Chapter 129 We Won’t Give It to You Anyway
"Comfort... yes, I want to comfort you."
"At first, I thought General Bu's family had all died in battle, so I conferred the title of Feng'en Zhenguo Gong on Bu Huaicang, the title of Madam of the State on his wife Yan, the title of General Protecting the Nation on his eldest son, and the title of General Zhongyong on his second son. Now that they are still alive, I will not revoke these titles and the corresponding rewards."
Xiao Yulan: ...
Bu Ruo: ...
"My Royal Brother, aren't these what they deserve? They won the battle before they were abducted. If no one had colluded with the enemy and caused them to be abducted, they would have received more than these rewards upon returning victorious. My Royal Brother, you are being too stingy."
Bu Ruo looked at the emperor and smiled faintly: "My sister-in-law's father is old, and he has been tied up for two years and has a chronic illness. He needs to rest and recuperate. He will not be able to go to the battlefield again, so Your Majesty does not need to worry about anything else."
After all, what you should worry about now is whether your son is your biological son.
The emperor's eyes lit up when he heard Bu Ruo's words: "Is what Princess Zhan said true? Yes, General Bu has done enough for our Great Zhou over the years. It's time for him to take a break."
"In that case, I will reward General Bu's family with another 500,000 taels of silver, and also give them the title deed to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. How is that?"
It would definitely be good to get some silver, but in fact she only wanted 300,000 taels at first.
There is also the Zhenguo Mansion. In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the residences of officials were all granted by the emperor, but they only had the right to live in them. Now that the land deed has been obtained, the Zhenguo Mansion becomes a private residence.
Bu Ruo nodded: "Then my sister-in-law would like to thank the emperor for the reward on behalf of my father."
The emperor picked up his teacup and concealed his excitement: "The military power of the Bu family army..."
"What military power?" Bu Ruo pretended not to know.
The emperor was stunned. "Didn't Princess Zhan just say that General Bu needed to recuperate and could no longer lead troops? Then General Bu's military power..."
"I said so." Bu Ruo looked puzzled. "But what does that have to do with the military power of the Bu Family Army? The military power of the Bu Family Army is in my hands now, not in my father's. Besides, I have two older brothers. Since my father can't go to the battlefield, I can give the military power of the Bu Family Army to my brothers."
"Besides, the late emperor said that the military power of the Bu Family Army would never be taken back. He didn't say that if my father stopped leading the army, the Bu Family Army would no longer belong to my Bu Family."
When the emperor heard Bu Ruo's words, he was so angry that he almost dropped the teacup in his hand.
Liar! Liar! You said I couldn't go to the battlefield and told me not to worry. You're clearly trying to deceive me!
Now that he has received the benefits, he actually turns his back on me. Really...
"Brother, why are you glaring at Ruo'er? Is what she said wrong? Or does Brother want the Bu Family Army's military power? If you want it, you can just say it directly... We won't give it to you anyway."
The emperor was so angry that his hands were shaking, and in the end the cup of tea was spilled onto his dragon robe.
"Okay, this is why we came to see my brother today. Now that we've finished talking, we'll go back."
"Oh, by the way, I see that my brother doesn't look well. Don't be too tired. After all, if my brother dies now, someone else's son might just take possession of him."
Looking at the couple walking away hand in hand, the emperor was so angry that he swept all the memorials on the table to the ground.
"This is too much, absolutely too much! I must find a way to kill those two!"
After the emperor calmed down, his expression was gloomy. "Li Defu, how is the investigation into the Crown Prince going? Is there any news?"
Li Defu knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, not yet. It's been so many years since the incident, so it's difficult to investigate. Moreover, during our investigation, someone secretly obstructed us..."
"Secretly stop it? The Emperor narrowed his eyes. "Just now, Prince Zhan was almost saying directly that the Crown Prince is not my son. He must know something."
Li Defu knelt on the ground and hesitated for a long time. Finally, he mustered up the courage to speak: "Your Majesty, although the secret guards were unable to find out the prince's background, they did find out another thing."
"Speak! Just tell me everything you've found out. Even if you tell me that the Crown Prince is your son, I can handle it."
"Yes." Li Defu said stiffly, "The secret guards found out that when the late emperor arranged for the Empress to marry you, she was actually not happy about it. She even went on a hunger strike at home in protest. Even the Prime Minister almost gave in."
"But later, for some unknown reason, the Prime Minister chose the closest wedding date from those selected by the Imperial Observatory, as if he wanted to marry the Empress off quickly."
"After marrying you, the Empress often looked towards the palace in a gloomy mood. She only became happier three months after we married, when she became pregnant. The secret guards learned all this by asking people who had served the Empress. They don't know anything more."
The emperor's expression turned grim: "Looking towards the palace? Could it be that she was attracted to the late emperor? It couldn't be the palace guards and eunuchs."
Li Defu knelt on the ground trembling with fear: "Your Majesty, at that time, besides the late emperor and the imperial guards, there was also... the Heavenly Master."
The emperor was shocked. "Yes, and the Heavenly Master, have you found out whether the Queen knew the Heavenly Master before she married me? Stand up and speak."
"I don't know him." Li Defu got up from the ground. "The Heavenly Master has never left the palace except on prayer days. He even rarely leaves the Guantian Hall. There is no chance for him to meet the Empress."
"Moreover, considering the Crown Prince's age, if it really was the two of them, then wouldn't they have been there since the Emperor was still a prince... How is this possible?"
The emperor's eyes flashed dangerously: "How is it impossible? If it is really the Heavenly Master, then many things can be explained."
"For example, why was the Heavenly Master so anxious to have the Crown Prince ascend to the throne on this year's Blessing Day, and why did he ask me to treat the Queen well? Everything now makes sense."
"Li Defu, there's no need to have the secret guards investigate anything else. Just check how many times the Queen went to the palace while pregnant with the Crown Prince. What happened each time? Investigate every detail."
"Li Defu, I really can't believe that if the prince is really... Never mind, let's wait and see. I would rather the prince be the queen and the imperial guards' son than the man who is the Heavenly Master. Otherwise, the Great Zhou will be in danger. How can I have the face to go down and see my ancestors in the future?"
Ancestors of the Xiao family: Do you think you have the nerve now?
On the second day, the emperor's edict arrived at Prince Zhan's mansion. The people were even happier than Bu Ruo when they knew that the Bu family was still alive, especially the second and third branches of the Bu family.
Sure enough, the imperial edict arrived at Prince Zhan’s mansion in the morning, and they arrived in the afternoon.
Bu Ruo had already told Bu Huaicang and others about what the second and third houses had done in the past two years, and also revealed the whole story of his own request to be removed from the family tree.
I thought Bu Huaicang would be unhappy, but I didn't expect that what I got was his father's red eyes and full of heartache for me.
Yan Xiyue was so angry when she heard that the other party had dared to come to her house that she gritted her teeth and said, "Let them in! I want revenge for my daughter!"
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