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Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Identity Revealed
Young Master Si Jun watched the Eight Diagrams on the ground with a cold gaze, his eyes lowered in silence.
His heart was actually far from calm.
On the contrary, he was reflecting: His meticulous plan, so scrupulously crafted without flaw, where did it go wrong?
Was his true adversary the Zhan Family, Zhan Lan, or perhaps another Prince?
His own handwriting had never circulated among the public, so how could someone replicate it to the point of such convincing forgery?
Had he not witnessed the destruction of those letters with his own eyes, he might have truly believed himself to have burnt the wrong ones.
Si Jun took a deep breath, admonishing himself not to show even a trace of fear or concern.
The more he composed himself, the more his father, Emperor Xuanwu, recognized the difference between him and the other three incompetent Princes.
Indeed, Emperor Xuanwu was sizing up his four sons.
It was clear that among these four, whether in terms of appearance, demeanor, or temperament, Si Jun was the most exemplary.
It had been two years since he had last seen his illegitimate son.
Now, beholding his exceptional and extraordinary presence, a sense of comfort finally arose in his heart.
Emperor Xuanwu pondered: If he could live forever, he would naturally enjoy eternal glory and prosperity. But if one day he ascended to heaven, letting Mu Yan assist Si Jun might be a sound choice.
However, as he mulled over this, a sudden thought struck him—if all this was Si Jun’s doing, then the cunning and audacity of this son of his were truly terrifying...
He might even strike against his three imperial brothers. At this very thought, Emperor Xuanwu felt a cold shiver down his spine, a chill that startled him despite the summer heat.
After a while, the Grand Scholar Lu Zhong was quickly escorted to the palace by the Imperial Army.
Lu Zhong dismounted, steadied his breath, straightened his official hat, and under the guidance of a little eunuch, entered the Taiji Palace.
He noted the high ranks of military officers gathered in the great hall and, after greeting Emperor Xuanwu with a bow, stood respectfully awaiting His Majesty’s directive.
Emperor Xuanwu tapped his finger lightly on the table and said, "Minister Lu, please verify whether this letter comes from the Western Rong."
Lu Zhong received the parchment passed by Eunuch Li, and after inspecting its content, a great shock overtook him.
Young Master Si Jun is plotting a rebellion!
After examining the parchment back and forth meticulously, he lifted his gaze.
Instantly, he felt several eyes turning towards him.
Aware of the gravity of the matter, he stated, "Indeed, this letter comes from the Western Rong. The seal impression belongs to Tuoba Hong; I cannot recognize the handwriting, but the writing style is characteristic of Western Rong, preferring to reverse the word order. For instance, instead of saying ’I am faithful to my word,’ they would say ’faithful to my word, am I.’ When stating ’you’ve cut off the Zhan Family Army’s retreat,’ they would say ’cut off the retreat of the Zhan Family Army, you have.’ Therefore, I believe this letter is true to about ninety percent certainty."
Zhan Lan listened to Lu Zhong’s drivel. Some of it made sense but not entirely.
She had forged the letter flawlessly herself.
She had personally brought back the seal pattern of Tuoba Hong with a handkerchief and had Xiao Chen, skilled in the Western Rong dialect, produce the statement.
Then, Liu Xi imitated Tuoba Hong’s handwriting from the characters on a slave deed belonging to him.
Even if Tuoba Hong rose from the grave, he would be left dumbfounded upon seeing the parchment.
Of course, the handwriting of Si Jun and Zhan Feng was also replicated by Liu Xi.
In her previous life, Ji Yue inadvertently discovered Liu Xi’s talent for mimicking handwriting two years later.
Since then, she set her sights on Liu Xi, and Liu Xi was coerced by the second branch of the Zhan Family and Ji Yue to forge a letter framing Zhan Beicang for rebellion.
Unwilling to betray Zhan Beicang, Liu Xi chose suicide, but she was saved and later blackmailed with the life of her uncle.
Reluctantly, Liu Xi wrote that letter, saving Tian Heng, but due to overwhelming guilt, she drowned herself in the lake that very day.
In this life, when Zhan Lan asked Liu Xi to repeat the act and frame Si Jun and Zhan Feng, to her surprise, she agreed without any questions.
Zhan Lan, though puzzled, trusted Liu Xi for not betraying her master easily, remembering her two suicide attempts in the past life.
However, reborn with caution, Zhan Lan could not let her guard down regarding Liu Xi—in the past days, she even had Xiao Chen’s people keep a watch over her.
Even if it meant playing the villain, she could not afford another misstep!
Zhan Lan thought about Grand Scholar Lu Zhong’s character—a good-hearted man, offending none, and capable of diplomacy even with a claim of ninety percent certainty.
When Emperor Xuanwu heard Minister Lu’s words, his eyes were filled with a threatening fury.
He turned to look at Si Jun, who once again bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I truly am not involved, just now, the letter mentioned it was related to a Prince. I dare not take the blame."
Upon hearing this, Zhan Feng became agitated and blurted out, "Aren’t you a Prince? It was you who told me!"
His outburst stunned everyone in the hall!
Si Jun’s pupils dilated in shock as he stared at Zhan Feng, saying, "What nonsense are you spouting!"
Zhan Feng looked down silently; he was already giving up, thinking if he couldn’t be at peace, then no one could.
The Princes looked incredulously at Si Jun.
Their eyes questioned: Was Zhan Feng insane, or was it their seemingly harmless cousin?
He actually claimed privately that he was a Prince—had his head been kicked by a mule for such brazen aspiration to the princely title?
The members of the Zhan Family Army exchanged glances, while Emperor Xuanwu clenched his fists on the throne.
He had not expected Zhan Feng, the disgrace, to expose Si Jun’s identity.
Currently between a rock and a hard place, if he denied his relationship with Si Jun and word of today’s events spread among the people...
They would speculate a lot about the identity of Si Jun’s mother.
He might as well weave a narrative himself and close the wagging tongues.
Emperor Xuanwu’s thoughts raced swiftly, and finally raising his gaze towards Si Jun, he declared, "Initially, I did not wish to speak of it, but it is true—Si Jun is indeed a Prince."
The entire hall fell silent at his words, leaving everyone dumbstruck.
Even Si Jun himself hadn’t anticipated that his father, the Emperor, would acknowledge his paternity.
Si Jun’s body trembled—shocked and fearful of being ridiculed by the world once the Emperor disclosed his background.
The Zhan Family members and the old generals exchanged looks.
So, it was yet another legacy of Emperor Xuanwu’s romantic debts, much like the previous Emperor’s.
A lack of fidelity, it seems, is a hereditary trait among the Si Family men.
Yet, with tensions running high, one wonders why Emperor Xuanwu chose this moment to reveal Si Jun’s lineage.
Was it to protect him, or to uphold the law of the nation?
What no one expected was that the Emperor’s subsequent words would be even more jaw-dropping.
