Ning Song slightly raised the corners of his mouth, and said with a self-deprecating smile, "Is Consort Yun so insistent on this issue because she is worried that His Majesty is not the legitimate heir and that rumors will spread against him?"
"His Majesty will not worry about the rumors; he will deal with them calmly. Lord Ning, as I just said, I was just curious. With your character and achievements, you didn't need to take such a desperate path. You should know better than anyone that from the moment you sided with Prince An, it was a matter of life and death."
"To poison the current emperor, to murder the concubines in the harem, and to incite conflict between the two countries—it would be very difficult for Prince An, a mere teenager, to devise such a comprehensive plan."
"These can be described as vicious schemes, and you would have been involved in them without my assistance. What I don't understand is, you have always been loyal to Tengen, so why would you come up with such a plan to murder the monarch?"
Ning Song shrugged, his self-deprecating smile deepening.
"Your Highness Consort Yun is wise, but you are still wrong, and everyone in the world is wrong. I, Ning, have never said that I am loyal to Tianyuan. I have only been loyal to one person from beginning to end, and that is the late Emperor."
Gu Jiangli was somewhat surprised.
She rarely heard any official say that he was disloyal to the country.
Ning Song noticed her surprise and continued unhurriedly, "There is nothing in Tianyuan that I am loyal to, but the late emperor has been kind to me. If it weren't for the late emperor's trust and protection, I would have suffered from the targeting of many ministers when I entered the court at such a young age."
"After the late emperor passed away, I should have followed his last wish and supported the monarch he trusted most. Unfortunately... Prince Rong died, and the late emperor's last wish could not be fulfilled. In order to satisfy the late emperor's last wish, I, Ning, can only choose Prince Rong's son."
"Everything I have done is for the late emperor."
“I had already made up my mind that if things went well, I would atone for my sins by dying before the late emperor’s mausoleum. But now it seems that I don’t need to kill myself, His Majesty will certainly not let me go.”
Gu Jiangli frowned and asked again, "So, the blank will is true?"
Ning Song replied, "It is true. I personally witnessed the late emperor drafting the edict, leaving the name blank."
"Since no name was written down, how do you know that the late emperor chose Prince Rong?"
"The late Emperor trusted me and praised Prince Rong countless times in front of me, saying that Prince Rong was a very suitable candidate. He even said that if Prince Rong could succeed to the throne in the future, the Tengen might become even stronger. Aren't these words enough to prove how much the late Emperor valued Prince Rong?"
So, did the late emperor actually not explicitly say that he would pass the throne to Prince Rong?
With that, Gu Jiangli understood.
"Since you valued him so much, why didn't you write Prince Rong's name directly when drafting the will, but instead left it blank?"
Gu Jiangli's question left Ning Song speechless and silent.
After a long silence, he spoke again: "This matter... I don't understand it either. But I know that in the late emperor's heart, Prince Rong was the only choice to succeed to the throne."
"But I think Lord Ning is mistaken."
"What?"
"If what you say is true, and the late emperor already considered Prince Rong as the only candidate to succeed to the throne, he would not have left a blank space for the name. He should have written Prince Rong's name without hesitation."
"But……"
"There are no buts. The late emperor did not write his name for only one reason: he was hesitant and did not know who to choose. Prince Rong may indeed have the ability to become emperor, but His Majesty is no less capable and is equally competent to shoulder the heavy responsibility."
"Impossible, because the late emperor never once praised His Majesty in front of me, not even once. If he truly admired His Majesty, how could he not utter a single word of praise?"
"Some people just aren't good at praising their most prized child. Is that strange? If a few words of praise could determine who the ruler should be, doesn't Lord Ning find that absurd? At that time, most people in the court probably thought that Prince Rong would succeed to the throne, right? But the late emperor didn't make a decision for a long time. Doesn't Lord Ning find that strange at all?"
"this……"
"It was because the late emperor hesitated that he hesitated. Many people said that Prince Rong was good, and he also thought that Prince Rong was not bad, but in his heart he also thought that His Majesty was very good. That's why he hesitated. If Prince Rong was the one most people wanted, he could have simply followed the wishes of most of the court officials and written Prince Rong's name directly in the will. He didn't do that. Wasn't it because in his heart, he actually valued His Majesty more?"
“…What?” Ning Song’s eyes reddened, and his voice became slightly choked.
"Lord Ning, you say that the late emperor had shown you great favor, protected you on several occasions, and promoted you many times. But you, who pride yourself on your loyalty, have not seen through the late emperor's true intentions at all. Fortunately, your plan failed. If it had succeeded, after you atone with your death and meet the late emperor in the afterlife, knowing that you harmed his most beloved child and ruined His Majesty's reputation, how would you face him?"
Ning Song was speechless.
The calm and composed expression on his face had vanished without a trace; he could only clutch his head in anguish, letting out hoarse growls.
"Ah...impossible, I guessed the late emperor's intentions wrong? Impossible...how could this be?"
Gu Jiangli slowly stood up, supporting her waist. She no longer needed to stay there.
Having a chat with Ning Song here was quite rewarding.
At least, she was more certain of her answer.
The late emperor may not have chosen a suitable candidate back then, but Qi Heng was certainly not someone he would have refused to choose.
For Qi Heng, that was enough.
With Lotus's help, she walked out of the prison. The sunlight outside was not glaring, and it made her feel warm.
Lotus asked cautiously beside her, "Your Highness, will Lord Ning be unable to bear all this and commit suicide?"
Gu Jiangli smiled and said, "No, he wouldn't dare to die."
"You dare not?"
"How could he dare to face the late emperor in the afterlife? He has done wrong and dares not die."
The lotus flower nodded quietly.
A short while later, the emperor came out.
He looked exactly the same as when he entered the prison; his expression didn't change much.
However, Gu Jiangli keenly noticed a dark red mark on the hem of his black skirt.
When he walked over, he didn't take her hand as usual, but instead stood close to her side and said, "Let's go."
Gu Jiangli didn't move, but looked behind him.
The emperor kept his hands behind his back and refused to take them out.
She vaguely guessed what was going on, so she slipped one hand through his arm and asked, "Where is Prince An?"
The emperor didn't hide anything, "He's dead."
"His Majesty did it himself?"
"Um."
After those few words, Gu Jiangli stopped asking questions.
She hugged the emperor tighter and said, "Let's go back. The Empress Dowager is waiting for us to have dinner."
The emperor loosened his grip on his back, instead tightly holding Gu Jiangli's arm, and said with a smile, "Okay."
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