Chapter 1052: Almost Believed It

"Does Your Highness know that today Prince Chujiang entered the palace and was frightened? He hasn't woken up yet!"

Chen Guanlou sat on the stone stool, lifted his hand vaguely, and invited the other party to sit down.

He even brought a pot of wine, plus wine sets, inviting the other party to drink.

Prince Chujiang's wife's expression was serious, and she carefully examined him by the moonlight, as if she was guessing his intention, purpose, and what he wanted to do. She slowly stepped forward, sat down on the stone stool, picked up the wine cup, and drank a cup of wine first.

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen came over just to tell me this?"

"Doesn't Your Highness find it unexpected? The dignified Prince Chujiang, a figure who raised the flag to rebel and stirred up the world's situation, entered the palace once and was actually frightened into not waking up yet. This point of endurance doesn't look like a rebel Prince who commands thousands of troops and horses."

"He, hmph... sometimes good, sometimes bad. Since his defeat, his whole heart has been gone. Being frightened by the Emperor, being frightened is too normal."

"This is called normal?" Chen Guanlou smiled but not really.

Prince Chujiang's wife also followed with a laugh, asking back: "Why is it not normal? In the past, it was us people by his side who cheered in his ears that he could overcome fear and act normally. Now that we people are not by his side to encourage him, him softening down is truly normal."

"Your Highness really knows how to joke." Chen Guanlou lowered his head and smiled in cooperation, laughing at the other party for making up lies without knowing how to make them round.

"This King's wife is not joking; if you don't believe this matter, you can find the former servants of the Prince's mansion to inquire, or find those few strategists to inquire."

Prince Chujiang's wife spoke with reason and evidence, not feeling empty at all.

Chen Guanlou sneered. "A person who is timid in doing things and needs people to encourage him from the side to act normally—how could he have the courage to raise the flag to rebel?"

Prince Chujiang's wife sighed, drinking by herself, with many worries in her heart.

She said slowly: "Sigh! Up to now, this King's wife will not hide it from you. The reason for raising the flag to rebel is purely because of the situation, and it can even be attributed to a joke. By the time I wanted to regret it, it was already too late.

Do you know that the Prince Chujiang's mansion's fief is wealthy and has a lot of income, which means the Prince's mansion can raise more people. For this reason, the imperial court has long been eyeing the Prince Chujiang's mansion, looking for mistakes everywhere, just waiting for an opportunity to pull the Prince Chujiang's mansion up by the roots and change the fief.

As the saying goes, people are the knife and board, and I am the fish and meat. If you don't resist, you will lose everything. If you resist, maybe there is still a glimmer of life. Prince Chujiang carries the lives of ten thousand people on his back; what can he do?

Even if he is willing to be captured, cooperating with the imperial court, the imperial court and the Emperor will not easily spare him. This kind of thing, one step back, step by step back, until finally becoming a prisoner. There is a precedent for this.

Under these circumstances, if it were you, what choice would you make? Can you be captured, letting the imperial court officials arrange charges, step by step toward the prison? The Emperor is not benevolent, so it's better to rebel against him; at worst, it's just death."

Chen Guanlou:...

He was full of admiration.

He never expected that Prince Chujiang's wife would be able to talk nonsense, and it would be logical, with cause and effect. It was very clear that people had thought of the rhetoric early on, and various reasons and excuses were at their fingertips, and they could muddle through without any effort.

He had seen people forced to start a rebellion, but it was definitely not a person like Prince Chujiang.

Even if forced, it required great perseverance, great determination, and not being afraid of death.

Which point of Prince Chujiang in the cell matched?

"Your Highness, I have a new guess, a little story; do you want to listen?"

Prince Chujiang's wife raised her eyebrows slightly. "What kind of story?"

Chen Guanlou smiled and slowly told the story he had just made up. "Once there was a wealthy old master who had great ambition. After having money and power, he was still not satisfied. He stared at the dragon chair in the palace, thinking that the Emperor takes turns, and today it is my turn.

However, his strength was insufficient, and he was worried that the matter would fail and he would be caught and beheaded. So, he found a substitute for himself and trained the substitute daily. When the time was right, he let the substitute come forward to socialize, gradually changing his image in everyone's mind.

When the time came, he decisively raised the flag to rebel. At first, it was smooth sailing, and he was proud of himself. But he was very cautious in doing things and did not abandon the substitute, but let the substitute continue to replace him in some less important occasions.

Later, the situation turned sharply downward, and the old master was defeated. However, he anticipated the opportunity and escaped quickly. He let the substitute take the blame for him, was caught, and was thrown into prison to die. The old master himself was perfectly hidden, relying on years of savings, planning to turn over and come back in the future. Your Highness, how is my story? After listening, what are your thoughts?"

"It's truly wonderful!" Prince Chujiang's wife clapped her hands, with a few smiles on her face. "Chen Jiang Jiang Yucheng shouldn't go to write books; it's truly a waste. I was fascinated by it."

Chen Guanlou smiled. "This story is not finished yet. The only person who knows the old master's full plan is the old master's wife. Even the plan itself was formulated by the old master's wife, checking for omissions and filling in the gaps, assisting in completion. The substitute was imprisoned, and the old master's wife didn't escape either. But she wasn't sad; she only hoped that the substitute could die early and take the secret into the coffin. Only then is the complete story, how about it?"

"Very reasonable!" Prince Chujiang's wife nodded. "To find a substitute, it definitely requires someone you trust to help find, train, and guide, to achieve the point of being fake and real. No one is more suitable to assist in this matter than the old master's wife. I didn't expect Chen Jiang Jiang Yucheng to not only have high cultivation, but also be so good at making up stories, with a beginning and an end, and being able to justify himself."

Chen Guanlou raised his eyebrows slightly. "Does Your Highness have nothing else to say?"

"What do you want this King's wife to say?" Prince Chujiang's wife smiled but not really.

"Does Your Highness not feel that this story is very familiar?" Chen Guanlou asked.

Prince Chujiang's wife's brows moved. "This King's wife doesn't understand what you want to say. This story, this is the first time I've heard of it; where does the familiarity come from?"

"That Prince Chujiang in the Heavenly Prison—don't you feel he is very much like a substitute?"

"Hahaha... turning around, you want to say Prince Chujiang is a substitute! Hahaha... Chen Jiang Jiang Yucheng, you really know how to let your imagination run wild. Let me think, could it be that your days are too boring, so you have a strange idea, and you also hope to get the approval of this King's wife. It's truly ridiculous!"

Prince Chujiang's wife was full of sarcasm, without the fear or panic of the truth being exposed. Only sarcasm, disdain, and contempt for him!

Chen Guanlou was full of doubts.

If Prince Chujiang was a substitute, Prince Chujiang's wife's performance was textbook-like, a genius reaction. Every expression was just right.

If Prince Chujiang was real, Prince Chujiang's wife's performance was appropriate and could be explained.

Chen Guanlou didn't believe others; he believed his intuition more.

Intuition told him that the Prince Chujiang in the Heavenly Prison was definitely not the genuine article. A fake is a fake; no matter how you pretend, it doesn't look like the real thing! ===== CHAPTER 1053 =====