Chapter 418: No Good Intentions
Huo Yan said, "Huo Yang is plotting to usurp the throne. He not only murdered my father, but also wanted to kill me. A group of secret guards risked their lives to protect me and escape. I wanted to go back to the capital to mobilize people, but I found Huo Yang's people everywhere. I almost died several times. I had no choice but to come to Xizhou to inform you of the situation in the capital, so that you will not also fall victim to Huo Yang's murderous hands..."
As he spoke, he suddenly fell to the side as if he could not hold on any longer.
Huo Zheng quickly stepped forward to support Huo Yan, "Father has really--"
"When I left the capital, the news of my father's death had already spread."
Huo Yan's face was gloomy and he looked very sad.
Before the Sixteenth Prince was born, the Ninth Prince had always been the most favored by the Emperor. If he had not fallen into the hands of the rebels in Xizhou, bringing shame to the royal family, and had not refused to listen to his father and marry the Princess of Xiling, he would probably have always been deeply favored by the Emperor.
Now that the emperor is dead, Huo Yan cannot remain indifferent.
Even Huo Zheng couldn't stop thinking about how his father was kind to him. Although he was not Queen Wang's biological son, he was raised by the Queen since childhood and could be considered a half-legitimate child. He was not the one his father loved the most, but he was the one his father relied on the most.
When Huo Zheng was young, he showed extraordinary qualities in all aspects of civil and military affairs. At that time, he was not yet the Prince of Chang'an, whose reputation was so widespread that even the emperor was afraid of him. The emperor was always strict with him, but occasionally showed some fatherly attitude towards him.
The emperor would also say, "Qi Lang should be more diligent in the future so as to share my worries."
Perhaps it was because his father rarely looked at him with such admiration, so Huo Zheng would think of that sentence many times when he felt that his father was doing things unfairly. He thought that perhaps his father had high hopes for him, so he treated him particularly harshly.
Huo Zheng could have kept deceiving himself that his father was not partial, he just treated each of his sons differently. Until he fought bravely in Xizhou and finally won the battle and returned to Beijing, his father insisted on forcing him to marry the Princess of Xiling.
My father knew very well that he was already married and had children, and there was no room for another woman in his heart or around him.
But his father still forced him to make a choice.
He can only choose between the position of crown prince and Harue.
Huo Zheng chose to be true to his heart.
From then on, he retreated to Xizhou and devoted himself to benefiting the people of Xizhou.
In the past few years, when Huo Zheng was extremely tired, he would also wonder if his father would feel that his son had lived up to his expectations when he saw that the people of Xizhou were living better and better.
He also wished that if one day his father no longer regarded him as a threat to his throne and summoned him back to Beijing for a reunion, he could tell his father that he had lived a good life in Xizhou these years, had never forgotten his father's teachings, and had never felt resentment.
But the meeting between Huo Zheng and his father when he was banished from the capital and was filled with resentment turned out to be the last meeting between the father and son.
Once we part, it is a farewell forever.
Huo Zheng thought about how his father used to interact with him and was silent for a long time.
Chunzhi walked forward and held Huo Zheng's hand. She didn't say anything, but gave Huo Zheng a very gentle look: No matter what happens, I am here.
I'm right here with you.
There are too many accidents in life. Even if people come to this world, there will be a day when they die.
The death of a loved one is always difficult to accept.
Even someone as calm and composed as Huo Zheng would be overcome with grief upon hearing the news of his father's passing.
After hearing the Ninth Prince's words, Gu Yuanjia pondered over them again and again, and questioned, "Prince Rui must have made preparations long ago to try to usurp the throne. Your Highness, you are in the capital with him, seeing him every day. How could you really not have noticed anything?"
Xizhou and the capital are too far apart, and the exchange of information is not always convenient. In the use of troops, speed is the essence of war. In fact, many things in the court also require fast news to be responded to in a timely manner.
The news from the capital failed to reach Xizhou this time, which must be because King Rui carried out a large-scale purge of spies lurking in the capital, preferring to kill a thousand by mistake rather than let one go, in order to prevent the news from leaking out.
But Huo Yan was in the capital and had always been against Huo Yang.
If the Ninth Prince was as busy with various important matters every day as the Prince of Chang'an, and put the benefit of the people first, it would be fine if he did not realize that Prince Rui was trying to usurp the throne.
But the Ninth Prince is a man who keeps an eye on Prince Rui every day, and has only one main thing to do every day, which is to go against Prince Rui.
Such a person, when Prince Rui plotted to murder the emperor and brutally killed him, had no power to resist, and was even unable to protect himself...
He was in a situation where he had no choice but to run to Xizhou to report the news.
As a meticulous person, it was hard for Gu Yuanjia not to doubt Huo Yan's intentions.
In this situation, the prince only needs to play the good guy and be friendly to his brother, while he, as the counselor, plays the good guy and questions the Ninth Prince's intentions and tricks him.
Huo Yan had always had a bad temper. Even though he had restrained himself in front of the emperor over the past three years, his true nature would still show when he got angry. He glared at Gu Yuanjia and asked, "What do you mean?"
Gu Yuanjia said calmly, "Your Highness the Ninth Prince has considerable influence in the capital and has always been able to rival Prince Rui. This time, Prince Rui has made such a big move, but Your Highness—"
Huo Yan didn't wait for Gu Yuanjia to finish and interrupted angrily, "Are you saying that I, Xizhou, came to report this with bad intentions?"
Huo Zheng quickly said, "That's not what Yuanjia meant."
"That's what he meant!"
Huo Yan's face turned blue with anger.
He laughed in anger, "Yes, I'm not a good person in your eyes either. What good intentions can I have in coming to Xizhou?"
As the Ninth Prince spoke, he began to cough violently.
He coughed as if he was about to die.
Seeing this, Huo Zheng quickly asked Rendong to go forward and take a look at Huo Yan.
"If that's the case, then why did you save me?" Huo Yan raised his hand and pushed Ren Dong aside. He glared at Huo Zheng, Gu Yuanjia and the others. "He's right. I came to Xizhou with bad intentions."
The Ninth Prince said angrily, "What good intentions could I have? I just want you and Huo Yang to fight each other so I can reap the benefits!"
"Ninth brother," Huo Zheng said soothingly, "You're seriously injured. You can't be so angry. Calm down and listen to Yuan Jia finish what he has to say."
"What good things can Gu Yuanjia say about me? Isn't that what you all want to hear from me?" Huo Yan's face was as pale as paper, and his mouth was still as sharp as a knife. "Just think that everything I said and did for Xizhou in the past few years was all good intentions thrown away! If you don't believe me, just throw me out and let me fend for myself—"
After saying this, Huo Yan suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
The blood-red color was shocking, and everyone present was shocked.
Rendong hurried forward to take Huo Yan's pulse.
The pulse is very chaotic.
The man, who was already seriously injured, was now barely breathing.
Ren Dong angrily scolded Gu Yuanjia with a dark face, "He's already seriously injured, why are you provoking him like this?"
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