The moment Lian Jie entered, his expression froze. He said coldly: “Receiving Mother’s urgent letter, I thought Imperial Sister’s condition was poor. Now it seems, with Minister Quan’s honeyed words here, all ailments can surely be cured. This journey of mine was indeed unnecessary.”

He turned to leave, but behind him came Noble Consort Ai’s sharp rebuke: “Lian Jie, stop right there! What kind of attitude is this?”

“Not only do you acknowledge thieves as brothers, you even blame your mother? Besides sweet-talking you about brotherhood, what benefits has Lian Yu given you? You fancy that little hussy from the Wei family, but has he ever stood by your side?”

Lian Jie quickly turned back, his gaze sharply sweeping across Quan Feitong and others’ faces before finally settling on Noble Consort Ai: “Mother, how confused you are! Why listen to this treacherous minister’s provocations and needlessly cause royal strife?”

“Do you think I would turn against Sixth Brother over Noble Consort Wei? If Huo Chang’an could let her go out of love, and I love her, am I inferior to Huo Chang’an? Your son still has this magnanimity for such gracious acceptance.”

“Lian Jie!” Lian Yue was trembling with rage. Noble Consort Ai hadn’t expected her son to have reservations about Wei Wu Yan but harbor no resentment, and his bond with Lian Yu was so deep. She was momentarily stunned. At this moment, Quan Feitong calmly spoke: “Seventh Master indeed has admirable magnanimity. But romantic feelings aside, don’t you care whose throne Lian Yu is sitting on? Can you also ignore the grievances between your mother and Lian Yu?”

Lian Jie laughed loudly, his gaze no longer gentle as usual, sharp as a sword pointed directly at Quan Feitong: “I’ve said before, I firmly believe Father Emperor’s throne was passed to Lian Yu. If there was no struggle for the throne originally, what grievances could exist between my mother and Sixth Brother?”

“But the one the Emperor intended to pass the throne to was originally you. When the Late Emperor was alive, I personally heard him say that making Lian Yu Crown Prince was only to placate the Murong family.”

“Then why didn’t Father Emperor summon me to the palace before his death, but summoned Sixth Brother for an audience?”

“That’s because the Emperor was already controlled by Lian Yu at that time. That was entirely Lian Yu’s scheme. By the time this minister entered the palace, it was already too late—His Majesty had already passed away.”

“Based solely on your word, how can you expect me to believe? Without evidence, you want me to betray Sixth Brother—absolutely impossible! Quan Feitong, you want to use me as a front to compete for the throne, to legitimately convince the world, to make me your puppet and rule my Lian family’s empire. This wishful thinking of yours is truly ringing loud!”

The verbal sparring between the two reached an extremely tense atmosphere.

Finally, Quan Feitong didn’t get angry but smiled instead: “Lian Yu truly deserves to be emperor. These methods are indeed unambiguous, making you willingly bow and serve as a lifelong slave.”

“Fine, since Seventh Master doesn’t believe it, then time will tell. Minister Quan will find evidence for you sooner or later. However, Noble Consort Yu’s death cannot be separated from Noble Consort Ai. Do you really want to let Lian Yu crush your mother’s bones and scatter her ashes?”

He smiled with his eyes slightly squinting, showing white teeth, looking completely elegant. It seemed he wasn’t discussing this great national situation but merely chatting casually.

Lian Jie was stunned and said sternly: “What do you mean?”

“Jie’er, Lian Yu’s mother, that little wretch, was indeed poisoned to death by me.” Noble Consort Ai slowly spoke at this moment: “You never believed it, but Lian Yu knows it clearly in his heart. Tell me, if I killed his mother, could he spare us mother and son?”

“Therefore, that day Your Ladyship had no choice but to send assassins to the mausoleum to eliminate the bones and evidence.” Quan Feitong calmly added. He didn’t mention Lian Yue, directly stating it was Noble Consort Ai’s doing, making the matter’s focus simpler and more direct!

Lian Jie’s face indeed changed: “No, our ancestors had a family rule against using poison lightly.”

Noble Consort Ai sneered: “Didn’t your sister also use it? Though she was induced by that wretch Xiao’an, she still used it, didn’t she?”

“Xiao’an and Lian Yu, this mother-son pair are quite venomous. Your sister originally had no intention of killing Wei Wu Yan, but Xiao’an pretended to be affectionate, making your sister ally with her. Your sister was momentarily induced by her and truly intended this move. If Wei Wu Yan dies in the future, this would become her advantageous means to control your sister. How would your sister dare to assist me anymore, fearing she would tell this secret to Huo Chang’an?”

“The grievances between our two families can never be settled clearly. Lian Jie, wake up!”

Lian Jie breathed slightly heavily, then gritted his teeth in rebuttal: “Lian Yu once sent the old judge to investigate. It was Minister Feng who poisoned her.”

“That night happened to be Father Emperor’s birthday, and the palace held a grand banquet. Father Emperor always thought Minister Feng was capable and invited him back to the palace to participate in the birthday feast, again mentioning his return to court. That very night, after the banquet, Minister Feng saw Sixth Brother, who was still in dire straits at the time, in the palace. He then had an attendant send Sixth Brother a bowl of soup, and Sixth Brother gave the soup to Noble Consort Yu. That bowl of soup was poisoned. Of course, at the time, no one knew there was a problem with that bowl of soup, but more than ten years later, the former judge, following Sixth Brother’s orders to investigate carefully, had someone witness that attendant putting something in the soup. Surely that wasn’t a tonic!”

“The old judge followed the trail and, after much effort, found that attendant from back then, only to learn that Minister Feng was skilled in medicine, divination, and astrology, and had calculated that the future Nine-Five Supreme would be fulfilled in the Sixth Prince. Regardless of who the true dragon emperor was, we were also very confused about Minister Feng—this man who had already claimed illness and resigned—his motive for murder. But several years later, when we received intelligence that the Jin Prince’s wife had appeared among the common people, everything had an answer.”

“Mother, now you finally understand why I never believed what you said! You’re only trying to create irreconcilable suspicion between Sixth Brother and me, but I trust Sixth Brother, and he trusts me. Regarding his mother’s matter, I’ve always known very clearly, so your alienation scheme is useless!”

Upon hearing this, everyone was quite surprised. For a moment, all was silent, each harboring their own thoughts.

Among them, only one person spoke softly: “Seventh Master, these are all things Lian Yu told you. You respect him, so naturally you believe, but have you considered that he might be lying? Everything he’s done is just to make you temporarily believe, thereby giving him time to eliminate obstacles one by one—first General Liu who openly supported you, then Minister Quan who secretly helped. But Minister Quan is different from General Liu, never publicly claiming to support you, leaving him no way to act.”

“He finally grew impatient and had Feng Su Zhen thoroughly investigate the events of that year. Do you think… why would he do this?” This person smiled slightly. He was quite young, with a pair of gentle, quiet eyes that had an unusually convincing power.

“Why would he do this? Does Minister Li know? He loves Feng Su Zhen. He just wants Feng Su Zhen to know that her father killed his mother. This way, in the future, even if Feng Su Zhen knows that her entire family was killed by his imperial decree, there would still be room for reconciliation.” Lian Jie seemed to pose a question, but also seemed to counter these people, his words ringing with strength.

But at the very end, his voice suddenly dropped, showing his emotions were quite complex.