The emperor thought of many things in a short time.
"Your archery skills are not bad. You aimed at his hand, so how did you end up shooting into his heart?"
He said to the Empress, "There's also a problem with the weather. I remember clearly that the Imperial Astronomical Bureau reported that it was sunny, but when we got there it was foggy."
Afterwards, the Director of the Imperial Observatory voluntarily came forward to confess his guilt, saying that he was incompetent and had made a mistake in predicting the weather, and requested to resign from his position as Director of the Imperial Observatory.
The Empress also thought of this, "There's something wrong with the Director of the Imperial Observatory. That man resigned years ago and went traveling around. He hasn't appeared in the capital since..."
As she thought about it, a chill ran down the Empress's spine.
The commander of the Phoenix Palace guards, the commander of the Martial Virtue Division, and the director of the Imperial Observatory—if they were all bribed, or if they had other masters from the beginning.
The autumn hunt was, in fact, a conspiracy to sow discord between the emperor and the crown prince...
"It wasn't Zhao'er who wanted to kill you; we misunderstood him."
The Empress's voice trembled as she gripped the Emperor's hand tightly, "My son didn't intend to kill you, but I shot an arrow at him, leaving him alone in the hunting grounds, to be dealt with by those treacherous villains like Li Mo..."
She suddenly slapped herself hard, saying, "I don't deserve to be his mother."
No wonder his son wouldn't come home; no wonder his son said that filial piety was driving him to his death.
First she was wronged, then abandoned, and then relentlessly pursued. How much suffering must her Zhao'er have endured?
Unfortunately, she was foolish enough to believe Li Mo and the others, thinking that her son was truly angry with him and that was why he was unwilling to return to the capital.
It's laughable that she even boasted that she knew her son had trained people outside the home long ago, and that he must have been doing well all these years.
The Empress closed her eyes and bit her lip tightly, wondering how she could make amends.
The emperor quickly grabbed her hand, not wanting her to hit him again, saying, "You were intentionally plotting against someone who was not. You can't be blamed. It is my lack of wisdom as a ruler and my incompetence as a father."
"No, it's not your fault. You forced yourself into this position for the sake of us, mother and son."
You have no one to rely on, and the late emperor left behind so many messes. You have done enough for us, mother and son.
The one who is truly at fault is me. I shouldn't have yielded to my father's wishes to marry the late emperor, and I shouldn't have dragged you down with me by marrying the late empress, and also implicated the children..."
She suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the emperor pleadingly, "Please reveal Zhao'er's true identity."
His status as the late emperor's posthumous son has burdened him with too much. I want him to know that you are his father.
You want him to know that you've never disliked him, that he's longed for a normal family since he was little, and that if you give him a normal family, maybe he'll come back.
"No, otherwise how would the world view you, and how would they view him?"
The emperor refused firmly.
"I don't care anymore. In the eyes of the world, I've long been a shameless woman for marrying my brother-in-law."
Over the years, I've been selfish, afraid of being ridiculed, which is why I haven't dared to tell him the truth. I've let him down.
But right now, all I want is for my son to appear, to tell him that his mother didn't want to kill him, didn't want to abandon him.
Seeing the Empress lose her composure, the Emperor said helplessly, "Why do you need to take the blame upon yourself? You know very well that not telling him the truth is for his own good."
He is the child I conceived when you were the late Empress. If the world knew his true parentage, how could he remain the Crown Prince, how could he become the future Emperor?
"But the late emperor drugged you and me. He wanted to use me to get rid of you. Zhao'er is innocent."
"People won't care about those things. No matter what the inside story is, they will only look at Zhao'er with the most malicious eyes."
Have you forgotten those who are eyeing him covetously? Once his true identity is exposed, he might lose more than just his position as crown prince; he could lose his life too.
The emperor knew how to bring the empress back to her senses: "I would rather he be my stepson than be called an adulterer, and I would rather he see me as his father's killer."
"Your Majesty, what we need to do now is to find the mastermind behind this; otherwise, he may be harmed again."
Upon hearing that the Crown Prince was still in danger, the Empress gradually calmed down.
The emperor then continued, "Do you still remember why I organized that autumn hunt back then?"
Remember.
They sensed someone approaching the crown prince, intending to incite him to seek revenge on the emperor for his father's murder.
Those who instigated the incident were secretly dealt with, but the Emperor and Empress were worried that the Crown Prince's mind would waver, so they thought of using the autumn hunt to have a heart-to-heart talk with the Crown Prince and subtly tell him about his background.
Before he could say anything, the crown prince shot an arrow at the emperor's vital point.
Because the crown prince was instigated and encouraged, the emperor and empress did not suspect that the 'crown prince' who wanted to kill the emperor was not the real crown prince.
"Therefore, from the moment we started the instigation, we had already fallen into their conspiracy."
The emperor nodded.
Since all of this was orchestrated by the other party, they knew everything about Crown Prince Qiu Lie's regicide and even the Crown Prince's true parentage.
No matter which one he reveals, it will be a fatal blow to the Crown Prince.
The Empress rose, her eyes filled with malice. "We must never let Zhao'er be harmed again."
"Yes, so we can't act impulsively. Before we find out who the mastermind is, we have to weaken the Crown Prince's presence."
If they show that they care about the Crown Prince, the other party is very likely to come out and smear the Crown Prince.
“I will reveal that I intend to re-establish the crown prince. You can also start choosing concubines for the second and third sons. At that time, everyone’s attention will be focused on the brothers.”
The two brothers are not young anymore, and it's time for them to share the burden with their elder brother.
Both brothers are her flesh and blood, the Empress worried, "If we let them fight for the throne, won't things get out of control?"
Even if the brothers didn't compete, the officials below would still support them to fight for the crown prince position. The empress had experienced just how cruel the struggle for the crown prince position could be.
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