Chapter 475 Gu Mengzhen's Secret
Zhou Zixi's heart was as cold as ash. In just one short sentence, he summarized all the pain he had experienced over the years.
"Pamper his concubines on his behalf and continue the so-called royal family line."
Ning Yunxi and Yan Yu were shocked in disbelief.
"what?!"
Upon thinking about it carefully, Yan Yu was so shocked that his bones were cold and his hair stood on end.
"All the princes and princesses we see today are not the emperor's biological children?"
Zhou Zixi looked gloomy and lowered his eyebrows in respect.
"Your Majesty is wise."
Yan Yu's starry eyes flickered, as if she could empathize with their suffering.
"Why didn't he give birth himself, but forced your children to acknowledge him as their father?"
"Could it be that he is infertile?"
Ning Yunxi immediately denied it.
"Last year, I treated his old illness and took his pulse almost every day, but I didn't find anything wrong with his body."
There was a hint of self-mockery on Zhou Zixi's lips, showing his indignation and indignation, which revealed the sadness in his heart.
"Let alone raising children or having the ability to do so, he is still a virgin and has never touched a woman."
Ning Yunxi and Yan Yu were greatly surprised and startled again.
"what?"
Yan Yu was puzzled.
"Why is he like this?"
Ning Yunxi thought about it briefly and made some random guesses.
"Could it be because he is in love with Queen Zhenyu?"
Zhou Zixi nodded slightly and solemnly told what Gu Mengzhen had done.
"That's what Junior Sister said."
"On the one hand, he hopes to be loyal and righteous and keep his virginity for the woman he loves; on the other hand, he wants to seize the throne and change the world. So he searched the world and found us here, using our children to fight for power, and then got rid of them when he was done. He is cruel and ruthless."
"At first, it was the current Grand Marshal, Lord Leng, who was deceived by his words and helped him build the Deep Forest Secluded Realm; then, it was Lord Tongshi Cheng An, who served him closely and ran back and forth for him."
Jiang Luo has always been optimistic and content with his fate. When he thought back to the past, the corners of his mouth drooped and there was no trace of smile on his face.
"In the early years, they cooperated. Lord Leng was the Minister of Copper Affairs, and the emperor was young and had not yet taken office. Just as my brother Zixi said, the emperor first led Miss Leng into the game, and then seduced Lord Leng. If he wanted to seize the throne, he had to gather the forces of many parties. The most effective way to appease him was marriage."
"He lied and said that he would wait until Miss Leng turned 20 and then marry her, so at most he could only take a concubine as a marriage alliance. However, favoring a concubine would inevitably be unfair to Miss Leng. After hearing this, Lord Leng was willing to follow him and spent a lot of money to build this place to help him support us and use it as his backyard."
He lowered his eyes to the teacup, his eyes vague and full of emotions.
"Brother Xinheng and I were the first group of people to settle down in the mansion."
"I still remember that at that time, there were a total of twenty of us, and he arranged for us to stay overnight at the North Hall of Gu's mansion and get close to the women in the backyard. However, it was extremely difficult to conceal the truth, and in a blink of an eye, several of us accidentally revealed our identities and were discovered by his concubines. He realized something was wrong and did not hesitate to eliminate them. In this way, of the original twenty people, only the two of us were left."
He didn't know when it started, but a hint of fear appeared in his eyes, as if he was there himself, back in the past, watching the harsh scene, alone and weak and powerless to do anything.
"Then, the Emperor summoned many more people. As you can imagine, most of them did not survive. It was not until later that Brother Zixi arrived and used his wisdom and wisdom to plan the overall situation, which enabled the Emperor to act smoothly and we escaped the disaster."
Cao Xinheng took a sip of tea, feeling depressed and unhappy.
"Yes, thanks to Brother Zhou, otherwise, none of us would be safe."
Zhou Zixi has a humble face, yet is pure and elegant.
"As a human being, how can I stand by and watch someone drown without saving him? My two brothers are sincere. Whatever I do is what I should do. It is not only to protect my brothers, but also to save myself. It is not a noble act."
Ning Yunxi felt a surge of compassion from the bottom of her heart.
“Fourth Brother, you gentlemen, you have really suffered.”
Zhou Zixi looked at him lovingly and smiled faintly.
"I am well fed and have no worries. I feel quite comfortable. Please don't worry, little junior sister."
Ning Yunxi took the initiative to volunteer and proposed it.
"I believe that Fourth Senior Brother has already figured out where your relatives are. You might as well tell me. I will rescue you first and then send someone to rescue your family."
Yan Yu made a resolute decision and expressed her position immediately afterwards.
"I have ordered all the ministers of the Guardian Office to gather their best troops and act separately. If Mr. Zhou has a good plan, please tell us directly. You can also go with the ministers to rescue people."
Zhou Zixi was polite and informed Lord Yan first.
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. Unfortunately, I was unable to find out. Therefore, I dare not leave the house without permission, lest my family be implicated."
Then, he looked at his junior sister and responded, his gratitude was self-evident.
Yan Yu was completely confused and didn't understand.
"how could be?"
"I have heard of you. Even Aunt Fang once praised you as 'a latecomer who surpassed me. Although I consider you my teacher, I am far inferior to you.' Logically speaking, the Emperor and Lord An are of mediocre talent. You must be able to understand this."
Zhou Zixi showed a trace of embarrassment, but he always behaved properly, was humble and gentlemanly.
"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty."
He told everything he knew and reported it truthfully.
"At first, I did try to find out where all my brothers and relatives were trapped, and I also used a plan to call for people from the outside world to rescue them inadvertently. However, using plans from a distance often leads to unexpected events, and there are many counselors around the emperor. I tried my best to make plans again and again, but they always failed."
Sounding discouraged, Jiang Luo continued his words and while narrating the story, he did not forget to encourage his brother.
"After the plan failed, the emperor would move our relatives and hide them somewhere else. However, no matter where they hide, they can be found out by Brother Zixi in just a few words. In this case, Brother Zixi planned to save people, and the emperor tried to stop them. For many years, the number of times we have gone back and forth is countless."
"Fortunately, the emperor has a rare talent for strategy. Even if Brother Zixi is so scheming, he is reluctant to touch him at all."
"With him here, we can be safe."
Talking about old times, Cao Xinheng cheered up and told the story in a leisurely manner.
"Where there are relatives, there are traces to follow. As long as Brother Zhou works hard, we will surely be able to wait for the emperor to make a mistake. We will be able to get out of this predicament soon."
His words should have been inspiring at this point, but he suddenly changed the subject, like clouds covering the sun and a sudden downpour of wind and rain.
"Unexpectedly, later on, someone came up with a trick to harm the emperor. The person who came up with the trick knew nothing about it, and the secret was completely handed over to an outsider, so the other party naturally had no way of finding out."
Ning Yunxi lowered her eyes quickly, feeling guilty.
If she remembered correctly, this was her elder brother's plan, but the emperor made other excuses and did not tell her the truth.
My elder brother's suggestion was an unintentional mistake.
Cao Xinheng continued speaking with a mixture of hatred and regret.
"According to this person's suggestion, the Emperor entrusted all of our families to the care of the Grand Marshal Leng. He and Lord An had no idea where we would be placed. Brother Zhou used a trick and learned from Lord An that Lord Leng had someone else to entrust our families to. As for who exactly he entrusted our families to, we have no idea."
"Since then, Brother Zhou has been unable to obtain any news about his relatives."
After he finished speaking, he suddenly asked a question.
"Your Highness Yuexi, do you know who is behind this conspiracy?"