Chapter 826: Joys and Sorrows Are Not Shared

"Crown Prince, you are still young after all, and there is too much you cannot see clearly," the Beili Emperor said in a deep voice.

Everyone in the royal court knew how to wear a mask; their so-called inconsolable grief was nothing but an act!

Sang Qi fell silent in thought.

"Your Majesty, Old Master Zhan has arrived," an attendant announced.

"Send him in."

Shortly after, Zhan Yi entered the Imperial Study. He wore plain clothes and sported a head of stark white hair.

"Zhan Yi pays his respects to Your Majesty." He knelt to bow, but the air above him remained dead silent. He didn’t dare to move a muscle.

It wasn’t until several minutes later that a heavy voice finally echoed in his ears. "Zhan Yi, how has your granddaughter been lately?"

Zhan Yi paused, momentarily stunned. Recovering his wits, he replied, "Your Majesty, Zhan Chi has yet to marry. Where would the Zhan family get a granddaughter?"

"Heh. Zhan Yi, it has only been ten years, and you have already forgotten that child entirely?" the Beili Emperor asked.

Only then did Zhan Yi realize who the Beili Emperor was talking about. He looked up, his eyes filled with shock. "Your Majesty, that child passed away ten years ago."

"Ten years. What a fine ten years. Zhan Yi, do not tell me you didn’t know she was still alive." The Beili Emperor’s sharp eyes fixed on him in a dead stare.

Zhan Yi froze again. A deep mix of shock and joy surged into his eyes, and their rims turned instantly red. His voice trembled in disbelief. "What did you just say, Your Majesty?"

The Beili Emperor did not answer, keeping his gaze locked on the old man.

"Your Majesty, what did you just say?" Zhan Yi pressed eagerly, shuffling forward on his knees as if wanting to hear it more clearly.

The Beili Emperor took in his expression and raised his hand slightly. "Show him the letter."

Zhan Yi turned to look at the other people in the room. "What letter? Who wrote it..."

Sang Qi stood up and handed over the letter in his hand.

Zhan Yi grabbed it. As his eyes scanned its contents, he could no longer hold back his tears of excitement. He choked out a sob. "She is still alive... she’s still alive... Crown Prince, she’s still alive..."

At this moment, Zhan Yi wept tears of joy. Ten years of waiting had finally culminated in a confirmed piece of news. His granddaughter had returned, and she was right there in Dayu City.

Prime Minister Gao and the others stared at Zhan Yi as he wept, clutching the letter. They couldn’t help but wonder if he truly hadn’t known.

"Your Majesty, she has returned! Look, she has returned!" Zhan Yi was so overjoyed and agitated that he forgot a simple truth: human joys and sorrows are never truly shared.

The Beili Emperor furrowed his brows deeply. "Did you really not know?"

The heavy voice snapped Zhan Yi back to reality. Clutching the letter, he raised a sleeve to wipe his tears. "Your Majesty," he said hoarsely, "back then, she lay in the General’s manor for two days. Even you sent people to examine her body several times. On the day she was taken out of the city, a Daoist carried her corpse away right in the middle of the street. My wife was so heartbroken that she fell ill and has never fully recovered, and Elder Gu went completely mad—to this day, he cannot even recognize anyone. How could we have possibly known she was still alive?"

The Beili Emperor thought of Elder Gu. The man had indeed lost his mind starting that very year. Did they truly not know? He still didn’t believe it.

"If you didn’t know beforehand, then how is it that Gu Shuo, Zhan Chi, Chen Rentian, Qian Fanji, and the Eighth Prince all gathered in Dayu City at the exact same time?" Prime Minister Gao didn’t believe it for a second.

"Gu Shuo does business with Nanyuan, and Elder Chen has been living in seclusion in Dayu City all these years. They get together every year, so what is so strange about that? As for why the Eighth Prince is in Dayu City, you can just ask him yourself when he returns," Zhan Yi retorted with a cold, dismissive glance.

Prime Minister Gao momentarily choked on his words, letting out a resentful, cold harrumph.

"Imperial Father, from what I can see, the Zhan family truly didn’t know about this," Sang Qi said. "Their simultaneous gathering in Dayu City is very likely just a coincidence."

"Since when are there so many coincidences in this world?" Prime Minister Gao muttered coldly.