In this second life, Qi Junmu had constantly wondered—who was the man who ended up with Wen Wan?
He had suspected everyone. Qi Junyou—handsome enough, dashing enough. But when he tested the waters in Qingzhou, he found that Qi Junyou still had some sense of self-preservation. And after keeping watch for a while longer, there was no contact between Qi Junyou and Wen Wan at all.
Qi Junyan, even more so—he kept a low profile, rarely left his mansion, and had a good relationship with his wife. Most importantly, due to his background, he was under constant suspicion and rarely even entered the palace, let alone had any connection with Wen Wan.
After ruling out those two, Qi Junmu turned his attention to Qi Junzhuo and Prince Ying.
As for Qi Junzhuo—to avoid suspicion, he steered clear of everyone in the rear palace except when visiting the Emperor. Knowing the Empress Dowager disliked him, he never even made a pretense of paying his respects.
Furthermore, Qi Junzhuo had always lived within the palace and never came into contact with court officials. He did not wish to arouse the Emperor's suspicions, nor did Qi Junmu believe that Qi Junzhuo's fraternal feelings were entirely without sincerity.
After eliminating everyone else, that left only Prince Ying.
After having people look into it for a long time in secret, Qi Junmu discovered that Prince Ying was indeed highly ambitious. But Prince Ying was already advanced in years—how could he possibly be together with Wen Wan and have a child with her?
Qi Fan was at least somewhat more likely. He had a good relationship with Wen Yao, and on his occasional visits to the palace, he would sometimes run into Wen Wan.
Yet if Prince Ying succeeded in his schemes, Qi Fan would not ascend the throne—so what would become of Wen Wan then? Qi Junmu did not believe that Wen Wan had not prepared a retreat for herself.
Moreover, the chances of Prince Ying actually seizing the throne were far too slim. He had the ambition, but he held no military power. All he had ever schemed was to use external enemies to turn Qi Junmu and his brothers against one another.
Once suspicion fell on Prince Ying, it became clear that many of his deeds were easily traceable.
Take, for example, the death of the imperial censor Guan Han. After he had publicly condemned the Emperor, he supposedly committed suicide over the New Year, leaving behind a blood letter to show his resolve. All of this was, of course, a deliberate attempt to tarnish the Emperor's reputation.
The one who discovered Guan Han's body was Su Ren, the prefect of the capital, and it was he who had stirred the matter into a public uproar.
On the surface, Su Ren appeared to be a man who knew no restraint, but Qi Junmu knew that he and Lin Xiao had once been on fairly good terms. They had been jinshi in the same year, though their relationship had since cooled.
Qi Junmu had already harbored suspicions about Su Ren at that time, but he had not connected the matter to the Lin family.
It was only after Prince Ying was ruled out as well that Qi Junmu hit a dead end.
He could not figure out where things had gone wrong—until Fuhua refused the marriage arrangement, and the Empress Dowager's attitude toward her shifted abruptly, treating her almost like an enemy.
In contrast, Yue shi's attitude toward Fuhua was far more nuanced. Though she always brought Wen Wan along so outsiders couldn't tell anything was wrong, the eyes never lie.
That day in the imperial garden, when Yue shi had made Fuhua laugh, Qi Junmu still remembered the way Fuhua had bent over with laughter.
Coupled with the fact that Lin En was only a few days older than them, a rather bold thought suddenly arose in Qi Junmu's mind.
He and Fuhua were twins. What if it had not been a boy and a girl, but twin boys?
Lin En had always worn a mask throughout his life. The Empress Dowager's attitude toward Lin En, Yue shi's attitude toward Fuhua—all of it swirled again and again in Qi Junmu's mind.
If the child in Wen Wan's womb in the previous life had been Lin En's, then everything would make sense.
Wen Wan wouldn't have needed to worry about the birth of that child. Lin En possessed a face identical to his own—he could easily use that face to claim the throne, and no one would suspect a thing.
Wen Wan's child would always have been the Emperor's; only the person had changed, but the face had not—who could possibly imagine that? Moreover, only Lin En could enter Wen Wan's quarters without arousing suspicion, for after all, it was the Emperor's face. Even if someone caught a glimpse by accident, what was so unusual about the Emperor entering the inner palace?
When this possibility occurred to him, Qi Junmu also thought of the time when Qi Junzhuo had gone missing in the West Frontier—Lin En had been there as well.
Qi Junzhuo's disappearance had most likely been Lin En's doing. Because when faced with a face that looked just like his own, Qi Junzhuo would never have suspected a thing—he would have let his guard down completely.
Having worked through all this, Qi Junmu turned his thoughts to Lin Xiao.
Where did Lin Xiao stand in all of this? Yue shi was a woman, and her affection for Fuhua was clearly genuine—but what about Lin Xiao?
Furthermore, Lin En had always behaved before the Empress Dowager as though he adored Fuhua—so what was his relationship with Wen Wan? Was he using her, or were his feelings sincere?
Or perhaps Lin En was deliberately treating Fuhua that way, while Wen Wan would step in afterward to comfort and support Fuhua. That would only deepen the Empress Dowager's distress, making her feel all the more that the Emperor was not as filial as Lin En, not as pitiable as Lin En—and thus she would favor him all the more.
If the resentment accumulated long enough, then when the truth eventually came to light, the Empress Dowager would only choose to remain silent. After all, between a son who defied her and a son who obeyed her in everything, she would naturally prefer the latter.
Thinking back to how his relationship with the Empress Dowager had become irreconcilable in his previous life, Qi Junmu could not help but feel some ruefulness. For Lin En to accomplish all this, he would naturally need supporters—so who were they?
If there was no trace of Lin Xiao's hand in it, Qi Junmu would not even believe himself. Lin Xiao was a man of great forbearance. Putting himself in Lin Xiao's place, Qi Junmu thought that if Lin Xiao truly intended to put Lin En on the throne, he would certainly have the patience to bide his time and see it through.
In the previous life, the North Frontier had never been in Qi Junmu's hands, and the West Frontier went without saying.
The North Mountain Imperial Guard was commanded by Yang Jinglei, while the Imperial Guard was under a relative of the Lin family. The Wen family held considerable influence in the capital, and the prefect of the capital, who controlled the capital and its surrounding, was Su Ren.
The Lin family had every opportunity to support Lin En's ascension.
As for why Lin Xiao would do such a thing—perhaps it was because Qi Junmu had grown older and less obedient, or perhaps the seed had been planted deep in his heart long ago.
The Empress Dowager and the Lin family had swapped the children, but Lin Xiao had only Lin En as his son.
It was said that Yue shi could not bear more children, and none of the concubines in the Lin household had ever conceived either. Lin Xiao was deeply devoted to Yue shi, so he was content with just one child. At the time, Qi Junmu thought: if his speculation was correct, then Lin Xiao had no son at all—only a daughter, Fuhua.
Lin En was his son in name only. Whether it had been for the Empress Dowager's sake or for power, in Da Qi, where the continuation of the family line was of utmost importance, Lin Xiao could not have been entirely at ease with that thought.
To this end, Qi Junmu specifically dispatched Xia Guo to keep watch over the Lin household.
Then he thought of Lin Jiu—the man who in the previous life shared Lin Xiao's surname, whom Lin Xiao had particularly valued and even taken under his own wing to teach.
Some things, no matter how secretly they were hidden, could not withstand investigation.
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