"Indeed." King Yan looked at her, "During that time, I was learning horseback riding with my Martial Arts Master. On that day, while riding along the city moat embankment, someone handed me a letter, saying that my uncle was coming to the capital! If I wanted to know about my true identity, I should go to the City God Temple in the south of the city on Qixi night!"
"I originally thought this was utterly ridiculous, because my father is the Emperor of Great Zhou, my mother is the current Empress, and I have no uncle. Even if I had one, he would have long been lost in battle, so how could there be any uncle specifically coming to find me?
"However, he mentioned in the letter a concubine who had passed away many years ago from the imperial harem. If he were just talking nonsense, he wouldn’t possibly know about matters in the harem.
"I couldn’t resist my curiosity and, relying on the fact that my health had improved over the years, I begged the Empress to let me go out.
"It just so happened that it was about to rain that night, so, before the rain, I took them down a secluded alley and then went to the City God Temple to shelter from the rain."
The Empress clenched her teeth, looking at him in disbelief.
Outside the hall, Fu Zhen was uncontrollably excited. Pei Zhan, with his meticulous nature, had suspected that King Yan chose that particular route back to the palace that night for unusual reasons, and it turned out he was right!
All the abnormalities were because of King Yan’s active arrangements, including the tightly closed doors and windows, all because King Yan intended to meet someone there!
Without a doubt, she was even more eager to hear the following content!
She held her breath and leaned close to the hall door.
"And then? Who did you meet? What did you hear?!"
The Empress’s face was filled with disbelief.
King Yan took a deep breath, "After I entered the temple, I sent the people away. Not long after, someone pushed the door and entered. I didn’t know who he was; he had a covered face and did not have the accent of the capital city. He told me, he told me—I was not born of the Empress, my mother was one of the concubines who died early in the imperial harem, the very one he mentioned in the letter.
"And she was from Dayue, so it’s impossible for me to receive fair treatment as a prince. He told me that the reason I was never cultivated like my second brother, from childhood to adulthood, wasn’t because I wasn’t the Crown Prince, nor because I was physically weak, but because the Empress was always wary of me! He said you never have, and never will, treat me as your own child!"
"Did you believe him?!"
The Empress interrupted him sharply, "Do you believe your mother is from Dayue? Do you believe we wouldn’t truly care for you, and you believe the words of a person with an unknown background?!"
"He gave too much evidence; he knew everything about that concubine, and also about me. He even knew my birth date and time. He said Father met my fleeing mother just before entering the capital and then brought her to the palace. I later went to the Zongren House to check my mother’s records. The age and date of her entering the palace were correct, I couldn’t help but believe!"
King Yan started to cry, "He told me my uncle was about to enter the capital and would soon come to see me.
"He also said that my Consort was killed by the Empress! I don’t believe it, how could you treat me this way, how could you not be my mother?
"At the time, I cursed him, and then he knocked me out!
"What happened afterward, you all know better than I do. After the guards brought me back to the palace, I fell ill. I couldn’t handle the truth!
"All my life, I have been proud to have you and Father as my parents. I despise the Dayue people because they trample on our land, but I have no choice but to believe!
"Because, because indeed, from childhood to adulthood, I was only well cared for, but never had the rights and power I should have, which fully shows that you were wary and guarded against me!
"And besides, you just admitted it, didn’t you? You indeed did not nurture me as a true prince of Great Zhou, you are still wary of me!"
"I did that for a different reason!" The Empress shouted harshly, "Do you think the difference in treatment between you and the second brother is because you were born of Dayue origins? Do you think you have at least half of Great Zhou blood in you?
"Wrong! You are not at all of the Emperor’s bloodline, you are not part of the Yang Family, and you don’t even bear the surname Yang!"
The words, thrown out forcefully, were like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
King Yan stood there dumbfounded, looking at her in despair: "What did you say? I am not Father’s son? I am not even part of the Yang Family?"