SGEIRS -Chapter 545 The Emperor’s Heart Is Hard to Read

Early the next morning.

At dawn, Gu Jingxi was already awake. The young wife beside him was still sleeping soundly—there was no need to ask to know she’d been exhausted the night before. He lowered his head and kissed her forehead, then rose to wash up. After dressing neatly and eating a light breakfast to tide himself over, he headed out toward the imperial palace.

There was court that day. Civil and military officials had arrived early and were already waiting in the Golden Hall for the emperor.

Seeing that Gu Jingxi had arrived, Minister Yu of the Ministry of Justice stepped over to him and asked in a low voice, “Lord Gu, in your opinion, how should this matter be handled?”

Gu Jingxi replied without hesitation, “After court is dismissed, this humble official will accompany Lord Yu to the Imperial Study to report to His Majesty.”

Minister Yu nodded lightly. That was what he had been thinking as well. Speaking to the emperor in private was far better than raising the matter before all the officials. This was, after all, a family affair of the imperial house, and however the emperor chose to decide it would require careful consideration.

Recently, there had been no major events. The ministers didn’t know what to memorialize, so they brought up all manner of trivial matters. Only when the emperor grew impatient did the long, drawn-out court session finally end.

Once court was over, Gu Jingxi and Minister Yu tacitly fell into step together and headed for the Imperial Study.

Emperor Jingwen looked at the two ministers and asked, “Beloved Ministers Yu and Gu, what is so mysterious that you must have me dismiss everyone else?”

Minister Yu replied, “Reporting to Your Majesty, the matter of Crown Prince Huizhao’s assassination has been investigated by this humble minister and Lord Gu. We have come to report our findings.”

At those words, Emperor Jingwen straightened abruptly. His eldest son had been assassinated, and neither he nor the empress had truly been able to move past it. Now, at last, there was an answer. A flash of ferocity passed through his eyes as he asked in a low voice, “Who was it?”

Minister Yu kept his head slightly lowered and did not see the expression of the man on the throne. He answered truthfully, “It was His Highness the Second Prince.”

Emperor Jingwen froze, then barked angrily, “Insolence! What does this matter have to do with the Second Prince? Lord Yu, do you have evidence for such words?”

Hearing the emperor’s furious voice, Minister Yu inwardly broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, they hadn’t raised this during court, in front of all the officials. He quickly took the letters and confessions from his robes, stepped forward a few paces, and presented them.

“Your Majesty, this humble minister would not dare to slander the Second Prince without cause. These are the pieces of evidence uncovered by this humble minister and Lord Gu. The witnesses are currently being held. If Your Majesty wishes to see them, they can be brought at any time.”

Emperor Jingwen took the letters and confessions and examined them carefully. They were correspondences between the Second Prince and his maternal uncle, Lord Xiao, and within them was explicit mention of eliminating the crown prince. The other confession further confirmed that the Second Prince and Lord Xiao were the masterminds behind the plot.

As he looked at these documents, Emperor Jingwen’s face darkened terribly. With a sharp bang, he slapped the confession down onto the imperial desk and remained silent for a long time—perhaps too enraged, or perhaps unable to accept the truth all at once.

Struggles between princes, brothers killing brothers—these were common enough. Even the emperor himself had ascended the throne amid fratricidal strife. Yet every emperor hoped such things would not happen among his own children, and none wished to see it happen.

His second son had killed his eldest son. To avenge the eldest, he would have to kill the second.

Both were his flesh and blood. The eldest was the child he valued most; the second he also held in high regard. Now the eldest was dead. The murderer could not go unpunished—but to severely punish the culprit meant killing his second son. As a father, whether to kill or not to kill became an agonizing dilemma. He had already lost one child.

Gu Jingxi and Minister Yu both kept their heads lowered, not daring to make a sound that might provoke the emperor, who was on the edge of fury.

Soon, Emperor Jingwen thought of another problem. His eyes narrowed slightly as he half-squinted at the two ministers and asked in a deep voice, “Beloved Ministers Yu and Gu, how did you obtain the correspondence between the Second Prince and Lord Xiao?”

It was a good question. Such letters were usually destroyed after being read. If they were kept, it was often as leverage—so that if one party ever fell into trouble, the letters could be used to threaten the other, forcing them to give full support. In this way, both sides restrained each other.

Even if such letters were kept, they would not be easy for ordinary people to obtain. When investigating a case, the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review could not simply search the belongings of the Second Prince or Lord Xiao.

Minister Yu answered truthfully, “Your Majesty, a few days ago during my rest days, a small beggar delivered a letter. The letter said it contained clues about Crown Prince Huizhao’s assassination. Early that morning, the beggar knocked on my door to deliver it. As for who instructed the beggar to do so, this humble minister does not know.”

Gu Jingxi then spoke as well. “Your Majesty, after Lord Yu received the letter, he came to consult this humble minister. We both believed that it was better to believe it might be true than to dismiss it outright. Following the instructions in the letter, we went to investigate outside the city at Broken-Face Slope, where we discovered the witness lying on the ground. The witness had been drugged, completely powerless, without even the strength to take his own life. Beside him were the letters exchanged between His Highness the Second Prince and Lord Xiao.”

Emperor Jingwen’s brow furrowed even more deeply. “So this case was not uncovered by you. Rather, someone else discovered the truth and then guided you to retrieve the evidence?”

Gu Jingxi replied, “That is exactly the case.”

Emperor Jingwen lowered his gaze, his eyes dark as he looked at the letters and confessions before him. It was true that his second son had killed his eldest—but behind this case, there was also someone else who clearly understood the truth, who calmly watched events unfold until they reached the point of no return. That person watched as his eldest son was assassinated and killed, and only after his death did they present the evidence of the second son’s crime.

In this way, killing two birds with one stone—he had directly lost two sons. What a vicious scheme. Who, exactly, was peering from the shadows at all of this?

After a long silence, Emperor Jingwen asked again, “Where is that little beggar now?”

Minister Yu shook his head. “This humble minister and Lord Gu secretly searched the beggars throughout the capital, but could not find that child.”

Hearing this, Emperor Jingwen’s expression grew even graver. If they couldn’t find him, then he likely hadn’t been a real beggar—just someone using that identity to deliver the letter. Or perhaps he truly was a beggar, but after delivering the letter, had already lost his life.

The case of Crown Prince Huizhao’s assassination had finally been resolved—yet it was now shrouded in another layer of fog.

After a long while, Emperor Jingwen took a deep breath and said, “You two have worked hard. You may withdraw for now.”

Minister Yu was momentarily stunned, then quickly reacted. Together with Gu Jingxi, he cupped his hands in salute and withdrew.

Once outside the Imperial Study, Minister Yu was still a little dazed. The emperor now knew who had murdered the crown prince, yet he had said nothing about how the culprit would be punished, simply dismissing them like this. In a low voice, he asked, “Lord Gu, what do you think His Majesty means by this?”

Gu Jingxi replied, “The emperor’s heart is hard to fathom. How could people like us guess His Majesty’s thoughts?”

Minister Yu frowned slightly. For this case to be solved, he and Gu Jingxi had actually done little—after all, the evidence had been delivered to them by someone else. They didn’t seek any reward, only hoped the emperor wouldn’t turn his anger on those who knew the truth. He then asked again, “So the Second Prince and Lord Xiao plotting together to murder the crown prince—will that just be left at that?”

Gu Jingxi didn’t answer directly. He only said, “The envoys of An State will arrive soon.”

Minister Yu froze for a moment, then quickly understood. With An State’s envoys visiting at such a critical time, for the Zhao imperial house to have such a scandal erupt would be deeply embarrassing. Most likely, the emperor would wait until the An State envoys had departed before dealing with the Second Prince and the Xiao family. As for whether the Second Prince would live or die—that would depend entirely on the emperor’s will.