A person’s words tend to be kind when they’re nearing death. Consort Jia had no need to lie about this before she passed.
What if what she said was true?
What if the forr Emperor indeed intended to depose the Crown Prince and establish Rong Heng as the new Crown Prince?
This utterly overturned Rong Shuo’s understanding.
After calming down, Rong Shuo tried hard to recall in his mind, attempting to find another possibility.
Gu Lan spoke up: "If this were true, the forr Emperor would not have casually eradicated the future Crown Prince’s maternal family. There’s a problem with that Holy Decree, and the imperial edict that led to Rong Jing’s accession might also have issues."
Her words caused the eyes of the two brothers before her to turn deep.
The affair of the Xiao Family colluding with the enemy was originally a groundless charge forced upon them. In reality, it was because the female mbers of the Xiao Family were in the Capital City at the ti, the old Marquis died in battle, and the Xiao Family was entirely loyal to the state with a staunch single-minded loyalty, allowing for their property to be confiscated without resistance...
If the forr Emperor was rely fearful of the Xiao Family’s achievents overshadowing him, wasn’t there still the Gu Family? Why was the Gu Family left untouched? Marquis Pingnan Mansion and Dingyuan Marquis Mansion have existed almost alongside the Dayan Dynasty, both surviving for centuries. Why was only this generation intent on eliminating one?
Rong Heng slowly raised his head, his dark eyes showing traces of blood:
"Are you saying that Rong Jing might also have known about this, thus forging the Holy Decree..."
Rong Shuo suddenly wanted to deny everything he had just said, declaring, "But when the forr Emperor issued the decree to confiscate the property, he was clearly alive and had refused Princess Consort Xiao an audience."
Gu Lan replied, "Then a few days later, he passed away."
Rong Shuo was stunned, opening his mouth but not knowing how to rebut.
A chill swept through Rong Heng’s body; it felt as if ice and snow had frozen his blood, even his thoughts grew heavy.
He knew exactly what Gu Lan’s words ant, yet instinctively he avoided contemplating this scenario.
That is...
Upon learning of the forr Emperor’s intention to depose him, Rong Jing preemptively took control of the forr Emperor, issued the Holy Decree in his na to execute the Xiao Family, then committed patricide and ascended the throne.
Even Xiao Ning’s disappearance further proved that the forr Emperor might have already lost his human freedom by then.
And all along, he had hated the wrong person.
While those imrsed in the situation are confused, those observing see clearly; Gu Lan didn’t limit herself to just this possibility. After pondering for a mont, she spoke again:
"There’s actually another possibility, which is that the forr Emperor never intended to establish you as the new Crown Prince. The decree removing the Crown Prince that the Consort saw was indeed real, but the forr Emperor never made it public.
Perhaps after Rong Jing made a mistake, the forr Emperor was montarily angry, a minor punishnt for a major failure, but then he realized that if Rong Jing ascended the throne, your affection and the rising power of the Xiao Family would beco the biggest obstacles for Rong Jing... So, for Rong Jing, he issued a decree to eliminate the Xiao Family when he felt he didn’t have much ti left."
On one side is the forr Emperor, on the other is the Emperor;
One is a father, one is a brother.
The decree issued by the forr Emperor was real, while Rong Jing being the mastermind lacked substantial evidence.
Moreover, the fact that Rong Heng was able to live well without the protection of the Xiao Family seed to imply that Rong Jing still harbored so goodwill.
After all, one of them must be the villain, or perhaps both conspired against the Xiao Family, this point Gu Lan did not ntion.
Rong Shuo suddenly regained his senses:
"If so, I recall sothing. Shortly before the forr Emperor’s passing, the Crown Prince had just failed to handle a matter of drought relief properly and was reprimanded by the forr Emperor. Later, this matter was handed to the third brother of the old Marquis of the Xiao Family, who managed it beautifully. Is it possible this was the reason for the forr Emperor’s drafting of the edict to depose the Crown Prince? But later, he abandoned it and chose..." to eliminate the Xiao Family.
He rembered that at the ti, the forr Emperor did not hesitate to chastise Rong Jing in front of all officials, and later, when he impulsively had the thought of deposing the Crown Prince, it was not impossible. But this was just a minor issue; in his heart, the forr Emperor wasn’t a fool.
In Rong Shuo’s mory, there was nothing concerning the forr Emperor worth rembering, this was contrary to Rong Heng, who was once favored with unparalleled affection.
He, as the eldest son, was born when the forr Emperor was still a young man and hardly knew how to be a father. Thus Rong Shuo had a thin relationship with his father throughout his upbringing.
Later on ca the legitimate prince Rong Jing, the clever and quick-witted third brother Rong Jue, and the weak and sickly fourth brother Rong Qi. anwhile, he had already enlisted in the military, leaving nothing but the bond of ruler and subject between him and the forr Emperor.
The only thing he rembered was the forr Emperor instructing him to protect his younger siblings.
If Rong Shuo had to choose one person to believe in, he would choose to believe in Rong Jing, letting the forr Emperor be the villain.
Rong Shuo recalled that Rong Jing, when younger, was a cute child like Wu, and though at tis there was so estrangent due to Su Xinyu, he would still pull his hand, asking him to teach him archery and horseback riding.
He watched him grow up little by little with his own eyes. How could such a person commit the heinous acts of forging the Holy Decree and patricide? Moreover, Rong Jing didn’t have such ability at that ti.
Gu Lan heard Rong Shuo’s reasoning and instinctively glanced at Rong Heng. She knew Rong Jing had once "caused the death of" Rong Luo, so her understanding of this Dog Emperor was clear.
If he could kill his sister, patricide was highly possible—Rong Heng was aware.
But this matter was difficult to explain to Rong Shuo.
The rain stopped.
But their hearts grew even more somber.
"Since Rong Jing’s suspicion cannot be cleared for now," Gu Lan said, "then perhaps we should investigate what situation the forr Emperor was truly in at that ti. I rember Zhang Fengcai’s godfather Zhang Ruoshui... is still alive?"
"Yes, and the decree to confiscate family property is also linked to him." Rong Heng nodded, restraining his internal upheaval, striving to calm down, and put on a mask.
Rong Shuo also sighed deeply, walked indoors, and with the Princess Consort and Rong Yunhao, left the inner courtyard.
His mother had passed, and he needed to give her a proper burial.
"Brother," Gu Lan called him, "my condolences."
Rong Heng opened his mouth, finally nodding to Rong Shuo: "My condolences."
At this mont, Gu Lan finally t the forr Ghost Doctor, Rong Heng’s ntor, Du Changning.
Du Changning walked out of the house, and Gu Lan instinctively backed several steps.
To be honest, she really couldn’t relate the raggedly dressed, white-haired, nose-picking old grandpa before her with the legendary Ghost Doctor.
And the first thing the old grandpa said upon seeing her was: "Young girl, do you have any wine, money?"
Coincidentally, Young Master Gu was never short of money, and she liked to spend money on young girls—even reluctantly on old grandpas.
The three of them left Prince Rui’s Mansion together, following Du Changning’s intent, stepping into a small tavern in the Capital City, and asked for a private room.
A plate of fried salty crispy peanuts, two liang of rice wine, and Du Changning was grinning ear to ear.
He poured wine into the bowl with a "sizzle," enjoying it with a sigh: "Old man has been craving this taste for a long ti, thanks to you, little girl."
Du Changning raised the wine bowl, gently licking the wine along the bowl’s edge with his tongue, deeply inhaling the wine aroma, revealing a comfortable expression.
After taking a sip of rice wine, Du Changning squinted happily for quite a while before finally looking at Gu Lan, his eyes widening imdiately.
His eyes wandered between Gu Lan and Rong Heng just when Gu Lan thought he had identified her female identity, she heard him sigh powerfully:
"You are the little girl who got involved with my student, a homosexual affair? Interesting, Ah Heng, you’ll have to work harder, since she invited your teacher for a drink, how about you let her have the upper hand a few tis."
Rong Heng truly drew his blade this ti, smirking coldly: "I think slaying my master for enlightennt might be more entertaining."
Gu Lan quickly intervened: "I think Senior Du’s words make sense... Wait wait wait, Brother Heng, calm down!"
He’s a protagonist from a certain popular site, not the protagonist from a certain green app!
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