After Ye Zi’an left the residence, Yang Chuxia was worried and couldn’t sleep.
anwhile, as soon as Ye Zi’an reached the palace gate, he noticed Mu Shaoling was also arriving.
"What happened?"
Mu Shaoling shook his head, "I don’t know yet, they didn’t say."
They quickly entered the palace, and a young eunuch inford them that the Emperor was waiting in the Imperial Study.
Upon entering, they found that State Duke Tong was already there.
Ye Zi’an’s eyes flickered.
"Emperor!"
"..."
Baili Yan waved his hand, "No need for formalities, I summoned you for an important matter."
Mu Shaoling and Ye Zi’an exchanged glances, wondering what was happening. The Emperor’s expression seed troubled.
"Go, call the Seventh."
Ye Zi’an thought to himself, could it be that the Seventh Prince has caused so trouble again?
Soon, the Seventh Prince was brought in, looking weak and emaciated, as if he had suffered greatly.
"Tell them everything again."
"Yes, Brother Emperor." The Seventh Prince appeared listless, but his voice was clear, and his thoughts coherent.
"..."
"You an, the person lying in the golden nanmu coffin, the one we’ve been bowing to for so many days, isn’t the Grand Emperor?" Ye Zi’an’s voice was noticeably cold.
If the person inside isn’t the Grand Emperor, then what have they been doing all these days? And for whom have the people of Great Zhou been wearing mourning clothes for so long?
If this matter is true, not to ntion the bad luck it brings to them, if word gets out, the Great Zhou’s reputation would be utterly tarnished in front of the world.
Moreover, how would the court officials view the Emperor? How could he fail to recognize his own father? And how could he speak of filial piety before the civil and military officials? How could he be an exemplar for the people of Great Zhou?
"Yes, the person inside is not Father Emperor." The Seventh Prince added.
"How do you know the person inside isn’t the Grand Emperor? And how can you be sure it’s not the Grand Emperor?" Mu Shaoling asked coldly.
The Seventh Prince paused, then said quietly, "There’s a very subtle difference on Father’s hand that ordinary people wouldn’t easily notice. I often attended to him in the royal temple, so I’m very familiar. Father has a small red mole on his little finger, but the one in the coffin doesn’t."
Mu Shaoling asked again, "Is there any other difference?"
"No." The Seventh Prince shook his head seriously, it was because there was only this one dissimilarity that he dared not speak out.
During these nights, he had more than once secretly opened the coffin to check, even doubting if he had been mistaken before.
"Can you guarantee it? Can you swear on your life?" Ye Zi’an asked.
"Of course!" The Seventh Prince was obviously agitated, "Even though I once doubted my own eyes, I clearly rember seeing the red mole on Father’s hand more than once, and Father even joked that it was a blessing. But now that Father is dead, it feels like a dream."
As he spoke, his head lowered again, and he seed lost in a dream-like state, bewildered, fearful, and doubtful.
"Since you already suspected, suspected the Grand Emperor’s authenticity, why didn’t you speak up sooner, why wait until nearly the funeral to say it?"
Ye Zi’an continued, "As a mber of the royal family, you should know that if soone who isn’t of the royal bloodline were buried in the royal tomb, and the commoration in the royal temple isn’t for soone of the royal family, imagine the impact if that gets out?"
"I, I didn’t dare to say." The Seventh Prince said timidly, "Besides, I was afraid that no one would believe ."
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