Master, don't tease me, you can't handle three of them.

Chapter 187 Unofficial History 1 Must Be Very Unofficial

The next day.

Gu Mengxian was bored, and Jingyou and Shichuan were pulled away by Jingshu to practice, so he left the house early and went to the teahouse alone to drink tea and listen to storytelling.

Gu Meng chose a seat on the second floor, asked the waiter for a pot of tea and a few snacks, plus the candied hawthorns she bought on the way. It couldn't be more pleasant.

Gu Meng was munching on a candied hawthorn when the storyteller came out.

As fate would have it, the person the storyteller is talking about today is none other than the current regent, Bei Yan'an.

Gu Meng paused in her eating of the candied hawthorn, then spat the seeds onto the table. What a coincidence…

"If we were to say that when the current emperor was still a child, the late emperor suddenly passed away, and the regent appeared out of nowhere, carrying the late emperor's edict, appointing himself regent, and supporting the young emperor to ascend the throne. For the past ten years or so, the regent has worked diligently, and it is only because of this that our dynasty has reached its current state..."

Gu Meng bit off a large piece of rock candy, making a crunching sound in her mouth.

"Oh, he's quite respected..." Gu Meng thought to herself, somewhat bored.

A figure suddenly appeared, blocking Gu Meng's view.

Gu Meng looked up and saw a handsome young man.

"I wonder if there's anyone else here, young lady? There are no seats available elsewhere," the young master inquired.

The voice was gentle and soothing, making it impossible to get angry. Gu Meng recognized the voice quickly.

"It's you? The one who tried to steal the lantern from me."

The young master's face showed surprise. "So it was you?!"

Gu Meng nodded, her expression indifferent. "There's no one here, sit down."

The young master sat down and took the initiative to start a conversation, "My name is Ning Ze, what's your name, young lady?"

Gu Meng tossed the bamboo skewer from the air conditioner onto the table, poured two cups of tea from the teapot, and pushed one of them toward Ning Ze.

"My name is Gu Meng." After saying that, Gu Meng looked like she didn't want to chat anymore. She picked up her tea to moisten her throat and turned her gaze back to the storyteller.

"It is said that the Regent was the late Emperor's twin brother, and he looked exactly like the late Emperor. However, due to his congenital weakness, he was sent outside the palace to be cared for. Twelve years ago, he recovered his health and was found. Unfortunately, less than a month after the Regent returned, the late Emperor passed away, leaving only a nephew to accompany him."

Gu Meng grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and slowly cracked them open. Twelve years ago, wasn't it after her mother became pregnant with her...?

Ning Ze observed Gu Meng carefully, but her face remained expressionless, which made Ning Ze unsure of what to do.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Gu Meng frowned slightly. "Want the peony lantern? No way, it's mine."

Ning Ze shook his head. "Judging from your appearance, you're not a local either. This... Regent, what do you think of him?"

"How would I know?" Gu Meng asked, puzzled. "I don't know him, but from what the storyteller said, he doesn't seem like a bad person."

Ning Ze understood that Gu Meng probably didn't know that her father was her biological father.

"However..." The storyteller suddenly changed the subject.

"But what?" the man below asked.

"There are also rumors circulating among the people that the regent is actually the late emperor, and the previous twins were just an explanation given by the late emperor to the public..."

"It can't be real!" Everyone clearly didn't believe it.

"How could the late emperor, instead of being a proper emperor, fake his death and become regent?!"

"Exactly, exactly, I'm not kidding!"

The storyteller stroked his beard and continued speaking slowly and deliberately.

"Fifteen years ago, the late Empress died in childbirth. The late Emperor was heartbroken and almost never appeared in public again. There were rumors that the late Empress loved freedom and faked her death after giving birth to escape and travel the world."

The late emperor accompanied him, but later felt it was inappropriate and returned. However, the late empress still did not want to be confined within the palace walls. So the two devised a plan: to create the identity of a twin brother to become regent, thus avoiding the palace. Once the emperor had fully matured, the two could continue their carefree lives.

"Storyteller, the story you're telling is so unbelievable!"

"That's it!"

"Hey~" The storyteller shook his head. "No, no. This isn't just idle gossip. Someone overheard that the current emperor privately called the Regent 'father'..."

Gentlemen, don't you understand yet?

The audience was in an uproar. So that's how it was!

Gu Meng also gave a meaningful "oh".

It turns out he was a two-timing scumbag! For those three years, he didn't actually go to see his wife; instead, he lied to his mother! He even used that damned curse to harm her! Then he disappeared again, only to return as regent!

Bah! Scumbag! Gu Meng cursed her biological father in her heart.

While Bei Yan'an was recuperating with his eyes closed in the Regent's Palace, he suddenly felt an itch in his nose, as if he was about to sneeze.

Bei Yan'an frowned slightly. Was he... getting sick? That shouldn't be the case...

The shadow guard knelt on one knee before Bei Yan'an without anyone noticing. "Your Highness, the Emperor has secretly left the palace again..."

Bei Yan'an slightly opened his eyes and uttered only one word, "Find".

"Yes!"

……

By the time Ning Ze realized what the storyteller had said, it was too late.

Ning Ze's lips twitched, and he couldn't help but rub his temples, muttering, "I always knew that unofficial histories must be very unofficial, but now I've seen it for myself..."

Gu Meng looked over upon hearing this, "Unofficial history? Is this fake?"

Ning Ze chuckled lightly, "It's true that only the Emperor calls the Regent 'Father' in private; everything else is fake."

Although he also hoped that his father and the others were really alive...

Ning Ze explained softly, "The Regent is the late Emperor's twin brother. The reason why the Emperor calls the Regent Father is because the late Emperor felt that he was not worthy to be the Emperor's father, so he made the Emperor recognize his twin brother as his father."

Oh, so he's not a scumbag after all.

Gu Meng silently retracted her previous statement and asked again, "But how would you know?"

Ning Ze looked at Gu Meng with the curiosity of a child and resisted the urge to pat her head. "Because an elder in my family is in office in the court, I know a little about these secrets."

Gu Meng nodded, then asked hesitantly, "What about the late Emperor and the late Empress..."

"They've all passed away... One died in childbirth... The other, after finding his twin brother, drank poison and went to join his wife..."

After Ning Ze finished speaking, he lowered his head to drink the tea that Gu Meng had poured for him, and said no more.

Gu Meng also fell silent. Her uncle, the emperor, and her aunt, the empress, were truly in love, but her cousin was really...unfortunate.

At least her mother still had hope; she had her master and fellow disciples with her since she was a child.

Compared to others, she is much happier...