Upon hearing Li Qiji's words, Li An smiled and couldn't help but clap his hands and exclaim, "Well done, well done! You truly are my imperial brother's finest son. You've managed to make this matter sound so easy with just a few words!"
"Enough, stop talking." Empress Dowager Xin felt utterly ashamed. Why had she had this relationship with this scoundrel? Why couldn't she stop him? Why did she give in? Why didn't she tell her son?
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward. Guan Zhiyue touched her nose and said, "Seventh Imperial Uncle, I'd like to have a talk with you, is that alright?"
Everyone present was shocked to hear Guan Zhiyue's words. After all, Guan Zhiyue and Li An had never met before, and tonight was their first time meeting. What could they possibly have to talk about?
"Yue'er..." Li Qiji looked at Guan Zhiyue with concern and spoke up to stop her.
Li An, however, acted nonchalantly, sizing up Guan Zhiyue and saying with obvious satisfaction, "Oh, if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time I've met my niece-in-law, isn't it? We'll have to talk privately, perhaps...?"
"Shut up. I'm only speaking to you privately to save face for you, Seventh Imperial Uncle. If you don't even want your own face, then let's have a proper chat right here." Guan Zhiyue showed him no respect and shouted loudly.
Upon hearing this, Li An also dropped his teasing expression and looked at Guan Zhiyue with the eyes of an elder sizing up a junior, saying, "Alright, let's go then!"
Empress Dowager Xin was still standing there, lost in thought. Li Qishang had slumped to the side, his head bowed, his expression unreadable. Only Li Qiji looked at Guan Zhiyue with worry, fearing that his royal uncle might do something dangerous to her.
To everyone's surprise, Guan Zhiyue understood what Li Qiji was worried about! She nodded firmly at him and mouthed, "Don't worry!"
So Guan Zhiyue led Li An to another side hall. Li An, in a dashing manner, fiddled with the fan in his hand. It was the hottest time of the year, and Guan Zhiyue was extremely irritable. But since the matter had already happened, she still had to find a way to resolve it.
"Speak, niece-in-law, what do you want to say by calling me here?" Li An plopped down on the chair next to him, crossed his legs in a very unrefined manner, and looked at Guan Zhiyue with a look of amusement.
Seeing the man's attitude, Guan Zhiyue didn't want to play games with him anymore and said directly, "You're lying."
Li An paused, fanning himself, unsure of Guan Zhiyue's meaning. He then asked, "Niece-in-law, is there something wrong with you?"
Guan Zhiyue said dismissively, "Seventh Imperial Uncle has always loved my mother, hasn't he?"
"Snap!"
The sound of the fan hitting the ground made Guan Zhiyue turn her head to look at the source of the sound, only to see Li An frozen on the spot. He thought he had concealed it well, so why was he like this...?
Li An burst into laughter, bending down to hide his emotions, and casually picked up the fan. He opened it with a whoosh, looked at Guan Zhiyue, and couldn't help but mock, "Niece-in-law, what nonsense are you spouting? My beloved concubine has already been harmed by your father, how could she be my sister-in-law?"
Looking at Li An's trembling hands, Guan Zhiyue became even more certain that perhaps all those words before were just a smokescreen; otherwise, why would she act this way?
"Seventh Imperial Uncle, you are not a bad person at heart. It's just that you were born into a royal family. My mother comforted you, which made you think that this was love, so you chose to like her."
"You transferred all your love to my mother. In fact, you were the first to fall in love, but you didn't want to implicate your mother in order to prevent your brother, my father, from finding out."
So you decided to bury your love deep in your heart, and then pretended to be deeply in love with the princess, forcing your father to believe that you loved her. He then took your beloved princess away and forcibly brought her into the palace.
"From the beginning, it was not my father who caused the mistake, it was you. It was you from beginning to end. You fell in love with your brother's woman first, and your brother found out later for some reason."
He just took your queen, and you think that by marrying her you can protect my mother and bring her comfort? Unfortunately, you've only pushed another woman into the abyss.
As Li An listened to Guan Zhiyue's words, he retreated step by step. He had kept this secret for so long, these past events of the former dynasty and the harem. Those who knew the truth were all killed. Why did Guan Zhiyue know so much? He couldn't help but start to scrutinize her.
"You...you, you are..." Li An's lips trembled slightly, and he couldn't finish his sentence.
Guan Zhiyue understood what he wanted to ask and said directly, "Seventh Imperial Uncle, are you surprised? How do I know all this? What exactly happened?"
"Yes, I want to know, how did you know?" Li An resumed his original expression, but his face no longer showed any of his usual nonchalance; instead, it was filled with worry, whether it was the worry of the truth coming to light or the worry of things being exposed.
Guan Zhiyue took a deep breath and said, "I've been observing this since I entered the palace tonight, since I saw you, Seventh Imperial Uncle, until just now when I called you out to talk alone. But it's all just my guess. I don't know many details, so I can only give a general idea."
"Hahaha, everyone says that the Queen of Nanding Kingdom is the Bodhisattva Guanyin who saves people from suffering and is the most intelligent woman in the world. Seeing her today, I can see that she is indeed extraordinary. She can analyze the whole matter clearly from the smallest details. She is truly a remarkable person."
"What the world says is true. With you in Nanding Kingdom, how could you not be rich?"
"Yes, I do love your mother. She was the one who gave me a glimmer of light in this cold and ruthless palace, a ray of dawn in the endless darkness. I love her, but when I fell for her, she was already your father's concubine, and had already given birth to the emperor. I..."
"My love is so humble, it can only be buried in the dust. I dare not tell your mother, I am afraid that your mother will despise me, I am afraid that your mother will no longer like me. I endure, I am unwilling, I run away, I fall into depravity, but I..."
Guan Zhiyue listened to Li An's words, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "Seventh Imperial Uncle, the relationship between the two is not just that of lovers, but could also be something else. Since my mother was already the Emperor's woman back then, you should have withdrawn and should not have forcibly taken her."
"If love is too desolate, let me dream it! Unfortunately, I can't control myself; I don't want it to be just a dream, so I..."
"Yes, so you chose to drag another one into the abyss. In other words, your scheme is truly brilliant. You even outmaneuvered the current emperor. You let him take your queen, and you took the opportunity to seize my mother!" After hearing what Li An said, Guan Zhiyue suddenly understood and expressed her thoughts.
"Yes, you are very clever. I never expected this. I dealt with everyone who knew about this. I never expected this..."
Guan Zhiyue smiled and shook her head, saying, "Seventh Imperial Uncle, your plan is very good. I am not very smart either, but when you love someone, you can't hide it in your eyes. I saw your special feelings for Mother from your face. I think Mother has been in your scheme from beginning to end."
After hearing Guan Zhiyue's words, Li An sat down properly to the side, his back straight, his eyes vacant, as if he was recalling something, and he did not speak for a long time!
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