Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"Let me think about it some more."

To Sun Dexiu's surprise, Huang Jin did not make a decision immediately.

"According to your deduction, it was Wang who secretly concealed from Lu Song the fact that Lu Chen was the offspring of Emperor Xian."

In other words, Lu Song never knew until his death that the illegitimate son he had raised in Chengtian Prefecture under the name of Lu Kun's illegitimate son was actually a prince.

Of the four people who knew the truth back then, Wang, Lu Kun, and Lu Song have all passed away, leaving only "Madam Yousheng" still alive.

However, due to Wang's concealment, "Madam Yousheng" and Lu Song both believed that the boy born to Wang was Lu Song's illegitimate child.

Now that they have ruled out the possibility that Lu Chen is the offspring of Emperor Xian, there is no need to tell the Lu brothers, Lu Bing and Lu Wei, about the secrets of that year.

The only thing Lu Song asked Lu Bing to do before he died was to take care of his half-brother.

Lu Bing was unaware that "Madam Yousheng" had also been involved in the events of that year.

Therefore, he was worried that Lu Chen's arrival in the capital might displease his mother or even harm his half-brother.

Rather than making things difficult for Lu Chen after he arrives in the capital, it would be better to assign him a moderate position and find him a lucrative post far from the capital.

In this way, Lu Song's dying wish was fulfilled, his half-brother was taken care of, and "Lady Yousheng" was prevented from meeting Lu Chen.

Do you know what this means?

Now, the only two people in the world who know that Lu Chen is of the Xian Emperor's bloodline and the current emperor's own brother are you and me!

"Eunuch Huang, what are your plans?"

Sun Dexiu sensed something unusual in Huang Jin's words.

"You must have read quite a few books in the palace since you were a child, so you must be familiar with the idiom 'a rare commodity is worth hoarding,' right?"

After a moment of silence, Huang Jin finally spoke.

"Oh, you mean...?!"

Upon hearing Huang Jin's words, Sun Dexiu was greatly surprised.

"Keep this matter a secret, neither informing the Ancestor nor reporting it directly to the Emperor?"

It's not that I'm overthinking things, but the truth will eventually come out!

The Lu Chen of today is no longer living in seclusion in the countryside of Chengtian Prefecture with his mother, Wang Shi.

Although it is still unknown where Lu Bing has placed him, as a seventh-rank Jinyiwei captain, he will inevitably have to deal with officials.

Lu Chen's face was so similar to the Emperor's that no official who had seen the Emperor's face up close could fail to recognize him.

Even if he were to hold a post outside the capital, it would only be a matter of time before he was recognized.

"Do you think that many officials outside the capital have seen the Emperor's true face?"

Huang Jin chuckled softly.

"It was inevitable that Lu Chen would be found to look very much like the Emperor, but I don't think that day will come anytime soon."

Even in the capital, apart from us palace officials who had more opportunities to see the emperor up close, those outside the capital who had the opportunity to meet the emperor were mainly high-ranking officials, close ministers of the emperor, nobles, and relatives of the emperor.

Even if low-ranking officials attended the grand court assembly, they were still very far from the emperor and could not possibly see his face clearly.

Even among the successful candidates in the imperial examination, only the top three—the first-ranked scholar, the second-ranked scholar, and the third-ranked scholar—had the opportunity to meet the emperor up close. The closest others could get was a few dozen steps away from the emperor.

At such a distance, it would be impossible to see the emperor's true face.

Lu Chen was serving in another region, and was only a minor seventh-rank Jinyiwei captain.

Do you think he had more opportunities to meet with high-ranking officials, close advisors, nobles, and relatives of the emperor, or with civil officials who were top-ranking graduates in the imperial examinations?