Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 518

Chapter 518: Chapter 515: Difficult Steps_1

He speculated that perhaps the dissemination of this letter was the doing of the Ninth Prince of Yan, aiming to stir chaos in the royal court of Dadu City.

He intended to use this letter to subdue the Left Prime Minister, Li Mao, gaining the leverage to contend with the Crown Prince.

But the Ninth Prince of Yan did not know that Li Mao was originally His Second Imperial Brother’s man. Although he had not openly stated his allegiance now, he was secretly His Second Imperial Brother’s person.

Even so, King Liang still expressed his sincere gratitude to the Ninth Prince of Yan.

King Liang sat on the soft couch by the window, repeatedly reading the letter. He could not help but recall that His Second Imperial Brother once told Du Zhiwei that Li Mao was a man of duplicity and smooth-talking. To use him, one had to wield both kindness and sternness to firmly grasp Li Mao’s weakness.

Previously, King Liang had always wondered how His Second Imperial Brother had held Li Mao’s weakness. It seemed it must have been Li Mao’s handwritten letters.

He believed that the handwritten letters Li Mao gave to His Second Imperial Brother must not be limited to this one. There must be more lethal ones. But where were those letters?

King Liang thought of Du Zhiwei again. If Du Zhiwei were here, things wouldn’t be so difficult for him.

King Liang stared at the flickering candle flame in the glass lamp, then looked down at the letter in his hand. He rubbed it with his thumb for a moment and suddenly called out, "Hongqiao!"

Hongqiao responded and entered, bowing to King Liang from behind the screen, "Your Highness!"

"Come here..." After making up his mind, King Liang gazed at Hongqiao, who walked around the screen to bow, "Hongqiao, now in my court, you are the only one I can trust!"

Hongqiao’s eyes reddened upon hearing this, and hurriedly knelt before King Liang, "If Your Highness has an order, Hongqiao will do her utmost to fulfill it, even if it means dying without a proper burial!"

"I was just reminiscing about Du Zhiwei and Tongji... I have lost them, Hongqiao. You must not fall into trouble as well!" King Liang spoke.

Hongqiao hurriedly kowtowed, her throat choking up so much that she couldn’t utter a word.

King Liang handed the letter to Hongqiao, "I will imitate the handwriting. Do you have confidence in making the new letter look old and identical?"

Hongqiao touched the letter paper and sniffed its scent, then nodded, "I cannot guarantee it to be exactly identical, but I’ll achieve at least eighty percent similarity!"

"Eighty percent is enough! Go find the same type of paper. I will write it, and you make it look old." King Liang asked again, "How long will it take?"

Hongqiao carefully examined the letter paper, then said, "At least three hours."

"Good! Get to it!"

·

Left Prime Minister Li Mao did not sleep all night. Early in the morning, dressed in official attire, he took the letter the steward had handed him last night to the palace. He sought an audience with the Emperor before the morning court session, nervously presenting the letter.

"Your Majesty knows! When I noticed Second Prince’s actions were suspicious, yet had no solid evidence, I had no choice but to join his faction to probe further. Who knew that by the time I realized the Second Prince intended to rebel, it was too late. Thanks to my quick reaction, I managed to save you in time! However, this letter... I do not know whose hands it fell into, for it has been widely circulated in Dadu City, causing me great fear," Li Mao said as he knelt and bowed to the Emperor.