lcionline Chapter 1658 Is this humble monk wrong?
Chapter 1658 Is this humble monk wrong?
Therefore, when Lady Chu and Lady Feng conceive, Nangong Xuanyu will surely be overjoyed and cherish the two children as treasures. He will also bestow honors and favors upon them after the birth of their children.
At that time, the purpose of awakening dust will be achieved.
Even after her death, Empress Dowager Gongsu tricked Nangong Xuanyu!
The emperor asked in a deep voice, "How is Xingchen now?!"
Li Changde respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, he is still being interrogated in the secret chamber. His injuries are serious, but his life is not in danger."
"I have increased the number of guards. No one is allowed to approach except to deliver water and food."
A hint of coldness flashed in Nangong Xuanyu's eyes: "I want to see him."
"Yes!"
Li Changde bowed and turned to leave, going to a secret room where he secretly had Xingchen brought to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
His monk's robe was stained with dark reddish-brown stains, indistinguishable between blood and mud. His chin was thin and bony, and his stubble was messy.
Xingchen was carried to the imperial desk. The two eunuchs released him, and he swayed before he could barely stand.
Because of his injury, he couldn't stand straight; his back was slightly hunched.
Xingchen raised his head, his eyes no longer filled with the compassion of the past, staring directly at the emperor behind the desk without the slightest reverence.
Li Changde frowned, stepped forward, and shouted, "Insolence!"
"You've come to see His Majesty, why aren't you kneeling and paying your respects?!"
Xingchen seemed not to hear, remaining standing with his gaze fixed on Nangong Xuanyu.
Seeing this, Li Changde was about to reprimand him again, but Nangong Xuanyu raised his hand instead.
He immediately fell silent, lowered his head, and stepped aside.
Nangong Xuanyu also looked at Xingchen.
Perhaps because he had learned that secret, the emperor now saw a resemblance to the late emperor on Xingchen's face.
All things considered... Nangong Xuanyu only has this one brother left who is still alive.
However, emperors have never been people who care about brotherly affection.
After a long while, Nangong Xuanyu slowly spoke: "...Should I call you Xingchen, or should I address you as 'Royal Brother'?"
Upon hearing the words "Imperial Brother," Xingchen's pupils contracted slightly.
"Does Your Majesty know everything?"
Having been imprisoned and tortured for so long, his voice was terribly hoarse: "Indeed, from the day I was arrested, this humble monk knew that this matter could not be kept secret."
"The victor is king, the loser is villain; this humble monk accepts his fate. Your Majesty may decide how to deal with him."
Nangong Xuanyu suddenly laughed: "The victor is king, the loser is villain?"
"You use the name of the holy monk to deceive those ignorant women, defile the harem, and attempt to use your bloodline to impersonate my imperial heir."
"With such despicable methods, how dare you put on a sanctimonious facade?!"
Xingchen's hands clenched slightly beneath his sleeves, but he remained silent.
Nangong Xuanyu sneered, "Your wishful thinking is truly brilliant! If you really succeed, does that mean that the one sitting on the dragon throne in the future won't be my son, but your own?"
Xingchen's usually calm face finally revealed the embarrassment of having his secret thoughts exposed.
"so what?!"
He raised his head and looked directly at the emperor, questioning, "You and I are both of the bloodline of the late emperor, both descendants of the Nangong family! Your descendants sit on this throne, so why can't my descendants sit on it?!"
Nangong Xuanyu said, "This throne is one I fought my way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood! It is one I fought for honorably, stepping on the blood of my brothers and the bones of my court officials!"
"When I seized the throne, it was a fair fight, the victor was king and the loser was an outlaw, it was only natural."
"And what about you? Hiding in Fatu Temple, you use that charitable trick to deceive ignorant women and commit illicit acts. You attempt to seize the throne through such despicable means."
"You dare to claim you're of imperial blood?!"
"Does he even deserve to let his descendants sit on the supreme dragon throne?!"
These words were like slaps to Xingchen's face!
All his pretense was torn away, and his eyes were filled with resentment: "A true man should not be bound by means; as long as it gets done, who cares what method he uses!"
"Those women... they were foolish enough to offer themselves up to me. What does it have to do with this poor monk?!"
Li Changde could no longer contain himself and shouted sharply, "Insolence!"
Xingchen seemed to have gone all out, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Nangong Xuanyu, burning with a world-destroying hatred!
"Your Majesty is right. This humble monk is despicable and base."
"But at least... this humble monk did not act like the late emperor, who listened to a few slanderous words and ordered the death of a concubine who was eight months pregnant, and exterminated her entire family!"
"As for the Great Zhou's empire... Ha! Does Your Majesty think it's clean? The number of bones beneath the dragon throne is probably more than the number of women this monk has touched."
"Since that's the case, what difference does it make whether there's one more or one less? My bloodline will sit on it, and maybe it will even make it cleaner!"
These words are utterly outrageous!
Li Changde's face turned ashen!
Nangong Xuanyu remained expressionless, looking at the seemingly insane Xingchen with no emotion in his eyes: "Are you done?"
Xingchen's madness was interrupted by the emperor's overly calm attitude.
He was panting heavily, staring intently at Nangong Xuanyu, as if he didn't understand why the other party wasn't angry yet.
Nangong Xuanyu stood up and walked towards Xingchen, shaking his head: "You resent the late emperor, you resent fate, and you feel that you should have been a prince, but instead you were left to wander in a temple and suffered all kinds of grievances."
"So you want to reach into my harem to steal what you think you deserve."
At this point, the emperor stopped a few steps away from Xingchen: "Do you think that everything you've done is justifiable?"
"But you're wrong."
“From the moment you were sent out of the palace and put on the monk’s robes, you were just a monk at Fatu Temple. No one can prove that you are a descendant of the late emperor.”
"Take back everything that belongs to you is nothing but a self-deceiving excuse, a fig leaf to cover up your despicable deeds!"
Xingchen seemed to have his secret exposed, his eyes filled with gloom: "You're talking nonsense!"
Nangong Xuanyu looked at him as if he were looking at something dirty: "Those women may be stupid and greedy, but that is never a reason for you to do evil."
"You took advantage of their reverence for gods and Buddhas to commit beastly acts... Xingchen, you are a hundred times more despicable than those 'filthy' power struggles you speak of!"
Li Changde nodded in agreement.
Xingchen is not worthy of the phrase "the victor is king, the loser is villain" at all; he is just a coward hiding in a dark corner.
Xingchen didn't provoke Nangong Xuanyu, but Nangong Xuanyu's words stung him so much that he could no longer maintain his composure!
"Have I done anything wrong?!"
His eyes were frighteningly bloodshot as he stared intently at Nangong Xuanyu, roaring, "I am also a prince! The blood of the late emperor flows in my veins!"
"Why...why should you, Nangong Xuanyu, sit on the dragon throne, receive the worship of thousands, have a harem, and a house full of descendants?!"
"Why should I be confined to a temple, wearing a tattered robe, chanting sutras to a clay Buddha statue for the rest of my life?!"