"Oh? Then tell me what crime you have committed?"
Hua Zhi still lowered her head and said, "It is my fault that my actions displeased the emperor."
"You can wait and see about this crime. I am curious about who you learned these things from. Hua Yizhen doesn't know these things."
"The Hua family once had the largest library in the world. I have been reading it since I learned to read. Everything I have learned comes from books."
The emperor's eyes were full of interest. "Do you blame me?"
"I dare not."
"I want to hear the truth."
Hua Zhi said calmly, "Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all the emperor's grace. My grandfather taught me this since I was a child."
"I heard that you went to Yinshan Pass twice."
"yes."
"Do you admit your guilt?"
Hua Zhi knelt on the ground again, resting her forehead on the ground, "I know my crime."
"Oh? Tell me about it."
"The emperor said that I am guilty, so I am guilty."
The emperor stopped smiling and asked, "Are you here to seek death?"
"It is better to live a miserable life than to die. I dare not think so."
"I think you are very brave." The emperor stood up and walked in front of her with his hands behind his back. "How about I show you a way out? Maybe it can help the Hua family suffer less and return to the capital sooner."
"Your Majesty, please give your instructions."
"Enter the palace as a concubine."
In the inner room, Shaoyao jumped up, but this time she learned her lesson and didn't make any sound. Her face was distorted with anger.
Gu Yanxi had a blank expression on her face, but her eyes were filled with turmoil, and she didn't know how many times the cold wind had blown.
Hua Zhi was silent for a moment. Just when the emperor thought she was going to agree, he heard her say, "Your Majesty wants to hear the truth?"
"nature."
"Your Majesty wants to hear the truth, so I will tell you the truth, but before that I want a promise from your Majesty."
"you say."
"If my words or actions are inappropriate, please do not punish the Hua family."
The emperor walked around for a few times and felt tired, so he sat down behind the imperial table again. He really wanted to hear the truth, so he nodded, "I agree with you."
Hua Zhi straightened her back and raised her head, her eyes no longer looking down, her whole posture was completely different from before, "Since the emperor knows about this, he must have already investigated it, so the relationship between this woman and Yan Xi cannot be hidden from you. I have always heard that the emperor relies on the prince more than the other princes, but now I feel that the rumors are really unbelievable. If he really values you so much, why would he say such a thing? Do you know that Yan Xi regards you as a father?"
"How outrageous!" The emperor's cheeks twitched, and he was obviously irritated.
Hua Zhi's heart was burning with anger, she felt sorry for Yan Xi, she wanted to smash the emperor's head with a chair, she wanted to take the blame for assassinating the emperor, but she still remembered that she couldn't drag the Hua family into this quagmire, this crime would be the extermination of the nine clans, so she patiently replied, "You said you wanted to hear the truth, this is the truth."
The emperor looked at her gloomily, "If I allow you, as long as you agree, you can let the Hua family revive?"
"Your Majesty doesn't know the Hua family well enough. The Hua family is full of scholars, and scholars are not short of spirit. If I use this method to exchange for the safety of my family, my grandfather would rather stay in Yinshan Pass for the rest of his life and never come back. My father will think that he is a burden to me, and he will never be protected by this even if he commits suicide. I don't want to do that either. If I agree to this, it will be throwing the Hua family's character and self-esteem to the ground and stepping on them in the dust. You can make the Hua family unable to turn over with just one sentence, but I can't bear it. I can't bear to let their hands that hold the pen do rough work, and I can't bear to destroy their spirit and let them suffer a disaster more serious than exile."
"So you went to Yinshan Pass to give them silver?"
"May I ask your Majesty, which article of Daqing law stipulates that relatives and friends cannot visit relatives? I earned the money myself, not robbed it, so why can't I give it as a gift?"
Hua Zhi raised her head and looked directly at the emperor, her eyes shining brightly as if they could burn people. Isn't it just one life? She doesn't want it!
"Yan Xi respects you like a father. When he traveled all over the world to fill holes for the Daqing Dynasty, he said that you were the emperor first and then his uncle. When he received a word of comfort and love from you, he said that you were his uncle and the best relative to him. He gave you and Daqing everything he could, but what about you? You valued his ability and loyalty, and you knew that he didn't care about your position, so you used him as much as you could, making him work like a cow or a horse, and you even called it valuing him. May I ask, Your Majesty, when you said that, didn't you feel guilty?"
"Speak up for him?"
"Yes, I feel sorry for him. You have three thousand concubines, but he only has an empty prince's mansion and a Qisusi with endless things to deal with. Then, he had me, and I was all he had." Hua Zhi smiled, but her eyes were cold. "He didn't know that his respected uncle, the man he regarded as a father, wanted to take away what he had. Your Majesty, you don't really value him, but you have a grudge against him."
The emperor looked at her, "Did he tell you that?"
"Why does he need to say that? A person who has been alone for a long time will be filled with loneliness." Hua Zhi's knees ached terribly, but she still knelt stubbornly without even bending her back. She was defiant at first and had a rampant attitude at the end. She was going to die anyway, and if she could use this life that was about to end to arouse the emperor's guilt towards Yan Xi, it didn't have to be a lot, just a little bit would make Yan Xi's life better in the future.
Some people, when they get a lot, think that it is a must, but they don’t know that there is no such must in the world.
The emperor did not speak again. He stared into space, not knowing what he was thinking. The imperial study became quiet for a while.
In the inner room, Gu Yanxi closed his eyes and was about to go out, but Lai Fu held him tightly, shook his head at him, and said silently: Wait a minute.
Gu Yanxi looked at him, and Lai Fu nodded vigorously. He had followed the emperor for decades. Although the emperor had become more unpredictable in the past year, there were still some clues. He didn't think that the emperor really liked Hua Zhi. It was not that Hua Zhi was not a good person, but since the incident with Concubine Yi, the emperor had rarely set foot in the harem. There was no need to take the daughter of a criminal who was personally sentenced into the palace. It would not be good for his reputation if the news got out.
Moreover, the Emperor does treat the Crown Prince sincerely. If he really investigates and knows that the two are in love, whether to help them get together or not is another matter. However, he will not do such a thing to disgust the Crown Prince. Just as the eldest girl said, this is not respect, but hatred.
Gu Yanxi was barely persuaded, but did not retreat. She stood close to the door, ready to rush out and die with Azhi at any time.
He was afraid. He was afraid that he would not be able to hold back and rush out and hurt Ah Zhi. He was afraid that this was a test from the Emperor. He was afraid that no matter what he did, he would not be able to save Ah Zhi. He was afraid...
He was afraid of too many things. Gu Yanxi thought, if he really couldn't be saved, then they could go together. It was no big deal.
Shaoyao came over and leaned on Yan Xi's arm, her expression calmer than ever before. All her important people were here, and she wanted to be with them no matter what, no matter how.
PS: Three updates. This part of the story needs to be written coherently, so I didn’t post the update that I owed yesterday separately.