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Zu An shivered. He hadn’t expected this to actually be connected to the previous dynasty.
Zhang Zitong’s eyes widened. She hadn’t actually known the real reason behind her parents’ deaths and the eradication of the clan. This was the first time she was hearing about it.
“Since you‘re a Golden Token Envoy, you should have heard of Chief Attendant Dongfang Bai, right?” Zhang Jie asked.
Zu An nodded. There were four Chief Attendants in the current dynasty, and Dongfang Bai was their leader. His son Dongfang Han was the Yellow Gate Attendant Minister, someone he had met previously.
However, because Dongfang Bai didn’t leave much of an impression, the more famous Chief Attendant Waterfront Duke Pei Zheng, Big Manman’s grandfather, actually had more practical authority. However, Big Manman wasn’t the daughter of his first wife, and her father was only Pei Zheng’s fifth son, which was why her status in the clan wasn’t that high.
Zhang Jie seemed to have seen through his thoughts. He continued, “You’re wondering why, despite being the leader of the four Chief Attendants, Dongfang Bai doesn’t seem to have much of a presence, right?”
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“Why is that?” Zu An asked. He hadn’t been too interested in that before, since they hadn’t had many dealings with each other, but now that it was related to the death of Zhang Zitong’s parents and even the previous dynasty, he couldn't help but become interested.
“Dongfang Bai’s wife is the princess of the previous dynasty’s Qi State. The Qi State Princess is the daughter of the previous dynasty’s Emperor Zhao,” Zhang Jie explained.
Zu An knew Meng Emperor Zhao, who had been the last emperor in the Meng Dynasty with practical authority. The young emperors who succeeded him had all given up their authority to important ministers. In the end, the Meng Dynasty had been replaced by the Zhou Dynasty.
“But, Dongfang Bai wasn’t the Qi State princess’ first husband,” Zhang Jie said, his expression seeming to carry a hint of sympathy as he spoke.
“Oh, who was her first husband?” Zu An asked. He didn’t really know that much about the matter of the previous dynasty, but he wasn’t too surprised to hear of her remarriage. After all, she was a princess, someone of imperial kinsmen and peerless beauty. She couldn't just remain a widow forever, right?
“The son of the Meng Dynasty’s former Secretariat Director Qian Xuan. Back then, Qian Xuan opposed the grand director of this dynasty, colluding with the dynasty’s enemies in an uprising. That secret was leaked, and he was executed, while the Qian clan also had three generations punished. Of course, the Qi State’s princess had a special identity and wasn’t included in the punishment. Later, she entered an arranged marriage with Dongfang Bai,” Zhang Jie said, full of sighs as he talked about past events.
Zu An knew that the grand director Zhang Jie spoke of had been the Meng Dynasty’s most important minister at the time. In reality, whether he was a grand director or a great ancestor, he had been the one with the greatest authority. And yet, in the end, the one who had formally established the Zhou Dynasty was still Zhao Han. These titles of grand director and great ancestor were all titles that Zhao Han had assigned afterward.
“So was it just because he took the previous dynasty’s Qi State princess as his wife that Dongfang Bai was no longer viewed with importance in the court?” Zu An asked, sounding surprised. He didn’t really understand why Zhang Jie was saying these things now.
“Of course it wasn’t only because of that. Do you know about the current dynasty’s Imperial Director Zhen Xueyi?” Zhang Jie asked.
Zu An nodded. The Imperial Director was in charge of supervising the various affairs of the imperial clan. He had even personally interacted with the man before, due to the rumors surrounding him and the crown princess. In order to prove his innocence, the Imperial Director, libationer, and others had come to interrogate him. However, he didn’t have too deep of an impression of Zhen Xueyi. He only remembered the other man as an old fox who was really good at shifting blame.
“His surname isn’t actually Zhen; rather, he’s a clan member of Meng Emperor Zhao’s wife, Empress Huang. Because the Zhen clan lacked male offspring, he was adopted into the Zhen clan. However, his bloodline as part of the Huang clan still remains. His connection to the previous dynasty isn’t as estranged as that of Dongfang Bai, but he occupies an important position. Why do you think that is?” Zhang Jie continued, looking at Zu An with a sneer.
Zu An shook his head. A lot of information regarding the past dynasty had been cut off. He couldn't investigate anything even if he wanted to. Fortunately, there were still some elders still alive from the previous dynasty whom he could ask directly.
Zhang Jie didn’t provide the answer and instead threw out another question. “Why do you think the Meng Dynasty, with its powerful foundation, ended up being replaced by the current dynasty’s Zhao clan?”
Zu An thought for a bit, then replied, “I reckon that it’s because the Meng Dynasty’s emperors didn’t live that long. Between that and the struggle over the throne, the Meng Dynasty was able to greatly suppress the authority of the imperial clan. That was why this dynasty’s great ancestor and grand director had an opportunity to exploit.”
Zhang Jie was a bit surprised when he heard Zu An’s reply. He said, “You actually put it this bluntly… You’re not like the other Embroidered Envoys who will defend this dynasty no matter what. I wonder just how you passed the political background check.”
Zu An was stunned. As a transmigrator, he naturally viewed things from a different perspective. He hadn’t expected it to end up sounding so weird in the eyes of others.
“Very good, very good! Kid, with this level of backbone, it sounds like it wasn’t a waste for me to tell you about these things,” Zhang Jie suddenly said happily.
Zu An frowned and said, “You kept rambling about this and that, but you didn’t give me the most valuable piece of information yet. Are you stalling for time? My patience is limited.”
Zhang Jie laughed heartily and said, “Please don’t be so impatient. The reasons you spoke of were indeed very important, but you’re missing an even more crucial piece of information. Meng Emperor Zhao’s sons all died prematurely, to the point where there weren’t even any mature sons who could succeed in the world. That was why he had no choice but to select some of the imperial clan’s children to succeed the empire.”
“Princes dying young isn’t too rare, let alone the fact that even Meng Emperor Zhao himself didn’t live for that long. That means there was something wrong with his genes,” Zu An replied.
“Genes?” Zhang Jie repeated, stunned. He clearly hadn’t heard of the word before. “It indeed isn’t that rare, but what if it wasn’t an accident, but rather brought about artificially?”
“Artificially?” Zu An repeated in shock. “Who would dare to do something like that?”
“According to what you said just now, the one who has the greatest to gain is the most suspicious,” Zhang Jie said with a sneer.
“You’re saying that it was the current dynasty’s great ancestor, the founding emperor?” Zhang Zitong suddenly said, unable to hold back anymore after listening to the whole conversation from one side. After all, this was related to the case of the Zhang clan’s eradication.
“Correct,” Zhang Jie said bluntly. “Only the grand director had that kind of ability at the time.”
“But something isn’t right here. Even though information on this topic was quite limited, Meng Emperor Zhao had a good reputation and was known as a wise ruler. Why would the grand director dare to do something like that?” Zu An asked in confusion. Based on the available resources, the grand director had still been a loyal minister under Meng Emperor Zhao. Only later, when the younger emperors ascended to the throne, had imperial authority begun to slip.
“It naturally wouldn’t have been possible if it were just the great ancestor alone. But what if he had the help of Emperor Zhao’s wife, Empress Huang?” Zhang Jie replied with a sneer.
“Empress Huang?” Zu An repeated, stunned. She was already an empress, so why would she collude with a minister to go against her own husband? However, when he remembered the relationship between himself and the current Empress, his expression suddenly grew strange.
“Empress Huang didn’t have any children herself, and she was the type who was prone to jealousy. She couldn't bear to see the other concubines continue to bear children. Her relationship with the great ancestor was quite good, so the two hit it off,” Zhang Jie slowly said. “In the span of a few years, Emperor Zhao’s princes all died young. He thought that he was just lacking in fortune and didn’t suspect anything.
“But when dealing with the fourth prince, the doctors and eunuchs involved were worried that things could fall through and that they could be exposed. Because they couldn't bear the guilty conscience anymore, they secretly sent the fourth prince out of the palace. They declared to the public that the prince had died. One of the doctors contacted a friend of his outside the palace, which was Zitong’s father, Zhang Zhiquan. He had always been someone of upright and honorable character, and chose to help. He helped bring the fourth prince out of the palace. From then on, though the fourth prince was forced to wander the world destitute, for better or for worse, he was able to survive.
“At the time, those involved thought that one day, the truth would come to light and they could bring the fourth prince back to become the emperor. Then, not only would they not be punished for their mistake, they would even have established great contributions. However, over time, the grand director became too strong, successfully seizing the Meng Dynasty. This matter thus naturally fizzled out.
“Meanwhile, that fourth prince ended up dying an untimely death for reasons unknown as well. Still, he did leave behind a bloodline among the people, which led to the imperial descendant I mentioned just now.”
Zhang Jie’s voice was full of emotion as he spoke about the past. “But as time went on, the truth couldn’t be concealed forever. In the end, the Zhao clan still found out about this. Because of the importance of this matter, they couldn't carry out a public hearing, which was why Golden Token Seven led his men to eradicate the clan. At the same time, his job was to ask about that imperial grandson’s whereabouts.”
Zhang Zitong sobbed tearfully. She had finally learned the truth of her parents’ passing after so many years.
Zu An sighed. He had previously thought that there was no reason for a Golden Token Envoy to deal with an Imperial Censor that way, but if it involved the imperial throne, it all made sense. After thinking to himself for a while, he asked, “Then where is that imperial descendant now?”