350 The previous King, Qiu Qizhen
Li Hua and Hei Chengxi sat across from each other. She thanked him first for agreeing to meet her and also taking some time out.
“I must thank the Princess Consort for seeing me,” Hei Chengxi stated. “Xu Guang Li will be proud of his daughter. It is unbelievable to see the little girl who always remained within the inner walls of her house, has become such a brave woman today,” Hei Chengxi said.
“Circumstances make one stronger. Then, Prince Lóng Wei helped me transform my character,” Li Hua answered. “I wish he were alive to see me,” she said.
“General Hei, last night Prince Lóng Wei told me everything. I was surprised to find that General Hei knew everything. Please forgive Prince Lóng for his harsh behavior towards you. His mother was the reason for this side of Prince Lóng Wei.” Li Hua bowed her head a little to apologize and then continued, “I want to find out why the late mother of Prince Lóng Wei did that. However, before that, I want General Hei to tell me how he knows all this.”
Hei Chengxi nodded at her. “I am glad that the Princess Consort wants to unveil the truth. Sure, I will tell the Princess Consort,” he asserted. “But before I start, I want to warn the Princess Consort. She may put herself in danger while searching for the truth. Is she willing to do that?” He waited for her answers.
“If I had feared danger, I would not have come to General Hei,” Li Hua replied. Her answer was clear. She was ready to face everything if she could reach the truth and end Lóng Wei’s biggest worry.
“The present King overthrew the previous King, Qiu Qizhen. I served Qiu Qizhen for three years and had a long friendship with him. However, he was too good to fight with others. Under his rule, the kingdom was at peace. We hardly had wars. However, his younger brother never liked the way Qiu Qizhen ruled. He rebelled against him many times, and slowly he gathered the support of the people around him.”
Hei Chengxi recalled how it all started when he was newly appointed to the army as a general. He was only 17, but he was an expert in warfare. The current king was twenty years old at the time, and he had already started rebelling against his elder brother, Qiu Qizhen.
“Qiu Qizhen fell for Lady Yu Jun. However, it was a secret. Lady Yu’s family wasn’t a powerful family. He was afraid if he married Lady Yu, she might lose her life. So, he kept it a secret for a while. Then, the deadly night appeared when his younger brother killed all the loyalists of Qiu Qizhen. The entire palace ground was covered with the bodies of the servants, the subjects who once served Qiu Qizhen. His younger brother declared himself King and also killed the youngest two princes. This history is known to many, but isn’t spoken much.”
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Hei Chengxi narrated the event from the past to Li Hua. How Qiu Zedong got his hands on the throne and how he killed the innocents.
“How did General Hei manage to survive?” Li Hua asked.
“I surrendered before the King and told him about Qiu Qizhen’s location. Qiu Qizhen has ordered this for me. I know I made a mistake. Because I was loyal to him, I followed his command. I did not know why Qizhen asked me to do that, but I know now. It was to protect Lady Yu Jun,” Hei Chengxi said, and furrowed his brows together.
Li Hua confusedly glanced at Hei Chengxi. “Did the King know that his elder brother loved Lady Yu?” She asked.
“I think so. I think Qiu Qizhen ended that suspicion from His Majesty’s mind,” Hei Chengxi stated. “I am not sure what exactly happened between the two brothers. But when His Majesty returned, his first order to me was to bring Lady Yu to the palace. He forced her to become his concubine.”
Li Hua realized that Lóng Wei’s past was complex. However, she was unable to understand why Yu Jun told him to die, so she asked about it from Hei Chengxi.
“Lady Yu feared that the King would find out someday that Lóng Wei wasn’t his child. She thought if Lóng Wei would run away from the palace, then he would live in peace. Also, after Monk Yuze’s prophecy, she was terrified,” Hei Chengxi explained to her.
“General Hei, what if the King knows about it?” Li Hua raised a suspicion. “What if Lady Yu did what the King told her to do? The only thing that the King doesn’t know is that Prince Lóng Wei isn’t his child. Maybe the King wants to confirm it. His Majesty, on the other hand, is desperate to learn why Prince Lóng Wei murdered his mother. He allowed me to marry the Prince if I brought the truth to him in a month. But he doesn’t want that anymore,” Li Hua affirmed.
“I don’t think that His Majesty would ever do that. Lady Yu would have told me everything,” Hei Chengxi stated.
“Did she tell you that she would ask Prince Lóng Wei to kill her?” Li Hua asked a question whose answer he didn’t know. He was surprised that Lóng Wei killed Yu Jun that night.
“Can Princess Consort elaborate me what happened that night?” Hei Chengxi asked him.
“His Highness didn’t tell me about that night. He only told me that his mother asked him to kill her. She didn’t tell him who was his father. Prince Lóng Wei thought it would be better to kill her and become sinful for killing his own mother. He didn’t want a tortuous death for her,” Li Hua answered.
“General Hei, why do you think that Prince Lóng Wei’s father is alive?” She asked.
“His body isn’t recovered. I had gone to the place where Qiu Qizhen and the King fought with each other. I didn’t find Qizhen. So, I still think he’s alive,” Hei Chengxi proclaimed.
“Perhaps, the King has already gotten rid of it,” Li Hua stated.
“I highly doubt it because the King wanted to drag Qiu Qizhen’s corpse to the capital and tell everyone what would happen if someone disobeyed him,” Hei Chengxi affirmed. Li Hua hummed. She had found out about so many events at once that it was tough to understand how and where to start. The most complex matter to understand was why Yu Jun didn’t tell the truth to Lóng Wei and loved him as every mother did.
“Princess Consort shall ask Prince Lóng Wei first about that night. Once that is revealed, then she can decide what she wants to do,” Hei Chengxi asserted.
“I will try, General Hei,” Li Hua said, and thanked him for telling her the past.
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