TGCFNM -Chapter 455 Bombshell News

While Chu Ling and the other two were still unsure how to deal with the autopsy report of Empress Xiao, the political scene in the capital changed dramatically.

Wan Xing looked at the three stunned faces and sighed lightly. “I’m not joking with you. The notice has been posted—it’s true.”

“B-But Qingyu… Qingyu is the orphan of the former Crown Prince?!” Wan Sanjin was still in shock. “How… how is this possible?”

Wan Xing asked helplessly, “Why would it be impossible?”

Wan Sanjin insisted, “I’ve walked alongside him, and we’ve discovered quite a few things. We can confirm the former Crown Prince was innocent. But in the Emperor’s eyes, he wasn’t innocent. So how could Qingyu dare live under the capital without fear of being investigated?”

“Perhaps the most dangerous place is actually the safest?” Chu Ling hesitated.

Su He nodded. “Darkest under the lamp.”

Wan Sanjin paused, then silently looked at Chu Ling and Su He. “Qingyu really is the orphan of the former Crown Prince?”

“Your brother already said it. The notice has been posted, and it was personally issued by the Empress Dowager,” Chu Ling said, shrugging. Honestly, she was also very surprised. She had never expected that Fu Qingyu was actually the orphan of the former Crown Prince.

Wan Sanjin’s shock had not yet faded when he thought of another thing. “Because Chu Yue can foresee the future, she transformed into Shi Lanyu to accompany Qingyu when they were young. So she must have known he was the orphan of the former Crown Prince all along? She didn’t truly like Qingyu~”

Wan Xing raised a hand to stop him. “Although the Emperor hasn’t formally recognized his identity, the evidence provided by the Empress Dowager already proves that Master Fu is indeed the orphan of the former Crown Prince. So don’t let anyone use your words against you. You’re dealing with royalty now; you can’t be as casual as before.”

Chu Ling grabbed Wan Xing and pulled him down to sit. “Young Master Wan, this isn’t what Uncle Hong said. Didn’t he say the former Crown Princess had no children?”

Wan Xing understood immediately and explained, “According to the news we gathered, the former Crown Princess rarely appeared in public, and her health seemed poor. Later, she fell seriously ill and had to recuperate…”

“But according to the Empress Dowager, the former Crown Prince had made many enemies. She feared the Crown Princess would be implicated, so she stayed in a remote suburban villa to recover. Later, she gave birth prematurely to a son… but the former Crown Princess was too weak to raise him, so she entrusted him to Grand Tutor Fu to find a family to raise him.”

Chu Ling counted on her fingers. “The former Crown Prince died in the Eastern Palace seventeen years ago. Before that, no one had heard of him having a child. So Fu Qingyu was sent away to be raised by someone else from a young age, for six or seven years. After the Crown Prince died, no one dared to mention it, so he stayed with Master Fu all along?”

Wan Xing was a little surprised that Chu Ling already knew the former Crown Prince had died in the Eastern Palace, but he concealed his doubt and said, “Yes, that’s how it was.”

Chu Ling’s expression turned strange. “Is that even possible?”

Wan Xing nodded. “It’s possible. It’s true!”

Chu Ling was shocked. “Back then, the former Crown Prince was so careful that he didn’t even acknowledge his own son. And yet… he was still slandered to death?”

Wan Xing spoke softly, “I heard from Uncle Hong that the former Crown Prince was always busy, constantly occupied. He had vowed to cleanse all the demons and monsters, to purge the entire Zhou dynasty… And back then, the noble families weren’t like today. Those families were united, their power immense. Even the Crown Prince had to handle them cautiously…”

Chu Ling exhaled deeply, feeling how truly pitiful the former Crown Prince had been.

Ghost Scholar spoke softly, lost in memory. “At that time, the Zhou dynasty faced internal and external crises. If the Crown Prince had acted rashly against the noble families, the dynasty would have surely collapsed. The families had infiltrated too deeply to be removed… The Crown Prince had to maintain stability in the court while cutting off overreaching powers of these families. Meanwhile, the neighboring Dayuan was making moves… It was truly, truly difficult.”

Chu Ling spoke carefully, “Young Master Wan, not long ago, regarding the Si family matter, wasn’t it clarified that the former Crown Prince did not amass wealth?”

Wan Xing nodded. “Yes, but that’s still not enough.”

Chu Ling sighed. “So now the Empress Dowager has acknowledged him and even posted an official notice, but His Majesty hasn’t recognized him. That means even if Fu Qingyu’s identity is confirmed, he still can’t become the Imperial Grandson… for now.”

“Then Qing…” Wan Sanjin, who was starting to recover, frowned deeply. “So… is Young Master Fu still at the Fu Mansion?”

“In the Eastern Palace,” Wan Xing replied.

Wan Sanjin felt completely drained and slumped onto the table. “I was planning to warn him to be careful around Shi Lanyu… you know, that Chu Yue. That person… her intentions aren’t pure.”

Wan Xing pinched the bridge of his nose, looking at Wan Sanjin helplessly. “You can’t just say that… the Chu family has been released.”

Wan Sanjin suddenly straightened in shock. “What?”

Chu Ling also looked surprised. “The Chu family… is fine?”

Wan Xing’s expression darkened slightly as he nodded. “The guards have started withdrawing. From what I’ve learned, the Chu family seems to have submitted some kind of evidence. So the release… it’s only been a day or two.”

Chu Ling didn’t know how to feel. Something about it didn’t sit right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Wan Xing looked at Chu Ling, his expression serious. “My lord, General Chu was falsely accused of treason and collusion with the enemy, but he proved his innocence with his life, saving the Chu family. Now that someone has found evidence for the Chu family, they’ll be fine.”

“My lord… do you understand what I mean?”

Chu Ling stared at him in disbelief. “Young Master Wan means… after Chu Yue is released, she will uphold righteousness even against her family and report me for being a woman who served as a county magistrate?”

Wan Xing nodded. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

Wan Sanjin was startled, his face going pale. “Then what should I do? Should I go beg Young Master Fu?”

Wan Xing offered a reassuring smile. “Precisely because Young Master Fu has a good relationship with you, I’m not overly worried. But you must be careful with Chu Yue—no one knows what she’ll do next.”

Suddenly, Chu Ling spoke. “What if General Chu wasn’t proving his innocence by dying… but was actually killed?”

Wan Xing jumped in alarm and lowered his voice, speaking sharply: “My lord, what nonsense are you talking about!”

Chu Ling’s face was pale. In the original story, General Chu was killed, but in this life, he proved his innocence by dying… If this were the past, she would have thought the story was changed. But looking at it now, perhaps it wasn’t changed—maybe it was a precognitive Chu Yue who acted.

Moreover, why did she have that fleeting vision of someone killing General Chu?

It wasn’t a dream. It was a real experience.

“Young Master Wan… Chu Yue seems to be temporarily hesitant to act against me. She needs me…” Chu Ling looked at Wan Xing, her voice low and strange. “She seems to need me to investigate the Former Crown Prince case. She wants Fu Qingyu to regain his status, and I’m the only one willing—or rather, obliged—to help.”

Wan Xing looked at her with concern. “My lord… are you alright?”

Chu Ling shook her head slightly, her gaze beginning to change.

The final arc… begins.