As night fell, Li Xi, dressed in black, quietly arrived at a secluded private residence.
"Young Master, there has been some progress regarding the matter you instructed us to investigate," Elder Sun reported respectfully to Li Xi, holding a scroll in his hand.
Li Xi nodded, his gaze sharp as he looked through the night at the scroll in Elder Sun's hand.
Elder Sun carefully unrolled the scroll, which was densely covered with various kinds of information.
"After extensive investigation, we discovered that there were indeed other rumors surrounding the Crown Prince's drowning ten years ago, suggesting that it was not just a simple accident."
Upon hearing this, a cold glint flashed in Li Xi's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Tell me in detail."
Elder Sun continued, "Ten years ago, the ten-year-old Crown Prince, though young, was both literate and skilled in martial arts. On that day, he went to the lake alone. What's even more strange is that the guards and palace maids were all transferred from their posts, and no one was able to witness the Crown Prince drowning. Afterwards, the palace hastily closed the matter and did not investigate it further."
The eldest prince, as Emperor Jin's first child, drowned in the palace, which should have been a major event that shocked the court and the public.
However, the palace chose to end the matter hastily, unwilling to investigate further. What secrets and hidden stories are behind this?
Li Xi took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Anything else?"
"Later, less than a month after the death of the eldest prince, rumors spread that the emperor and empress had broken up, and the Jin emperor even ordered the Jiaofang Palace to be sealed off, forbidding anyone from entering."
The ban was only lifted later when the Empress developed a heart ailment. For many years, she repeatedly sought medical treatment without improvement. The relationship between the Emperor and the Empress also eased somewhat.
These are almost identical to what Xuanqing said.
"Are there any others?" She wanted to know more.
Elder Qian suddenly remembered something and said, "There's another matter, which is quite strange. It's said that after the First Prince drowned, Prince Xuan spent his days drinking. Not long after, he asked the Emperor to send him to guard the frontier, and he's been gone for almost ten years."
Prince Xuan was the younger brother of Emperor Jin, and the two were twins. Therefore, they were favored by the late emperor from a young age. Prince Xuan was a free-spirited and unrestrained man who loved to travel around and was the dream lover of many women in the capital.
Emperor Jin, on the other hand, was calm and decisive, and was highly regarded by the late emperor, so he was made crown prince at a young age.
Although the two look alike, their personalities are completely different, and they have been close friends since childhood.
After Emperor Jin ascended the throne, factional strife in the court intensified. If Prince Xuan remained in the capital, he would inevitably be exploited by those with ulterior motives, potentially turning the brothers against each other and damaging their brotherly bond. Later, Prince Xuan requested to be stationed on the frontier, which suited the emperor's wishes.
Elder Qian stroked his beard and continued, "Speaking of which, this Prince Xuan was quite a devoted lover."
"Devoted love?" Li Xi asked, puzzled.
Elder Qian nodded and said, "I heard that Prince Xuan once had a sweetheart. The two were childhood sweethearts and had a very deep relationship. I just don't know why they didn't get married and have remained single ever since."
Upon hearing this, Li Xi couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion. Could there really be such a devoted person in this world?
"Speaking of which, King Xuan was quite a pitiful man," Li Xi sighed.
Elder Qian shook his head and sighed, "Yes, love and affection in this world are the most hurtful."
Li Xi didn't speak again, but he had some doubts in his heart: why was he so dejected back then, and even volunteered to go to such a harsh and cold place as the frontier?
"Can we find out who his sweetheart is?" I wonder if the Prince Xuan knew the Empress back then.
Elder Qian shook his head: "This woman has been well protected by Prince Xuan, and no one knows her true identity."
"Go and investigate the Empress's situation when she was still a young woman waiting to be married." Her intuition told her that these two probably had some unknown secrets.
"yes······"
Back at the embassy, Li Xi told Qin Xiaolin about the intelligence she had gathered.
He handed over a secret letter: "Perfect timing, I've also made some interesting discoveries."
Li Xi took the letter, unfolded it, and stared wide-eyed.
The letter stated that Emperor Jin and King Xuan were twins born of the same mother, and their appearances were so similar that they seemed like one person. Even those who knew them well could hardly tell the difference.
The two used to frequently switch identities and impersonate each other to prank those around them. However, as time went by, they grew into adults.
As the crown prince, Emperor Jin took on more and more responsibilities, and his personality became increasingly calm and dignified. In stark contrast, King Xuan maintained his playful and cynical attitude towards life.
This memory reminded Li Xi of a momentous event she experienced when she took the college entrance examination.
Back then, the college entrance examination did not require fingerprint verification as it did later; facial scanning was sufficient to identify the examinee.
There was a pair of twins. One of them had successfully gained admission to a top university the previous year, and the other twin took the exam in his place the following year. The result was that the twin was also admitted to the same university.
As for how the truth was finally uncovered, Li Xi's memory has become hazy after more than a decade.
"Brother Qin, do you know if you have any way to get your hands on the manuscripts of those two people from back then?" Li Xi wanted to verify this.
“This is no difficult task.” He snapped his fingers, and soon a man in black appeared before him.
Upon hearing Qin Xiaolin's instructions, he vanished in a flash.
The border region where King Xuan was located was thousands of miles away from here, and it would be too late for him to make a round trip.
For a moment, the two of them were also in a dilemma.
"What's wrong with you two?" Hong Gu asked as she entered, puzzled by their worried expressions.
"Grandma, if only we could fly in the sky." At this moment, Li Xi missed the airplane from her previous life.
Hong Gu looked puzzled: "Fly? That's easy."
“What? Easy? Grandmother, although the three of us know how to use light-footed skills, we can only fly short distances and cannot sustain it for long periods of time, let alone cross thousands of miles,” Li Xi explained.
Upon hearing this, Hong Gu laughed: "Silly child, who said you can only fly by relying on lightness skills? Want to fly into the sky? That's easy! Come with me!"
The three of them arrived at the secluded back garden.
Hong Gu took out a whistle from her bosom, blew it, and soon a huge golden eagle flew down from the sky.
"Divine Eagle?" Li Xi and Li Zhi exchanged a glance, both showing surprise.
Although they had heard some legends of strange and exotic beasts in storybooks, they really did not know that there were birds that could carry people in flight.
This eagle was even bigger than the ones she had seen on TV.
It hovered in the air for a while, then fell straight down in their direction. When it stood up, it was even bigger than the three of them.
It lowered its head and approached Hong Gu.
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