."
"What secret?"
"If the former crown prince was not her biological son with the emperor, then what about her biological children?"
There are no secrets in the palace. It is impossible to hide whether a concubine is pregnant or has given birth. Since there has been no rumor in the palace for so many years that Consort Ling has not given birth, then Consort Ling must have given birth to this child.
"This...her own child...was swapped with the former crown prince?"
Long Zhaoming had figured it out, but he still didn't understand: "Why did she want to switch? That child is her and the Emperor's own, wouldn't it be better to raise him in the palace?"
"When she gave birth, we weren't born yet, but I heard the old people in the palace say that the concubines in the palace were fighting fiercely during that time. Even our mother lost a child because of it."
Yes, Long Zhaoming knew about this. Their mother, Consort Shu, had a child before she became pregnant with the emperor, but lost the child unexpectedly due to palace intrigues and other reasons.
This is also why she doted on herself and her brother, the emperor.
"For a concubine to protect her only child in the palace, she either needs to be powerful and influential, or..."
Long Zhaoming finally understood: "You mean, she deliberately switched the children so that this fake child could take the place of her own biological child and withstand the turmoil of the palace."
"Yes, and the former crown prince and Consort Ling look alike, so they may have been adopted from a collateral branch of the family. Zhou Xinren is also from a collateral branch of the Zhou family."
"This Consort Ling is quite the player."
Long Zhaoming laughed in anger, gradually piecing together the truth of what happened back then.
"She gave birth to a prince, and he is the eldest. According to the traditional views of the emperor, he will definitely be made the crown prince. Then there will be countless troubles."
Mingyue nodded approvingly, her eyes filled with satisfaction as she looked at her younger brother: "You've grown up."
Long Zhaoming rolled his eyes at him, annoyed: "Then she came up with a plan. She brought a child from a collateral branch of the family and swapped it with her own child. She used this fake child as a scapegoat to shield her own child from trouble. If the child successfully ascended the throne, she would directly replace him; if she failed..."
"Even if she fails, her child will still be alive."
A dark glint flashed in Mingyue's eyes, terrifyingly fierce.
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