Chapter 284: The Truth Is Too Cruel

Having survived a great calamity, Li Defu rolled and crawled back to his dwelling, his heart pounding like a drum.

When he entered, he saw Wan Tang and Li Ping'er still seated under the lamp, quietly embroidering flowers.

Recalling the words of the man in black and seeing Wan Tang's perfectly calm profile, Li Defu instantly understood.

Seeing Li Defu return, Wan Tang showed little reaction, as if she knew nothing of what had just happened.

She merely said lightly, "Yo, your father‑in‑law's move is rather swift."

Li Defu fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowed heavily, and with a trembling voice said, "Nubi, thank you, Noble Consort, for saving my life."

"I was foolish before, Nubi, yet so stubborn."

In his voice there was an added hint of melancholy this year: "In the end, I still overestimated my standing in his heart."

Wan Tang kept pinching the embroidery needle, her movements unbroken, not even lifting an eyelid.

Her voice was steady, without a ripple: "What weight or affection could exist in this deep palace?"

"Now you know, the Empress Dowager will not let you go."

Li Defu slowly lifted his head.

His pallid face revealed a trace of sorrow.

His lips trembled as if using all his strength, his voice ethereal: "No… it's not the Empress Dowager."

Wan Tang's hand holding the needle, a few indistinguishable pauses.

Li Defu closed his eyes, his voice hoarse: "It… it's the Emperor."

The embroidery needle in Wan Tang's hand, together with the thread, fell to the ground.

She turned her head, her face showing incredulous horror: "What are you saying?"

"What on earth is happening?"

Wasn't this matter done by the Empress Dowager?

Why would the Emperor get involved?

【Ah, stop talking, Xiao Luzi has already arrived.】

【Yes, Xiao Luzi was originally the Emperor's eyes placed beside Wan Tang; if he learns these words, that would be disastrous.】

【I always thought having Xiao Luzi as the Emperor's man was fine, he could help Wan Tang with many things. Now I really feel this person is a bit of a hindrance.】

【But the Emperor has already gathered murderous intent; if we don't speak now, can Li Defu still live to tell Wan Tang the truth?】

What does it matter if Xiao Luzi knows?

And if he doesn't know, what then?

Wan Tang's mood was exceedingly complicated at this moment.

She stared at Li Defu with unwavering eyes, demanding word for word: "Speak!"

"If you still cling to your protective talisman, it will only cause all of us to die together."

Li Defu knelt on the ground, trembling, his eyes filled entirely with fear.

If we say nothing, we will truly all die.

"Noble Consort, I have fetched the golden thread you requested," Xiao Luzi said as he entered.

Seeing Li Defu on the ground and the situation, he sensibly set the golden thread on the table and prepared to leave.

"Xiao Luzi." Wan Tang's face turned ashen, her tone severe: "You stay right here."

"Li Defu, speak."

Wan Tang's voice fell like an ice spear: "I will devise a way to protect your life."

Li Defu's gaze shifted, weighing repeatedly between Li Ping'er and Wan Tang.

Now, he truly has nothing to rely on.

And Wan Tang now is far changed from before.

He bit his teeth hard, kowtowed heavily: "Report to the Noble Consort, actually… actually, the real executor back then was the Emperor."

"You say… the Emperor?" Wan Tang's voice was strained.

The candlelight flickered on her face; the fingers supporting the chair turned white inch by inch.

Li Defu's forehead pressed to the ground, choking as he slowly recounted that bloody past: "During the Nine Princes' Struggle for the Throne…"

"Her legitimate son was made Crown Prince, but less than three years later, he fell from his horse during the autumn hunt and died…"

Wan Tang's breathing suddenly quickened.

Matters of the Former Dynasty seemed deliberately concealed; no one knew.

Even though Wan Tang had been in the palace for ten years, she had never heard a complete story.

"After the Crown Prince's death, the Late Emperor, within three months, appointed Yan Wang as heir."

Li Defu's voice trembled: "The Empress Dowager was almost maddened then, constantly berating Yan Wang as the fratricide."

"In a fit of anger, the Late Emperor confined her to Changchun Palace."

Outside the hall, a sudden gust of wind whistled, making the windows rattle.

Wan Tang unconsciously clenched her robe's collar.

"What's even more suspicious is that after Yan Wang was made Crown Prince, the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince died in succession…"

Li Defu lifted his clouded, tear‑filled eyes: "Back then the Emperor was merely an ant ignored in Cuivei Palace."

"His mother had passed away, his maternal uncle's family still hoped he would take over, and as for the Late Emperor, he could barely recall that such a person existed."

"At that time only a similarly disregarded Nubi attended to him."

Mentioning this, Li Defu's voice grew even more bitter: "I had thought he would either become a mere footnote in this Nine Princes' Struggle for the Throne, or even a sacrificial victim."

"I didn't expect he would give Nubi a huge surprise."

Wan Tang's heart skipped a beat: "What did he do?"

He went to see the Empress Dowager.

Li Defu, imitating the tone of that young prince from years ago, said: "'Your son‑servant can avenge you, can bring Yan Wang to ruin and disgrace. The condition is, I must become your child.'"

Wan Tang's emotions were still relatively calm.

Shei thought Li Defu would say: "Back then, the Mo Family always supported Yan Wang. So, to move against Yan Wang, one must move against the Mo Family."

Wan Tang sprang to her feet, knocking over the tea cup at hand: "He at that time had no authority or power…"

"Precisely because he had no authority or power, he needed to take reckless risks, Mother Empress!"

Li Defu bowed heavily and said, "Xiao Mingshu indeed admires the Emperor, but if the Emperor had not already set the scheme, how could the Xiao Family easily bet on a prince who is not favored?"

Wan Tang staggered, leaning on the screen, and in her mind the gentle smiling face of Chu Yunzheng flashed, causing a surge in her stomach.

"Those treasonous letters…," her voice trembled.

"They were written by the Emperor imitating Yan Wang's handwriting, and the Empress Dowager personally inserted them into the Late Emperor's memorials."

Each word Li Defu uttered was like a poisoned needle: "The Late Emperor originally did not believe it, but when the Empress Dowager wept and produced the 'evidence' of 'Yan Wang and the Mo Family conspiring to force the throne'…"

Wan Tang finally could not hold herself any longer and slid down the screen to sit on the floor.

She recalled Chu Yunzheng's pained expression every time he mentioned the Mo Family, and remembered his sincere words, "We will certainly restore the Mo Family's innocence."

How ironic.

"The one who committed treason was Yan Wang, yet Yan Wang is fine!" she could barely speak.

"Moreover, Yan Wang is already the Crown Prince; why would he still commit treason against the state?" Wan Tang grew even weaker.

"It was the Emperor who stepped forward and reported Yan Wang. Only then would the enemy's spies kill the Crown Prince…"

"How could the Late Emperor tolerate such a royal scandal?" Li Defu's voice grew low. "Therefore the Emperor wept day and night before the Late Emperor's sickbed, claiming the Mo Family supported him step by step, and those spies were letters transmitted by the Mo Family."

"Yan Wang was merely confused; let him go, after all he is a brother. All this fault lies with the Mo Family."

"The Late Emperor only asked the Emperor, if he became emperor, would he harm his brothers? The answer he received was a definite 'no.'"

"Yan Wang is too powerful, and moreover, there is the Mo Family…"

Li Defu stopped speaking, and Wan Tang understood everything.

The Late Emperor despised brothers killing each other.

Yan Wang harming his brothers was the most intolerable thing to the Late Emperor.

Yet the Mo Family still supported Yan Wang; with the Mo Family present, is it hard for Yan Wang to force the throne?

Wan Tang suddenly let out a low laugh, the laughter tinged with blood‑stained tears: "Hahaha…"

"Imperial authority…"

"Hahaha…"

She lifted her tear‑filled eyes, gazing at the heavy night outside the window, the sour sting in her nose intense.

Yet that feigned feeling was completely different.

For the first time she felt a pain as if her heart had been dug out.

"Sister…," Li Ping'er tried to speak soothingly, but Li Defu stopped her.

Li Defu gently shook his head and let out a deep sigh.

The young eunuch, hearing this series of shocking truths, was already pale as death, his legs trembling.

He forced himself to help Wan Tang back to the inner palace; just after placing her on the soft couch, he was eager to step back.

"Nubi, I will go brew a calming tea for Mother Empress…" his voice trembled, his steps unsteady as he tried to retreat.

"Stop."

Wan Tang's voice was light, yet like an icicle, it instantly nailed the young eunuch's steps.

He turned stiffly and saw Wan Tang leaning diagonally on the couch, her face showing none of the earlier panic or despair, only a coldness that seemed to comprehend everything.

"So eager to leave," Wan Tang's lips curled a temperature‑less arc, "do you intend to go to Yangxin Hall to recount today's sights and sounds?"

The young eunuch shivered all over, hurriedly knelt: "Nubi does not dare! Nubi is utterly loyal to Mother Empress…"

"Loyalty?" Wan Tang cut him off, slowly sitting up straight, her gaze slicing over the young eunuch's pallid face like a blade, "Li Defu has been loyal to the Emperor for over a decade, how many unsavory deeds has he done for him?"

"What was his final fate?"

"If tonight this palace had not secretly protected him, he would already be a corpse."

She rose, stepping closer to the young eunuch; with each sentence, his complexion grew a shade whiter.

"Do you think the secrets you know are fewer than Li Defu's?"

"Or do you think you are more capable than him in serving him?"

Wan Tang stood firm before him, looking down from a height, "Those who know too much and have lost their usefulness in this palace have always had only one outcome."

The young eunuch knelt on the ground, cold sweat soaking his inner shirt, his teeth chattering.

He recalled Li Defu's usual reverence and loyalty to the Emperor, and thinking of tonight's merciless silencing, a chill surged from his feet to the top of his head.

Wan Tang looked at his violently trembling shoulders, her tone suddenly softened, with a hint of enticement: "Young eunuch, you know well how this palace treats you."

"Your family, this palace has also continuously sent people to care for them."

"Stay with this palace, at least we won't burn bridges or cook the rabbit after the dog dies."

The young eunuch suddenly lifted his head, his eyes filled with struggle and fear.

He remembered that although Wan Tang's methods were ruthless, she was indeed generous to those around her.

Thinking further that the Emperor could discard even an old man like Li Defu, while he was just a tiny eunuch…

The instinct to survive ultimately overpowered everything.

He bowed his head heavily, his voice bearing a reckless resolve: "Mother Empress."

"My heart has long leaned toward Mother Empress!"

"I was sold into the palace at six years old; from childhood to now, no one has ever regarded me as a human."

Only the Lady makes Nubi feel that I am not merely a dog, but a living person.

Nubi will serve the Lady with my life, with no ulterior motives!

Wan Tang quietly watched him, and after a moment, extended a hand and pretended to help him up: "Get up."

Remember your words today.

From now on, you have only one Master.

Yes, Nubi understands.

What do you understand? Wan Tang asked, displeased.

Xiao Luzi hurriedly said, "My Master is only the Lady."

Wrong! Wan Tang's eyes flashed with a cold killing intent, and she said coldly, "Your Master is only the Emperor."

Xiao Luzi was stunned, and after a moment, finally understood.

"Nubi thanks the Lady." Xiao Luzi's voice rang out, and he kowtowed repeatedly.

When he lifted his head again, fear still lingered in his eyes, but there was now a greater resolve of having found a place to cling to.