Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 389 Motives for Treason

"The Huo family's descendants are all useless. You believe that if the Crown Prince ascends the throne, the Empress will definitely purge the court, and not only will your position as Grand Commandant be in jeopardy, but your entire family may also suffer. Therefore, you have decided to support the Third Prince."

The Third Prince's maternal clan was in decline, and his ability to compete was entirely due to His Majesty's favor and fear of the Empress's clan.

You supported the Third Prince's ascension to the throne. Even if His Majesty passes away and a new emperor ascends the throne, you will still have rendered meritorious service in supporting the new emperor. He needs the military power in your hands to maintain his position in the court. He is a puppet emperor, while you hold the emperor hostage to command the other lords.

"By the time the Third Prince has grown powerful enough, perhaps the next generation of your Huo family will have a great talent capable of upholding the family's honor."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, his gaze toward Grand Commandant Huo was exceptionally cold. "To put it another way, if there were no such thing... you could still directly raise an army in rebellion, just like you are now. The Third Prince does not have His Majesty's courage. In that case, whether the empire belongs to the Liu family or the Huo family is a matter for debate."

Commander Huo withdrew his gaze from the mural and looked at Zhou Zhao.

His eyes were exceptionally complex, containing emotions that were difficult to describe.

"No wonder the Marquis of Huaiyang wanted to ask you to marry his son when Su Changying's fate was unknown. If you were a nephew of the Huo family, none of this would have happened today."

Now that his dantian has been destroyed by Su Changying, the situation is hopeless, so why bother to struggle in vain?

“I have followed Your Majesty since you raised your army. I am loyal to you and have no other thoughts. However, when Your Majesty personally led the campaign against the feudal lords, although you won a great victory, you were seriously injured. The imperial physician examined you and said that the situation was extremely dangerous and that you probably did not have much time left.”

His Majesty is making arrangements for his own funeral, so what about me?
That day, I was fortunate enough to learn that His Majesty had written a will to change the succession to the Third Prince, which he then entrusted to Princess Changyang. The princess hid it within the Six Paths Heavenly Book. That very night, I came here and pondered for a whole night in front of that stone wall, before making this decision.

Zhou Zhao, change it to…

Zhou Zhao chuckled, interrupting Grand Commandant Huo.

"Even now, you still want to sow discord between me and Su Changying. You're just trying to say that your present is our future."

It's a real shame, though. In my eyes, the concepts of lineage and descendants are worthless.

Where in this world can wealth and status last forever? You are second only to the emperor, that's because you have the ability, you risked your life for it, and Zhou Zhao is filled with awe. But if you want your descendants to all be second only to the emperor, I can only say you are too greedy.

You weren't driven to the brink; you were just looking for an excuse to satisfy your greed.

They say it was a decision made after much deliberation and out of necessity.

If you had said something like "the victor is king, the loser is villain," I would have respected you as a hero.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, his eyes were full of mockery as he looked at Grand Commandant Huo, "Wanting to be emperor is nothing to be ashamed of."

Just as she openly declared her desire to become the Minister of Justice, it was not something embarrassing at all.

In this life, who doesn't want to go further?

“The Huo family members were captured by us and thrown on the ground like dogs, and you can run away without doing anything.”

Behind the stone walls painted with scenes of suffering lies an imperial mausoleum exceeding all regulations. This grand tomb was not built in a day; you have long harbored rebellious intentions.

He clearly valued himself more than his descendants.

Commander Huo remained silent and offered no rebuttal.

After a long silence, he finally said, "You can probably guess why I was hunted down back then?"

Zhou Zhao looked at the mural in front of him.

"The previous dynasty unified the world, but it only lasted for fifteen years before it perished after only two generations. Before that, there were seven warring states vying for supremacy, and the number of feudal lords and princes was as numerous as hairs on a cow. The change of imperial power was as frequent as the rising and setting of the sun and the moon. Countless powerful families were slaughtered, and their descendants were scattered and wandered. It was a tragic situation."

You are just one of them.

After I accidentally cut off the lion's tail, you immediately realized that I had found out about your past through the person who forged the seal.

Of the eight people, only the Marquis of Huaiyang has a similar childhood experience to you. So you want to use him as a shield. Originally, I only suspected it was you, but after you dragged the people of the Marquis of Huaiyang's family into this mess through Jiang Yan, I became certain it was you.”

Why would someone who tried to frame Fan Lishen to stop her from solving the case deliberately expose themselves and let the case point to them?

It was undoubtedly part of that hasty scheme to divert all her attention to the Marquis of Huaiyang.

Upon hearing this, Grand Commandant Huo appeared momentarily dazed.

After a long silence, he looked at Zhou Zhao and said, "You are truly very clever. I wasn't as clever as you at your age."

As he spoke, he said with a touch of melancholy, "I used to be a prince of the Yan state."

He didn't elaborate further; in front of Zhou Zhao, he always felt a sense of frustration, not knowing what to say.

It was as if everything he had been hiding had been exposed.

So what if he was a prince of the Yan state when he was young? Two dynasties have already changed, and his homeland has long been buried in the dust of history.

His enemy didn't even live to see him grow up and take revenge before dying in the fight.

As Zhou Zhao said, he was just one of the many tragic figures in the chaos of war.

"Since you already know all this, after my death, could you please... never mind."

Grand Commandant Huo originally thought of asking Gong Ling to help him collect the body, but then he thought that since he had killed Zhou Yan, Zhou Zhao would want to tear him to pieces, so why would he help him? Besides, he was already dead, so why should he involve Gong Ling?

In all his years of life, the most tragic and happiest time was the period when he was Gong Ling's son.

He thought to himself that if he really were Gong Ling's child, he would be willing to learn to make bronze sculptures and to be filial to the couple.

But he wasn't right after all; not only was he not right, he also caused the death of their son.

In his life, he owed nothing to His Majesty, nothing to the Huo family, but only to the Gong family.

"In the case of Shanming Changyang, Zhang Ran was your accomplice. When I found out that Zhang Ran was obsessed with Princess Changyang, and that he was the one who arranged to meet the princess that day, did you kill Zhang Ran to silence him and prevent you from being implicated? Did you know that at that time we did not know that there were two murderers? As long as Zhang Ran did not speak, Li Huaishan could take the blame for you."

What conditions did you and Zhang Ran agree on back then?

Commander Huo looked at Zhou Zhao, his eyes flashing, "I didn't lose to you and Su Changying."

He thought about it and readily admitted, "Yes."

The matter of the will was not something I heard, but rather from Zhang Ran.

Zhang Ran arranged for me to meet Princess Changyang at the Shanming Villa. He had two demands: one, he wanted the princess to be his personal possession; two, he wanted to participate in court affairs. I failed to fulfill the first demand because Li Huaishan interfered and killed Princess Changyang.

Secondly, I kept my promise. He was able to manage the spies for His Majesty entirely because I helped him.

He's truly not up to any real responsibility. Not only did I let you into the court, but I also sent you to Tianying City to bring back Su Changying alive. I had no intention of killing him; he's a coward. After all, he overheard the imperial edict, and his only asset is His Majesty's trust. How could he dare to speak up?
However, once you trace it back to him, he can no longer escape.

I brought him medicine when I visited him. He knew that his death alone could ensure the safety of his children and grandchildren, so he chose death without hesitation.

Sure enough, she said that Zhang Ran's death was such a coincidence.

Just as they were about to find him, he died.

"How did you know that my brother Zhou Yan was the one who helped Princess Changyang decipher the Six Paths Heavenly Book? Was it because of Gong Ling?"

(End of this chapter)