"Of course not!" the Empress declared firmly, "When your birth mother entered the palace, she was already pregnant with you!"
"That’s impossible!"
King Yan burst into tears.
The Empress took a deep breath and said, "Nothing is impossible. Your birth mother comes from a line of generals. Your grandfather brought your uncle—your real uncle, that is—into the army. After they left, your grandmother stayed home with your mother. Later, their home was destroyed, your grandmother was killed by marauders, and your mother nearly faced assault while searching for your grandfather and uncle. Fortunately, a general from the Zhou Army passed by and rescued her.
"And the general who saved your birth mother, his surname was Lin, he is your father!"
King Yan stopped crying.
The Empress steadied her breath and continued, "But they did not marry at that time, as your mother was still young. We settled her in Luoyang City. After the nation was established, General Lin, your father, sought to marry your mother, and we agreed. He arranged for people to bring your mother back from Luoyang.
"Unfortunately, they contracted malaria on the way back and soon died at an inn.
"We brought your mother back to the capital city and only then discovered she was pregnant.
"Since she was unmarried, this matter naturally couldn’t be disclosed publicly. However, as she was carrying the child of a military family, with your grandfather and uncle having sacrificed for the country, and your father being a third-ranked general, we naturally had to protect the only offspring of both families.
"Thus, I discussed with the Emperor, and she was made one of the registered concubines in the harem. You were raised under the name of a prince until you came of age, at which point we’d reveal your true parentage.
"Who would’ve thought that your mother would endure such suffering during childbirth, and she hemorrhaged to death the moment you were born. You were weakened in the womb due to all the turmoil, making you frail since birth.
"I had to take time to care for you, and over time, I naturally saw you as my own child. But because you were ultimately not our child, I could give you the title of a prince but could not make you an actual prince.
"Yet, who could have foreseen the insurrection caused by the second brother!"
The Empress looked at him, "Although you are not our biological child, to the Emperor and me, you were no different from our own.
"If there truly is no other way, having you succeed the throne is not out of the question. After all, we believed Yi Yi was no longer with us. So before Yi Yi reappeared, we indeed had arrangements for the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the conferral.
"But you, you insisted on being clever!"
King Yan’s expression was shattered. He kept shaking his head, "But I never really wanted to become the Crown Prince. I didn’t do all this for the throne!"
"What’s the difference? You were ultimately deceived! Seven years ago, you were only eleven, and you had already met Yi Yi. You hid it for seven years. With such deep scheming, you could achieve greatness, whether as the Crown Prince or as a prince. Why did you have to prevent me and my son from being reunited?"
The Empress grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently, her voice hoarse.
King Yan collapsed into the chair, speechless.
The Empress steadied her emotions, took a few deep breaths, and said, "The Baiyu Lane incident happened after you visited the City God Temple. You mistook the Dayue person who died in the lane for your uncle, so had you already noticed that the second brother was secretly investigating Yi Yi?"
"No!" King Yan suddenly sat up straight, "Mother, I knew nothing of this! After the night of Tanabata, I was ill for over a month, and during the Baiyu Lane massacre, I was still bedridden!
"I never intended to harm my elder brother. My methods were merely to prevent him from returning to the palace so he could reunite with you. I never thought of killing him!"
King Yan repeated over and over until his voice became hoarse.
Under the eaves of the corridor, Fu Zhen couldn’t help but sigh.
She knew that King Yan’s actions behind the scenes were limited. After all, if he truly had a fixation on the throne, he would have taken action against Yang Yi long ago.
Having grown up around the Empress, it wasn’t easy to conduct secretive deeds. Successfully hiding a secret for seven years was already a considerable feat.
But then, who was the masked person who sent him letters and deceived him with a false backstory back then?
Since he was tricked into believing that King Yan was a descendant of Dayue, it must have been a traitor from Dayue all along!