Chapter 597: A Loyal Minister with a Red Heart

Emperor Mingpei's eyes quickly swept over Xinbao and he asked loudly, "Are you Mei Chenglin's grandson?"

"Yes." Gu Banmei said calmly: "No need to talk nonsense, I don't plan to live, I just want to overturn the verdict for my family."

Emperor Mingpei remained calm: "How do you want to turn this case around?"

Gu Banmei said: "Issue an imperial decree, saying that everything is a misunderstanding, and that Mei Chenglin is a loyal minister with a patriotic heart."

A loyal minister with a patriotic heart? ?

Why is this request so strange? ? Since he has done such a treasonous thing, it seems that he doesn't care about the royal family, but he still wants to give Mei Chenglin a posthumous reputation as a "loyal minister". What's the point? Mei Chenglin is an opportunist. He doesn't care about his reputation at all. So, this seems to be useless to anyone. It seems that it is just to give an explanation to the Mei family? An explanation that "only seeks peace of mind"? ? Emperor Mingpei's mind was racing, and his face was calm: "But he is not."

Gu Banmei said, "If you say he is, then he is. It's a good deal to exchange an imperial decree for the life of the little princess, isn't it?"

With these words, the feeling of “paying back a debt” becomes even stronger.

He didn't seem to really care about the Mei family. He just wanted to tell the world, I did it, I paid with my life, and I gave an explanation to the Mei family!!

There is a feeling of resentment, not being willing.

Emperor Mingpeidi suddenly said casually, "Are you from the Red Gang?"

Gu Banmei paused.

Xinbao nodded vigorously: "Yes! Yeah, he is a traitor and a bad guy!!"

Gu Banmei's hands tightened subconsciously, Xinbao was startled and held his hands with both hands. Yuan Shenjue said anxiously: "Xinbao, don't talk!!"

Gu Banmei glanced at him and didn't answer.

Emperor Mingpei said calmly, "I guess the people from the Red Gang must have told you that you are a descendant of the royal family, right?"

Gu Banmei was startled.

Emperor Mingpei said word by word: "Then, I tell you, you are not!!"

Gu Banmei was stunned: "No, this... this is impossible!!"

Emperor Mingpei was more calm, and said, "When Mei Chenglin first entered the court, he replaced Yan Youbo in a fit of impatience, and then he regretted it. This matter was like a guillotine hanging over his head. He was worried and terrified every day. So, when he was threatened by the rebel, he took the bait, thinking that the Red Gang was powerful and could really shake the court. So he contributed money and effort, and the rebels were able to grow stronger."

"After the truth was revealed, he regretted it deeply, but he couldn't get away. He just wanted to save the Mei family, so he entrusted his second son's concubine, that is, you, to the Red Gang, pretending that you were a descendant of the royal family, thinking that this was what Yan Youbo owed him."

Yan Youbo is the adopted nephew of Emperor Mingpei and the descendant of the third prince Yan Zexiang, the one who was replaced by Mei Chenglin.

Emperor Mingpei said slowly, "You have to understand that Yan Zexiang's identity was extremely sensitive back then, and Yan Youbo was a fish that slipped through the net. The royal family cannot repeat the same mistake. All the descendants of the Mei family must be identified before being imprisoned. All of them have been executed. This is beyond doubt. And why were you able to escape? Because you were originally raised outside, and Mei Chenglin had long regretted not taking you back home, just to leave a root for the Mei family."

He emphasized, "This is not a story of a loyal servant repaying his master. It's just that your grandfather Mei Chenglin took his son's life and the entire family's wealth and gambled away everything, but failed miserably..."

Emperor Mingpei originally thought that he was Mei Jingzhi, but he urgently asked someone to investigate, and everyone involved said that it was impossible for anyone to have the opportunity to replace the prisoner.

Although the practices of "prisoner swapping" and "substitute death" have always been rampant regardless of the dynasty, this case was originally caused by prisoner swapping and it was a major case of treason, so everyone was paying special attention to it and would not give people another chance.

Therefore, the child could only have been raised outside, and since there has been no news of any child dying in the Mei family, it could only be that the child was born out of wedlock.

After all, he is not a genius when it comes to impersonation, so there is no need for others to set up a trap for him since he was a child.

But the time was too short and nothing had been found out yet, so what Emperor Mingpei said was mostly speculation. He made up a story that could attract Gu Banmei's attention based on her various behaviors.

As expected, Gu Banmei was so confused and puzzled that he even forgot to answer.

Emperor Mingpei saw that the time was almost right, and then he said, "If you don't believe me, I found your grandfather's long-time attendant. When the Mei Mansion was in trouble, it was he who took you out of the capital. You should know him."

Then, a hunchbacked old man was pushed out and staggered.

When Gu Banmei saw it, his face changed.

He didn't know anyone from the Mei family, he was just shocked.

The old man had gray hair and two deep scars on his face that crossed each other, making his whole face look ugly and inhuman.

His lips trembled as he murmured, "Master Sun, I am Mei Si! Do you still remember me? I was the one who carried you out..."

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

Because the scar injured his lips, he spoke with a noticeable leak: "Well, Zheng Jian slapped me and slashed me twice, and I was lucky enough to save my life. It's been so many years, Master Sun..."

Zheng Jian is his senior brother.

Gu Banmei was shocked and looked at him again.

The scars on his face were faintly visible, and they were indeed the scars from Zheng Jian's fish-scale sword! ! Looking more closely, his hands were covered with calluses, his crotch was soaked with sweat and blood, and his legs were twisted, obviously from being carried on horseback for a long time, which caused them to be worn out.

Gu Banmei could no longer conceal his panic: "You, what do you know?"

The old man moved his lips with great effort: "Young Master Sun, you are really my grandson. I live near your home and will protect you secretly..."

Gu Banmei suddenly became distracted.

He seemed to have some impression.

Yes, the yard where he lived when he was a child was not big, not like the yards of other families. He still remembered that the stones on the steps at the door were polished very smooth, and he sat on them in his open-crotch pants, and it was hot...

Xinbao wanted to take the opportunity to pry his hands away and hide in the space, but even though he was distracted, his hands were tightly clenched, so she couldn't get in at all, and couldn't even reach him if she wanted to bite him!

I can only look at my loved ones and shed tears silently.

The old man continued, "I found excuses every day to walk past your house. You hid at first, but later you got familiar with me and smiled at me when you saw me. I..."

He touched the scar on his face, tears falling from it: "You wouldn't recognize me in this state now, Master Sun."

Gu Banmei couldn't bear it and whispered, "I still remember a little."

The old man said happily, "I knew that Master Sun was smart since he was young! You must remember it... Master Sun, Zheng Jian is not a good guy! At that time, the master said that if something happened in the mansion, I would immediately carry you to the manor and light three lanterns to wait for people. After waiting for two days, Zheng Jian came. After asking a few questions, he carried you and asked me to follow him. Then when I stepped on the threshold, he slapped me in the face..."

(End of this chapter)