Chapter 95: Where is my father buried? I shall go offer a stick of incense.

Wu Ning shifted his body, his limbs aching from lying still for so long, and began to tell his "Ugly Uncle" what he had deduced.

"At first, I thought our family had simply fallen victim to some underworld vendetta, having offended some powerful bandit clan. I’ve seen enough of that sort of thing..." (Well, in movies and on television, anyway.)

"But then I realized, that doesn't fit. Bandits wouldn't possess the profound, scholarly brilliance of my uncle. That meant it had to be the result of struggles within the imperial court."

"When Princess Taiping arrived in Fangzhou, I realized I had underestimated you once again, Uncle." He looked at the man. "To have the Princess’s own fellow disciple guard you for over five years—what level of official would possess that kind of influence?"

"Moreover, given the connections of Meng Cangsheng and the old Daoist Xiao—figures who can practically whisper into the Emperor’s ear—why would they only protect our lives, yet remain unable to help clear our names or resolve the trouble?"

"It can only mean that the offense you committed, or the enemy we face, is something even Daoist Xiao cannot settle."

"And later, this afternoon, I discovered that even Princess Taiping herself seems to have some sort of connection to you." Wu Ning looked at his uncle with undisguised admiration. "My dear uncle, just how vast was your background in the past?"

"From this afternoon until now, I have carefully reviewed every piece of court intrigue, every secret of the capital, and every piece of gossip you’ve taught me over the years while explaining the arts of statecraft."

"And guess what? I found something fascinating."

"Among all those court secrets—from low-level clerks in the Six Ministries to high-ranking ministers, from corrupt officials to virtuous ones, from imperial relatives to palace concubines—there is one name missing from all the stories!"

At this point, Wu Ning’s expression grew cold, and he enunciated each word clearly: "He-lan-min-zhi!"

...

"It seems only the He-lan-min-zhi of the past could have caused Princess Taiping to feel such suspicion over a single poem. And only the case of Minzhi, which shook the Great Tang, could have reduced you to the state you are in today."

"So..." Wu Ning propped himself up, his face earnest. "So now, I really don't want to know anything else. You can call me a coward, a man who lives a hollow life, or an ungrateful wretch—I’ll accept it all!"

"I am just begging you, don't tell me anything. Isn't it fine for us to just live our lives in peace? Why bring up the past and invite disaster?"

"Uncle, I don't want to know anything anymore. I’m small-hearted; I can’t bear a grudge this heavy, nor can I overturn a verdict this monumental!"

Ugly Uncle: "..."

Currently, the uncle was beyond shocked; he was devastated. He never expected Wu Ning to have uncovered the truth from such meager clues, nor did he expect to hear such words.

Live life in peace?

In peace! Live life...

He never thought ten years of grooming would result in nothing more than a plea for a "peaceful life"!

He stood up slowly, his clenched fists trembling, his pale complexion flushing a deep, angry crimson.

"You... you are unworthy of being a son!" He turned as if to storm out of the room; he could not accept Wu Ning’s stance.

"Uncle!" Just as he was about to step through the doorway, Wu Ning called him back.

"I’m sorry. I... I am merely an ordinary man. I truly cannot carry such a heavy burden."

"But..." Wu Ning paused. "I still want to confirm one thing."

"Confirm what?"

Wu Ning asked, "Are you truly He-lan-min-zhi, or... am I the son of He-lan-min-zhi?"

"Or perhaps, are you He-lan-min-zhi, and I am his son? Are we not uncle and nephew, but father and son?"

To Wu Ning, this seemed entirely possible. To hide one’s identity, passing a son off as a nephew was common enough. He asked this because, based on his limited historical knowledge and what he had heard of He-lan-min-zhi, it seemed the man never had a nephew.

When these words reached the uncle’s ears, he laughed, turning back from the doorway. He looked at Wu Ning with utter disdain. "Do you think I would be your father?"

Wu Ning pursed his lips, thinking to himself that his guess seemed spot-on. "It seems that is the only possibility, doesn't it?"

"Hahahaha! I am not your father! And I could never have sired an unfilial descendant like you!" He sat back down on the edge of the kang.

"I can tell you: I am He-lan-min-zhi! The He-lan-min-zhi who committed incest with his grandmother, raped Yang Youyi, and committed a multitude of evils!"

"Would you dare to have a father like that?"

"Pfft." To his surprise, Wu Ning didn't take it seriously at all. "Don't be ridiculous. Most of those stories are probably fake, right?"

Incest with his grandmother... How to put it? He-lan-min-zhi's grandmother, the biological mother of Empress Wu Zetian, lived to be ninety-two.

Ninety-two! And how old was He-lan-min-zhi? When the old lady died, he was exactly twenty-one.

Even if he had been engaging in scandalous affairs since he was fifteen, the grandmother would have been eighty-six at the time. Setting aside the question of whether his uncle had such peculiar tastes, the old lady’s stamina would have had to be incredible. Who would be that desperate at ninety? It was entirely illogical.

As for the candidate for the Crown Princess—the Yang woman—Wu Ning also felt it was unlikely. First, she was the woman the late Crown Prince Li Hong had set his sights on. No matter how mad He-lan-min-zhi was, he surely had that much political sense? That was the future Emperor. You’d fight him for a woman? Even if you were the adopted son of Wu Zetian, Li Hong would kill you even if you were the biological son of the Three Pure Ones.

Second, the woman’s father was no ordinary man; he was Yang Sijian, a Chancellor of the realm. He-lan-min-zhi would have been in deep trouble with him long before Li Hong even ascended the throne.

Third, and most importantly: the Yang woman eventually married He-lan-min-zhi, and by all accounts, they lived quite happily. She remained faithful to his memory to this day, refusing to remarry. Furthermore, notice this: the incident caused no stir at the time. No one held him accountable. It was only years later, when they were determined to find him guilty, that it was dug up.

As for the embezzlement of the grandmother’s funeral funds—aside from Wu Zetian and the officials who handled it, no one had the authority to say what was true. But one had to ask: was He-lan-min-zhi short on money? Why would he embezzle?

What was his status back then? The He-lan clan had been a prominent, noble family since the Eastern Wei period. Even if his father had fallen on hard times, he had married a powerful woman. His mother was Wu Zetian’s own sister; his sister was a mistress of the Emperor Gaozong; he himself was the Duke of Zhou and a scholar of the Hongwen Academy, bestowed with the surname "Wu," and was Wu Zetian's hand-picked successor.

With such an illustrious position, would he really lack the money for a funeral? Besides, according to the official narrative, he was in an illicit relationship with the grandmother! He would embezzle money for the funeral of his own lover? It made no sense.

"Uncle!" Wu Ning decided to lay his cards on the table. "Don't try to hook me with these stories. Just tell me: if you aren't my father, then who is?"

"Hahahaha!" The uncle laughed loudly.

"Your father?"

"Your father is already dead!"

"Dead is fine. Just tell me who he was and where he is buried. I’ll go offer some incense to fulfill my filial duty, and we can stop talking about grudges and the like."

"Filial duty?" The uncle laughed even harder, his expression turning slightly cruel. "Your father is buried on Mount Liang in Binzhou. Go ahead and offer your incense!"

Mount Liang in Binzhou? Wasn't that the Mount Liang of Xianyang in the future?

Wait. Something was wrong. Wu Ning felt a jolt of panic.

"Isn't there only one tomb on Mount Liang? There is only one Qian..."

"!!!!"

Wu Ning was dumbfounded, staring at his uncle, He-lan-min-zhi, as if he had seen a ghost.

Only one tomb on Mount Liang in Binzhou...

"Gao... Gao..."

"Gaozong..."

"Qianling!"