“Take a look at this.” Lan Shan pushed a plain paper slip toward Lan Songquan.

Lan Songquan glanced at it and saw written on it a person’s birth date, detailed down to the specific day.

In Great Liang, birth charts were very private information for a person. Aside from being given to matchmakers during marriage negotiations, they wouldn’t ordinarily be revealed to others. The plain paper slip Lan Shan handed to Lan Songquan didn’t specify the hour of this person’s birth.

“Can you guess whose this is?” Lan Shan asked with a chuckle.

Over these years, Lan Songquan had surpassed his father, with many schemes for calculating against political enemies being his ideas. It could be said he was full of wicked schemes. Hearing Lan Shan speak this way, his eyes rolled, and he blurted out: “Marquis Guanjun?”

Lan Shan nodded with a smile: “Correct, it’s precisely Marquis Guanjun.”

Lan Songquan plopped down across from Lan Shan, puzzled: “Father, what are you doing investigating Marquis Guanjun’s birth date?”

Lan Shan leaned back, adjusting to a comfortable sitting position, speaking unhurriedly: “Haven’t you heard the rumors circulating outside?”

Lan Songquan scoffed: “About Marquis Guanjun being an illegitimate son? That’s spread everywhere, how could I not have heard? But this can’t be used as grounds for us to attack him, right? If you submitted a memorial about this, you’d get a scolding from His Majesty.”

Lan Shan glanced at Lan Songquan indifferently: “Of course, I can’t submit a memorial about this. Though you’ve made great progress over the years, you probably haven’t paid attention to events from ten or twenty years ago. When Marquis Jing’an was young, he spent years leading troops in battles outside the capital, rarely staying in the capital. At that time, he and his wife were famously devoted to each other.”

Hearing this, Lan Songquan perked up and sat up straight: “Father, you mean—”

Lan Shan was quite elderly now. He struggled to lift his eyelids, revealing turbid eyes, and spoke slowly: “If Marquis Guanjun and Marquis Jing’an’s third son switched ages, you could still say Marquis Jing’an later sought novelty and kept a mistress. But looking at Marquis Guanjun’s age, at that time, Marquis Jing’an didn’t spend much time in the capital. Could he have been inclined to keep a mistress?”

“Father, please speak directly. I didn’t pay much attention to events from those early years.” Though Lan Songquan didn’t understand why Lan Shan was saying all this, he vaguely felt he was about to learn something earth-shattering.

Lan Shan’s turbid gaze fell on the plain paper with Shao Mingyuan’s birth date written on it, his voice becoming softer: “In the fifth year of Mingkang, Marquis Zhenyuan was brought down by my impeachment. Everyone in his entire clan was beheaded, but Marquis Zhenyuan’s youngest son was not among them. The explanation at the time was that Marquis Zhenyuan’s youngest son had congenital defects and had already died young before the execution.”

Lan Songquan’s eyes suddenly brightened: “The fifth year of Mingkang—counting back, that was exactly twenty-one years ago, and Marquis Guanjun is now twenty-two years old. Father, are you speculating that Marquis Guanjun is the youngest son of Marquis Zhenyuan?”

Lan Shan slowly nodded: “Correct. Originally, without the rumors circulating outside, I never would have thought in that direction. But now with the rumors that Marquis Guanjun is Marquis Jing’an’s illegitimate son, rather than believing Marquis Jing’an would have kept a mistress over twenty years ago, I’m more inclined to believe this was his substitution scheme to save Marquis Zhenyuan’s youngest son!”

Lan Shan closed his eyes, his thoughts returning to twenty-one years ago.

The fifth year of Mingkang—that truly was a year of bloodshed and carnage.

Prince Su’s rebellion—he had used that to bring down Marquis Zhenyuan. He still remembered how officials pleading for Marquis Zhenyuan had knelt all over the ground, and there was even a censor who died by crashing into a dragon pillar in desperate remonstrance. Fortunately, at that time, His Majesty deeply detested anything related to Prince Su and didn’t waver in his decision.

Marquis Jing’an was among the officials who had pleaded and worked for Marquis Zhenyuan.

Thinking of this, Lan Shan’s turbid eyes suddenly shot out a sharp gleam.

Better to wrongly kill a thousand than let one escape! Whether Marquis Guanjun was Marquis Zhenyuan’s surviving heir or not, he wouldn’t take this risk—he must eliminate the roots!

“Father, better to wrongly kill a thousand than let one escape—we must eliminate Marquis Guanjun!” Lan Songquan was so excited that his face turned red and his neck thickened.

Lan Shan patted Lan Songquan’s shoulder, thinking to himself: Truly his son!

“Father, do you have any clues about those early events?” After his excitement, Lan Songquan regained his composure.

Lan Shan squinted and sighed: “Too much time has passed. Even if there were clues, they’ve been severed.”

Lan Songquan smiled viciously: “It doesn’t matter if the clues are severed. Evidence is something people fabricate anyway. Besides, when our Emperor truly wants to kill someone, he doesn’t need any solid evidence.”

Lan Shan slowly nodded.

Having served as a minister for decades, he had long understood that for that lofty emperor, moving against subjects required excuses more than evidence.

“Father, then I’ll get busy. I’ll strive to give His Majesty a surprise when he emerges from seclusion.”

Lan Shan waved his hand: “Go ahead. I’m getting on in years and lack energy. These matters depend on you.”

Lan Songquan left in a rush. Lan Shan sipped his tea and leaned back in his chair to rest with his eyes closed.

In the Marquis Jing’an’s residence, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive. The servants walked with lightened steps, afraid of inadvertently displeasing their masters and receiving unwarranted scolding.

Previously, the Marquis’s wife had managed the household. After the Marquis’s wife devoted herself to Buddhism, the heir’s wife took over management. To everyone up and down the residence, the Marquis had been like a benevolent old man—no one had ever seen him this furious.

In the heir’s quarters, Marquis Jing’an’s heir, Shao Jingyuan, couldn’t get out of bed after receiving a severe beating. His wife Lady Wang was sitting by the bed applying medicine to his wounds.

“Ouch, be gentler.”

Lady Wang slightly pursed her lips: “Young Master, why did you have to anger the Marquis—”

“What do you understand?” Before Lady Wang could finish speaking, Shao Jingyuan lost his temper, and pulling at his wounds made him cry out in pain repeatedly. “Can’t you see Mother is nearly dying of anger? Why should Shao Mingyuan be riding high and ascending to great heights while I have to watch Mother suffer in silence like a mute?”

Lady Wang disagreed with Shao Jingyuan’s words: “Now everyone knows the Marquis favors his concubine over his wife. Our residence has become the object of everyone’s pointing and gossip. What good does that do?”

She was now managing the household and naturally had to think of her three children. When her two sons sought marriages in the future, if people said, “when the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam follows,” worrying that her sons would follow their grandfather’s example, that would truly be suffering in silence.

Shao Jingyuan directly pushed Lady Wang away: “If you don’t want to apply medicine for me, have someone else come!”

“Young Master—”

“Get out!”

Lady Wang closed her eyes, suppressed her anger, and silently walked out. She summoned the steward and asked: “Did the Marquis still not eat properly today?”

“Indeed, the breakfast dishes brought in this morning were carried out untouched again.”

Lady Wang frowned deeply: “The Marquis is getting on in years and can’t withstand not eating. This afternoon, have the kitchen prepare some easily digestible food. I’ll personally take it to the Marquis.”

With the heir’s temperament, once he inherited the title, who knew how he’d treat her? She still hoped the Marquis would live a few more years.

At this moment, Marquis Jing’an was in his study. He suddenly sat up from the low couch and instructed the servant guarding outside the door: “Summon the Third Young Master.”