Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"If that's the case, then Lu Chen is His Majesty's eldest son, the undisputed choice for Crown Prince."

Shen Xuan remained silent for a moment,

"But why, after all these years, has His Majesty not brought him to the capital?"

"When His Majesty entered the capital to inherit the throne, he began to engage in various power struggles with important officials such as Yang Tinghe even before entering the capital."

It was three years later when Yang Tinghe was dismissed; a lot could happen in that long period.

Gao Mingqian smiled and said,

"The Lu family manor in Chengtian Prefecture is not the imperial palace after all. What exactly happened to this woman who was favored by the Prince of Xing in these three years is unknown to us."

It is indeed possible for her to elope with someone before Xianhuai, thus escaping the control of the Lu family.

If such a thing were to happen, Lu Song would naturally not dare to report the matter truthfully to the Emperor.

If the emperor has already forgotten about this matter, he will probably pretend not to know and not mention it.

If the emperor asked, he could say that the woman had not conceived and had even died of illness.

The matter was naturally dropped.

Years later, the Lu family may have found the woman again and discovered that she had successfully given birth to a baby boy.

It is even possible that this woman, after her child had grown up, risked everything to find the Lu family for her son's future.

Given the Lu family's loyalty to the Emperor, it is quite possible that they will report this matter to the Emperor truthfully.

Although His Majesty will be furious, upon learning that he already has an eldest son, he will surely be overjoyed and forgive the Lu family.

This timeframe should be after the death of Crown Prince Ai Chong.

At this point, the emperor had already believed the nonsense of Tao Zhongwen, that old Taoist priest, about "two dragons never meeting."

The Emperor would certainly cherish this eldest son greatly and would naturally not dare to meet him.

But if he were summoned to the capital to assume the position of Crown Prince, no matter how distant we were, how could we completely prevent the two dragons from meeting?

It would be better to let the Lu family continue to take care of him. Anyway, Lu Chen has been living among the common people for many years. What difference does it make whether he is recognized by his ancestors sooner or later?

If our guess is true, Lu Chen probably doesn't know his true identity either.

His trip from Chengtian Prefecture to the capital was actually to visit Lu Song, who was seriously ill.

Upon learning that Lu Chen was on his way to the capital, His Majesty naturally ordered Lord Lu Bing to send men to intercept him immediately!

"The fact that the Assistant Magistrate hastily dispatched Yuan Xun south to intercept Lu Chen undoubtedly indicates that he must have a reason to prevent Lu Chen from appearing in the capital."

To avoid a "two dragons meeting," that is indeed one possibility.

However, this matter is so bizarre that, while it's possible, I feel it's not very likely.

After taking a moment to process what he had just said,

"My lord, I still believe that Lu Chen is a close relative of the Lu family, and it is even more likely that he is a descendant of Lord Lu Song who lives outside the family."

Although the urgent dispatch of men south to intercept them seemed strange, what official family doesn't have its secrets?

"Commander Shen, I've been saying 'what if' the worst-case scenario."

Gao Mingqian smiled slightly.

"If this 'what if' is true, it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us!"

What was the status of the Lu family before the Emperor entered the capital to inherit the throne?

Lu Song was merely a guard commander in the residence of a prince. Before he went to his fiefdom with Emperor Xian, his official position in the Embroidered Uniform Guard was actually the same as yours, a sixth-rank centurion.

However, we have all witnessed the Lu family's meteoric rise after they followed the Emperor to the capital!

Lu Song, who had just passed away, had already risen to the rank of Assistant Commander of the Rear Army, a second-rank official, assisting in the administration of the capital garrison and concurrently in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

This is a high-ranking official of the second rank!

Do you know who the other two people held the titles of Assistant Commander of the Beijing Garrison and concurrently in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Prince Consort Cui Yuan and Marquis of Wuding Guo Xun!

Lu Song's two sons, Lu Bing and Lu Wei, are younger than you!

However, the eldest son, Lu Bing, had already risen from the rank of Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the rank of Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, just one step away from taking control of the entire Embroidered Uniform Guard.

My second son, Lu Wei, is already a fifth-rank commander of the Imperial Guard at a young age, the same rank as me.

Although we are both commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I would never dare to treat him as an equal if we actually met!

Besides the Lu family, countless other former officials of the Xingwang Mansion have also risen to prominence.

Yuan Zonggao, the chief secretary of the Prince of Xing's residence, first served as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel after following the emperor into the capital. Later, he was promoted to Minister of Rites and concurrently served as a Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, entering the cabinet to participate in state affairs and becoming a cabinet minister.

The "father" of Lu Chen on this appointment letter, Lu Kun, was just a steward in the Lu family back then.

In reality, he was just a servant of the Lu family. Yet, this servant became a seventh-rank Jinyiwei captain and even obtained the right to inherit the position!

The former members of the Xingwang Mansion can be aptly described as having risen to prominence even among their chickens and dogs.

Although the possibility of Lu Chen being the eldest son of the emperor is very small, if it is true, the opportunity for the former officials of the Prince of Xing's Mansion is right in front of us!

I know you enjoy gambling in your spare time, so you must be familiar with the rules of gambling dens.

If we exclude cheating, to win at betting, all you need to consider is probability and odds.

Take Sic Bo as an example. When gamblers bet on big or small, or odd or even, the house doesn't actually have much of an advantage. The only advantage they get is occasionally a triple that wins them all. Otherwise, it's basically a 50/50 split between winning and losing.

Therefore, the odds can only be 1 to 1.

However, betting on a single number, or even a triple, is a completely different story.

Although the probability of winning is extremely low, the odds can be tens or even hundreds of times higher!

We can completely view the fact that Lu Chen is indeed the eldest prince as a gamble on a winning hand!