Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 281 One word saves the child!

The fake emperor wanted to kill the two princes without even asking if they had seen his secret.

No matter how much the two pleaded for mercy, the fake emperor would not soften his heart.

Only the dead can keep secrets.

Just as Father was about to thrust his sword at me, a sound came from the prayer mat.

"I turned my head and saw that the man was struggling. Although he was bound and could not make a sound, he still tried to climb out of the futon, and his face was red from the effort."

His actions attracted the attention of his father, who immediately looked at him and said, "I'm afraid you'll be lonely. How about letting those two keep you company?"

Zhou Wei was horrified when she heard this.

If the Great Zhou Emperor cannot save his two sons, then the eldest and second princes will suffer the same fate as that woman.

After being killed by the fake emperor, he was thrown into a prayer mat.

She really wanted to know how the mute Great Zhou Emperor managed to persuade the fake emperor.

The eldest prince continued, "When Yuejie and I heard what Father Emperor said, we were terrified and cried even louder. But when the man looked at us, his gaze was very gentle."

"For some reason, when I saw his eyes, I suddenly calmed down, stopped crying, and tried my best to comfort Yuejie."

"My father walked towards the man with his sword, muttering to himself. I heard him say, 'No, no, they must die. I hate them, I envy them, do you understand?'"

The eldest princess frowned, pondering the fake emperor's words repeatedly.

Zhou Wei was somewhat surprised, her gaze shifting back and forth between the two princes and Jiang Yueli.

I have gained some insight.

“My father was determined to kill me and Yuejie, so I knew that pleading was useless. I started looking around Hexi Palace, searching for an escape route.”

"At this moment, the man looked at me and shook his head slightly. My father noticed his action, turned around and looked at me and smiled."

He laughed as he said, "There are many interesting things in Hexi Palace, why don't you try running around?"

After the fake emperor said that, how could the two princes dare to make any rash moves?

There are clearly murder traps inside Hexi Palace!

Zhou Wei couldn't help but feel worried for the two of them.

The two children were lucky; they managed to sneak into Hexi Palace without triggering any traps.

No wonder there was no one on duty at Hexi Palace.

"Knowing I couldn't escape, I held Yuejie and prepared to accept my fate."

“We witnessed our father commit murder. How could he, as an emperor, tolerate such a stain? Only by killing us could he be at ease.”

"Just as Father was about to make a move, the man inside the futon made a noise again. When Father looked at him, I saw his lips move, as if he had said a word."

"It was this word, which was only mouthed but not spoken, that made Father Emperor freeze on the spot, and then his face lit up with ecstasy."

Zhou Wei and the princess both became nervous.

A single word that could make the fake emperor ecstatic must be a very important condition for the exchange.

The eldest princess couldn't help but ask, "Brother, did you only see the lip movements?"

The eldest prince nodded: "That man couldn't make a sound, he could only open his mouth slightly. I later thought that what he was saying should be very familiar to Father, so as soon as he opened his mouth to make the shape, Father understood."

"Father's emotions surged. He ignored us, staring intently at the man, and asked, 'You're actually willing to give me that thing? Just for these two bastards?'"

The man nodded, his face expressionless, but the Emperor's mood remained unaffected.

He cheerfully said, "Very well, you are a gentleman. I will keep my promise and spare their lives."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wei became somewhat angry; the fake emperor had clearly played a word game.

He did spare the lives of the two princes, but he made them live like neither human nor ghost!

The Great Zhou Emperor must have known what kind of person the fake emperor was, but he was powerless to do anything about it.

This was the only way he could save his two sons!

"Then the Emperor pulled the rope next to the prayer mat, and soon after, two eunuchs crawled on the ground into Hexi Palace."

"Upon seeing me and Yue Jie, the two men trembled with fear and begged for mercy repeatedly."

"My father said, 'Today I am in a good mood and will not pursue your oversight. Issue an edict: the eldest prince, Jiang Yuechen, is hereby enfeoffed as the Prince of Ling, and will be enfeoffed in Ningzhou; the second prince, Jiang Yuejie, is hereby enfeoffed as the Prince of Nie, and will be enfeoffed in Jiaozhou. They shall depart immediately. Before their departure, no one may see them off, nor may they return to the capital without an imperial edict!'"

This was also the first time the eldest princess had heard the imperial edict ordering the two princes to take up their fiefs.

Only then did I understand why my two elder brothers had left in such a hurry.

Upon hearing the news, she begged her nanny to carry her to the outskirts of the city to see her off. However, when she arrived, the prince's entourage had already vanished.

The two elder brothers were practically kicked out of the capital!

At this moment, the eldest prince let out a long sigh of relief; he had finally finished recounting the old stories of Hexi Palace.

There are still many things he and the Second Prince don't understand about what happened back then.

“Yue Li, over the years, we have never left our fiefdom. We can only hear reports from the officials of the Prince’s Palace about matters in the capital. We have received many letters from you, but every reply is read by the officials of the Prince’s Palace before being sent out.”

"Yuejie and I have many questions in our hearts. We don't understand why our father has changed so much, nor do we understand the identities of the man and woman in Hexi Palace, and we don't understand why our father treats us this way?"

The eldest princess remained silent, considering how to tell her two elder brothers about Tan Lin's speculation.

Zhou Wei then asked the Crown Prince, "Does Your Highness still remember the man's lip movements?"

This is to allow the eldest prince to recreate the scene from the original.

The eldest prince raised his eyes slightly, thought carefully, and after a long while said, "I don't know if I can recreate it. After all, the man's lip movements weren't very big, and Yue Jie and I were also some distance away from him."

Zhou Wei said, "It's alright, Your Highness, please feel free to try. The Second Prince can also try it."

The eldest princess stood up, pulled Zhou Wei aside, and asked, "What can you tell from doing these things?"

Zhou Wei replied with a smile, "Princess, I have studied lip reading. Although I am not proficient, I can basically read the words as long as the person is not cooking with their mouth."

The princess was somewhat surprised that there were actually people in the world who could read lips.

She asked in a low voice, "How did you learn something so amazing?"

Zhou Wei scratched her head. She learned it from shipping couples!

The two princes had never heard of someone who could read lips before, so they tried their best to mouth the shapes according to Zhou Wei's instructions.

Zhou Wei watched for a while, then nodded and said, "Your Highness, please speak normally. I'll observe you."

Everyone has unique lip movements when they speak.

Some people speak clearly and their mouth shapes are very easy to recognize, while others are like encrypted packets, with a big difference between what you see and what you hear.

Fortunately, there were two samples!

With the two princes corroborating each other, Zhou Wei could guess the answer pretty accurately.

When both of their lips were trembling slightly, Zhou Wei finally confirmed it.

The person was probably pronouncing it "yu".

“Princess, as for whether it is jade, fish, rain, or something else, we need to make further identification.”

The eldest princess kept repeating herself as she listened to Zhou Wei's explanation.

Suddenly, she looked down at the jade pendant hanging from her waist.

"I understand. What that person was referring to was jade!"

(Thanks to the adorable little bird feather for the gift king! I'm too busy today, I'll update more tomorrow.)