Chapter 121 Grudges
The emperor's single sentence sent shivers down the spines of everyone in the hall!
To the uninformed, it was a shocking royal secret; but to those in the know, it was a verdict.
Zhou Ao had doubts about his bloodline, and he didn't want the emperor to ruthlessly rip off this fig leaf just as victory was within reach.
"It seems that my brother already knows." Zhou Yun smiled faintly. If one did not know his character, one might be fooled by his humble appearance.
“I personally gave her that bowl of abortifacient medicine, but who would have thought that nine months later she would still give birth to a son.”
Before Consort Shu knew she was pregnant, Zhou Yin had the imperial physician prepare a bowl of abortifacient medicine. He also had the kitchen prepare a soup for her, citing his concern for her recent overwork. He then watched her drink it and confirmed with the imperial physician that the child was gone.
Consort Shu's maternal family was too powerful and held a great deal of influence in the court. As soon as she entered the harem, he had no choice but to promote her three ranks, and afterwards he continued to show her favor.
However, she could only receive his favor and could not have children, otherwise her maternal family would pose too great a threat to his power.
At the very beginning, it even reached the point where people only knew about the royal family and not the emperor... This was absolutely intolerable.
Even the timid empress and crown prince were tools he used to control Consort Shu.
Consort Shu was very astute. She noticed something suspicious from the subtle clues he had hidden. To protect herself from the unknown illegitimate child, she kept it from him and informed her maternal family first. By the time he found out, it would be too late to take action.
As he had expected, since Zhou Ao's birth, if it weren't for him using the Empress and the Crown Prince to keep him in check, the Wang family would have been so arrogant that they had no respect for the Emperor!
The Crown Prince was useless, but fortunately, the deceased Crown Prince was useful. He secretly fueled the suspicions among the court that the Crown Prince's death was related to the Wang family. With the Crown Prince dead, the beneficiary was the Second Prince, and the Wang family behind him. To clear their names, the Wang family became much more restrained. They couldn't bear the charge of murdering the Crown Prince, so they had to curb their arrogance.
"How could a fetus that should have died become my second son?"
The emperor recounted past events, seemingly questioning Zhou Ao, yet also looking at him expectantly for an answer.
Actually, it was to buy time for the Imperial Guards to arrive. The foxes on the field had different thoughts, and who didn't know his intentions? But the secrets of the royal family are not something you can just hear whenever you want. Now that they've been delivered to your ears, you might as well listen. This is what the emperor himself said, not what they were talking about about the royal family.
When the old eunuch spoke of the deaths of the Crown Prince and the Empress, his once resolute eyes trembled, and he could barely hold the whisk in his hand. Fortunately, the heavy rain concealed the slight abnormality, and no one noticed.
Shang Yuji, who was eavesdropping behind the scenes, felt like she had stumbled upon a huge piece of gossip. This gossip also cleared up her doubts. She was grateful that the emperor had exposed his shameful secret in order to buy time. She excitedly grabbed Jiang Xi's sleeve, trying to express her excitement.
Jiang Xi didn't understand what was so interesting about secrets, but seeing that A Ji was happy, he also raised his eyebrows and held her sleeve.
The palace maids who were sobbing nearby choked to death on the huge royal melon. They even forgot to cry. After hearing the secrets of the royal family, they absolutely could not leave the palace alive.
Her future seemed bleak and hopeless, yet the palace maids and eunuchs beside her exchanged glances, completely unaffected by the situation. She longed to live carefree, at least free from the fear of losing her head overhearing royal secrets.
Even knowing the emperor's thoughts, Zhou Yun still told him the truth, eagerly anticipating the rage of the self-proclaimed supreme ruler upon learning the truth.
He hadn't expected that the emperor already knew the second prince was a fake, but even if he did know, the fact that he had tolerated it for so many years was astonishing; Zhou Yun had to praise him for being more patient than a thousand-year-old tortoise.
“Zhou Ao is indeed not the Emperor’s child, but he can’t be called an illegitimate child either. The blood of our Zhou family still flows in his veins. His biological father is the eldest brother that you and I know best.”
The elder brother of the two refers to only one person, the former crown prince who was deposed due to a mistake; otherwise, it would not have been their turn to seize the throne.
Zhou Yun drugged the deposed crown prince and Wang Min, who was not yet Consort Shu at the time. Wang Min reacted quickly and covered it up, but when she was about to drink the contraceptive soup, Zhou Yun found her.
He used the excuse that the emperor had made her drink an abortifacient without her knowledge to invite her to join his camp.
Wang Min had suspected the emperor, but after learning it was an abortifacient, she considered accepting his invitation and abandoned the idea of drinking the contraceptive soup.
She knew perfectly well that whether it was the emperor, the Prince of Qi, the deposed crown prince, or her maternal family, her existence was nothing more than a tool for vying for power and profit, but a tool used improperly can hurt one's own hand.
Thus, with everyone harboring their own thoughts and restraining each other, the current situation was created through intentional or unintentional pushing.
"Even tigers don't eat their cubs, yet my royal brother could be so cruel to an unborn child. If it weren't for the miscarriage, it would have been your first child, wouldn't it?"
Because he was the eldest son, he could be born to anyone, but he absolutely could not be born from Wang Min's womb.
Upon learning that Wang Min was pregnant with a child of unknown origin, Zhou Yin considered using this as an excuse to kill her.
But at that time, the Wang family was at the height of its power, and he needed their help. He couldn't let the Wang family know that he had tricked Wang Min, a noblewoman of the Wang family, into drinking abortifacients, and that he had framed Wang Min and taken her life without knowing whether the abortion had failed due to an accident.
Even if Wang Min denies it, Zhou Ao could still be his child. Even if he has doubts, he can only swallow his anger.
To prevent Zhou Ao from becoming the eldest son, the emperor shifted his attention to another beauty who was also pregnant. Her child was born later than Wang Min's, and in order to force her to give birth prematurely, he sent her a lot of premature labor medicine under the guise of caring for her. In the end, she did give birth to her child before Wang Min.
Overjoyed, Zhou Yin defied public opinion and made her Empress. The child, who was born prematurely and was weak, was later made Crown Prince under some pretext to quell the arrogance of the Wang family.
After listening to the whole thing, Shang Yuji sighed, "No wonder everyone says the royal family is ruthless. The word 'power' is truly a stroke written with one's life."
Of course, the main reason is that the emperor was not a decent human being.
Well, actually there weren't many good people on the field.
When Zhou Yun pointed out that he was worse than a beast, the emperor's face turned extremely ugly, expressionless, and his expression was particularly gloomy.
Since becoming emperor, apart from a few fools, who hasn't flattered him? Even if they are dissatisfied, they won't show it on their faces. They experienced all the defiance and offense they hadn't felt in a long time today.
More than Zhou Ao's status, Zhou Yun's words displeased him even more; the presumptuous attitude in his words was truly infuriating.
After listening to Zhou Yun's account, Zhou Ao's face turned ashen. He was saying that if his biological father hadn't been deposed, he would have been the rightful heir to the throne of Da'an. All of this was the fault of the late emperor who deposed his father from the position of crown prince. The emperor present and Prince Qi, Zhou Yun, were also implicated.
The secret was revealed to everyone in the Zhengqing Hall. No matter how much the emperor recounted the past, Zhou Yun was too lazy to pay attention: "Jing'er, let's do it."
"……yes."
Zhou Yun's gaze fell on the emperor, unaware that Zhou Ao's eyes held resentment and anger, directed at both the emperor and him.
"Go, tie up the late emperor."
His men obeyed, took out the prepared ropes, and stepped forward. The armor made a dull thud as it moved, drowning out the crisp sound of raindrops hitting the armor.
The emperor's eyes widened. He wasn't dead yet! This traitor was already calling him the late emperor!
"Kill them, He Zhong, I order you to kill them!" The emperor was in a state of panic. To hide his fear, he shouted loudly, trying to bolster his confidence, or perhaps to scare them away.
He Zhong remained silent and did not move. Zhou Yin turned to look at him in disbelief and questioned, "Why aren't you going!"
Only after He Zhong stepped aside did Zhou Yin see the lingering sorrow and struggle in his aged eyes: "Your Majesty... the Empress has been kind to this old minister. This old minister promised the Empress to take care of the Crown Prince, but in the end, I failed to do anything. This old minister is ashamed before Her Majesty the Empress..."
The Empress was timid by nature, yet she was tolerant of everyone, treating all people with sincerity and courtesy, regardless of their status. Perhaps in the Emperor's eyes the Empress was of little use, but in the eyes of the concubines in the harem, she was a fair and tolerant Empress; and in the eyes of their servants, she was the most benevolent mistress.
Human hearts are made of flesh and blood; it's impossible not to be moved.
The emperor made the empress a target to draw hatred from the palace, making her responsible for bearing the wrath of both the court and the harem, but things didn't go as he expected.
The harem was not as turbulent as he had imagined; the harem was at its most peaceful when the Empress was alive.
The Empress, who had been kind to him, died at the Emperor's hands. The accumulation of toxins from the premature birth drug, coupled with the severe damage to her body after the premature birth, caused the Empress to pass away within a few years. Her only remaining wish was to take care of the frail Crown Prince, but this was used by the Emperor to frame the Wang family. After the Crown Prince's death, her last wish was left unfulfilled.
He Zhong's deep regret and resentment caused the emperor, who had caused suffering to the empress and the crown prince, to be the one who protected him so well. He had protected the enemy of his savior for many years!
Zhou Yin, oblivious to He Zhong's pain, roared angrily, "What? Even you are going to betray me?! Don't forget that all the honors you have now were bestowed upon you by me!"
He was all bark and no bite; his shouts were just empty bravado. Not only was Zhou Yun happy to see the strongest fighting force in the palace turn against him, but even the emperor himself was afraid that He Zhong would really abandon him.
The emperor withdrew his angry glare and was about to say something kind to change He Zhong's mind.
Unexpectedly, He Zhong shook his head, closed his eyes, and threw the whisk engraved with a golden dragon pattern into his hand. Without even looking at it, he turned and entered the Zhengqing Hall.
The whisk rolled down the steps and finally landed on the broken blue bricks.
The candlelight in the Zhengqing Hall was bright and clear, and the storm outside could not affect the bright lights inside. When the little palace maids and eunuchs who were huddled in the corner saw him enter, they quickly hid to the other side and made room for him.
Shang Yuji moved with the flow of people, but she moved too slowly and she and Jiang Xi became noticeably separated from the crowd.
It was gleamingly exposed in front of He Zhong.
Shang Yuji was silent for a moment, then immediately smiled and said, "My lord, you must be tired and cold or hungry. I have some handkerchiefs and biscuits here. Would you like them?"
Why would a palace maid carry cakes with her? Does she think the kitchen would let them go hungry?
Because he had been in seclusion practicing martial arts for many years, he didn't know which batch of palace maids she had entered. Seeing her confident demeanor, he tacitly accepted her status as a palace maid.
However, it seems that he hasn't learned the palace etiquette well. He probably just entered the palace recently, so he lacks practice in etiquette.
But none of this matters to him anymore. After today, no matter who wins this game, he will not have a good ending.
He Zhong asked her for a handkerchief to wipe his face, but he didn't need the cake; he wouldn't be concerned about the little palace maid's food rations.
Thinking she had gotten away with it, Shang Yuji secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
When their eyes met again, she simply pretended to be silly and gave a silly laugh. Jiang Xi was very good at imitating Aji, and with her talent for being silly, neither of them looked smart when they laughed.
They knew nothing; they were just innocent palace maids and eunuchs who had been unlucky enough to be trapped in the Zhengqing Hall.
He Zhong simply thanked her, then stood quietly in a corner without reacting.
Shang Yuji paid no attention to his unusual behavior. The protagonist always makes his appearance last. Just as the emperor wanted to delay the emperor by taking the lives of the palace maids and eunuchs, a piercing and clear sword cry rang out:
"Zheng—"
A blinding white light flashed, as if a sharp sword had been drawn from its sheath.
The fully armed princess, leading the group, pointed her sword at Zhou Ao, letting the rain drip from her helmet. A few drops occasionally slanted into her eyes, but it didn't bother her. She shouted sharply:
"Traitor, surrender now!"
Zhou Chaoyun's unexpected arrival stirred up the lake surface that had just barely calmed down.
Interrupted from our good time, Zhou Yun spoke first: "This place is dangerous and not a place for you, Chao Yun. Go back to your residence. Once things have settled down, your royal uncle will visit you again to catch up."
Although Zhou Chaoyun was not the imperial guard the emperor had hoped for, his arrival gave him hope. The emperor shouted, "Chaoyun! Capture the traitor, and your father will reward you handsomely!"
Zhou Chaoyun laughed twice: "Father, what kind of reward are you going to give me? Even if I wanted the throne, would you give it to me?!"
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A note from the author:
Xiao Shang: ^U^
Xiao Jiang: >V<
They're all such good people! [rose emoji]
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