Today, the emperor was furious. On the one hand, it was because Xie Guang had violated the ethics and even brought this scandal to him. On the other hand, he had also seen Xie Guang's hidden coveting for his throne.
Without anyone noticing, Xie Guang had turned his own son into the emperor's son. In the future, even if he and Xie Yan fought each other to the death and both were badly injured, if the little prince ascended the throne, Xie Guang would still be the winner.
The little prince was his biggest trump card.
And the emperor would never allow this trump card to appear on his gaming table!
Suddenly, he drew out the precious sword hanging on the wall. A flash of golden light filled the palace, and the sharp sword was instantly placed on Xie Guang's neck.
The emperor narrowed his eyes and asked in a deep voice, "At this point, what else do you have to say for yourself?"
Xie Guang took a deep breath, but looked up directly into the emperor's eyes, defying the sword on his neck. "Father, I have no idea about this!"
He must never admit to this. If he did, all three of them would die today!
The emperor laughed out of anger. "Are you saying that you didn't know when Concubine Li got involved with you, and you didn't know that the little prince is actually your son?"
"Your subject..." Xie Guang gritted his teeth. "I don't know."
Even if the emperor sent people to investigate, they could only start from Concubine Li's servants. Every time he went to see Concubine Li, he always chose the dead of night to whisper with her. But when he met the little prince, it was done openly in front of everyone. As the eldest brother caring for his younger brother, what was wrong with that?
Even if there was something wrong, it could only be Concubine Li's fault for failing to educate her son properly.
He, Xie Guang, was innocent. What was his fault?
"You!" In a fit of anger, the emperor's sword instantly pierced Xie Guang's skin. A thin trail of blood trickled down and landed on the smooth blade.
Just as the two were in a standoff, Fu Donghai hunched his way in and whispered to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager requests an audience."
"Denied!" A hint of cruelty flashed in the old emperor's eyes. The empress was here to help.
Fu Donghai always obeyed the emperor. But when he conveyed the message to the empress, her eyes flashed. She threw off her cloak and knelt on the ground, shouting loudly, "Your Majesty, your subject has something to report!"
Hearing the silence inside the room and still no response, the empress's eyes turned cold. She shouted again, "This matter concerns the royal bloodline and is a private matter in the harem. It is of great importance, and your subject is unable to make a decision. Please, Your Majesty, make a ruling. Your subject awaits your holy judgment!"
Inside the palace, the emperor sneered. "Truly a wonderful empress I have."
He glanced at Xie Guang, who had his head bowed, his face full of mockery. "Since the empress has said so, why not invite her in?"
The Song family was best at this trick. If they couldn't achieve their goal, they would put people on a pedestal and force them to submit.
The empress walked in slowly. Since she had recognized Xie Guang as her own son, her complexion had been getting better day by day. Now, standing next to the emperor, they no longer looked like a couple.
The emperor looked at the still-beautiful face of the empress, who was in her thirties. A hint of emotion flickered in his eyes.
Since he had massacred the Song family, he had never looked at her so closely.
His gaze moved inch by inch across her face. She looked so much like her father.
Both of them disgusted him.
Even Xie Guang, who was growing up, resembled Prime Minister Song, who had once been second only to the emperor, by about six-tenths. Even his ambitious eyes were exactly like his.
It was true that a nephew resembled his uncle.
Back then, he had staged this drama of swapping the prince with a commoner's child in order to completely destroy the Song family's hopes. If they had known that the empress had given birth to a son, they would surely have fought back desperately.
He would never let such a thing happen.
"Empress," he suddenly calmed down. Perhaps thinking of the past, there was less turbidity in his eyes. "You've known for a long time that Guang'er is your own son, haven't you?"
The palace fell silent instantly.
After a long while, the empress let out a soft laugh. "I've been deceived by Your Majesty for most of my life and been muddled for most of my life. There must come a time when I wake up."
"Otherwise, what's the meaning of my life?" she said. "If I were to be a fool for the rest of my life, I wouldn't be able to rest in peace even after death."
Her tone was calm, but extremely fierce.
At this point, the emperor already knew everything. So why hide anything?
"Good," the emperor suddenly laughed. "Very good."
"You truly are the legitimate daughter of the Song family. Even in such a downfall, you still have such means... It's my fault." After saying that, his eyes turned cold, and the sword on Xie Guang's neck instantly stabbed into his waist!
"Ugh!" Xie Guang let out a pained cry. His whole body trembled, and he almost fell to his knees on the ground.
"Guang'er!" The empress was shocked and was about to rush to support Xie Guang, but the emperor turned around and placed the blood-stained sword on her neck.
"Waner, you're still as smart as ever," the emperor opened his somewhat swollen eyelids and looked at her. "But do you know that what I hate most about you is your intelligence!"
An emperor didn't want the people around him to be too stupid, because stupid people couldn't get things done. But he also didn't want them to be too smart, so smart that they deceived the emperor.
The Song family was just too smart, so smart that he couldn't wait to get rid of them.
But the empress slowly smiled. Her smile was as beautiful as a flower, but the words she said were full of mockery. "Your Majesty, if your subject weren't smart, how could I have recognized Guang'er? How could I have made Concubine Li give birth to Guang'er's only child through a scheme?"
Her eyes were filled with malice. "My Guang'er should have been the crown prince, but you made him the son of a weak and incompetent concubine, enduring all kinds of grievances! I hate you. I hate you for taking away everything from me, and now you still want to take away everything that originally belonged to Guang'er!"
"Don't you want Guang'er to have no descendants? Hahaha, I tell you, that's impossible!" She threw her head back and laughed, almost crying. Suddenly, she met the emperor's furious eyes, and her eyebrows twitched slightly. "Even if you take every precaution, you can't prevent those with ulterior motives."
"Do you know? Concubine Li is my person, someone I planted beside you! But later I found that her heart wasn't on you, but on my Guang'er," the empress laughed. "How could I refuse such an opportunity that came to me? With just a little scheme, without even telling Guang'er, and without even needing him to be awake, Concubine Li had already accomplished the deed."
"Look, wasn't the little prince born under my calculation?" She laughed wildly, her expression faintly deranged.
As soon as these words were spoken, the remaining three people in the palace were all stunned on the spot.
Xie Guang suddenly looked up, his eyes red.
The empress was sacrificing herself to protect him!
Concubine Li was full of shock. But when she looked up and met Xie Guang's cold eyes, the words she originally wanted to defend herself got stuck in her throat and she couldn't say a word.
At this point, what else didn't she understand?
The empress was willing to give up herself to protect the eldest prince. What about her?
She could hardly escape death. Even if she told the truth now, would she be able to survive?
She closed her eyes with tears in them and made a decision almost instantly.
Rather than turning against the emperor and telling the truth, it was better to just go all the way down this wrong path.
In this way, she might still be able to find a way out for her child.