GBP Chapter 470 Showdown 2
Chapter 470 Showdown 2
“What’s done is done. Why argue? Everything leaves a trace. It’s not like Your Highness can’t find out.”
How many people did you arrange?
"One."
"On a?"
"Yes, Your Highness is not a key target of surveillance. Others are suspects, but Your Highness's timing of coming to the capital is just too coincidental."
Jiang Xiaoqi put it bluntly: from the moment His Majesty the Emperor allowed the Prince of Xuannan to get involved, the Emperor himself had already cleared his uncle of suspicion.
Perhaps even His Majesty the Emperor himself did not realize this, and thought that he had killed two birds with one stone, and was just the right time to test his own uncle.
Sometimes, the subconscious mind can bypass one's conscious mind to do things, just like the struggle between the true self and the id.
Of course, there's no need to tell the Prince of Xuannan about this, as it would take a long time to explain, and besides, the prince didn't even ask.
"The timing of my arrival in the capital is not something I can decide myself. Although His Majesty the Emperor did not specifically urge me to set off after issuing the decree, my advisors always subtly urged me to come to the capital as soon as possible."
After discussing it with the Princess, we also felt that we couldn't delay any longer, at least not until next year. After all, an imperial edict is an imperial edict, not an ordinary family letter.
Jiang Xiaoqi already knew from the various intelligence reports brought back by Li Mo that the assassination of the Prince of Xuannan was true, and that the Prince of Xuannan was most likely real.
The story of the Xuan Nan Prince's advisors holding the Prince hostage is also true. The advisor's body has been drained of blood and is now frozen on the carriage like an ice sculpture, like a dried corpse.
Prince Xuannan may have once suspected the emperor, but later, for some reason, he stopped suspecting him.
In short, it seems that instead of immediately torturing the traitorous staff, he directly killed them by hand.
At the time, I probably didn't want to ask, afraid of getting an answer I didn't want, but later I regretted it a little.
Oh dear, this uncle and nephew really are related; they're equally conflicted and equally soft-hearted.
How exactly did the Zhao family manage to overthrow the old dynasty and establish the new Great Zhou? It's quite amazing.
Jiang Xiaoqi's mind raced, but in reality, it only took a moment before he caught up with the Prince of Xuan Nan's words.
"Your Highness has suffered greatly on this journey."
The Prince of Xuannan had not expected that the young man opposite him would say such a thing after he finished speaking.
Is this incredibly young Hanlin scholar feeling sorry for and pity for this prince?
The Prince of Xuannan paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "There were some twists and turns, but I still made it through."
Jiang Xiaoqi didn't reply, but picked up the teapot and poured more tea for Prince Xuan Nan.
"It's not hard to understand why you have doubts about me, after all, I'm the only royal uncle who's still alive."
Back when the Great Zhou Dynasty was first established, there were several different opinions in the court. Your current emperor was originally the sixth son in his family, the youngest.
Of the five older brothers, three died in the war, one lost a leg, and the only one who was still whole was the fourth brother.
However, the fourth prince was a military man and not very literate. Naturally, the civil officials disliked such a monarch. They feared that the emperor would prioritize military power over civil administration after he ascended the throne, leaving them, the civil officials, without status or power.
Therefore, a considerable number of people supported Zhao Yong, the youngest and sixth son. The sixth son was skilled in both literature and martial arts. Although he might be inferior to his older brothers in terms of military achievements, he was second to none in terms of strategy.
When everything had almost settled down, a different voice suddenly emerged in the court. The Imperial Uncle Zhao Qi was not inferior to the Sixth Prince Zhao Yong in terms of both literary and military achievements.
"Oh, Zhao Qi is me," Prince Xuan Nan added.
"I don't know who started it, but once someone said it, others followed suit and joined in the commotion."
The political situation in the court quickly became one of half supporting Xiao Liu and half supporting me. But I hadn't been involved in this whole affair from beginning to end.
I don't know what Xiao Liu was thinking at that time. I only suggested going to his fiefdom when things were getting out of hand.
This caused a huge uproar in the court at the time. Xiao Liu even came to my residence and said that if I wanted to become emperor, he would shut up those who supported him.
From that day forward, they bowed down to me, their imperial uncle, and swore to be loyal to me until death.
As the Prince of Xuannan spoke, his eyes reddened, as if he were recalling events from many years ago.
"Sigh, when people get old, they always like to live in the past. Maybe others have long forgotten about things from so long ago, but I'm still here rambling on and on."
Jiang Xiaoqi promptly stepped in to play the straight man, "So, what happened next?"
After calming himself down, the Prince of Xuannan continued, "Later, I naturally refused him. I had no ambition for the throne, and I told him that I only wanted to go to my fiefdom and live a peaceful life."
Xiao Liu finally agreed, and I took all my family members to his fiefdom, after attending his coronation ceremony.
Over the years, I have never had any disloyalty, but this trip to the capital has been fraught with twists and turns, and I now have no idea what His Majesty truly thinks of me.
Jiang Xiaoqi frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and then said softly, "Your Highness need not worry. Since His Majesty has entrusted you with this matter, he must trust you."
The Prince of Xuan Nan gave a wry smile. "I hope so. I'm telling you all this so that you can understand that I have no intention of rebelling."
Believe it or not, this is what I say to everyone, and I have a clear conscience. Of course, if you still want to investigate matters related to me, I will not stop you.
Sometimes, the clearer the investigation, the clearer one's true self becomes, isn't that right?
Jiang Xiaoqi nodded, "I understand Your Highness's meaning. Please wait a moment, Your Highness."
Jiang Xiaoqi left the chessboard, turned around, opened the drawer of the desk, and took out a thick stack of case files.
"Your Highness, this is the evidence I currently possess. You are welcome to take a look."
Prince Xuannan took the case file, which weighed two or three pounds, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes. Was this a piece of evidence?
The case files are so thick; he doesn't believe that this overly young Lord Jiang has only found out some general direction and superficial details.
The old prince, who was over sixty years old, eagerly opened the case file, and Jiang Xiaoqi thoughtfully moved over a few brighter candles.
"The Third Prince? The Earl of Cheng'en?"
Prince Xuannan looked up at Jiang Xiaoqi; this was not what he had guessed.
He had actually guessed it was the fourth son, but he never expected it to be the third son, who was always engrossed in scholarship, nature, and only knew about music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and romance!
And then there's the Earl of Chengen, who's practically invisible. He's just an adopted son of the Yang family, of low status, with no real power in the court, yet he still gets involved.
However, these two were nothing compared to the last one, which truly alarmed him.
"How...how could he be involved in this? Could there be a mistake?!"
Jiang Xiaoqi raised an eyebrow and gave Prince Xuannan a look that said, "What do you think?"
"Cough cough, I didn't expect this, I really didn't expect this. That child is the most timid and cowardly..."