The fake daughter of a fallen ghost is reborn

Whether it was the Palace Front Department or the Cavalry Battalion, they were replaced by his own people. The emperor could finally sleep peacefully without having to worry about being forced to abdicate by the Ge family when he woke up. Facing the mountains of memorials, he felt a lot more relaxed.

That day, he was reviewing memorials. When he saw Gu Shichong's name on the memorial, he thought of the thrilling incident that day and his wariness and suspicion of his son since then, and his heart sank again.

But after opening it, he saw that it was Gu Shichong once again requesting that Xue Zhiyi be married to him as a concubine. He snorted and threw the letter aside.

It is hard to say whether Gu Shichong proposed to Xue Zhiyi several times because he really liked this woman or because he wanted to have someone of his own by the side of the empress dowager.

But soon, the emperor changed his mind: If Xue Zhiyi continues to stay with the empress dowager, and if the two of them have private dealings, wouldn't it be easier for Gu Shichong to please and win over the empress dowager?

If he were to say, he would feel at ease if such a troublesome palace maid was given death, but the empress dowager valued her so much that naturally she would not want to do that. It would be better for him to accept the arranged marriage. One day, he could find some free time to secretly give her the death sentence. There would be no need to disturb the Jianzhang Palace and damage the relationship between mother and son for a palace maid.

Thinking of this, he opened the memorial again, wrote his approval in red, and agreed to the marriage.

But the emperor did not expect that the next memorial was from Jiang Xu. After reading the contents, the emperor frowned: Jiang Xu said that he had lost a sister, Jiang Wan, and now he has found her, and it is Xue Zhiyi. In addition, the records of his parents' report to the police and the confessions of the people in Cishui Town were also attached.

Jiang Xu had made contributions in the Jiangzhou case, and the emperor wanted to reward him, but Jiang Xu declined and only asked the emperor to grant him a favor. If he could find his biological sister one day, the emperor would allow Jiang Wan to return to her ancestral home and restore her identity.

But the emperor didn't expect that Jiang Wan was Xue Zhiyi.

He knew that Xue Zhiyi was not Xue Zhentong's daughter, otherwise she should have been sent to the same fate as the Xue family. He just didn't expect that things would be so coincidental... But in this case, he couldn't arrange for Jiang Wan to marry Gu Shichong, otherwise wouldn't it be handing the Dali Temple to his son for nothing?

He retrieved Gu Shichong's memorial, erased his own comments, wrote another one saying "Concentrate on recuperating and we will discuss this another day", and threw it aside.

Looking at Jiang Xu's memorial, another idea came into the emperor's mind. Thinking of this, he summoned Jiang Xu into the palace.

……

Xue Zhiyi had no idea what the emperor and Jiang Xu talked about.

Just a few days later, she received a brand new official certificate, on which was clearly written "Jiang Wan, born in the 32nd year of Pingyuan, from Jiangzhou".

The person who sent the official certificate was none other than Peng Hui, the eunuch who was close to the emperor.

Only the emperor could order Peng Hui around. Xue Zhiyi felt flattered by such courtesy.

She thanked him politely, and Peng Hui just smiled and said, “Congratulations to Miss Jiang’s family for being reunited. From now on, your identities will be clear.

Xue Zhiyi was puzzled. How could the complicated procedures for handling official registration be resolved so quietly?

"May I ask, sir, is this what His Majesty meant?"

Peng Hui said, "Isn't it? His Majesty ordered the Ministry of Rites to handle this matter as soon as possible, and the Ministry of Rites did not dare to slack off. This is all thanks to your brother, Lord Jiang, who personally reported this matter to His Majesty."

In short, Peng Hui's coming to deliver his official documents had been seen by many people, and the matter soon became known to everyone, and the empress dowager naturally knew about it.

Xue Zhiyi simply told the empress dowager everything. After hearing it, the empress dowager was not too shocked, but seemed to have expected it.

The empress dowager did not say much, she just went to the Changsheng Palace. It is unknown what she said, but half a month later, Xue Zhiyi was summoned to the Changsheng Palace.

Although she had regained her status, she was still the imperial attendant of Jianzhang Palace and did not leave the palace. When the emperor suddenly summoned her, she was somewhat confused about what he meant and only bowed respectfully: "Your servant Jiang Wan pays respect to Your Majesty."

Xue Zhiyi lowered his eyes, and could only feel the ambiguous gaze hovering above his head.

"Jiang Wan, what do you think of Prince Gong?"

Xue Zhiyi was stunned. She didn't expect the emperor to ask her this question.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness Prince Gong is a descendant of the royal family, and I respect him with all my heart."

The emperor did not comment, but only asked: "If I ask you to marry him, would you be willing?"

Hearing this, Xue Zhiyi immediately kowtowed in fear and trepidation: "I know that I was lucky enough to be granted marriage by Your Majesty in the past, but times have changed and I no longer dare to dream of it!"

Facing Xue Zhiyi's attitude, the emperor's eyes were full of scrutiny and suspicion: "When your status was unknown, you were indeed not worthy, but now your brother is the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, and has a promising future. Not to mention being the principal wife, you are qualified to be a concubine. Prince Gong even took the initiative to ask for marriage. Whether you are worthy or not is not up to you."

He looked at Xue Zhiyi and narrowed his eyes slightly: "To be honest, if you want, I can help you."

Xue Zhiyi bowed her head, her eyes moving rapidly. She sensed the temptation in the emperor's words, and her tone became more and more panicked: "I have a few words from the bottom of my heart, but I am afraid that I will offend your majesty."

"You said, I forgive you."

After receiving this promise, Xue Zhiyi calmed down a little and said, "My brother and I have no father or mother. Although my brother is loved by His Majesty and holds an important position, we have no one to rely on in the capital. We also know that the fight for the crown prince is extremely dangerous. If we are not careful, our lives will be in danger. The prince is of royal blood and has room to retreat, but my brother and I are people without any foundation. Once something happens, we will be doomed. Party struggles are not something that people like us who come from ordinary families are worthy of participating in."

There was a slight tremor in her voice as she slowly knelt up and said, "The moon is bright and the stars are sparse. Crows and magpies fly south and circle the tree three times, but there is no branch to rely on... Brother knows very well that the only tree that Dayong can rely on is not a certain person, but the monarch who sits on the dragon throne. For brother, the way to survive is to serve the monarch with absolute loyalty. Moreover, brother has been studying the books of sages since he was young, and the way of loyalty to the monarch and patriotism has long been engraved in his bones. The only thing he wants in this life is to use his talent and knowledge to establish his heart for the world, establish his destiny for the people, inherit the unique knowledge of the past sages, and bring peace to the world for all eternity."

At this point, she choked up a little: "Brother, under the order of our parents, has been searching for me for many years, and only wants to double the compensation. If I enter Prince Gong's mansion, brother will love me and love my family as well. By then, I'm afraid it will be difficult to fulfill both loyalty and filial piety... When I was young, I didn't have the care of my parents, and now I'm putting you in a dilemma. I'm guilty."

As she spoke, she kowtowed again: "I don't know how I caught the eye of His Royal Highness Prince Gong, but I beg Your Majesty, my brother has studied hard, so for his loyalty, please don't let him get into trouble because of me, otherwise I would rather die!"

Seeing her like this, the emperor remained silent.

He did have the intention of sentencing her to death, but now that she had become Jiang Xu's sister, she had other uses.

When he first ascended the throne, the Ge family had been his close and trusted ministers, but as their achievements grew, they gradually developed ambitions, and this trusted minister became a serious threat to the emperor.

He needs a new group of close ministers who are absolutely loyal to him. The Shen family is one, Huo Wuyou is one, and someone like Jiang Xu who has no foundation and is not easy to win over can also be one.

At times like this, he needs some people who can serve as his solid barrier.

In addition to interests, nepotism is also a way to bind them together.

Such silence made Xue Zhiyi feel a little uneasy, and she was not sure whether the emperor would be pleased with her remarks.

The emperor suddenly laughed and said, "At first, when Jiang Xu said you were his long-lost sister, I was skeptical. But now you look like you want to die to prove your loyalty, which is very similar to Jiang Xu's demeanor."

Xue Zhiyi was stunned, and only heard the emperor say: "A few days ago, Jiang Xu told me how you two met. I suspect you have ulterior motives and have used some method to deceive Jiang Xu, or Jiang Xu has other intentions."

Xue Zhiyi lowered her eyes: I'm afraid that if the emperor tested her like this, he might also be testing her brother.

The emperor sighed and shook his head: "Your brother said the same thing at that time. He said that he would rather resign and take you back to your hometown than be unable to recognize your closest relatives. If I still have doubts about his sister, he is willing to die to make it clear in exchange for me to dispel my doubts about you."

Xue Zhiyi didn't know what to say, so he just continued acting as he had just done: "Your Majesty, my brother is loyal..."

"I know." The emperor said, "I am not such a foolish and incompetent emperor, and I will not help my son to force someone to marry."

At this point, the emperor took a few steps closer and stopped in front of Xue Zhiyi: "Jiang Wan, you don't want to marry Prince Gong. How about I grant you another marriage?"

Xue Zhiyi was stunned, and then he heard the emperor chuckle softly: "What do you think of Lin'an Hou?"