The male supporting character was actually myself.

Shangguan Xuanyu bowed and then turned back to hold Shen Qingluan's hand, saying affectionately, "Thank you for your unwavering love for me. No matter what, please take good care of our child, don't let him know who his father is, and don't make things difficult for your brother by causing him to commit treason."

All the sins were caused by me, but it's you and the child who have suffered..."

"No! I don't want to!" Shen Qingluan suddenly burst into a shrill cry, rushed over and hugged Shangguan Xuanyu, then turned to look at Jiang Chen and said, word by word, "Brother, if you're going to kill Ayu, please kill us too! It would be good if the three of us could die together!"

The fluffy ball couldn't help but rub its forehead with its paws. "As expected, I can't escape the protagonist's halo. But it seems that this will save the host a lot of trouble. Please stop them quickly. I don't like this kind of tearful and sentimental drama anymore."

Jiang Chen looked at the two people who were still defending each other with a serious expression. His lips twitched, and he finally sighed and turned to close the study door.

"Qingluan, now that you have a child, you should take care of your health. How can you be so emotional and sit on the cold ground?" He stepped forward and helped his sister up, gently brushing the dust off her body.

Shen Qingluan cried uncontrollably, "I'm sorry, brother, I know this is wrong, but... but I..."

“I know, you don’t need to say anything.” He patted the other’s shoulder to comfort him, “Don’t cry, be careful not to hurt yourself. When I discussed this matter with him before, I didn’t call the guards over directly because I didn’t want to make a scene and embarrass you.”

Now that you even have a child, how can I bear to separate you two in life and death, and leave the child without a father at such a young age?

Jiang Chen turned around and helped Shangguan Xuanyu, who was kneeling on the ground, up. He said helplessly, "I originally wanted to let you die knowing the truth, and report to the outside world that you died suddenly from an illness to save face for my sister."

But man proposes, God disposes... Oh well, since Heaven hasn't forsaken you, how can I bear to watch my flesh and blood be torn apart?

"Brother, do you want to let me go back to Yong'an?" Shangguan Xuanyu stood up and asked softly.

He waved his hand, feigning a worried expression, and sighed while pinching his brow, saying, "Let me think about it first. I need to think carefully about how to handle this properly."

Jiang Chen leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and fell into deep thought.

Qingluan was still sobbing softly, and Shangguan Xuanyu stood beside her, holding her hand tightly to comfort her.

“If left unchecked, you will not escape death whether you stay in Southern Qi or return to Yong'an.” After a long while, Jiang Chen suddenly opened his eyes and said in a solemn tone, “Since the other party has decided to betray you for profit, he will never allow you to live.”

Whether it's hunting you down, using public opinion to force you to your death, or even dragging me into this to gain greater benefits, he's capable of anything.

Therefore, neither Southern Qi nor Yong'an offered Shangguan Xuanyu a way out.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingluan asked anxiously, "Then what should we do? He is my husband and the father of my child; you are my only relative and my closest brother. I don't want either of you to be in danger! Brother, what should we do?"

Understanding the implied meaning, Shangguan Xuanyu bowed and said, "In that case, from now on I am no longer Shangguan Xuanyu. Who I am is entirely up to my brother."

Chapter 33: Exploring the truth

"My business has sixteen branches in Yong'an," Jiang Chen said after a moment of silence. "I used my business, which has amassed wealth from all over the world, to throw out a lure, and sure enough, I reaped a great harvest."

Some people are willing to trade classified information for a share of the profits.

Using money to pave the way naturally makes it easier to uncover secrets or even plant spies.

From this day forward, you will no longer be Shangguan Xuanyu, but Jian Songnan. I will send you back to Yong'an safely. Only there can you avenge your family and achieve great things. Once you have achieved fame and success and no longer need to worry about the safety of your wife and children, I will not stop Qingluan and the children from going to Yong'an with you.

But before that, you cannot stay in Southern Qi lest you be used and dragged into this mess; moreover, you cannot take the pregnant Qingluan on an adventure, putting her in danger.

Are you willing to accept this arrangement?

Shangguan Xuanyu bowed deeply, "Jian Songnan thanks you for your thoughtful consideration, brother!"

"Then...wouldn't it be dangerous to send him back to Yong'an?" Shen Qingluan clutched a handkerchief in her hand, full of worry. "Who betrayed this information to you, brother? If this matter is really spread around, won't you be implicated?"

Jiang Chen smiled faintly and waved his hand, saying, "You should calm down and take good care of your health now. I'll take care of the rest. Don't worry."

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, brother." Shen Qingluan stood up, bowed, and looked at Shangguan Xuanyu with reluctance, saying gently, "Just listen to your brother's arrangements. I will take good care of myself and the child. You don't need to worry about anything. We'll wait for you to come back."

Before today, Shangguan Xuanyu was moved by the gentle embrace of the courtesan and gave her some sincerity, but he never expected that Qingluan would be pregnant with his child, and that the Regent would be willing to take a risky move for his sister.

Only then did he finally relax and, regarding Qingluan as his lifelong wife, he replied with all his tenderness, "Don't worry, just focus on getting better and don't worry about anything else."

I promise you, one day I will be your pillar of support! Then the three of us will be reunited, I can watch him grow up happily, and we will have many more lovely children to grow old with!

After the two embraced tightly, Shen Qingluan left the study.

"Miss, what happened?" Honglian hurriedly came forward to help her up, and whispered, "The prince's face was very frightening just now, and he wouldn't let anyone near the study. Did you two have a fight?"

Shen Qingluan, clutching a handkerchief, glanced back at the study with its door tightly shut, shook her head, and gestured for her to follow her out.

As she walked, she pondered whether her words and actions had been inappropriate. She hoped that the child would serve as a bond and truly hold Shangguan Xuanyu's heart; she also hoped that her brother could make proper arrangements.

If Shangguan Xuanyu really reaches a point where he cannot be protected, for the sake of his brother, the Regent Prince, and for the sake of his own position as Princess Ning Le, he will have no choice but to reluctantly give her up.

Fortunately, the Princess's Mansion has now been established independently. If Shangguan Xuanyu cannot be protected, she can only use the method her brother had previously considered: claim that her husband has died of illness and that she will wait until she gives birth to a child before following the example of the princess of the previous dynasty. In all the world, how many talented men can she not find who are pleasing to the eye?

There are many good men in the world. As long as my brother's position is secure, I have the freedom to choose. It's not that I have to choose Shangguan Xuanyu!

After seeing his sister off, Jiang Chen closed the study door again, turned around and returned to his desk with a very serious expression.

"These are the answers you want to know." He took out some organized documents from the locked box and placed them on the table, indicating that Shangguan Xuanyu could look at them himself.

"Thank you, brother!" Shangguan Xuanyu quickly stepped forward and flipped through a thick stack of papers to find the pages he was most concerned about.

Shangguan Yuntao, the deputy director of the Imperial City Guard, was in charge of many affairs in the capital. Therefore, after the conflict broke out between the two armies during the internal strife, the First Division did have the responsibility to dispatch relevant personnel to stop and coordinate the situation. However, the matter was not serious enough to require the director to personally lead a team to the scene.

The intelligence report clearly stated that a dispute had broken out between the First Patrol Battalion and the Third Detachment of the Imperial Guards, but the fighting had not yet started when Shangguan Yuntao arrived with his elite troops.

"This is illogical!" Shangguan Xuanyu scanned the text at a glance, his expression growing increasingly grave. "There must be more to this than meets the eye! Although the patrol battalion and the Imperial Guard are both formidable fighters, it's only one battalion against one squad. There's absolutely no need for Father to personally intervene!"

The emperor has been assassinated; he has far more important matters to attend to. Why should he concern himself with such a trivial dispute?

Jiang Chen nodded and said in a deep voice, "Moreover, it was just a minor dispute that didn't escalate into a full-blown fight, only a probing conflict. There's definitely something strange about this."

From the intelligence I've gathered, it's clear that since Emperor An's assassination, your father has had so many things to do that he doesn't even have time to go home. Why would he take time out of his busy schedule to deal with two groups of people fighting?

Logically speaking, it would have been more reasonable to dispatch cavalry from the three divisions of the Imperial City Guard to suppress such a minor incident.

"Unless someone orders Father to go, or..."

"Or perhaps someone is plotting to harm him, so they've given a false military report to make your father believe the situation is extremely urgent and that only he, leading the elite troops, can quell it. Or perhaps the Third Division is making excuses to avoid going?"

Shangguan Xuanyu stared coldly at the words on the paper and said slowly and deliberately, "Whether it's issuing an order, reporting false military intelligence, or passing the buck from one department to another, there must be a crucial person in charge of the process."

“Huang Xiuqi, the head of the Imperial City Guard.” Jiang Chen handed over another stack of papers. “It is obvious that, whether from intelligence or from the current political situation in Yong’an Kingdom, he has probably long harbored murderous intentions towards you and your son.”

"I've already seen that. After secretly killing my father with a hail of arrows, I was still receiving his 'handwritten letters' in the Southern Qi Kingdom. It was truly a meticulously planned scheme. It's laughable that our whole family has been living in a deception for so many years. My parents probably didn't even know it until their deaths!"

Mentioning this matter, Shangguan Xuanyu gritted his teeth and his hands trembled slightly, "Huang Xiuqi, I will definitely grind him to dust with my own hands!"

Turn to the next page, which records what happened at the Shangguan residence.

After Shangguan Yuntao's tragic death, Huang Xiuqi, citing the need to maintain stability, ordered the Shangguan family to bury him immediately without holding a funeral procession. Shangguan's wife was grief-stricken and indignant. Meanwhile, three officials who were close to Shangguan Yuntao came to the mansion, determined to seek justice for their colleague, and stationed elite troops there.

Shangguan Yuntao's body was still being held in the Imperial City morgue, and could not be taken away until his wife agreed to bury him immediately.

With the two sides locked in a stalemate, the purge of Shangguan's residence was not carried out in a timely manner.

Instead, Huang Xiuqi waited until the Crown Prince's condition was stable and he was certain that the Crown Prince was safe and able to seize power before ordering the massacre of the Shangguan residence.

This incident involves a large number of people. In addition to the three organizers of the Imperial City Guard who were protecting the widows of their colleagues, Huang Xiuqi, the Second Prince, and the Sixth Prince's men were also implicated.

"Huang Xiuqi and the Crown Prince's faction naturally wanted to kill the lady;

The heads of the Second, Sixth, and Seventh Divisions all wanted to protect their wives;

The second prince wanted to gain the support of the three organizers, so he joined forces with them to fight against them.

The sixth prince, though the weakest among them, was able to mobilize many martial arts figures, including some who harbored grudges against your father and several organizers, and were attempting to take advantage of the chaos.

Chapter Thirty-Four: There is Absolutely No Possibility of Failure

Jiang Chen pointed to another intelligence report from the same time and explained, "On the day the Shangguan residence was massacred, there was a fierce battle in the bamboo forest outside the city."

According to my analysis, the events should have unfolded as follows: The forces of the Second, Sixth, and Seventh Offices, along with the Second Prince's men, were lured away by the Crown Prince's faction, resulting in a chaotic battle primarily taking place in the bamboo forest, with some smaller skirmishes occurring on the streets of Kyoto.

Meanwhile, the large force protecting the lady was forced to be lured away from the mountain, and in the end, only a few ordinary guards were left who could not withstand the attack of the Jianghu people under the Sixth Prince. The entire mansion was strangled to death and the body was hung under the eaves as a warning and a show of bravado.

In retrospect, this flamboyant approach completely contradicted Huang Xiuqi's original plan.

“That’s right.” Shangguan Xuanyu said softly, suppressing his grief, “Given his cautious nature, he likes to plan ahead and keep everything under his control.”

Since Huang Xiuqi had been planning to kill our entire family to silence us for a long time, he must have had a corresponding plan, otherwise there wouldn't have been so many illogical and unusual things happening in my house.

To be honest, my trusted aide, Ah San, once traveled a thousand miles to the capital of Yong'an to investigate the situation. At that time, the weather in Yong'an was still cold. He observed that the people killed in the mansion had been dead for about one or two days. There was also a 'last will' left in the hall, written in my mother's voice, saying that she was heartbroken by her husband's death and wanted to be buried with the entire mansion.

I suspect this is Huang Xiuqi's attempt to salvage the situation by orchestrating the deaths of the entire household, but someone is still secretly obstructing him.

The little white cat didn't witness this part firsthand; it only heard Huang Xiuqi say in private that he wanted to get rid of the Shangguan family. When it went to see what was happening, the entire family had already been strangled to death. So, the little white cat mistakenly believed that Huang Xiuqi was responsible for the strangulation.

Based on the currently gathered classified intelligence, it is inferred that the murder, leaving a suicide note, and arson were not committed by the same group of people.

Jiang Chen thought carefully and analyzed, "Huang Xiuqi has always been cautious in his actions. He didn't allow his wife to have a funeral in order to keep the news of Lord Shangguan's death a secret and prevent you from finding out and causing further complications. Since the entire household has been killed, he could easily find any excuse to announce his wife's death, such as returning home to pay respects to his ancestors or going out to recuperate from an illness. There's no need for him to write a will and announce his wife's death under the pretext of being buried alive with her."

In this way, news of Lord Shangguan's death will still spread beyond the capital.

On the contrary, the act of setting fire seemed more like an attempt to escalate the situation and spread the news through the mouths of Kyoto residents and merchants.

Therefore, the Imperial Guards were on high alert and did not allow anyone to approach the Shangguan Mansion. However, Huang Xiuqi knew that he could only keep it a secret for a while. He learned that you and Qingluan had become husband and wife and was worried that you would take the opportunity to retaliate. That's why he sold all your secrets to me in exchange for a three-tenths profit from the branch of the business.

I only have one younger sister, Qingluan, whom I raised from childhood. I spared no expense to buy information related to her. I originally intended to give you poisoned wine after you learned the details of my family... but now I can only plan for the future.

Now that you already knew, what are your plans?

"My father's remains should still be under the guard of the Imperial City Guard; my mother was killed by the outlaws under the Sixth Prince; and I was betrayed by Huang Xiuqi for personal gain." Shangguan Xuanyu took a deep breath and cupped his hands, saying, "I need to go back and investigate all the truths one by one, and make everyone pay the price they deserve!"

Before returning to Yong'an under the alias Jian Songnan, I must first contact General Nanmu.

He was the only survivor of a small village massacred by Japanese pirates. When my father first entered the Imperial City Guard and was not yet a high-ranking official, he was on his way to suppress the bandits and rescued him, taking him in and raising him for several years. Later, General Nanmu worked hard, entered the martial arts world, passed the martial arts examination, and went to the border, eventually achieving this glory.

I heard that after the internal strife in Yong'an, General Nanmu remained neutral, standing apart from all other forces.

If he still cherishes our past relationship, he should lend me a hand!

The fluffy dumpling yawned and lazily said with drooping eyelids, "Host, you have to be careful that the protagonist doesn't get tricked. He could have stayed out of trouble and ruled his own territory. If he really followed him, it would be exhausting and he might not even be rewarded. Who would be so stupid?"

“Since we have General Nanmu, it would be more appropriate to try to act as an inside agent.” Jiang Chen frowned slightly, looked at his handsome face, and shook his head. “Your face is too recognizable. As soon as you enter the capital, you will be detected by the undercover agents.”

Why don't I have someone disguise you and put on a human skin mask to change your appearance so you can infiltrate Yong'an Kyoto and investigate the truth?

Incidentally, we must also eliminate the Imperial City Guard's spy network infiltrating Southern Qi in one fell swoop to prevent leaks.

Since your enemies are among the most powerful forces in the current dynasty, perhaps you could consider using the intelligence I bought to stir up trouble first and then take advantage of the chaos to seek revenge.

As for the detailed plan, you will naturally formulate it yourself. At that time, you can contact me promptly from any branch of the business. If you need any assistance, just let me know.

For Qingluan's and the child's future, I hope you can avenge them and resolve their worries. No need for titles or honors, just a safe return to reunite them with their child, free from hatred and crisis, so they can enjoy family life together.

Shangguan Xuanyu rose and bowed again, "Thank you for your great help, brother!"

Without delay, Jiang Chen immediately summoned his subordinates to disguise him, and at the same time, he had someone spread the word that Young Master Yu, who had been married to the princess for less than half a year, had suddenly fallen seriously ill and was bedridden.