Becoming a widow for the sake of good fortune? The short-lived prince lived a hundred years

The two of them were either sad or scared, and hadn't noticed someone approaching. When they looked up and saw the person in front of them, Tian Jiaying's eyes suddenly burst into tears: "Yan Xining, is it you? You did it?"

"Oh!" Yan Xining sneered, "Your impotent and furious look is really disgusting!"

Yan Xiaozhen calmed himself down: "Xining, who is it? Who wants to harm me like this? Since you know, then tell me!"

Yan Xining looked at the two people in front of him, feeling miserable and pitiful.

But there must be something hateful about poor people!

When they treated others like ants before, they did not show any mercy.

Tian Jiaying gnashed her teeth and burst into tears: "If not you, then who? Tell me, who killed my Chang'er? Why did they treat my Chang'er like that?"

Yan Xiaozhen's tone was filled with pleading: "Xining, you know something, right? Can you tell me?"

Yan Xining slowly approached, looked at the two embarrassed people, and said lightly: "Let me tell you a story!"

"Who wants to hear your story?" Tian Jiaying almost exploded.

Yan Xiaozhen stopped her and said to Yan Xining, "You tell the story!" He knew that this story must be related to them and Chang'er's death!

Yan Xining spoke slowly.

"Once upon a time, there was a young man of extraordinary intelligence. He had a photographic memory and could speak eloquently. He learned everything very quickly. In his private school, he was deeply loved by his teacher. The teacher praised him as a genius who only appears once in ten years. He was sure to become a general or a prime minister one day, and his future was limitless."

Yan Xiaozhen's brows twitched as he tried to think hard. There was no one like this among the people he knew.

"The young man himself was full of confidence and pride, but he hadn't anticipated the unexpected. His grandfather was found guilty of corruption, his family property was confiscated and he was exiled. Five generations of his family were barred from taking the imperial examinations, and his career as an official was cut short. He had no hope of passing the imperial examinations, and he could no longer marry his childhood sweetheart."

Yan Xiaozhen asked in a trembling voice, "When did it happen?"

If he knew when the corruption case happened, he would probably know who was responsible.

Yan Xining ignored him and continued, "The sudden change left the young man depressed and dejected. He spent ten years in exile. Only when a general amnesty was granted did he return to the capital."

"But by then, he was no longer the ambitious young man he once was. His future was hopeless, yet he refused to be forgotten by the crowd. So he devised a plan, a way to free his family from five generations of being barred from the imperial examinations! This plan was to use his wisdom and become a counselor to the prince. As long as the prince ascended the throne, his meritorious service to the emperor would allow him to smoothly embark on a career in government."

"In his third year as the prince's advisor, he ran into his childhood sweetheart again. Reunited after a long separation, they embraced and cried, sharing their deepest feelings. He later took the opportunity to visit his sweetheart several more times, and these visits only deepened their feelings for each other, leading to a frank exchange of words."

"Soon after, his sweetheart told him that she was already pregnant with his child. He was very happy, but also very conflicted, because his sweetheart was not Yunying's unmarried girl, but was a concubine of a nobleman. And his situation at the time was not suitable for marriage and having children."

"After some discussion, the two decided to let the sweetheart give birth to the child, so that the nobleman would definitely think it was his own child. Indeed, this was the case. The sweetheart gave birth to a boy, who earned the nobleman's attention and love. The child was very promising, inheriting the young man's intelligence. At such a young age, he had a photographic memory and learned things quickly."

"The nobleman doted on him deeply. When he was a little older, he sent him to the famous Qilin Academy in the capital. Because the child had a promising future, the nobleman also valued his mother even more because of his son's excellence."

"These were originally the happy outcomes of discussions between the counselor and his beloved. Although his beloved had to occasionally submit to that noble, the child would have a better future, and the noble would also make better plans for the child."

"It's a pity that the noble has his own legitimate son. Although he is not as smart as this child, he was at least born in a legitimate way and will definitely inherit the throne of the crown prince in the future."

"The counselor wasn't satisfied with this outcome; he wanted his son to be the only one, the best. Just then, the nobleman's legitimate son made a mistake at another academy and was expelled. The counselor seized the opportunity and made a big fuss about it. Leveraging the influence of the prince he assisted, he had the matter reported to the emperor. Upon learning of this, the emperor reprimanded the nobleman and cut off the legitimate son's path to succession."

After hearing this, what else does Yan Xiaozhen not understand?

But what was more in my heart was disbelief.

Was Rou'er's affection for him all false? Ji Ze, the man he loved so deeply and placed his hopes on, wasn't his son?

Tian Jiaying laughed, like the wail of a night owl. She had cried too much, hated too much, and complained too much. At this moment, she did not make any extra movements, only a feeling of absurdity in her heart.

Yan Xiaozhen didn't care about being angry or shocked, he just asked eagerly, "What happened next?"

"The nobleman saw that his legitimate son had cut off his path to succession to the crown prince, so he naturally wanted to bring his concubine's son back to the palace. But to bring the concubine's son back, he had to send his legitimate son away first. So he arranged for someone to send his legitimate son back to his hometown. He thought that with the money and connections he had prepared, and with his connections and status in the capital, his legitimate son could live a good life in his hometown."

"The counselor who had been watching closely took action. He sent someone to kidnap the legitimate son on the way and took him to a brothel. The legitimate son had a good relationship with a man, which was a good fit for him in the brothel, but how could the counselor let him go so easily? He had the legitimate son castrated."

"A legitimate son is no longer a son. Isn't his son the only son your Excellency can count on? From now on, all your Excellency's resources will be poured into his son, including the position of Crown Prince. This is the better future and more legitimate status he has planned for his son!"

"The counselor looked at the legitimate son and felt relieved. His woman had to give herself to a man outside his family, and that man's son couldn't even be a man under his control. Even so, the counselor still felt unsatisfied. He had been managing the prince's secret property, not only in the capital, but also in other places."

"The legitimate son wasn't safe in the capital. Sending him to work as a prostitute in another province would not only earn them more money, but also reduce the risk of being discovered. Unexpectedly, during this time, the legitimate son's biological mother learned of her son's plight, met him once, and prepared to raise money to redeem him."

"Unfortunately, the legitimate son's mother foolishly told this news to her biological daughter. This biological daughter is the newly-acquired concubine of the prince the counselor is assisting! To gain the prince's favor, the biological daughter betrayed her mother and brother without hesitation."

"The prince naturally knew that the counselor had sent the legitimate son to a prostitute's house. When he learned that his biological mother knew this, how could he stay? The counselor immediately sent someone to kill the legitimate son and dumped his body in a mass grave!"

"The legitimate son's biological mother found his body, gnawed by wild dogs, in a mass grave. A surge of hatred overwhelmed her. All of this was caused by that nobleman's concubine; otherwise, her son wouldn't have ended up like this. In her eyes, her husband deserved to die, her daughter deserved to die, and everything in the mansion should be buried with her son."

Yan Xining laughed, her smile tinged with unspeakable irony. "The legitimate son's biological mother, having relied on her status as a concubine, had the mistress killed and taken her place. She also had a period of unsuspecting love with that unfaithful scumbag. Therefore, the legitimate son's biological mother naturally knew the noble lady's secret. She handed over a well-hidden item from the noble lady to the Dali Temple."

Yan Xiaozhen suddenly woke up from his dream and rushed towards Tian Jiaying fiercely: "It's you, you actually handed that thing to the Dali Temple, you want me to die!"