The prince loves me like his life, but I force him to rebel

"The Empress Defei has told me many stories about the Third Prince. She said that when you were a child, you would not eat a single walnut, but you loved walnut cakes the most. When you were six years old, the palace maid wasn't paying attention and you ate a whole plate of it. After you finished, you clamored for water. The palace maid was afraid that the walnut cakes would swell up when exposed to water and you would die, so she quickly took you to the Imperial Hospital." Gu Nianzhi deliberately talked about the past, just to make Sima Yao less suspicious of her.

"Mother even told you this. It seems that she really trusts you." Sima Yao's eyes dimmed. This memory was not very good for him.

That year, the throne of Queen was vacant, and the Emperor and Concubine De had a very close relationship, which made Concubine Xian, who was determined to become Queen, very wary.

Imperial Noble Consort Xian had no children. The eldest prince was the son of the former empress, and the second prince Sima Ye was originally the son of Concubine Cao. As Concubine Cao died of a sudden illness, Sima Ye had no one to take care of him, so the Empress Dowager asked the Emperor to adopt Sima Ye as the son of Imperial Noble Consort Xian.

Imperial Noble Consort Xian came from a wealthy family. Her father was the General of Pingxi, and her grandfather was one of the four ministers of state appointed by the late emperor. Many civil and military officials in the court followed their orders. In the eyes of Imperial Noble Consort Xian, it was only a matter of time before she became the empress. However, she never expected that the emperor would fall in love with a little Consort De.

Imperial Noble Consort Xian often asked Consort De to copy Buddhist scriptures in her palace, under the pretext of praying for the royal family, but in fact it was a threat to Consort De.

"That day I did feel unwell after eating walnut cakes, but it was not the maid who sent me to the Imperial Hospital, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. If it hadn't been for his prompt decision, I'm afraid I really wouldn't be alive today. Afterwards, the maid was beaten with 20 sticks by Imperial Concubine Xian and expelled from the palace. Now that I think about it, the reason she was beaten was not because I ate too many walnut cakes, but because I didn't die."

As a reader with a God's perspective, how could Gu Nianzhi not know the truth?

It was under the pretext of copying Buddhist scriptures that Imperial Noble Consort Xian got rid of Consort De and deliberately arranged for someone to send walnut cakes mixed with jade fairy powder and oleander powder. Jade fairy powder was used by the people to fill their stomachs during years of famine. This material swells dozens of times when in contact with water, and only a small spoonful can have the effect of filling the stomach. Oleander powder is slightly poisonous, and when mixed with walnut powder, its toxicity is doubled, which can cause people to fall into a coma and convulse in a short period of time. Even if they feel uncomfortable and bloated in the abdomen, they will be unable to vomit due to being in a coma.

After the incident, as long as they insisted that the Third Prince had eaten a whole plate of walnut cakes, no one would know what was wrong with the so-called walnut cakes. If the First Prince had not come to pay respects to Concubine De, and discovered the Third Prince's abnormality in time, and successfully induced vomiting before he fell into a coma, the Third Prince's grave would have been covered with grass by now.

Everyone thought that the third prince was so greedy that he swallowed the entire plate of walnut cakes, which led to the unexpected disaster.

But Sima Yao knew very well that he did not.

At the age of six, he learned to protect himself and be careful in what he said and did.

He had never even told his mother the truth of the matter, but for some reason, he let it slip at this moment.

Gu Nianzhi looked at Sima Yao and felt a little distressed.

He experienced a life-and-death moment at the age of six, and has been living in calculations and conspiracies ever since. Even though he does not fight for or compete for the position of crown prince, there are always people who want to kill him.

And in the end, he did die miserably...

How pitiful.

"I've talked too much today." Sima Yao said as he poured wine.

"The Third Prince didn't eat much walnut cake that day, right?"

Sima Yao's hand shaking slightly as he poured the wine.

He put down the wine jug and looked up at Gu Nianzhi.

Gu Nianzhi's expression was so confident when he said this, as if he had witnessed the scene that day with his own eyes.

"Why do you say that, Mr. Gu?"

"In my opinion, the Third Prince would never be a person without self-control. Even if you were only six years old at that time, you knew that everything should be done in moderation, and you also knew that the palace was very cold."

Sima Yao and Gu Nianzhi looked at each other.

He could not see through the skinny and weak man in front of him, but he seemed to have seen all his inner thoughts clearly.

Sima Yao picked up the wine glass and said, "You are the one who understands me. Thank you for coming from afar. I will drink this glass first."

Sima Yao raised his head and drank the wine.

The Imperial Noble Consort Xian back then is now the Empress. It was under her influence that the Second Prince's power in the court gradually grew, and he even showed signs of wanting to replace the Crown Prince.

Gu Nianzhi looked at the wine in the glass, feeling a little troubled.

She was allergic to alcohol, so she couldn't drink the wine. However, the other party was a prince, and not only did he toast her, he also drank it in one gulp. It would be a bit unreasonable for her not to drink any at all.

She picked up the wine glass, made up her mind, closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and drank the wine down her throat with an extremely painful expression.

A pungent feeling spread from her throat to her whole body, and she began to cough uncontrollably.

Most of the wine in her mouth sprayed out of her nose, making her feel embarrassed and awkward.

Lin Heng immediately stood up and patted Gu Nian on the back.

"Mr. Gu, are there any better ones?"

"Well... much better." He finally stopped coughing and breathed a sigh of relief. Gu Nianzhi looked at Sima Yao in embarrassment, and forced a smile to show that he was fine.

"It's all my fault for not thinking it through. Mr. Gu grew up in a Buddhist temple. Although he is not a Buddhist disciple, he rarely touches these things that break the precepts." Sima Yao moved Gu Nianzhi's wine glass away, replaced it with a teacup, and poured tea into it. Then he raised his own wine glass: "I will drink wine, and Mr. Gu can drink tea instead of wine."

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness." Gu Nianzhi did not try to be stubborn. He picked up the teacup and clinked glasses with Sima Yao, then took a sip. The tea tasted sweet and fragrant, and was very delicious.

"However, even my mother doesn't know the details of my childhood. How do you know so much about it, sir?"

Another fatal question.

Gu Nianzhi couldn't help but blame herself in her heart for being such a spoiler king who couldn't keep secrets.

It's impossible to tell him that I'm a reader of this book and know everything about it, right?

"you guess?"

"Sir, do you have any old acquaintances in the palace? Or, are you the son of an old friend in the palace?" Sima Yao was really cooperative and actually guessed. "But judging from your age, you should be younger than me... Then, you were only a few years old when the incident happened."

Sima Yao mentioned in the book was only 19 years old when the crown prince was assassinated. At that time, the crown prince had not yet been killed, so Sima Yao should be 18 or 19 years old now.

Gu Nianzhi had just turned 23 before she traveled through time, but women's skin is naturally softer than men's, and with proper skin care, Sima Yao and Lin Heng saw that Gu Nianzhi looked no more than 16 or 17 years old.

"I've said it many times, but you just don't believe it. I can predict most of the things that haven't happened yet. As for the things that have happened, as long as I want to know, I naturally have my own way." Gu Nianzhi was talking nonsense. Anyway, maybe he could wear it back tomorrow, so what's the big deal about lying? What's more, it's a fact that he can predict the future and know everything, so it's not a lie.

"Sir, you are truly an expert. With your guidance, my elder brother's position as crown prince will be safe!" Sima Yao bowed.

This really stumped Gu Nianzhi.