We'll have you impersonate the Crown Prince and create a prosperous era for the Great Qian Dyna

The Imperial Observatory's comments are there.

The reason why Zhou Rui began to suspect Zhou Tiancheng again must be because he had obtained certain evidence!

Hearing what Steward Liu said, Zhou Tiancheng realized that he was in big trouble.

But he knew in his heart that Steward Liu was right.

If they were all killed, even he would have to question Zhou Rui's intelligence. Isn't that a clear indication that something is amiss?

"Send someone back to investigate and see if anyone has leaked the information."

As Zhou Tiancheng spoke, he unfolded the letter in his hand.

The letter was dictated by Zhou Rui and written by a eunuch, but it was written in Zhou Rui's own voice.

Several things were mentioned in it.

The first thing Qin Zhi'ang did was retire and return to his hometown, Yunzhou Prefecture.

The third thing was to ask where the tattoos on Zhou Tiancheng's stunt double had gone.

Especially the third thing, which Zhou Rui mentioned casually, he caught a eunuch who had done a tattoo on the crown prince's double, and the tattoo pattern was exactly the shape of the crown prince's birthmark!

Zhou Tiancheng's hands began to tremble.

Whether it's a tattoo or a birthmark, a simple test will tell you.

The reason Zhou Rui didn't send anyone to investigate was simple: Zhou Rui wasn't clear about the situation in the Northern Frontier, and he was more worried about the Northern Frontier descending into chaos than about a fake crown prince!

Zhou Tiancheng said nothing, handed the letter to Steward Liu, and then closed his eyes.

Manager Liu's hands were trembling.

"What a coincidence!"

"The eunuch who did your tattoo has been released because of his age. I tried to find him, but I was worried about attracting the attention of the Imperial Guard, so I didn't dare to make a big fuss and ended up not finding him."

"Unexpectedly, he was arrested by the Emperor."

Zhou Tiancheng sighed.

"This is a serious problem!"

"The biggest flaw lies here."

"The one on the back of my neck is a tattoo, but the real prince has a birthmark on the back of his neck."

"I estimate that Zhou Rui has probably written to Lin Tong, asking him to stabilize the situation in the northern frontier. It won't be long before the imperial physician dispatched by Zhou Rui arrives in the northern frontier."

There is no doubt about this.

Since there are flaws, we must investigate, especially since Zhou Rui still suspects Zhou Tiancheng!

Manager Liu's voice began to tremble as he spoke.

"What should we do then?"

"How about I go and find someone right now, someone with a birthmark on the back of their neck?"

Zhou Tiancheng gave a wry smile.

"If someone has a birthmark on the back of their neck and looks exactly like me, then it can only be the real prince."

"What a coincidence!"

"I'm thinking, why don't I just go to Northern Xia and take advantage of its national strength? Maybe I can help you survive."

Steward Liu was aware of Bei Xia's current predicament.

He shook his head decisively.

"Northern Xia is a quagmire right now, with nobles and barbarians. They can't even protect themselves. If you, a Daqian person, go there, it will be difficult to gain their respect, let alone lead them to drive away the barbarians."

Zhou Tiancheng is also having a headache.

There was no way out. Under the new military system, ordinary soldiers would certainly not rebel; he didn't even have the conditions to rebel.

It's impossible that he would lead tens of thousands of National Protection Army soldiers to rebel against the Great Qian Dynasty, right?

So what should he do?

Steward Liu took a deep breath, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

"If all else fails, we can destroy the tattoo. With no one to prove it, they won't be able to prove you're a fake prince!"

Zhou Tiancheng rolled his eyes.

"It's Zhou Rui who's suspicious!"

"If I destroy the tattoo on the back of my neck now, Zhou Rui won't have any doubts; it will directly confirm that I'm the fake crown prince!"

"Why don't we wait for the imperial physician to arrive and see if we can bribe him?"

Steward Liu nodded slightly.

"I'll go and have the imperial physician's family tied up right now."

Zhou Tiancheng shook his head.

"That's not necessary. Even if you kidnap his family, Zhou Rui will still become suspicious."

"No matter what we do now, Zhou Rui will be suspicious."

"We might as well just wait patiently for the imperial physician and see if fate is on our side."

Powerless.

This is a profound sense of powerlessness.

What is fake is fake; to make it seem real, you have to tell countless lies.

Even Zhou Tiancheng was complaining in his heart, "Why isn't that old geezer Zhou Rui dead yet?"

If Zhou Rui were dead, why would all this nonsense come of it?

I should have poisoned Zhou Rui back then!

Simultaneously.

He also began to think about how to turn the tattoo into a birthmark.

But that's obviously impossible!

He's not a science student; he's just a mere movie star.

"This feeling is really unpleasant."

"I did everything I could, but ultimately failed because of certain unchangeable conditions. That's worse than death!"

……

Kyoto.

The old imperial physician, who had already left the city gate, was brought back.

He was a Taoist priest from the Imperial Observatory.

He stood in front of Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui looked very unhappy.

"You must give me an explanation for this!"

"Even if the Crown Prince has performed a great service, he cannot deny that he killed my Cheng'er!"

"A fake is a fake; it can't become real!"

The old Taoist priest sighed.

"Your Majesty, the imperial astronomer's decree instructed you not to pursue this matter further. Continuing to investigate will not benefit anyone. Why do you insist on investigating?"

"Now that old eunuch has been found, he admits to tattooing the crown prince's double. You know the answer now, but if you continue to investigate, the signs of our Great Qian's prosperity will turn into signs of its downfall!"

Zhou Rui's face turned ashen.

"Does this mean I should pass the throne to an outsider?"

The old Taoist priest remained calm.

"Your Majesty, haven't you already decided to make Consort Yi's son the Crown Prince?"

Zhou Rui's hand trembled slightly.

He only mentioned this matter to Zhou Tiancheng in private, never expecting that the Imperial Observatory would also find out.

He simply stopped talking, wanting to see how the old Taoist priest would persuade him.

The old Taoist priest sighed softly.

"Your Majesty, now that you have investigated this place, in order to prevent the destruction of the Great Qian Dynasty, there are some things I must tell you."

"Have you ever wondered why the double and the crown prince look so alike, even their ages are almost the same, differing by only a few months?"

A bad feeling popped into Zhou Rui's mind, but he forced himself to speak.

"That's a stand-in the Crown Prince found; isn't it normal for them to look alike?"

The old Taoist priest smiled.

"Your Majesty, this is not normal."

"If there were two similar people in the entire Great Qian Dynasty, that would be quite normal, but they weren't found scattered all over the country; they were both born in the same county!"

Is it normal for two people in the same county to look exactly alike?

Zhou Ruiqiang asked, suppressing his fear.

"What do you mean?"

The old Taoist priest sighed.

"Your Majesty, he is also your son."

"We have already sent people to investigate the substitute's past in detail. Back when you were in your fiefdom, when the Empress was pregnant, you had a one-night stand with her younger sister."

"Later, when you entered the capital, the Empress's family was killed by enemies, and her younger sister was not spared either, but the child was saved."

boom!

Zhou Rui felt his mind was in complete chaos!

He felt like the sky had fallen!

One of his illegitimate sons actually killed his eldest legitimate son and took his place!

Is he still able to bring himself to do it now?