Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Would a high-ranking official of the imperial court admit his mistake even to the emperor?

Or is it that my face looks remarkably like the Jiajing Emperor?!

Yup!

Lu Chen suddenly realized that the answer to the question of his true identity as "Lu Chen," which had been troubling him for months since arriving in Linqing, was about to be revealed!

Why would Gao Mingqian fawn over him so much, not only giving him a luxury house but also putting his and his trusted subordinates' nephews and nieces under his command?

Over the past few months, have you fully cooperated with any requests you've made?

This person was a fifth-rank Jinyiwei commander and had served in the capital, so it was possible that he had met the Jiajing Emperor.

The reason he went to such lengths to curry favor with him was not because of the relationship between the real "Lu Chen" and Lu Bing, but because he looked like the emperor!

What about Sun Dexiu from the Eastern Depot?

Lu Chen always thought that back in Wadian Town, he hadn't met Yuan Xun yet, and hadn't even received the appointment letter personally written by Lu Bing.

At that time, "Lu Chen" was just a concubine's son of the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) commander who had received a letter from his father who was seriously ill and went to the capital to take care of his father. He had not even obtained the identity of the Jinyiwei commander yet.

Such a person is not worth the attention of the Eastern Depot.

But if my face really looked like the Jiajing Emperor, then it would be a completely different story.

When Sun Dexiu suddenly came to his aid after Ma Sankui's death, he had no choice but to pick up a long knife and prepare to deal with the gambling den thugs himself. This was not necessarily a case of helping someone in need.

As a eunuch of the Eastern Depot, Sun Dexiu had the possibility of having met the emperor.

If he had ever met the Jiajing Emperor, he would never have allowed himself to die in that casino.

He was unaware that he possessed telekinesis as a trump card, so he could only save himself first.

If it were just that one time in Wadian Town, it could really be considered a simple act of bravery. But not long after, Sun Dexiu was also transferred to Linqing to take up a post, which is just too much of a coincidence!

The probability of two coincidences occurring simultaneously is not added together, but multiplied!

The probability is really low.

If it weren't for what happened today, Lu Chen could barely believe it was a coincidence, because he really couldn't think of any reason why the other party would do this deliberately.

If my face could make Xie Pi, a third-ranked scholar, mistake me for the Jiajing Emperor, that would be entirely different.

Sun Dexiu was transferred by the Eastern Depot to work in Linqing, and it was all for his own benefit!

However, neither Gao Mingqian nor Sun Dexiu harbored any ill will towards him; they were merely trying to establish a good relationship with him.

Besides them, did anyone else in the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot know that they looked like the Jiajing Emperor?

After I took up my post as the captain of the Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Office in Linqing, Lu Bing never sent anyone to contact me, not even a single letter.

Clearly, Lu Bing was unaware of this!

Yuan Xun probably had never met the Jiajing Emperor, so he didn't notice anything wrong with his face, and he wouldn't have mentioned it when he reported back to Lu Bing in the capital.

Judging from Lu Bing's attitude towards "Lu Chen", the real "Lu Chen" is likely a relative of the Lu family, or even Lu Song's illegitimate son.

Lu Bing probably never imagined that "Lu Chen" would have a face that looks so much like the Jiajing Emperor!

His idea wasn't wrong, because he wasn't the real "Lu Chen" at all!

Even this body that I possessed is not it!

Lu Chen's travel guide was found in that shady shop, which was quite far from the mountainous area where he woke up after transmigrating.

Lu Chen remembered clearly that it took him three days to get into the black shop. He would walk downstream along the stream and wouldn't turn back.

No matter how difficult the mountain road is, you can still travel at least dozens of kilometers in three days, and it's possible to travel over a hundred kilometers.

Even if the real "Lu Chen" managed to escape from the black market, he couldn't possibly have run this far, and it just so happens to be the same path he took.

However, in Gao Mingqian's eyes, it was different.

Lu Chen arrived at the Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Office in Linqing with an appointment letter personally written by Lu Bing. He also had a face that looked very much like the Jiajing Emperor. How could Gao Mingqian possibly think that Lu Bing would be completely unaware of this?

Although two people who are completely unrelated in the world may look very similar, "Lu Chen" is a member of the Lu family!

The Lu family were close advisors to the Jiajing Emperor when he was still a prince. They had served the Prince of Xing, Zhu Youyuan, since he was enfeoffed. Lu Bing's mother was also the wet nurse of the Prince of Xing's heir.

The Lu family has plenty of opportunities to get close to Prince Xing and his heir. Women from the Lu family may also be favored by Prince Xing or his heir.

How could Gao Mingqian not have doubts when a member of the Lu family looked so much like the Jiajing Emperor?

Even though he had a lot of questions, he didn't dare to ask Lu Bing!

Are matters involving the secrets of the imperial family something that can be inquired about casually?

Pretending to be confused is the best course of action.

However, Gao Mingqian did not want to miss this rare opportunity to establish a connection with the royal family.

Therefore, he chose to pretend to be confused while spending a lot of money to please and flatter himself.

In his eyes, Lu Chen was probably either the son of Prince Xingxian or the son of Emperor Jiajing himself.

Either way, he won't lose money on this investment.

What about the Eastern Depot?

Lu Chen thought about it carefully and realized that Sun Dexiu was probably not the only one who looked like the Jiajing Emperor.

Sun Dexiu was just a head of the Eastern Depot, at most equivalent to a centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a position much lower than Gao Mingqian's.

He was not able to transfer himself to a post in Linqing.

There must have been high-ranking officials from the Eastern Depot involved behind Sun Dexiu.

Is this high-ranking official of the Eastern Depot the head of the Eastern Depot, the supervising eunuch?

It shouldn't be!

Although I haven't found out who the current head eunuch of the Eastern Depot is, this position is usually held concurrently by the eunuch in charge of writing or even the eunuch in charge of the seal of office of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Occasionally there are exceptions, but these are usually held concurrently by eunuchs from the Imperial Horse Administration, which is second only to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Although these chief eunuchs each had their own problems, they were generally extremely loyal to the emperor.

Moreover, since they had almost reached the pinnacle of achievement that eunuchs could attain, there was no need for them to hide it from the emperor.

Lu Chen was certain that the Jiajing Emperor himself knew nothing about this matter!

Otherwise, he would never have been able to enjoy a carefree life in Linqing for half a year.

Given this, behind Sun Dexiu could only be a high-ranking official of the Eastern Depot who had not yet reached the top, such as several deputies under the supervising eunuch, such as the Eastern Depot's chief executioner, deputy chief executioner, and chief execution officer.

Only these people would have a reason to secretly conceal this matter and let Sun Dexiu quietly start his own affair.

The true identity of "Lu Chen" in their eyes should be similar to what Gao Mingqian thinks, and sooner or later he will return to the royal family.

Lu Chen looked at Xie Pi and Xie Gen, who were still kneeling.

Gao Mingqian and Sun Dexiu at least thought that they looked like the emperor and believed that they were the sons or brothers of the Jiajing Emperor.

But Xie Pi actually identified himself as the Jiajing Emperor and knelt down on the spot!

This is a huge misunderstanding! How should this be resolved?!