Chapter 494: Chapter 491: I Used to Beat Your Son All the Time

After Wei Zhao left the palace, Bao Pu drove the horse, the wheels rolling over the waterlogged streets with a dull rumble, splashing up mud.

It was raining, and pedestrians were hard to find on the street.

Xiao Huaian lifted the curtain of the carriage to look outside.

"This isn’t the road to your mansion."

Wei Zhao: "We’re going to the Gu Family."

Xiao Huaian’s expression paused slightly, the amusement fading: "Has Lu Huaizhang arrived?"

Wei Zhao closed his eyes, his expression cold: "Entered the city this morning."

When the Duke Shun Mansion’s carriage arrived at Guanxi Street, Gu Fuju received the news.

Sitting opposite him, Lu Huaizhang was dressed in a faded dark blue silk robe, dusty from travel, yet the cloud pattern embroidery at the collar and cuffs still hinted at some past dignity.

Gu Fuju placed the chess piece in the Jade Chess Jar upon hearing the news.

Lu Huaizhang saw him straighten his clothes.

"Fuju, are you..."

He quickly understood, showing a look of realization.

"I haven’t been involved in court affairs for years and rarely inquire about things in Shangjing, but the only connection I have is you. I heard on the way here that the Wei Family boy has become your son-in-law."

He stroked his beard: "You were quite fond of him in the past, always keeping him by your side at the Imperial College and the academy you ran. I used to joke that you had half a son more."

"Little did I expect he would really become part of the family."

"Now that he’s your son-in-law, it’s fine for you as a father-in-law to go out and greet him."

Gu Fuju listened coldly.

"I just want to see if he has any conscience."

If he would bring his Yaoyao along.

Gu Fuju thought letting Lu Huaizhang stay at the Gu Family was a clear enough hint.

He stood up: "Huaizhang, you sit here first. I’ll go have a look."

"No need."

From afar, only Wei Zhao could be seen walking steadily.

Wei Zhao handed the umbrella to a Gu Family attendant before entering the room: "The student knows the way."

Gu Fuju looked behind him.

Very well, only Xiao Huaian was there.

Truly a heartless scoundrel.

Lu Huaizhang scrutinized him. The son of an old acquaintance, indeed showing traits of his predecessor.

Wei Zhao bowed, using the younger’s manner: "Lord Lu, it’s not surprising to see me here, the teacher must have told you."

Lu Huaizhang: "He knows I detest the Imperial City, wouldn’t invite me to the Capital without a proper reason."

He was a straightforward person and knew very well the reason behind Wei Zhao’s visit so soon after his arrival at the Gu Family.

Lu Huaizhang’s gaze turned to Xiao Huaian.

With an impressive demeanor, clearly upright.

He nodded: "Is this Xuran?"

Wei Zhao: ...

Gu Fuju: ...

Xiao Huaian: ???

No, why mistake him for He Xuran, the eternal second?

"Doesn’t Lord Lu remember?"

Xiao Huaian: "Once at an Empress Dowager’s banquet, I played with fire sticks and burned a hole in your official robe."

"You might be confused, as back then I framed Chu Liulang for it."

"Of course, you might also forget who Chu Liulang is, given he’s just a nobody not worthy of mention."

Wei Zhao: ...

So much jealousy.

Xiao Huaian smiled, opting for the simplest explanation.

"I used to beat up your son regularly."

Lu Huaizhang: ...

Now he remembered which little rascal it was.

"You’ve changed quite a bit."

Suddenly, he found him displeasing to the eye.

After they all sat down.

Lu Huaizhang was straightforward: "The Lu Family, once considered a noble family, my father served the late Emperor."

He placed a chess piece down.

With a clinking sound.

"I’m ashamed, my father was a selfish person, he did many evil deeds for the late Emperor. The exile of King Yan was ordered by my father reading the edict at the Prince Yan Mansion."

"Though called a trusted follower of the late Emperor, I see him more as the late Emperor’s sword, he made many enemies."

Placing another piece.

"He feared the late Emperor’s unpredictable anger might lead to his silence, so he left a back road, holding numerous unproven Imperial Family crimes that the new emperor didn’t abolish, thus living to a natural end with the same old tricks."

Lu Huaizhang disapproved of his father’s actions, leading to their aloof relation. Though raised as part of a noble family, he was only a concubine’s child, choosing not to involve with the Lu Family after marriage and living separately early on.

The legitimate son, despite the family’s political support, couldn’t compare to him.

"Perhaps disappointed in the incompetent legitimate son."

"Or perhaps he realized the legitimate son couldn’t bear great responsibilities; the Lu Family’s decline was inevitable."

"On his deathbed, my father handed all those incriminating evidence to me."

Lu Huaizhang said to Wei Zhao: "According to my father, the late Emperor favored King Yan the most."

But...

"The enthronement edict came in three copies."

"One with your grandfather, Old Marquis Wei, another with a trusted eunuch by the late Emperor, and the last hidden in Yangxin Hall."

"The late Emperor wrote the edict, prepared everything, and didn’t sleep for a single night."

But Xiao Huaian found it laughable.

"Why would he not pass the throne to King Yan if he was favored? Was the scheme to harbor new Emperor’s resentment, making the first act post-enthronement to eliminate King Yan? To remove future threats?"

Incense smoke spiraled up.

Lu Huaizhang placed another piece.

"You’re not alone. I too found it strange. But after Duke Shun’s death, I understood."

He looked at Wei Zhao.

"You should have an idea."

Wei Zhao looked down, the thin smoke swirling, covering emotions in his eyes, his voice cold with a hint of mockery.

"The late Emperor wasn’t Taizu Emperor’s pick for Crown Prince either back then."

Xiao Huaian had heard this before as well.

The Taizu Emperor valued the son of his beloved more.

But that one was too virtuous, lacking political ruthlessness, just like King Yan, amicable with the Wei Family.

Wei Zhao stated matter-of-factly: "Not every Ying is evil by nature, Emperor Kai Zu was good, and his successors were fine too."

Truly benevolent and receptive to counsel.

The ancestral writings left by the Wei Family, through them Wei Zhao could see that era of Da Jin was one of true sage-kings and virtuous ministers.

"But no matter how good the seedlings, some will grow astray."

The Wei Family’s continuous talents outshone the Imperial Family’s successors, making them unwanted thorns in their side.

Starting who knows which reign, dissatisfactions began.

Seated high on the dragon throne, they looked down on supposed sage-kings and virtuous ministers, wishing only to control life and death with one word.

The ambition grew, leading to the plan to eliminate Duke Shun Mansion.

But they couldn’t achieve it at the time, resorting to a slow build-up.

This plan required efforts across generations.

"Taizu Emperor decreed to appoint that prince as Prince Xiao Yao, bestowed a mansion in Nanyang, not to enter the Capital without an edict, preserving his life and thus giving the throne to the late Emperor."

The late Emperor was even more ruthless.

"On his deathbed, the empty succession edict left with the Wei Family became a death warrant."

He would not stop until he reached his goal.

Even knowing, this act would for certain lead Emperor Ying to act maliciously towards King Yan.

Did the late Emperor care for King Yan?

He should have cared.

But compared to eliminating the Wei Family, King Yan was inconsequential.

Wei Zhao, word by word, flatly: "The elimination of King Yan, didn’t it prove he chose right?"

It’s said, the Ying Family could still produce good successors.

But they chose the wrong ones.

"As for the Black Shadow, Lord Lu, are you aware?"

Lu Huaizhang met Wei Zhao’s indifferent, cold gaze.

"You’re asking why the Black Shadow targeted General Jing Yuan?"