Chapter 379: Chapter 376: Your Father Used His Death to Exchange for Your Life

"Your uncle leads the Wei Family Army and has an impressive record of victories."

"Emperor Kai Zu and the Wei Family’s ancestors were as close as brothers, having endured hardships together."

The Wei Family supported Emperor Kai Zu in fending off foreign enemies and addressing internal worries. He granted the Wei Family the highest honors, even going so far as to declare that seeing Brother Wei was akin to seeing Himself.

After Emperor Kai Zu passed away, the Wei Family’s ancestors assisted the new emperor.

Generation after generation, the empire stabilized.

"Yet, not all descendants of the Ying Family are like Emperor Kai Zu; they ultimately resent the Wei Family’s overwhelming power."

However, they were wary of the Wei Family and couldn’t openly turn against them.

Until the late Emperor...

"The late Emperor greatly respected your uncle."

"Yet, Miss Shen’s name appeared on the selection roster."

"Before your uncle died, he was constantly concerned."

Ning Suxuan took three sheets of Buddhist scriptures, folded them thrice, and placed them under the burning candle. Once ignited, she bent down and placed them into the basin beside her.

Under the flickering firelight, her emotions shifted unpredictably.

Ning Suxuan continued to pick up three more sheets, folded, and burned them.

"Do you know why your father married me?"

She did not wait for Wei Zhao’s response either.

"Back then, I was chosen by Princess Consort Yue to be her daughter-in-law. It seemed like her idea, but in fact, the late Emperor consented."

"Princess Consort Yue was unaware, so she obsessively cultivated me. But from the moment I entered the palace, it was destined that I would not become the Third Prince Consort."

Those words...

Wei Zhao furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

Ning Suxuan: "As the Marquis Ning’s legitimate daughter rejected by the Royal Family, would you say this counts as a humiliation towards the Wei Family?"

"Your father, a so-called favored child of the heavens, why wouldn’t he marry someone better than me?"

"Everyone only knows he voluntarily proposed, pleaded before the late Emperor to have me. That’s not wrong, but beforehand, the late Emperor spoke with your grandfather."

What did he say?

Nothing more than the Third Prince and Princess Consort Yue having too many thoughts, coveting the throne. He intended to punish them by granting Miss Zhou from a humble family, as a warning. Yet he feared mistreating the legitimate daughter of the Marquis Ning Mansion.

——"You have always been the most insightful. Why not help me see which young man in Shangjing matches her?"

"The late Emperor mentioned your uncle, lamenting that your uncle, who defended the country and stayed away for years, had yet to marry. He was worried."

This was purely to disgust people.

Taking General Jing Yuan’s beloved into the palace while pretending to be concerned about his marriage.

"So, ultimately, your father married me."

Ning Suxuan didn’t know that after Old Master Wei returned and discussed it with his two sons, Wei Fengxing knelt on the ground, saying he would marry.

Not out of coercion, but because it just so happened to be where his heart lay. It was like seeing the light after the clouds parted. Yet, this action didn’t consider Miss Ning’s opinion, which doesn’t align with a gentleman’s conduct.

"Everyone said the late Emperor favored King Yan, claiming that King Yan was surely the heir-to-be."

"The late Emperor kept King Yan by his side to handle state affairs, but ultimately it was the other one who ascended the throne. Many said the late Emperor’s will was a forgery."

"That will was in three parts: one was left with the trusted eunuch beside the late Emperor, one stayed in the Yangxin Hall, and one was given to your grandfather on his deathbed."

Ning Suxuan seemed to be reminiscing.

When the late Emperor passed away, Shangjing was plunged into chaos. Now, the least favored Prince holds the decree and sits on the dragon throne.

Claiming to maintain order in the Imperial City and fearing rebellion by sinister individuals, he raised an army to blockade the Imperial City, coming out of the Yangxin Hall with two decrees and the head of the so-called treacherous eunuch.

At that time, many whispered that the will must be fake.

"That decree was later handed over by your grandfather to your father."

"Before your father passed, he gave it to me."

Wei Zhao’s gaze sharpened.

He had never heard his grandfather or father mention it.

"It doesn’t make sense."

"If the ascension decree was a forgery, even if he ascended, why didn’t your uncle take it from the border, with Duke Zhongyong and other military generals, to use your grandfather’s decree to set things right? Even if it was dangerous, but..."

Ning Suxuan finished burning all the Buddhist scriptures.

"But the decree was empty."

Wei Zhao felt a chill down his spine, as if all the blood in his body had halted. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

What does it mean for the decree given by the late Emperor to be empty?

Recalling what Ning Suxuan mentioned earlier, a frightening thought suddenly emerged within Wei Zhao.

The late Emperor perhaps...

Never intended for King Yan to ascend from the very beginning.

Otherwise, why wasn’t King Yan made the heir after the death of the Crown Prince? Instead, it was delayed?

Throughout history, emperors lived under the shadow of the Wei Family’s scions.

He was using King Yan to cultivate the Third Prince’s ambitious nature.

He also used Ning Suxuan as a trigger to foster the Third Prince’s hatred towards the Duke Shun Mansion.

Perhaps from the moment Princess Consort Yue took a liking to Ning Suxuan, King Yan and Duke Shun Mansion were already forced into the game.

A girl rejected from marriage is difficult to wed.

But there are exceptions, like when the girl comes from an excellent family background and possesses exceptional talent and beauty.

All the scions of distinguished families are eager, but who dares to marry someone groomed by a favorite concubine?

Ning Suxuan was fit to be the mistress of a palace. Her entry into the Wei Family, a marriage bestowed by the emperor, was seen by everyone as a godsend match, the late Emperor’s regard for the Wei Family.

The decree in your grandfather’s hands was empty.

What about the decrees from the trusted eunuch and the Yangxin Hall?

If it had Emperor Ying’s name, why was the trusted eunuch beheaded?

Unless it said to make King Yan the emperor.

As long as Emperor Ying raised the army to rebel, by killing the trusted eunuch, the late Emperor’s goal was achieved.

A truly deep scheme.

And what about the Emperor Ying he had groomed?

Ning Suxuan admitted: "Mother indeed met him."

"All he wanted was the decree."

"After your father passed, he became more unrestrained, turning the bedroom upside down."

The portrait was taken at that time, and he said many disgusting things to her.

"I know his nature, he won’t be satisfied easily."

"He found the decree too, empty, but he doesn’t believe it."

"Despite the mansion’s defenses being impregnable, some people never give up, mere defense isn’t enough."

Even Emperor Ying harbored ill intentions towards Ning Suxuan, but if it blew up, it would be unmanageable for him.

Moreover, he bet that Ning Suxuan is hiding the decree. As long as the decree exists, it’s a threat, and he doesn’t dare to act recklessly.

Yet Wei Zhao had grown stronger, more resourceful, making him wary and even more cautious.

With a trump card in hand, why fear handling him?

Wei Zhao’s eyes were filled with intense emotion.

Thus, ever since Emperor Ying’s ascendancy, he too learned from the late Emperor, treating everyone as chess pieces.

In his relations with Wei Zhao, no other prince could compare. Simultaneously fostering resentment, understanding his mind, and laying groundwork for future moves.

For instance...

Knowing he would stealthily return to the Capital.

Seeking the decree, achieving two goals with one stroke.

The words spoken that night... were meant for him to hear.

What he later dug up, undoubtedly correct but also what Emperor Ying wanted him to uncover.

Emperor Ying calculated his temperament, knowing he wouldn’t want to live any longer.

The extinction of the Wei Family’s descendants, henceforth it will no longer be a threat to the Royal Family.

Wei Zhao, with difficulty: "Why didn’t mother mention the decree from the beginning?"

Ning Suxuan: "I dared not."

"He also calculated that I wouldn’t dare."

Ning Suxuan looked at him.

"After your uncle was gone, their eyes were fixed on the Wei Family Army he left behind. Your father was capable, but not skilled in military affairs."

"He poisoned your father, the poison would only weaken his body without being fatal. If your father treated his illness properly, he would have been fine."

"After your father passed, civil and military officials speculated it was his doing. The rumors were too strong, giving the Wei Family a brief respite. At that time, you had just taken on the burden of the Wei Family, how could mother tell you that from the late Emperor’s death, the Wei Family’s death was inevitable?"

"Your father used his death to exchange for your life."

This left a glimmer of hope for the Duke Shun Mansion.