“The wealthy Great Wei merchant Xiao Rongyan is your assumed name, a false identity! And now… the Great Wei merchant Xiao Rongyan is also the deceased husband of the Great Zhou Emperor, and in the Great Zhou Emperor’s belly… there’s even a posthumous child!” Empress Dowager Yan stared fixedly at Murong Yan and asked, “Is the child in the Great Zhou Emperor’s belly your flesh and blood, or… was it a last resort to merely borrow your identity?”
Hearing this, he vaguely understood what his sister-in-law was worried about, and spoke honestly: “I dare not deceive sister-in-law. The child in Qingyan’s belly… is Ayan’s child.”
“Then sister-in-law asks you again…” Empress Dowager Yan’s reddened eyes were filled with sharp intensity. “Does the Great Zhou Emperor know that you are the Ninth Prince of Yan Kingdom?”
Murong Yan nodded, not concealing anything: “As early as during the Xuanjia years in the Jin Kingdom, Qingyan already knew Ayan’s identity. She even helped Ayan conceal his identity and helped Ayan escape difficulties. Qingyan knew that Ayan’s purpose was to make a name among the various nations, and she even gave Ayan this opportunity. Using the Bai family’s reputation, she helped establish the name of a righteous merchant, and precisely because of this… it became much easier for Ayan to travel among the various nations.”
Empress Dowager Yan had an expression of “indeed it’s so,” with even deeper wariness in her eyes: “Your brother once told me that Ayan had a woman he cared for, and that woman had said to Ayan… only when the world is unified can eternal peace be returned to the common people. She’s a woman who shares the same aspirations and ambitions as Ayan. Is this woman… the Great Zhou Emperor?”
Murong Yan nodded.
Seeing Murong Yan nod, Empress Dowager Yan’s pupils suddenly contracted sharply, and she stood up abruptly: “That’s it! This is it! Everyone knows that your brother’s body was frail! She knew your identity long ago, so she had been planning all along… thinking that if your brother were gone, you would ascend to the Yan Emperor’s throne, so she was already selling favors to you back in the capital!”
“Sister-in-law…” Murong Yan looked at Empress Dowager Yan in disbelief, not knowing where she got these speculations.
Empress Dowager Yan’s expression was tense as she paced back and forth: “Later, she overthrew the Jin Dynasty and ascended the throne as Emperor herself, but her goal is to unify the world! So she started plotting against Yan Kingdom again…”
“Sister-in-law!”
Murong Yan tried to interrupt Empress Dowager Yan’s words, but she couldn’t hear him at all, continuing on her own: “At that time, the Grand Princess of the Jin Dynasty was gone. Although it was during her grandmother’s mourning period, the royal family’s mourning period is different from commoners’ mourning time, so she seduced you into marrying using Xiao Rongyan’s identity, and even conceived your child! She wants to use the child to force you, threaten you… to move you, thereby occupying Great Yan!”
“Sister-in-law! Things are not as sister-in-law speculates, and A’Bao is not that kind of person.”
“I think you’ve been bewitched by that Bai Qingyan!” Empress Dowager Yan’s tears fell even more heavily. She struggled to control her voice, not wanting the people outside to hear, “The fact that Bai Qingyan couldn’t conceive was known to everyone, but why did she become pregnant after marrying you? This is her scheme!”
“Sister-in-law… I know you’re afraid that I might pull A’Li down from the throne because of this child, but my sister-in-law cannot insult Qingyan like this. Ayan has traveled among various nations for many years, and I pride myself on having some ability to judge people. Every member of the Bai family has noble character, even… surpassing our Murong imperial family by countless degrees. Ayan has always felt ashamed of his inferiority!” Murong Yan stared fixedly at Empress Dowager Yan, “Therefore, please don’t insult her! Don’t use… our Yan Kingdom royal family’s heart to judge the Bai family’s heart! Even if the Bai family truly wanted the Yan Kingdom, they would certainly use the most honorable and upright methods, not such filthy conspiracies and schemes.”
“Also please don’t doubt Ayan’s promise. If Ayan would truly pull A’Li down from the throne for his own child, I would have ascended the throne long ago when elder brother left the imperial edict to pass the throne to me.”
Hearing these words, Empress Dowager Yan immediately burst into tears. She choked up, lifting her skirt to kneel opposite Murong Yan, tightly grasping his hands: “Sister-in-law is not doubting you, Ayan! You are my brother, I trust you! But I don’t trust the Great Zhou Emperor! Perhaps as you say… the Great Zhou Emperor is a person of a magnanimous heart, but Ayan… my experience tells me that people’s hearts are separated by their bellies! Even birth fathers would poison their sons for power and the throne, let alone… the emperor of an enemy nation?!”
Sister-in-law was talking about Father Emperor poisoning the elder brother.
At that time, elder brother was supported by all officials, everyone said elder brother was wise and virtuous. Seeing elder brother’s reputation among officials and common people growing daily, Father Emperor poisoned elder brother.
But… there was one thing sister-in-law didn’t know. The reason Father Emperor poisoned elder brother, besides elder brother’s reputation being too high, was more because he had long suspected that elder brother was not his biological flesh and blood, and didn’t want the Yan Kingdom’s territory to be obtained by another’s bloodline.
Seeing Murong Yan’s expression darken and remain silent, Empress Dowager Yan said sorrowfully again: “Even if both the Great Zhou Emperor and you are upright gentlemen, but… Ayan, the fact that your brother originally intended to pass the throne to you has always been a thorn in A’Li’s heart.”
Hearing this, Murong Yan looked up at Empress Dowager Yan. His previously anxious expression of defense gradually calmed down, his heart slightly chilling, as his deep, mellow voice sounded: “What does sister-in-law want Ayan to do?”
Empress Dowager Yan shook her head, her tone carrying hope and pleading: “It’s not what sister-in-law wants you to do, it’s… if one day that Bai Qingyan uses the child in her belly to force you, what will you do? If one day A’Li wants to give the throne to your child, will you still be like today… only firmly supporting A’Li to sit securely on the throne? Hm?”
Murong Yan pressed his lips together without speaking, only staring fixedly at his sister-in-law. Seeing his sister-in-law’s reaction, the matter of the two nations merging… he couldn’t speak frankly about it now.
“Mother!” Murong Li lifted the cotton curtain and entered from outside. He had been listening outside with his ears perked up and heard quite a bit. Seeing his mother and ninth uncle kneeling opposite each other, not wanting to make things difficult for his ninth uncle, and afraid that ninth uncle would tell mother about the future matter of the two nations deciding victory through national policy and merging without any concealment, he came forward and knelt down beside his mother and ninth uncle.
“Mother spoke wrongly. Ninth Uncle yielding the throne to A’Li is not a thorn in A’Li’s heart. When Ninth Uncle initially gave the throne to A’Li, he told A’Li… doing so was to divide the work with A’Li, to make Great Yan better! A’Li understands… Ninth Uncle wants A’Li to be an emperor who at least appears upright, kind, and benevolent to outsiders. Ninth Uncle bears the dark side that gets cursed by people. Only in this way… can we promote Great Yan’s development and reform while stabilizing A’Li’s imperial power!”
Murong Li looked at his mother with serious and determined eyes, feeling heartache for Murong Yan, his voice involuntarily rising: “Everything Ninth Uncle has done is entirely for Yan Kingdom… entirely for A’Li to sit securely on this throne. For this… Ninth Uncle doesn’t even care about his posthumous reputation. How can Mother speculate and doubt Ninth Uncle like this?”