Peaceful Farm Life-Chapter 1086 - 1087: Really Only One?

"You’re certain that Gong Juechen is Chenglin?" The Emperor of Xiyun’s body trembled with anger. "If he is Chenglin, why does he slander me so?!"

Changyi remained calm, "He is Chenglin. I have seen it myself, the triangular floral birthmark on his lower back."

"But why slander me? I am his father emperor!" The Emperor of Xiyun was still furiously indignant. "How deeply I’ve missed him over the years. Back then, it seems I loved him in vain! To treat me this way!"

Changyi’s gaze was sharp as he stared at the Emperor of Xiyun, "You mean to say none of your many sons’ deaths were your doing? Not even one?"

With Changyi’s piercing stare and questioning, the once enraged Emperor of Xiyun finally collapsed back onto the Dragon Chair, his anger subsiding to a defeated exhaustion.

After a long while, the Emperor of Xiyun finally spoke softly, "There was one... whom I ordered to be dealt with."

"Who?"

"Chengjin." The Emperor of Xiyun closed his eyes, his face full of sorrow. "He was... too restless. He was restless even as a child. When he was poisoned, he calmed down, but once the poison was gone, he became restless again. He even plotted with the Tao family to kill Chengyu and usurp the throne. I had no choice... I had no choice but to have him killed... Why couldn’t he just be content, live quietly? Isn’t it better to be content with one’s lot? Why covet what isn’t yours? He was a Commons Son, Chengyu the legitimate son, and the throne was rightfully Chengyu’s to inherit, yet he... before ordering his death, I never thought about killing him... never..."

Changyi was silent for a moment before asking, "The poison... was it your doing?"

The Emperor of Xiyun, still with his eyes closed and looking agonized beyond bearing, nevertheless nodded his head, "Yes. He and his imperial consort mother both had ill intentions, but he was still my son; I didn’t want him dead, so I had someone poison him. It wasn’t meant to kill him but to keep him from causing trouble... Yet he was cured... and he started causing trouble again..."

"What about Qi Yin and Qin Yin...?"

"Qi Yin and Qin Yin were my people, but they were not the sisters of the boy whom Chengjin stepped on and killed as a child. They are not the sisters. That boy had two sisters, but they were not Qi Yin and Qin Yin. I didn’t want that incident to come to light, so I had Qi Yin and Qin Yin impersonate the boy’s sisters to cover up in case the truth was ever uncovered. They knew how to take the blame. And later, when it did come out about the poisoning, they took the fall just like that."

Su Chengjin’s death could be deemed his own fault.

Yet Changyi still asked, "Is it really only Su Chengjin?"

The Emperor of Xiyun immediately said, "I swear by my name and the name of the Mother of Su Chengyu, that I truly only killed Chengjin, that one son."

After pausing, the Emperor of Xiyun’s sadness surged again, "If only he hadn’t been so restless, I would not have taken that step... It was he who forced me... it was he who forced me..."

Knowing the Emperor of Xiyun’s deep affection for the Mother of Su Chengyu, since the Emperor had sworn by her name as well, it seemed likely that he was not responsible for the deaths of his other sons.

However—

"So with all your sons, why is it that now only Chengyu is left?" Changyi inquired.

The Emperor of Xiyun said, "I had a total of twenty-one sons. I thought twenty had died, but now that Chenglin is alive, that means nineteen are dead."

He paused again, elaborating, "One was pushed into the lotus pond by Chengjin and drowned, one I killed, and five were weak, not surviving past their first birthday."