Chapter 173 You Are the Real Emperor

Covering her dainty mouth, Liu Ling'er pointed at the imperial edict and said, "Baili Xian, it turns out that you are the true emperor. The person currently sitting on the throne in the Eastern Chu imperial palace, your elder brother Baili Hail, is a fake."

Baili Xian gripped the imperial edict so tightly that his knuckles turned white, revealing the immense force in his hands. Yet, his tone remained exceptionally calm as he spoke: "General Hu, tell us what actually happened back then!"

During one of his past drunken episodes, Baili Xian had vaguely revealed some of the events of his past, and his relationship with the reigning emperor was an endlessly tangled web. Now, with the sudden appearance of this imperial edict, Liu Ling'er felt her head grow a size larger with bewilderment.

Hu Bugui led Baili Xian and Liu Ling'er into a study. Without knowing what trick he performed, the general conjured an envelope out of a study that contained no books at all. Liu Ling'er was certain she had kept her eyes glued to Hu Bugui's every move from start to finish, yet that envelope had appeared as if by magic.

Opening the envelope, Hu Bugui withdrew two yellowish pieces of paper and handed them to Baili Xian. "I have these items here, Your Highness. Please take a look, and perhaps you will perceive a hint of the truth."

The title "Your Highness" caused Baili Xian's expression to shift slightly. He took the two slips of paper from Hu Bugui's hand and replied, "General Hu, do not call me Your Highness from now on. I am currently the Prince Xian, and if my second brother were to hear that, it would cost me my head."

"Yes, yes! This old subject will engrave Prince Xian's instruction in his heart!" Hu Bugui wiped the cold sweat from his brow. Had Baili Xian not reminded him today, a slip of the tongue in the future could have brought down a fatal disaster upon him, even resulting in the execution of his entire clan.

Looking at the two slips of paper resting in Baili Xian's palm, Liu Ling'er saw that they bore two sets of birth dates and hours. She picked up one of them and murmured, "Prince Xian, these are not your birth details. Could there be something bizarre about these two sets of eight characters provided by General Hu?"

Several months prior, the emperor had listened to Consort Wu and intended to marry her off to Baili Xian, who was rumored to bring misfortune to his wives. The excuse used was that their astrological charts matched perfectly, which was why she remembered Baili Xian's birth details with such absolute clarity and recognized them instantly.

Both sets of birth details belonged to the same year, yet they were in different months, separated by nearly six months. Liu Ling'er could not discern any trickery within them.

Hu Bugui pointed to the paper in Liu Ling'er's hand and said, "The Princess Xian is correct. This one is indeed the birth data of Prince Xian, while this other one..." Hu Bugui paused before saying helplessly, "This is the birth date of the current emperor."

"Impossible!" Baili Xian denied it on the spot. "My second brother looks so much like me; how could we not share the same birth mother? Furthermore, our dynastic ancestor left a curse upon the Baili family stating that only a primary wife may give birth to legitimate heirs."

Liu Ling'er also found it utterly unbelievable. If what Baili Xian said was true, even if his mother had conceived Baili Hail and immediately fallen pregnant again, it would be impossible to deliver Baili Xian merely six months later. One must know that gestation takes ten months, and even a premature birth requires at least seven or eight months.

Hu Bugui said, "Do not be alarmed, Prince Xian. Listen as I recount the hidden truths one by one. The current emperor is indeed not your full brother, yet he is nonetheless a descendant of the Baili imperial lineage. He is the son of the late emperor's younger brother."

"I have an imperial uncle? Why have I never heard of him?" Baili Xian asked in bewilderment. This abruptly appearing uncle was as blank to him as a sheet of white paper, devoid of the slightest trace in his memory.

Hu Bugui sighed. "It is entirely normal that Prince Xian has never heard of him. There are probably very few people left who know of this matter. I only know a hint of the inner story because I was a trusted confidant of the late emperor.

"The imperial uncle was sickly since childhood. No matter how high the medical skills of the imperial physicians like Jun Miaoshou were, they could only use medicine to sustain his life. Thus, for his safety, the imperial court could only conceal the existence of another prince of Eastern Chu. In other words, he was kept hidden away in the deep palace.

"Because of the imperial uncle's frail health, living one day at a time was already a blessing, so the two brothers shared a deep fraternal bond. The late emperor granted almost every request made by this younger brother. The imperial uncle lived only to the age of eighteen, and he passed away just one month after the current emperor, Baili Hail, was born.

"The imperial uncle's wife loved him with a profound depth. Terrified that he would be lonely on the netherworld road, she handed Baili Hail directly to the late emperor and took her own life to follow her husband in death.

"The late emperor buried them together in a joint tomb. At that time, the late emperor's primary wife was already two months pregnant. The late emperor kept this matter hidden, announcing to all civil and military officials that Baili Hail was his second son, proclaiming him to the world as the Second Prince."

Upon hearing this account, Liu Ling'er felt that the heavens were truly jealous of the imperial uncle and his wife, allowing such a devoted pair only a tragically brief time to cherish one another. Yet she also felt a sense of envy; if one could be matched with someone who loved them and whom they loved in return, even if only a single second remained in this world, it would constitute an eternity for the two of them. Thinking of this, Liu Ling'er could not help but glance at Baili Xian, her gaze instantly turning tender.

A stir went through Baili Xian's heart. He suddenly recalled that once, in his imperial father's study, after he finished writing an essay, his imperial father had praised him, saying, "There is increasingly an air of emperorship in this essay by my son. If Hao'er had even half of your capability, I could die without regret."

The former emperor had only four sons, but his imperial father had bypassed his second brother and referred to him as his second son. At the time, he thought his imperial father had spoken in error; as it turned out, he was the one who had misunderstood!

No matter that his second brother, who had originally cherished him, gradually changed—becoming so frantically obsessed with power and so deeply scheming. It seemed his brother must have known something even back then! Baili Xian bit his lower lip and asked, "What happened next?"

Hu Bugui paused. "What remains to be told is the period when the late emperor passed away. As the Great General of Pingguo, my primary duty was to suppress internal rebellions within Eastern Chu. Generally, the borders were guarded by the Defender-General, General Liu, while my main task was to sweep away bandits and outlaws.

"At that time, a band of mounted outlaws was running rampant in the eastern part of Eastern Chu, so I led several thousand troops to suppress them. Just as the suppression was nearing its end, I received a secret imperial edict—the very same edict I previously handed to Prince Xian.

"I spurred my horse and galloped back to the imperial capital without stopping, only to find that within a mere three days, Eastern Chu had changed its sovereign, and the new emperor, Baili Hail, had ascended the throne.

"From the moment I entered the capital, I was targeted by the new emperor's eyes and ears. In less than half a day, I survived several waves of assassination attempts and narrowly escaped with my life.

"Knowing that the new emperor would likely not tolerate a threat like me remaining by his side, I simply took those several thousand soldiers who were willing to follow me, journeyed through various places, and arrived here at Wutu Mountain, putting down roots upon this peak."

At this point, old tears streamed down Hu Bugui's face. "Late Emperor, this subject is incompetent and failed to enable Your Highness the Prince Xian to inherit the supreme treasure. Yet the heavens have finally shown mercy, allowing me to see Prince Xian. A soldier is raised for a thousand days to be used in a single hour; this old subject has spent years here clearing land and farming. The moment Your Highness gives the order, I, Hu Bugui, am willing to smash my body to pieces and devote every ounce of my strength until my dying breath to reclaim the imperial throne for you!"

Hearing Hu Bugui state his name, Liu Ling'er felt a sudden jolt in her body. She abruptly recalled what the couple Ma Tianqiong had said at the morning tea house—wasn't the general who had once crossed paths with them also named Hu Bugui? Could he too be a member of the Tianfa Organization?