Falsifying history is good business

Chapter 95 The Emperor's Secrets That Have Not Been Revealed

Dandelion was skeptical about whether Lin You could provide an ending.

"The ending you are talking about, is it written for my poem? It's incredible. This should be the first time you hear this long poem. I have never sung it in its entirety before..."

Lin You waved his hands: "I can't write poetry." He muttered in his heart: I'm lucky to be able to write a coherent online article; back then, we were not allowed to write poetry in the college entrance examination essays, and now you want me to write poetry in a foreign language? What a shitty poem!
The poet was inevitably puzzled: "So what you mean is..."

"I mean, I can tell you what happened after the wedding banquet; including the unhappy life of the prince and princess after they got married, as well as their past and future."

"I did hear that the couple died in a shipwreck a few years ago, leaving behind only a young princess." Dandelion was filled with emotion, "Princess Pavetta lost her father when she was young, and I didn't expect her daughter to lose both parents at the same time... For a difficult love, this ending is really not a happy one."

"Do you still want to listen to me?" Storytellers, like those who perform crosstalk and storytelling, hate it most when the audience interrupts them.

The poet quickly apologized. "Please speak quickly. I'm listening."

Bards are not only performers, but also good listeners. They are keen to inquire about all kinds of gossip in detail in the places they pass, regardless of whether they are true or false, just to collect materials for their poetry creation - Mr. Dandelion is no exception.

At this time, the poet has not yet realized the truth of the famous saying "The more you know, the faster you die". Perhaps in his eyes, Sintra is just a small country not much bigger than Toussaint. What great secrets can it have?
The boy with "evil intentions" naturally did not remind the poet, but immediately began to narrate: "I won't talk about the woman in this marriage. She was a simple princess of Cintra, who was blinded by love and fate in her teenage years. That's why she fell in love with a monster who was more than ten years older than her and covered with spikes. I want to tell you the story of the man, Prince Doni of Mechit."

"Is there something wrong with him? Is his background fake? Does he not have royal blood, or is he faking his noble identity, or... uh, sorry, please continue."

After stopping Dandelion from trying to talk back, Lin You continued, "To tell Donnie's story, we have to go back to a period of history related to Nilfgaard, the suzerain state of Mecht. More than 20 years ago, a coup against the Enreth royal family took place in Nilfgaard. Did you know that?"

"Of course; the usurper killed the emperor, exiled the thirteen-year-old crown prince, and ascended the throne himself and ruled the empire for twenty years; until... uh... I'm listening."

"If you can't control your mouth, I don't mind performing another spell on you;" the boy said that he just wanted a well-behaved supporting actor and didn't like anyone making impromptu jokes and stealing his lines; in order to make his threat more effective, he took out his wand and waved it - even without the wand he could make the poet mute.

"I see." Dandelion was sweating; the feeling of a stiff tongue and a blocked throat over the past few hours was so terrible that it even made his trachea a little blocked.

Lin You nodded with satisfaction. "What were you talking about? Yes, the crown prince of Nilfgaard, Emhyr Emreis, was exiled by the usurper, and the usurper also sent a sorcerer to cast an extremely vicious curse on the crown prince. Because the name 'Emhyr' means 'hedgehog' in the Nilfgaardian language, the sorcerer turned the crown prince into a hedgehog, with spikes all over his body."

Dandelion was startled, obviously realizing something; but he stole a glance at the dark, gloomy wooden wand and tactfully swallowed back the question that was about to come out of his mouth.

It doesn't matter what curse the crown prince has suffered, as long as I don't get cursed again...

"This Crown Prince Emhyr fled to the north with spikes all over his body. He accidentally met the former King of Cintra, Rognar, who was injured and dying while hunting, and saved his life. Of course, the Crown Prince concealed his true identity at this time. In order to repay the life-saving grace, King Rognar and the Crown Prince established the law of accidents, and thus the engagement of Prince Doni and Princess Partavi was formed."

At this point, Lin You looked at Dandelion and found that he seemed to be hesitant to speak, so he asked, "Do you want to ask, since the crown prince changed his name to Prince Duny, then who is Emhyr who is now sitting on the throne of the Nilfgaardian emperor?"

The poet nodded so hastily that his feathered boat hat almost fell off his head.

"I'm about to get to the point." The boy took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.

"Although he changed his name and married and had a daughter in Cintra, Emhyr never gave up his goal of returning home for revenge, and he kept working hard for it. Five years ago, he finally accumulated enough strength and was ready to return home; he also wanted to take his wife and daughter with him. To this end, he took the opportunity to go out to sea to create a shipwreck, intending to leave by faking his own death. But the plan went awry.

First, his daughter did not board the ship as planned; second, his wife, Princess Pavetta, finally discovered her husband's true identity and strongly opposed leaving Cintra. The couple argued and Princess Pavetta fell into the sea and died. So Emhyr had to return to Nilfgaard alone; he publicly restored his identity and successfully overthrew the usurper and took back the throne. "

Dandelion held his breath and listened to Lin You's story. He didn't let out a long sigh until he was sure that the other party would stop talking. "It's really... It's unbelievable."

"Isn't this unbelievable?" Lin You sneered, "I haven't even started to talk about the real secret yet!"

"What?" Mr. Poet couldn't help but exclaimed, and then asked cautiously, "What other secrets are there?"

"The biggest secret is why Emhyr wants to take his wife and daughter away; is it just because of his love as a husband and father?" Lin You smiled contemptuously, "Twenty years of revenge have forged a heart of stone in him, leaving no room for love and family affection. To the Emperor of Nilfgaard, Princess Pavetta's greatest value is that she provides him with the right to claim the throne of Cintra."

Dandelion finally understood why the boy denounced the ending of the poem he wrote and ignored it.

If Emhyr Emreis had only been working for revenge and regaining the throne from beginning to end, then his love for Pavetta was not true at all, and where did the "happy life of the prince and princess" come from?
"Poor princess; if what you say is true, then she and her daughter are both victims of conspiracy and treachery," the poet murmured.

"Princess Pavetta is more pitiful than this." Lin You showed the most "evil" smile since he met the poet. "The fire of revenge not only forged a heart of stone, but also Emhyr's ambition. After losing his wife, if he still wants to get involved in the legitimacy of Cintra and completely annex the country, what do you think should be done?"

"Well... use his daughter?" Dandelion gave an answer that seemed to make sense.

"How?" Lin You asked. "The law of Cintra stipulates that women cannot be kings. Emhyr's daughter can only marry a son-in-law in the future, let her husband be the king, and the princess be the queen. Do you think Emperor Emhyr will allow himself to be a wedding dress for others?"

Dandelion shook his head woodenly, and it was unclear whether he meant "I don't know" or "It's impossible".

"What I am going to tell you next is the craziest thought in Emperor Emhyr's mind, and also the most secret that cannot be known to others..."

Lin You did not give the poet a chance to regret and directly revealed the secret: "For Emhyr, the best way to annex Cintra is to conceal his blood relationship with the little princess of Cintra and marry his own daughter as the queen of the Nilfgaard Empire in the future."

"Ugh..." Dandelion fell back in fear, holding his chest and unable to breathe for a long time.

Although he was well-informed and had heard of and witnessed countless aristocratic secrets during his bardic career, this piece of news still exceeded the poet's moral limit.

"You...what you said...are just guesses and not true, right?"

"Does it matter whether it's true or not?" Lin You asked with a sneer, "You've sung so many stories before, can you guarantee that every one of them is true?"

Dandelion's face turned pale, as if he had thought of something terrifying; he looked at the boy pleadingly, but unexpectedly received a terrible answer.

"Yes, I didn't tell you this story for nothing, Dandelion." Lin You said solemnly, "I really rely on your excellent playing and singing skills."

　Second update
　　As usual, the third update will be a little late.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)