Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 1544 - 1539: Reluctance

Empress Dowager Yan was burning with anger. The thought that her son, due to the trust her late husband placed in Xiao Rongyan, had absolute faith in him, yet Xiao Rongyan was using this trust to gift the Yan Kingdom’s throne to his own woman... to his own child!

She said that human nature is selfish. How could Xiao Rongyan truly abandon his own flesh and blood in favor of a nephew like Ah Li!

Talk of betting the nation, this support for Ah Li, it all seemed to be the conspiracy of Xiao Rongyan and Bai Qingyan.

If Xiao Rongyan were here now, Empress Dowager Yan feared her gaze could bore a hole through him. She had entirely forgotten... in the beginning, at least on the surface, Xiao Rongyan was against the betting of the nation. It was Murong Li who insisted on it, and she even went to the Regent Prince’s residence late at night to persuade Xiao Rongyan with the memory of the late Empress Ji, begging for Murong Li to agree to Murong Li’s strategy of betting the nation.

Furthermore, even in truth, Xiao Rongyan initially did not agree to bet the nation because... Xiao Rongyan never considered himself the master of Yan Kingdom. In contrast, it was Murong Li who took charge and decided to bet the nation.

Now, Empress Dowager Yan was filled with nothing but hatred for Xiao Rongyan, believing it must have been Xiao Rongyan who incited Murong Li to bet the nation. Otherwise, with Xiao Rongyan’s abilities, there were a million ways to prevent this bet from occurring, yet somehow Yan Kingdom ended up in the current situation.

The Murong Clan relatives were bewildered by the Empress Dowager’s mention of the Regent Prince... speaking of Xiao Rongyan, and mentioning Bai Qingyan and the child. They understood each word, but the Empress Dowager’s combination of them left them baffled.

Xiao Rongyan was once a wealthy merchant of Wei Kingdom, known as the wealthiest in all under heaven, once friends with their Ninth Prince of Yan Kingdom. Later... in his grave illness, Emperor of Zhou and Bai Qingyan married him, and a month later, Xiao Rongyan passed away, leaving behind a posthumous child, which was the pair of twins born to Bai Qingyan, the current Emperor of Zhou.

"Empress Dowager, are you speaking out of anger?" Even her personal maid thought the Empress Dowager might be speaking nonsense in her rage.

"I am not confused! I am quite lucid!" Empress Dowager Yan’s gaze, full of intense hatred, swept over the Murong Clan members, who were either in shock, having realized the implication, or were still bewildered. She gritted her teeth, "Just as you all have guessed, our Regent Prince Murong Yan was indeed Xiao Rongyan, the once wealthiest merchant under heaven, the one who married the Emperor of Zhou, and became the royal consort of Zhou!"

The imperial kin were utterly shocked.

Even the imperial guard escorting the Empress Dowager was so frightened by these words that they fell to their knees.

If their Regent Prince of Yan Kingdom turned out to be Xiao Rongyan, the royal consort of Zhou, this would be the greatest secret of the Yan Kingdom’s imperial clan, an unsuitable topic for them to overhear.

"How... how could it be possible?"

"Murong Yan... Xiao Rongyan? Is it true that this wealthiest merchant was really our Regent Prince?"

"But our Regent Prince and this Xiao Rongyan were seen together!"

Empress Dowager Yan sneered coldly, driven to madness by anger. Today, she was determined to expose all of Xiao Rongyan’s secrets, even if it meant mutual destruction: "Have you never wondered why the Regent Prince always wore a mask wherever he went? Since Empress Ji passed, which of you elders has seen Murong Yan’s true face?"

"Before the Ninth Prince became the Regent Prince, he often stayed behind closed doors, rarely attending banquets, claiming to be in poor health, didn’t he?"

"Indeed, I remember... that he was injured in the unrest in the palace and, like the late Emperor, he was said to be physically weak..."

"Weak?" Empress Dowager Yan clenched her fists tightly, shouting above the storm, "If the Regent Prince were weak, how could he have led our Yan Kingdom to conquer Wei Kingdom! But unfortunately... Murong Yan had already joined forces with the Emperor of Zhou, using our Yan Kingdom’s military efforts to conquer Wei Kingdom, only to in the end, under the guise of betting the nation, hand over the entire Yan Kingdom to the Emperor of Zhou Bai Qingyan, and to his own son! Xiao Rongyan... manipulated the Emperor, leading to decisions that were all detrimental to our Yan Kingdom and beneficial to Zhou! Otherwise, Yan Kingdom would not be in such dire straits! He is the most insidious and treacherous traitor of our Yan Kingdom.

"Empress Dowager..." the eldest imperial kin bowed towards her, "Is there any concrete evidence for what you say, Empress Dowager?"

"Concrete evidence? Ha..." Empress Dowager Yan was consumed by hatred, yet it seemed as though she drew infinite strength from it, standing firm against the storm as she stepped onto the saddle, "Have you forgotten how our ruthless and fierce Regent Prince, during the war with Xiliang, gave up the chance to enter Yunjing first, sustaining serious injuries yet tirelessly went to aid Emperor of Zhou, even almost losing his life? Our Regent Prince was known for cherishing his life, why would he risk everything for Emperor of Zhou?"

The Murong Clan members remembered when the Regent Prince abandoned the newly conquered city to rush, injured, to Jiangzi City to reinforce. They looked at one another.

At the time, all throughout Yan Kingdom, it seemed unreasonable that even though Zhou and Yan were allies, not even the biological brother of the Emperor of Zhou hurried to reinforce, yet their Regent Prince, despite being gravely injured, pressed on day and night to reach Jiangzi City. Though his eventual explanation of repaying a favor to Yan might have made sense, it still seemed somewhat strained.

If, as the Empress Dowager said, the Emperor of Zhou was then pregnant, with his wife and children in Jiangzi City, any man would have done the same–despite severe injuries, he would have crawled there even if he lost his legs.

"Do you know how Xiao Rongyan earned the title of the wealthiest merchant under heaven? It was through the donations from the struggling Yan Kingdom, spearheaded by you, the imperial kin, who all contributed your family fortunes! Xiao Rongyan took those donations from the Murong Clan and the people of Yan Kingdom to Wei Kingdom to live in luxury!" Empress Dowager Yan, consumed by hatred, eagerly defamed Xiao Rongyan, "Though living in Wei, he built his reputation as a wealthy merchant, purportedly to craft an intelligence network for our Yan Kingdom, yet in the end, he aimed to hand our Yan Kingdom over to Zhou... to the Bai family, to Bai Qingyan!"

With clenched teeth, Empress Dowager Yan spoke, "Knowing that Yan Kingdom had no chance of winning, he manipulated the young Emperor to bet the nation, pretending to earnestly warn the Emperor, enjoining the Crown Prince, the second prince, and our most brilliant general Xie Xun as hostages in Zhou, all to weaken Yan’s armor! Kin of the Murong Clan... elders, don’t you see it?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"No, no, no! There must be some misunderstanding, Empress Dowager! This is impossible..." Some imperial relatives were in disbelief, "I can believe it if you say the Regent Prince wanted to hold sway over the royal court, but the Regent Prince is, after all, a descendant of our Murong Clan. How could he betray the Murong?"