Gu Jiangli remained silent. She didn't need to be in a hurry because Chu Tan'er would definitely speak up for the sake of the Fang family.
"Imperial Noble Consort is really composed. I thought this news was of great importance to you, but I didn't expect you to still look so unhurried."
“The princess has asked me for a favor, so I don’t need to rush.”
Chu Tan'er's lips twitched, suppressing the anger in her heart. Her eyes darkened, and she continued:
"The Imperial Noble Consort is so considerate of her brother, but has she ever thought that her brother is not actually the same as she imagines?"
"He was actually a man who would do anything for the throne. In his eyes, none of his brothers and sisters were as important as the throne."
"He personally killed all his brothers, and even spared the two princesses who were unable to ascend the throne."
"Actually, the prince whom the late emperor valued the most was not him. The crown prince was someone else. The throne would never have fallen to him, the third prince."
"However, things are up to people. As long as everyone else dies, my brother will be the only one who can inherit the throne."
"Murder is easy to leave evidence, but arson will cause all evidence to vanish with the ashes."
"In that fire, many people died in the palace. It wasn't just the princes and princesses who posed a threat to the emperor, but also the palace servants who knew the truth, and even the historians perished in the fire."
"After my elder brother ascended the throne, he reshuffled the officials in the court. He killed almost everyone who knew the truth of what happened back then. No one would say that my elder brother's throne was illegitimate, and no one would even mention that he had several brothers."
"Tell me, with so many people's blood on his hands, how can he sleep well at night?"
Gu Jiangli listened silently, recalling the scene of the emperor trapped in a nightmare.
The emperor she knew was not someone who would go to such lengths for the throne.
In her eyes, the emperor seemed to care about the throne at all.
If he were someone who coveted imperial power, why would he constantly want to die?
She could only believe half of what Chu Tan'er said.
"The eldest princess said that His Majesty is a person who doesn't care about blood ties for the sake of the throne, but even though he killed everyone who threatened his throne, he still didn't kill you. This is contradictory."
"I..." Chu Tan'er suddenly stammered, "That's because we are siblings from the same mother, and my mother protects me!"
"If he really cared about imperial power to the extent you described, killing his mother shouldn't have been difficult for him."
Chu Tan'er choked with emotion, "Hmph, it seems you don't believe what I say at all. If you don't believe me, why bother asking me?"
Gu Jiangli exhaled a breath of stale air and sighed, "Killing one's brothers and sisters to seize the throne, that seems like something the eldest princess would do."
Upon hearing this, Chu Tan'er exploded as if a cat's tail had been stepped on, "Stop talking nonsense! When my brothers died in Mingyang Palace, I was just a child. How could I have done such a thing!"
Gu Jiangli was taken aback by her fierce rebuttal.
She lowered her head and murmured softly, "Yes, you were just a child back then, and the emperor wasn't much older than you; he was just a child too. If you couldn't do it, how could he?"
She remembered the story about the emperor that Lotus had told her.
The emperor did not punish Liu Feng even though Liu Feng had damaged the silk scroll that the emperor cherished dearly.
The eldest princess had already set her sights on his throne, and although he knew this, he did not secretly harm her.
Gu Jiangli increasingly trusted her eyes and feelings; the emperor was not the kind of person the princess described.
However, it is clear that the burning of the princes and princesses back then was true, otherwise the emperor would still be averse to fire to this day.
He wasn't the one who made the move, nor was the eldest princess. Who else in the harem had the ability and skill to do so?
Gu Jiangli stared at Chu Tan'er, and in her, he seemed to see an even older figure.
Who benefits from the emperor's ascension to the throne?
Instantly, the threads in my mind connected.
The eldest princess went so far as to poison the emperor, all in an effort to allow her son, Fang Xun, to ascend to the throne.
Isn't the current Empress Dowager the one who shares the same thoughts as her?
Even though she has no evidence to prove that the Empress Dowager is the one with such lofty ambitions, she is still willing to believe that the Emperor is not that kind of person!
After Gu Jiangli figured it out, he revealed a strange smile.
Chu Tan'er looked at her and suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
"Princess," Gu Jiangli called out leisurely, "Thank you. You've told me what I wanted to know. Now we can discuss your conditions."
Chu Tan'er slowly remembered her purpose for coming, and anger surged to her head once again. "Do we still need to talk? Didn't we agree that you would plead with the Emperor to release Ziyao!"
Gu Jiangli nodded, "Of course I will plead for him before His Majesty, but how exactly I do so is up to you."
Chu Tan'er gradually sensed something was wrong; the feeling of falling into a trap enveloped her once again.
"What do you mean?"
Gu Jiangli made no attempt to conceal the calculation and scheming hidden in his eyes, and said:
"Fang Ziyao's tax evasion this time is too large. According to Yun Sheng's laws, it is only right to cut off his head."
"But if all of the Fang family's assets can be confiscated, perhaps Fang Ziyao's life can be saved, given his sincere admission of wrongdoing."
“If we release him without any punishment, it will not be enough to appease public anger. The Princess should know that this is two million taels of silver, and the whole of Yun Sheng already knows about it. It cannot be suppressed.”
Chu Tan'er swayed and almost lost her strength and fell to the ground.
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