This is also part of the Regency.
The alchemist spoke softly, "Just as you said, why does His Majesty favor Noble Consort Xue so much? Because her son is of his bloodline, and once he is born, it is certain that His Majesty will make him the Crown Prince."
"Empress Tantai must be very uneasy, right?"
"Even though her father is Prime Minister Tantai, and her mother is a young lady from the Lu Family; even though when the Regent left, he left behind his strongest Divine General, Xiao Wuliang, at court, the Emperor’s heart is not with her. Yet, her opponent is the Xue Family, one of the three greatest rich merchants in the land."
"And to this day, the Xue Family is still recognized by the Great Emperor of Central State as Duke Xue."
"Noble Consort Xue is pregnant."
"Already a prince, a rare and precious fate."
"She must still be afraid, right?"
The female official no longer spoke; this was the current struggle within Chen Country’s court.
Hou Zhongyu said, "But what if I tell you that everyone, including the fierce tiger of the Xue Family and the father of Empress Tantai, has been deceived by His Majesty, what would you think?"
The complexion of the female official froze, then she became excited: "You, what are you implying!"
Hou Zhongyu said, "His Majesty won’t harm the Crown Prince, but he also won’t allow Noble Consort Xue’s son to become the Crown Prince. In that year, he had an illegitimate child who he has always hidden very well."
"Balance is never permanent, contradictions between each other are bound to erupt one day."
"When the Xue Family, a powerful merchant of the Royal Family, clashes with the Empress’s faction led by the aristocratic scholars resulting in mutual destruction, his true son will appear, tidying up everything and reaping the benefits like a fisherman."
"At that time, His Majesty will ’Zen’ the throne to this lateral relative who is not his ’biological son.’"
"That is Zen, an act greatly admired and specially recorded by the literati and reformers, and he will be remembered as a Holy Emperor in history. His real son will inherit a country full of achievements after the conflicts have erupted."
"As for the Xue Family and the Empress, they are just pawns in His Majesty’s eyes—"
"Therefore, Taiping Duke and Yue Pengwu, those who were part of that era and who are upright and cannot be corrupted, had to die."
Hou Zhongyu said, "They did it for the people and for the expansion."
"But how could they forget? How could they ever forget?"
"Their existence would destabilize His Majesty’s throne!!!"
"It would leave a stain on his legacy!"
"That young man, who once drank and reveled with them under the moonlight, full of youthful spirit, died the moment he ascended the throne."
"Whether the country expands its borders or the people live in peace, these are all good things, but the most crucial thing is the throne, whether it still belongs to the Chen name. The important thing is, after one’s own death, whether one can be remembered through the ages!"
"I appear to still have black hair, yet I am already sixty-seven years old."
"I personally witnessed the departure of the Regent King, the price of survival for this Overlord was Xiao Wuliang’s willingness to defend Chen Country, and when the Regent King left, he told Taiping Duke that at this moment, his legs had been broken, he had lost much of his martial arts, and the people rejoiced at the belief of his death."
"Yet he still had to live."
"The Regent King said: as long as he lived, Taiping Duke could live."
"Regrettably, even the ruthless Regent King hadn’t anticipated."
"The current Emperor’s mentality is so harsh. Even such a mighty national general can be discarded, so surely, the three-meter white silk prepared for the Empress in the chest is ready after the dust settles."
"The wealth of the Xue Family is also the foundation for the next emperor to step onto the world stage."
The expression of the female official gradually turned pale.
Her slender fingers were trembling slightly.
Hou Zhongyu smiled and said, "So, would you like to cooperate with me?"
"I can tell Her Majesty who the Emperor’s illegitimate child is, just as long as Her Majesty prepares enough provisions for me to temper the Immortality Elixir."
The female official clenched her teeth: "You, using this matter as leverage, aren’t you afraid of retribution?"
The alchemist said indifferently, "If one cannot achieve longevity, living to seventy or one hundred, we are all just ants. Rather than dying sick in bed, why not live a life unhindered, what’s there to fear about death? We all return to dust in the end."
This demeanor instead made the female official feel disheartened.
The grandeur of the world’s great thieves and heroes, regardless of their morality, was beyond her comparison.
The alchemist spoke indifferently, "Moreover, I have done things like stealing the Heavenly Mandate before."
"The Fate Grid of Taiping Duke’s son."
"It was I who personally took it."