Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress
Chapter 518 - 515: Difficult Steps_1

Chapter 518: Chapter 515: Difficult Steps_1

He speculated that perhaps the dissemination of this letter was the doing of the Ninth Prince of Yan, aiming to stir chaos in the royal court of Dadu City.

He intended to use this letter to subdue the Left Prime Minister, Li Mao, gaining the leverage to contend with the Crown Prince.

But the Ninth Prince of Yan did not know that Li Mao was originally His Second Imperial Brother’s man. Although he had not openly stated his allegiance now, he was secretly His Second Imperial Brother’s person.

Even so, King Liang still expressed his sincere gratitude to the Ninth Prince of Yan.

King Liang sat on the soft couch by the window, repeatedly reading the letter. He could not help but recall that His Second Imperial Brother once told Du Zhiwei that Li Mao was a man of duplicity and smooth-talking. To use him, one had to wield both kindness and sternness to firmly grasp Li Mao’s weakness.

Previously, King Liang had always wondered how His Second Imperial Brother had held Li Mao’s weakness. It seemed it must have been Li Mao’s handwritten letters.

He believed that the handwritten letters Li Mao gave to His Second Imperial Brother must not be limited to this one. There must be more lethal ones. But where were those letters?

King Liang thought of Du Zhiwei again. If Du Zhiwei were here, things wouldn’t be so difficult for him.

King Liang stared at the flickering candle flame in the glass lamp, then looked down at the letter in his hand. He rubbed it with his thumb for a moment and suddenly called out, "Hongqiao!"

Hongqiao responded and entered, bowing to King Liang from behind the screen, "Your Highness!"

"Come here..." After making up his mind, King Liang gazed at Hongqiao, who walked around the screen to bow, "Hongqiao, now in my court, you are the only one I can trust!"

Hongqiao’s eyes reddened upon hearing this, and hurriedly knelt before King Liang, "If Your Highness has an order, Hongqiao will do her utmost to fulfill it, even if it means dying without a proper burial!"

"I was just reminiscing about Du Zhiwei and Tongji... I have lost them, Hongqiao. You must not fall into trouble as well!" King Liang spoke.

Hongqiao hurriedly kowtowed, her throat choking up so much that she couldn’t utter a word.

King Liang handed the letter to Hongqiao, "I will imitate the handwriting. Do you have confidence in making the new letter look old and identical?"

Hongqiao touched the letter paper and sniffed its scent, then nodded, "I cannot guarantee it to be exactly identical, but I’ll achieve at least eighty percent similarity!"

"Eighty percent is enough! Go find the same type of paper. I will write it, and you make it look old." King Liang asked again, "How long will it take?"

Hongqiao carefully examined the letter paper, then said, "At least three hours."

"Good! Get to it!"

·

Left Prime Minister Li Mao did not sleep all night. Early in the morning, dressed in official attire, he took the letter the steward had handed him last night to the palace. He sought an audience with the Emperor before the morning court session, nervously presenting the letter.

"Your Majesty knows! When I noticed Second Prince’s actions were suspicious, yet had no solid evidence, I had no choice but to join his faction to probe further. Who knew that by the time I realized the Second Prince intended to rebel, it was too late. Thanks to my quick reaction, I managed to save you in time! However, this letter... I do not know whose hands it fell into, for it has been widely circulated in Dadu City, causing me great fear," Li Mao said as he knelt and bowed to the Emperor.

The Emperor glanced at Li Mao, then returned his gaze to the letter. The contents only revealed Li Mao’s flattery towards the Second Prince, predicting the Second Prince’s inevitable ascent to the throne, surpassing the Crown Prince King Xin’s prowess, and even outshining the Emperor’s wisdom. Other than that, there was nothing particularly incriminating.

Li Mao, who was habitually sycophantic towards the Emperor, did indeed appear to have written the letter, and Li Mao admitted to it without hesitation.

If Li Mao had indeed just been trying to gain the Second Prince’s trust at the time, it was understandable.

"The Second Prince... more wise than I?" the Emperor’s voice was cold.

Li Mao hurriedly kowtowed, "Your Majesty, those were just foolish words to gain the Second Prince’s trust! Your Majesty is a wise ruler of this era. Though the Second Prince is a dragon son, with treacherous intentions, disloyal and unfilial as he is, how can he compare to Your Majesty?"

The Emperor rubbed the letter, his gaze fixed on Li Mao. Back then, to earn the Second Prince’s trust, he had flattered so, and now, to gain his own, he was equally sycophantic.

The Emperor squinted at Li Mao kneeling in the main hall. He even suspected... whether Li Mao had been waiting for the Second Prince’s rebellion. If the Second Prince had succeeded, Li Mao would have gained merit from supporting the emperor, and if he had failed, Li Mao would have claimed credit for saving the emperor. Either way, he remained invincible.

Eventually, seeing the Second Prince’s rebellion about to fail, Li Mao had defected to save the emperor!

Over the years, Li Mao had indeed been loyal, which had dispelled such thoughts from the Emperor’s mind.

Now, seeing this letter and recalling how Li Mao had reported the Second Prince’s suspected rebellion without leaking a single word to him beforehand...

If he had said it earlier, as the emperor, he would have been prepared and wouldn’t have nearly lost his head.

The Emperor’s eyes grew darker. But he showed no sign, "I understand. You may leave."

"Yes!" Li Mao did not dare to look up and left the main hall obediently, feeling a chilling sensation crawling up his ankle like a thin snake.

He knew that coming to confess to the Emperor today would likely arouse the suspicion of this doubtful monarch. But if he did not come to explain... the Emperor would distrust him even more.

Having already informed the Emperor, though the Emperor did not instruct how to handle this matter, if an Imperial Censor denounced him later, should he admit it or not?

Before Li Mao could figure it out, the Emperor’s headache struck again. Gao Demao hurriedly sent someone to summon Miss Lu to the palace. The Emperor did not attend the court session, and Li Mao breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that the Imperial Censor’s denouncement had been submitted.

Li Mao’s son, Li Mingrui, sat with his father in the same carriage back home. Along the way, he lowered his voice and informed Li Mao, "Father, on my way to court this morning, Hongqiao from King Liang’s side came to me. She told me to assure you... King Liang has obtained all your letters."

Li Mao’s heart skipped a beat, "King Liang has obtained them all?"

The letters were with the Princess of Zhen! How had King Liang gotten them?

Li Mao frowned deeply, feeling overwhelmed. Everyone claimed to have his compromising letters.

The Princess of Zhen never showed the letters before.

But King Liang, being the Second Prince’s closest brother, made it somewhat plausible.

"Is this true or not?"

"It is not certain yet. I will personally go to King Liang’s residence to verify it. If he truly has obtained all the letters, I will find a way to destroy them! So you need not worry," Li Mingrui said, bowing deeply to his father.

Although Li Mao doubted that King Liang could have obtained the letters from the Princess of Zhen, there was always a possibility. Thus, he let Li Mingrui go to confirm it, so he could reassure himself.

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