Upon hearing this, Huo Wuyou's feigned composure faded. After a moment's silence, he spoke, "My father and brother died for Dayong, but he believed slander and wanted to implicate the entire Huo family for failing to lead the troops. He imprisoned us in the Lin'an Marquisate. My mother submitted a blood-letter requesting an audience with His Majesty, which gave her the opportunity to enter the palace and plead her case. But no one could have imagined that she would commit suicide in the palace."
His breath was a little stiff. "In fact, whether my father and brother were defeated due to poor leadership or died fighting to protect the country was entirely up to His Majesty. As for my mother's death, whether the emperor would kill all the orphans and widows, or the widow would commit suicide out of love, was also up to His Majesty. To avoid causing public resentment and to preserve his reputation for eternity, he chose the latter. Therefore, the three of us siblings were able to survive. My mother is not a weak person. She would not abandon us if she had not been forced to do so."
He half-lay down, looking at Xue Zhiyi with bloodshot eyes: "Awan, I have never forgotten this hatred."
Seeing him like this, Xue Zhiyi couldn't help but feel distressed, but he tried to sound as relaxed as possible: "What's wrong? No one would forget this kind of thing."
Except for the emperor, everyone naturally regarded thunder, lightning, rain and dew as the emperor's grace, and naturally regarded the result of his weighing of pros and cons as the emperor's great grace to others.
Seeing that there was no sympathy in Xue Zhiyi's eyes, Huo Wuyou breathed a sigh of relief and his mood became less turbulent.
"But now, I can't ignore the lives of everyone around me and question him and ask for an explanation. Now he doesn't even want to kill Gu Shimin, the mastermind behind this."
He leaned on the couch, his face tilted up, his eyes wandering aimlessly on the gauze curtain under the beams, and told Xue Zhiyi what had happened in the Changsheng Palace today.
Xue Zhiyi couldn't help but sneer after hearing this. "You're right. For the emperor, Gu Shimin's collaboration is just one of many means to seize the throne. This crime doesn't weigh heavily on his mind. He can't really kill all the adult princes to give others the opportunity to support the young emperor, unless Gu Shimin crosses his bottom line."
After exchanging a glance with her, Huo Wuyou also gave a cold smile. "Last time, your brother told you about the secret clues about Prince Cheng's party. I have been secretly following the clues. In addition to Zhao Shen's confession, I did not report all of it. Instead, I secretly concealed some of it and used it for my own benefit. Since Your Majesty feels that Gu Shimin's crime is not serious enough, then let Gu Shimin commit a crime that is serious enough to touch his bottom line."
…
It had been some time since Xue Zhiyi came home to visit her parents, and the next day, she returned to Jianzhang Palace.
And that night, something big happened in the Hall of Eternal Life.
When Xue Zhiyi accompanied the queen mother to the Changsheng Palace, he saw the emperor sitting on the high throne with a frown on his face, and several people were kneeling in unison in the middle of the hall.
The queen, who was usually kind to others, was now pale and crying inconsolably, while Concubine Ge was terrified, as if struck by lightning.
Frightened, she kowtowed repeatedly, "Your Majesty, please understand! I am innocent. Your Majesty must not listen to slanderous words!"
As she spoke, she pointed angrily at the person kneeling beside the Queen and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know why Yuan Hui wanted to frame me like this, but there is nothing I haven't done!"
The person next to the queen was Ge Yuanhui. She had long since shed her usual gorgeous attire and was now wearing the clothes of a second-class maid. It was obvious that she was brought into the palace secretly.
She kowtowed quickly and said, "I dare not lie. Your Majesty, please understand!"
Xue Zhiyi bowed to these masters and helped the empress dowager sit down. The empress dowager's face was not very good. Before coming here, she already knew the whole story.
She said coldly, "Emperor, if Concubine Ge is really related to the death of Crown Prince Yumin, we must investigate it to the end."
"It's natural."
The emperor's eyes seemed to be filled with poison as he looked down at Concubine Ge.
It turned out that this was the leverage that Gu Shichong had mentioned about the Ge family: his eldest son had died young, and it was actually this bitch who was responsible, and the young Ge Yuanhui had witnessed it all.
That was his first child. His biological mother was the Empress Dowager, his maternal grandfather had served in three dynasties and was a clean civil servant. The elders in his family had served as the imperial tutors of the previous emperor. By this generation, they no longer interfered too much in state affairs, but they were highly respected and had a very high prestige among the civil servants.
Although the child was still young when he died, he had already demonstrated talent and intelligence far beyond that of others.
As the eldest son, he is gifted and a relative of the emperor, yet he remains aloof from politics and will not attempt to seize the throne of Great Yong. If this child successfully reaches adulthood, he will be the best candidate to succeed him...
Whenever the emperor thought of the death of Crown Prince Yumin, his heart ached. If the child were still alive, why would he have to choose between Gu Shichong and Gu Shimin?
Yes, if his eldest son had not died, how would Ge have had the opportunity to push his own son to the throne!
At this moment, the emperor wished he could kill the entire Ge family with his own hands!
A hint of murderous intent also emerged in the Queen Mother's usually kind eyes. The late Crown Prince was her first grandchild. She had watched him grow up, and now she was sending him off at the age of old. How could she not be heartbroken?
Fortunately, compared to the emperor, she was more sober besides being angry.
"Ge Yuanhui."
The Queen Mother's voice sent a shiver down the spine of the people kneeling on the ground.
"Repeat your confession verbatim."
Ge Yuanhui kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty...Everyone believes that Prince Yumin drank some wine at a palace banquet, fell into the water on a cold night, and died a few days later. However, I personally heard the conversation between my aunt and the maidservant beside her."
Her voice trembled slightly, and she had lost her former composure. "At that time, I was young and often went in and out of the palace. I only remember that time when the Crown Prince fell into the water and became seriously ill. Everyone in the palace was heartbroken, and no one cared about taking care of me. I wandered around Cuiwei Palace alone, but I never thought I would overhear my aunt talking to the imperial physician..."
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