Zhang Tianlun stared blankly at Ning Chen.

"Ning Chen, if I hadn't set out to keep you down back then, would you really have served me with everything you had?"

Ning Chen gave a small nod. "Yes. If you'd needed me, I'd have served you the way I served Father Emperor... And if you hadn't needed me, I'd have taken Father Emperor and Huai'an and the others off to see the world."

Zhang Tianlun smiled bitterly. "So my jealousy of anyone with talent did me in."

Ning Chen shook his head. "That's only part of it. There are plenty of reasons you lost."

Zhang Tianlun asked, "Such as?"

Ning Chen thought for a moment. "Such as this: you could never be a ruler as wise and kind as Father Emperor.

You're like most emperors through the ages, cold-blooded and suspicious by nature. What you've always wanted is obedient fools, not capable ministers.

Most of all, your ability was never equal to your ambition. You thought you were clever, and you never even noticed someone was leading you by the nose the whole time."

Zhang Tianlun frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ning Chen's tone was flat. "Looks like you never suspected Zong Sibo for a moment. Back then he was framed by the former Left Chancellor, Chang Chengyun. His family was murdered on the way home. Only he was left, too old to father any more children. The Zong family line was finished.

He hated Chang Chengyun, but Chang Chengyun was dead... So he turned that hatred on Father Emperor, the man who'd banished him from the capital.

He set out to destroy the Great Xuan and bury the whole realm alongside his family.

That's why every idea he gave you was rotten, and every general he recommended was a worthless piece of trash.

And when he later advised you to flee to the eastern frontier, that was because Yunniang was pregnant. Once he had an heir, he had something to live for, and he didn't want to die anymore."

Zhang Tianlun went rigid. It was a long time before…