Chapter 363 Chapter 363
Huo Xiu didn’t say anything.
It was the saving of Long San that revealed the cracks. But at that time, there was no one from the palace present, and only Zhao Su had brought someone with him. Therefore, it was Zhao Su who discovered him, and then the Emperor became suspicious of him.
The situation was indeed dangerous at that time, but how could he let it go?
“You couldn’t let go of Long San, so you made yourself exposed. However, I feel that with your skills, even if you have exposed yourself, you are still capable of mending your mistakes. Just like this night, you could have also not been so submissive in following Zi Yan over.”
The emperor took a sip of wine and looked across the room again, “Aren’t you quite conflicted yourself? On the one hand, you want to act in secret, but on the other hand, you can’t help but want to make a scene.”
Huo Xiu put his wine glass down and folded his ten fingers in front of him. “Since you’ve seen me through so thoroughly, why don’t you guess again why I’m doing this?”
“It’s hard for me to guess your true mind, and if I could, then I definitely wouldn’t let things get to this point. But there’s one thing I shouldn’t guess wrong, the case of your mother’s armor theft should be a fake case that you’ve concocted.”
Huo Xiu’s jaw tensed and his lips pursed into a line.
The emperor continued, “You should have concocted this case in order to return to the capital in name only. The Tang and Cheng family cases were done by you, the collapse of the underground palace was also done by you, as well as the pleadings against the Flower Moon Society this past while.”
Huo Xiu didn’t refute.
“You want to oppose me?” The emperor narrowed his eyes.
Huo Xiu slowly raised his head, “I remember the Emperor saying that this night is just a small private gathering of our cousins. Then I dare to ask, if I wanted to oppose the Emperor, could Guangxi have been so peaceful for so many years?”
“Then what exactly do you want by doing this?”
Huo Xiu stood up and came out of his sitting position, his body tensed like a string. “Does the emperor really not know anything at all? I only wanted to seek justice for my mother!”
The emperor frowned slightly, “Didn’t your mother die for her country? The late emperor had already made a reward for her when he was here, placing her and your father at the rank of first class marquis, her great deeds have also been inscribed in the atlas of the National History Hall, every sacrifice of the court is without her, and to this day, the empress dowager still treats her as a model to inspire women in the world to be self-reliant, what more justice do you want for her?”
“If she died a normal death, an accidental death at the hands of the enemy, this act of the court is of course a great favor. But suppose she was not? Suppose she was killed?”
The emperor also stood up, “What is your basis for saying this?”
“On her corpse, the arrowheads of the generals of the Three Thousand Battalions sent to Guangxi at that time were taken out!”
“The arrowheads of the generals of the Three Thousand Battalions …… Are you saying that the Imperial Aunt was killed by the people of the Three Thousand Battalions?”
“You know better than I what the markings on the arrow represent, under her fatal wound was the arrow of the Three Thousand Battalion!”
With these resounding words, a heavy piece of iron was slapped onto the table with a thud.
The Emperor took this object in his hand, which was clearly a rusted arrowhead. And the arrowhead even had still clear markings on it.
“You carry it with you even at a time like this, you really did expect to meet me.”
After he finished, he turned to Huo Xiu, “Where did you get this?”
“My father gave it to me.”
“And where did he get it from?”
“He personally obtained it from my family mother! This arrow was hidden very deeply, and at that time, she had numerous wounds from knives and guns, but only this one arrow wound. And this only one arrow wound had this evidence in it!”
“But I remember that at that time, Mother had sent a coroner to examine the wound, why didn’t he find out?”
“By the time the coroner traveled to Guangxi, when was that? Besides, what intention is your mother hiding by sending the coroner there?”
“What you mean by that is that my mother’s wife is the murderer of your mother?”
“Then you can find evidence to convince me that she isn’t?” Huo Xiu’s body tensed up even more rigidly than before, “Back then, my mother had already disarmed and planned to teach her children at ease, it was your mother’s queen who bitterly persuaded her to go on the expedition, and in the end, my mother was only moved by some of her words that she had said in order to serve as a role model for the women of the world!
“My mother’s going to Guangxi was encouraged by her, and when it came to the time when she could return to the capital after winning the battle so that she could fulfill her promise, she happened to die, and under her wounds there was an arrowhead of the royal family’s own soldiers! So many ‘coincidences’, isn’t it enough to show that this is a conspiracy?!”
“When did you hear about all this?”
“It was after my father returned to the capital!” Huo Xiu averted his face and looked at the moonlight in front of the court, “With my mother’s death being in such a strange location, and the timing of her death being so subtle, it’s impossible for my father not to be suspicious.
“Poor me at that time I was still in the capital, day and night with sister Yu full of hope for mother’s early triumph, who knew that waiting for us is the news of mother’s death!
“When she left we sent her off with joy, and when it was time for her to return, I could never see her again! I, at least, have understood some things, but Sister Yu is still young, and she cried for her mother every day in those days, but who can give us back a mother?!”
When he said this, he spoke with a hint of a tremor, and the branches and leaves that were blown by the wind seemed to be trembling along with him.
The emperor clutched this arrow and fell into a long silence.
The two cousins who used to be as close as brothers stood on each side, and the hatred of life and death had already drawn a huge chasm between them.
“This matter of revenge seems to have been pressed in your heart for many years. Why did you not move until now? Or …… you have already moved a long time ago?”
The Emperor’s eyes twilight flashed with a glint of essence, and there were some unexpected sparks exploding in the midst of it.
The emperor slowly went down the road, “Ten years ago in the paddock, have you already moved your hand?”
Huo Xiu pursed his lips and did not speak.
The light in the Emperor’s eyes burned even more, “It’s really you!”
The eldest princess has been sacrificed for more than ten years, and the trip to the paddock ten years ago, this was after this incident. Since there was Huo Mingyu on the same trip, then of course there was him, Huo Xiu!
“No wonder we couldn’t find you at all before or after the incident. Sister Yu followed me at the bottom of the cave for so long, and we didn’t see you bring anyone to look for her at all! So you simply knew where we were!
“You even disregarded your own sister in order to exact your so-called revenge on us?!”
Huo Xiu clenched his teeth, still not uttering a word.
The emperor tilted his head and let out a cold, negative hand, “How interesting! For the sake of a Long San, you can do whatever it takes to keep him alive! And for the sake of revenge, you can even disregard your sister’s life! What a sentimental and righteous Marquis Wei Yuan! I really should give you a big plaque to honor your benevolence and righteousness!”
Every word of these few sentences was loud and clear, pounding heavily on Huo Xiu’s heart!
He suddenly turned around, “If I really wanted you dead back then, you wouldn’t have been able to walk out of that cave!”