Chapter 3.02 – This Is Settling Personal Grudges!(1)

Zhao Ze saw the Little Emperor’s frightened and tearful expression, and felt disdainful, thinking that this person was too uncivilised.

After understanding his current situation, Xiang Han stressed earnestly, “Y-you cannot find trouble for imperial brother. I-it was Zhen who got people to find those evidence, and the edict was also ordered by Zhen. You rebels, whatever it is, just come at Zhen…”

Zhao Ze’s gaze darkened as he silently thought, could it be that the evidence was truly related to Prince Liang?

One was the prince who had been dethroned six years ago because of his father while the other was the Little Emperor who had just joined the court, without a care in the world. Who should he choose to believe, Zhao Ze already had an answer in his heart.

Although Prince Liang had saved him, he did not believe the other person’s excuse of “not being able to bear seeing a loyal subordinate’s death”, and instead, felt that he had ulterior motives.

In the original plot, Zhao Ze did not manage to meet the Little Emperor and his nine generations of the family were executed. Therefore, even though he knew Prince Liang had his own motives, he still chose to walk down this path. But now, since the Zhao family still had a chance of recovery, he naturally chose a different option.

He remembered his father had criticised the Little Emperor for being weak and unsuitable to take on great responsibilities. In the end, Zhao Ze finally chose to put his stakes on this person. At least… the Little Emperor would not dare trick him and was much more trustworthy than Prince Liang.

Watching the Little Emperor stare at him with big, watery eyes filled with fear, he was silent for a moment before he suddenly spoke, “Your Majesty, do you want to know who the one who rescued me was?”

“Who?” Xiang Han immediately asked, in the alert.

“It was Prince Liang.” Zhao Ze stared at him, slowly spitting out each word.

“Impossible.” Xiang Han shook his head, “Imperial brother was just telling me to quickly get rid of your entire family yesterday. Why would he secretly help you?”

“Your Majesty has probably been fooled by him,” Zhao Ze’s gaze darkened as he said. Seeing that the Little Emperor’s reaction was genuine, he continued, “When Prince Liang saved me, he said he could not ‘bear to watch a loyal subordinate be framed to death’ and convinced me to head northwest…”

“Impossible. Don’t try to stir discord between Zhen and Imperial brother’s brotherly feelings. Your Zhao family is plotting treason, the evidence is conclusive. Don’t tell me you want Zhen to doubt imperial brother and believe the words of a traitor instead?” Xiang Han shook his head in “resolution”, not believing his words.

Zhao Ze felt that the Little Emperor was indeed foolish. Living in the palace, he still believed in brotherly love. Even if he were to be sold by Prince Liang, he would probably still help the other person count his money.

He gloomily continued, “Your Majesty, Prince Liang has always held a grudge against my father regarding his abdication. His words cannot be trusted and the so-called evidence cannot be used. As long as Your Majesty sends your people to investigate, you will definitely be able to find that many things do not match up.”

When he said this, he directly knelt down and offered his dagger. He lowered his head and continued, “My father is already past 50, his body is no longer as strong as before. Before that, he was already planning to retire from the court, why would he think of rebelling? This criminal is willing to offer his life to prove my loyalty.  On the other hand, Prince Liang actually dared to plant false evidence in court. He deliberately lied and misled Your Majesty. When he reveals his ambitions, I’m afraid Your Majesty will be in danger.”

Xiang Han glanced at him and pretended to accept the dagger cautiously. When he completely grasped the dagger, his expression immediately changed, becoming full of confidence.

He wielded the dagger and happily slashed towards his neck twice before walking around him, “But your Zhao family is indeed controlling too much power. Even the commander of Chang’ An army is Teacher Zhao’s people, who should Zhen believe?”

Zhao Ze completely did not put this little act in his eyes, only feeling that the Little Emperor was simply throwing a tantrum. Once he obtained some power, he was like a little rooster, walking about with his head held high.

“If it is as what Your Majesty said, Commander Xue, should already have killed his way into the palace, to take down Your Majesty and rescue father.”

“Preposterous!” Xiang Han immediately increased the pressure of the dagger against his neck and scoffed, “Zhen can implicate you purely based on your words just now.”

Zhao Ze admitted honestly, “This minister has offended your Majesty, but this official’s father has been wrongly accused. Although there were many opportunities to rebel, in the end, this official still chose to surrender with hopes that Your Majesty will not be swayed by false rumours and execute a loyal courtier.”

Xiang Han squatted down in front of him, held his sleeves and observed him for a moment before he finally said, “Forget it. Since you insist that teacher has been framed and even risked your life to find Zhen, Zhen will give your Zhao family one more chance and reopen the case for investigation.”

“Perhaps…Imperial brother misunderstood something.” Afraid that his attitude seemed to have changed too quickly, Xiang Han hastily added.

Zhao Ze’s eyes lit up and he quickly kowtowed, unable to conceal the agitation in his voice, “This criminal thanks His Majesty.”

“As for you, hmph!” Xiang Han suddenly stood up and circled around him, saying angrily, “Barging into the palace and threatening Zhen with weapons, for this crime, Zhen can sentence you to a public execution to make an example out of you.”

Zhao Ze knelt down, “This minister knows his mistake…” 

Before he could finish, Xiang Han interrupted him, “But, in consideration of your filial piety and your courage to talk back, Zhen will temporarily drop this matter. If the investigation shows that teacher has truly been wrongly framed, you’ll simply be charged with disrespecting the monarch. If he was not framed, hmph!”

“This criminal thanks his majesty for his mercy.” Zhao Ze had not expected that after coercing the Little Emperor like that he wouldn’t actually be punished, and couldn’t help feeling relieved.

He felt that his father’s words were untrue. The Little Emperor was not a coward who couldn’t achieve great things but instead, was naive, muddled, and easily influenced by his ministers.

After settling Zhao Ze, Xiang Han finally found an excuse to dismiss that group of ministers. He quickly ordered a eunuch to announce his decree, emphasising that it was Zhao Ze who risked his life to enter the palace in the dead of the night to plead mercy for his father who had been framed. Zhen had been touched by his filial piety and thus, ordered the investigation department to reopen the case. It was definitely not because he had been coerced by this group of ministers.

Zhao Ze left together with the eunuch. Because he was also guilty of a crime, he had to squat in prison for a little while.

The ministers were happy to the point of tears, but after seeing Zhao Ze, they seemed to understand something. In the middle of the night, Minister Zhao who should have been in prison suddenly appeared at the emperor’s chambers and at the same time, his majesty ordered for the investigation department to reexamine Teacher Zhao’s case. This, this, this…

The head of the criminal department, Shanshu Huang’s expression was bitter as he held Zhao Ze’s hands and said, “It’s been hard on you. Don’t worry, this bunch of old people will definitely investigate thoroughly and prove teacher’s innocence.”

The others also could not help but shake their head and sigh, “Ah, too unsightly, too unsightly, treating his subject like this…”

Zhao Ze: “…” What were these people thinking?

Frankly, they could not be blamed for misunderstanding. The original host was influenced by his mother and always believed that once he had an empress, the three assistant ministers, including Zhao Bing Zhang, would find a way to overthrow him and support his own son to become the emperor. After all, he was reaching the same age as his brother when he was forced to abdicate, the age where he was too difficult to control.

Therefore, two years ago when the ministers were helping him choose a concubine and an empress, the original host firmly refused. Afterwards, he panicked and immediately said that he was gay and had no interest in women.

The ministers were helpless and could only let the royal physician try to cure him. After all, those who could become empress and concubines belonged to the families of these ministers. No one would hope for their own family’s young lady to lead such a lonely life.

The next day, after knowing that Xiang Han had allowed for the case to be reopened, Queen Mother Hui immediately came forward and cried, persuading him to revoke his decree.

She was, after all, the original host’s biological mother and wanted the best for him. Although her actions set up many pits for the original host, Xiang Han felt that as the person who had taken over her son’s body, he was in no position to say anything and could only coax and persuade her to return.

Some of the evidence of Teacher Zhao’s rebellion was forged by the original host while others were forged by Prince Liang. The original host was determined to get rid of this teacher and simply found an excuse. Prince Liang felt that the original host was easy to trick and did not put much effort into forging those evidence and thus, it could not withstand the investigation.

The criminal department quickly determined its origins and after Xiang Han heard the report, he innocently expressed his thoughts: It was imperial brother who misled Zhen.

He even purposely took a trip to Prince Liang’s abode and asked sadly, “Imperial brother, Zhen knows that you are biased against teacher, but you should not willfully frame and slander him, misleading Zhen, ah?”

Prince Liang was so furious his teeth hurt, but could only express a face full of fear as he knelt on the ground to defend himself, “Why is Your Majesty saying such a thing? Brother is simply an idle prince, where would I have the time to frame court ministers? Your Majesty must have forgotten, it was you who suspected that teacher wanted to rebel and kept consulting senior brother. Seeing Your Majesty in a dilemma, senior brother then recklessly said to “cut him off resolutely” but did not expect Your Majesty would blame brother because of that. Ah, it would be better if Your Majesty does not confide in senior brother matters of the court in the future, lest- lest…”

Reaching this part, his face was filled with bitterness. Xiang Han was dumbfounded, then his face became even more sorrowful, “Imperial brother, h-how can you invert the truth like this?”

Saying this, he also did not give the other person the chance to explain before he shook his head and steeled his heart to say, “Forget it. It was Zhen who got ahead of myself. It’s just that… in the end, imperial brother is the only person on Zhen’s side. So even though you did such a thing, Zhen can’t bear to… Ah, it’s best for imperial brother to stay in his residence and reflect for the next half a year.”

The ministers trailing behind him immediately bowed and complied, “Your Majesty is merciful.”

Prince Liang knelt on the ground and when he heard this, he almost vomited blood.

Xiang Han actually had a reason for not destroying Prince Liang. Firstly, outsiders did not know that Prince Liang was the next door’s old Wang’s child and if he were to ruin his own brother just as he entered the court, his reputation would suffer a blow. Secondly, Prince Liang had planted many of his own men into the Northwest Army in recent years and even had his own group of shadow sentinels. If he were to take action, he was afraid that the other person might panic and retaliate.

After Xiang Han returned, he was very ‘sad’ and thus, dismissed the morning court for the first time. He hid in his room and flipped through some recipes, letting System memorise everything.

The ministers outside his palace were persuading him bitterly, “Your Majesty is benevolent to Prince Liang, lifting his ban from the court two years ago because you could not bear it. But Prince Liang is ungrateful and malicious, attempting to mislead Your Majesty with rumours. How could Your Majesty feel upset about such a person?”

Using this matter with Prince Liang, Xiang Han managed to regain much of his reputation.

Who was the coward that could not achieve great things? Who was the incapable ruler who executed his loyal subordinate?

When settling the rebellion case, wasn’t His Majesty amazing? Although he had been bewitched by Prince Liang before, after realising his mistake, he immediately changed for the better. Moreover, his heart was kind and honest, truly a rare monarch.

Apart from his homosexuality…that wasn’t too good, but it was also inevitable. Wasn’t the royal physician already trying to cure him?

Chapter 3.02 – This Is Settling Personal Grudges!(1)

Zhao Ze saw the Little Emperor’s frightened and tearful expression, and felt disdainful, thinking that this person was too uncivilised.

After understanding his current situation, Xiang Han stressed earnestly, “Y-you cannot find trouble for imperial brother. I-it was Zhen who got people to find those evidence, and the edict was also ordered by Zhen. You rebels, whatever it is, just come at Zhen…”

Zhao Ze’s gaze darkened as he silently thought, could it be that the evidence was truly related to Prince Liang?

One was the prince who had been dethroned six years ago because of his father while the other was the Little Emperor who had just joined the court, without a care in the world. Who should he choose to believe, Zhao Ze already had an answer in his heart.

Although Prince Liang had saved him, he did not believe the other person’s excuse of “not being able to bear seeing a loyal subordinate’s death”, and instead, felt that he had ulterior motives.

In the original plot, Zhao Ze did not manage to meet the Little Emperor and his nine generations of the family were executed. Therefore, even though he knew Prince Liang had his own motives, he still chose to walk down this path. But now, since the Zhao family still had a chance of recovery, he naturally chose a different option.

He remembered his father had criticised the Little Emperor for being weak and unsuitable to take on great responsibilities. In the end, Zhao Ze finally chose to put his stakes on this person. At least… the Little Emperor would not dare trick him and was much more trustworthy than Prince Liang.

Watching the Little Emperor stare at him with big, watery eyes filled with fear, he was silent for a moment before he suddenly spoke, “Your Majesty, do you want to know who the one who rescued me was?”

“Who?” Xiang Han immediately asked, in the alert.

“It was Prince Liang.” Zhao Ze stared at him, slowly spitting out each word.

“Impossible.” Xiang Han shook his head, “Imperial brother was just telling me to quickly get rid of your entire family yesterday. Why would he secretly help you?”

“Your Majesty has probably been fooled by him,” Zhao Ze’s gaze darkened as he said. Seeing that the Little Emperor’s reaction was genuine, he continued, “When Prince Liang saved me, he said he could not ‘bear to watch a loyal subordinate be framed to death’ and convinced me to head northwest…”

“Impossible. Don’t try to stir discord between Zhen and Imperial brother’s brotherly feelings. Your Zhao family is plotting treason, the evidence is conclusive. Don’t tell me you want Zhen to doubt imperial brother and believe the words of a traitor instead?” Xiang Han shook his head in “resolution”, not believing his words.

Zhao Ze felt that the Little Emperor was indeed foolish. Living in the palace, he still believed in brotherly love. Even if he were to be sold by Prince Liang, he would probably still help the other person count his money.

He gloomily continued, “Your Majesty, Prince Liang has always held a grudge against my father regarding his abdication. His words cannot be trusted and the so-called evidence cannot be used. As long as Your Majesty sends your people to investigate, you will definitely be able to find that many things do not match up.”

When he said this, he directly knelt down and offered his dagger. He lowered his head and continued, “My father is already past 50, his body is no longer as strong as before. Before that, he was already planning to retire from the court, why would he think of rebelling? This criminal is willing to offer his life to prove my loyalty.  On the other hand, Prince Liang actually dared to plant false evidence in court. He deliberately lied and misled Your Majesty. When he reveals his ambitions, I’m afraid Your Majesty will be in danger.”

Xiang Han glanced at him and pretended to accept the dagger cautiously. When he completely grasped the dagger, his expression immediately changed, becoming full of confidence.

He wielded the dagger and happily slashed towards his neck twice before walking around him, “But your Zhao family is indeed controlling too much power. Even the commander of Chang’ An army is Teacher Zhao’s people, who should Zhen believe?”

Zhao Ze completely did not put this little act in his eyes, only feeling that the Little Emperor was simply throwing a tantrum. Once he obtained some power, he was like a little rooster, walking about with his head held high.

“If it is as what Your Majesty said, Commander Xue, should already have killed his way into the palace, to take down Your Majesty and rescue father.”

“Preposterous!” Xiang Han immediately increased the pressure of the dagger against his neck and scoffed, “Zhen can implicate you purely based on your words just now.”

Zhao Ze admitted honestly, “This minister has offended your Majesty, but this official’s father has been wrongly accused. Although there were many opportunities to rebel, in the end, this official still chose to surrender with hopes that Your Majesty will not be swayed by false rumours and execute a loyal courtier.”

Xiang Han squatted down in front of him, held his sleeves and observed him for a moment before he finally said, “Forget it. Since you insist that teacher has been framed and even risked your life to find Zhen, Zhen will give your Zhao family one more chance and reopen the case for investigation.”

“Perhaps…Imperial brother misunderstood something.” Afraid that his attitude seemed to have changed too quickly, Xiang Han hastily added.

Zhao Ze’s eyes lit up and he quickly kowtowed, unable to conceal the agitation in his voice, “This criminal thanks His Majesty.”

“As for you, hmph!” Xiang Han suddenly stood up and circled around him, saying angrily, “Barging into the palace and threatening Zhen with weapons, for this crime, Zhen can sentence you to a public execution to make an example out of you.”

Zhao Ze knelt down, “This minister knows his mistake…” 

Before he could finish, Xiang Han interrupted him, “But, in consideration of your filial piety and your courage to talk back, Zhen will temporarily drop this matter. If the investigation shows that teacher has truly been wrongly framed, you’ll simply be charged with disrespecting the monarch. If he was not framed, hmph!”

“This criminal thanks his majesty for his mercy.” Zhao Ze had not expected that after coercing the Little Emperor like that he wouldn’t actually be punished, and couldn’t help feeling relieved.

He felt that his father’s words were untrue. The Little Emperor was not a coward who couldn’t achieve great things but instead, was naive, muddled, and easily influenced by his ministers.

After settling Zhao Ze, Xiang Han finally found an excuse to dismiss that group of ministers. He quickly ordered a eunuch to announce his decree, emphasising that it was Zhao Ze who risked his life to enter the palace in the dead of the night to plead mercy for his father who had been framed. Zhen had been touched by his filial piety and thus, ordered the investigation department to reopen the case. It was definitely not because he had been coerced by this group of ministers.

Zhao Ze left together with the eunuch. Because he was also guilty of a crime, he had to squat in prison for a little while.

The ministers were happy to the point of tears, but after seeing Zhao Ze, they seemed to understand something. In the middle of the night, Minister Zhao who should have been in prison suddenly appeared at the emperor’s chambers and at the same time, his majesty ordered for the investigation department to reexamine Teacher Zhao’s case. This, this, this…

The head of the criminal department, Shanshu Huang’s expression was bitter as he held Zhao Ze’s hands and said, “It’s been hard on you. Don’t worry, this bunch of old people will definitely investigate thoroughly and prove teacher’s innocence.”

The others also could not help but shake their head and sigh, “Ah, too unsightly, too unsightly, treating his subject like this…”

Zhao Ze: “…” What were these people thinking?

Frankly, they could not be blamed for misunderstanding. The original host was influenced by his mother and always believed that once he had an empress, the three assistant ministers, including Zhao Bing Zhang, would find a way to overthrow him and support his own son to become the emperor. After all, he was reaching the same age as his brother when he was forced to abdicate, the age where he was too difficult to control.

Therefore, two years ago when the ministers were helping him choose a concubine and an empress, the original host firmly refused. Afterwards, he panicked and immediately said that he was gay and had no interest in women.

The ministers were helpless and could only let the royal physician try to cure him. After all, those who could become empress and concubines belonged to the families of these ministers. No one would hope for their own family’s young lady to lead such a lonely life.

The next day, after knowing that Xiang Han had allowed for the case to be reopened, Queen Mother Hui immediately came forward and cried, persuading him to revoke his decree.

She was, after all, the original host’s biological mother and wanted the best for him. Although her actions set up many pits for the original host, Xiang Han felt that as the person who had taken over her son’s body, he was in no position to say anything and could only coax and persuade her to return.

Some of the evidence of Teacher Zhao’s rebellion was forged by the original host while others were forged by Prince Liang. The original host was determined to get rid of this teacher and simply found an excuse. Prince Liang felt that the original host was easy to trick and did not put much effort into forging those evidence and thus, it could not withstand the investigation.

The criminal department quickly determined its origins and after Xiang Han heard the report, he innocently expressed his thoughts: It was imperial brother who misled Zhen.

He even purposely took a trip to Prince Liang’s abode and asked sadly, “Imperial brother, Zhen knows that you are biased against teacher, but you should not willfully frame and slander him, misleading Zhen, ah?”

Prince Liang was so furious his teeth hurt, but could only express a face full of fear as he knelt on the ground to defend himself, “Why is Your Majesty saying such a thing? Brother is simply an idle prince, where would I have the time to frame court ministers? Your Majesty must have forgotten, it was you who suspected that teacher wanted to rebel and kept consulting senior brother. Seeing Your Majesty in a dilemma, senior brother then recklessly said to “cut him off resolutely” but did not expect Your Majesty would blame brother because of that. Ah, it would be better if Your Majesty does not confide in senior brother matters of the court in the future, lest- lest…”

Reaching this part, his face was filled with bitterness. Xiang Han was dumbfounded, then his face became even more sorrowful, “Imperial brother, h-how can you invert the truth like this?”

Saying this, he also did not give the other person the chance to explain before he shook his head and steeled his heart to say, “Forget it. It was Zhen who got ahead of myself. It’s just that… in the end, imperial brother is the only person on Zhen’s side. So even though you did such a thing, Zhen can’t bear to… Ah, it’s best for imperial brother to stay in his residence and reflect for the next half a year.”

The ministers trailing behind him immediately bowed and complied, “Your Majesty is merciful.”

Prince Liang knelt on the ground and when he heard this, he almost vomited blood.

Xiang Han actually had a reason for not destroying Prince Liang. Firstly, outsiders did not know that Prince Liang was the next door’s old Wang’s child and if he were to ruin his own brother just as he entered the court, his reputation would suffer a blow. Secondly, Prince Liang had planted many of his own men into the Northwest Army in recent years and even had his own group of shadow sentinels. If he were to take action, he was afraid that the other person might panic and retaliate.

After Xiang Han returned, he was very ‘sad’ and thus, dismissed the morning court for the first time. He hid in his room and flipped through some recipes, letting System memorise everything.

The ministers outside his palace were persuading him bitterly, “Your Majesty is benevolent to Prince Liang, lifting his ban from the court two years ago because you could not bear it. But Prince Liang is ungrateful and malicious, attempting to mislead Your Majesty with rumours. How could Your Majesty feel upset about such a person?”

Using this matter with Prince Liang, Xiang Han managed to regain much of his reputation.

Who was the coward that could not achieve great things? Who was the incapable ruler who executed his loyal subordinate?

When settling the rebellion case, wasn’t His Majesty amazing? Although he had been bewitched by Prince Liang before, after realising his mistake, he immediately changed for the better. Moreover, his heart was kind and honest, truly a rare monarch.

Apart from his homosexuality…that wasn’t too good, but it was also inevitable. Wasn’t the royal physician already trying to cure him?