CHAPTER 2026: CHAPTER 2028: THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE LUO FAMILY AND THE IMPERIAL FAMILY

Ye Zi’an carefully put the gold bar back into the secret cabinet and said, "The Luo Family has ancestral treasures that everyone knows about, but what exactly its purpose is, only the clan chief knows. It’s not necessarily true that every clan chief of the Luo Family knows the secret inside, but the Old Master of the Luo Family is definitely one who doesn’t know this secret."

"I still don’t quite understand. Why would the ancestral Emperor entrust this thing to the Luo Family to safeguard? Isn’t it something that should be managed by the clan chief of the Baili Clan?"

"There’s something you probably haven’t heard of," Ye Zi’an said solemnly. "The Luo Family and the Baili Family are actually of the same branch; the two ancestors were brothers, just that one took the mother’s surname and one took the father’s surname. Historical records state the ancestral brothers were five in total, born of the same mother, and among them, the fifth went missing at age four and was never found afterward. In fact, this fifth sibling is the ancestor of the Luo Family."

"No way!" Yang Chuxia wiped off sweat. "The imperial family’s secrets are really numerous. But how do you know this?"

"Naturally, it’s been investigated," Ye Zi’an replied. "This matter is already known by the imperial family, so returning it to the Luo Family is impossible. The secret decree will sooner or later be reclaimed by the imperial family, but the other two secrets shouldn’t come to light. Unless one day the situation in Great Zhou becomes uncontrollable and foreign iron riders threaten to invade, only then can it be brought out."

"I’ve already thought it through; if I don’t secure a good future for Qingqing, I’ll leave this thing in her care. Today, I discuss this with my wife because I don’t want us to end up like the two ancestral Emperors of the imperial family. Every time they spoke, they couldn’t finish before dying, leaving future generations oblivious."

"Nonsense!" Yang Chuxia glared at him, "The two of us will definitely live to be ancient spirits. I still want to become an old witch."

"Haha, my wife is right."

"But Brother An, I think don’t wait for the Emperor to reclaim this thing; you should proactively return it. With this secret decree here, whoever becomes Emperor might not sleep soundly."

Just think about it, Baili Yan has over a dozen brothers, with a few major ones deposed, and still many younger ones. If one day the younger ones become restless and use what’s in Ye Zi’an’s hands to challenge Baili Yan, it would cause another turmoil.

"Yes, my wife is right in reminding me. Tomorrow I’ll deliver it back to him; it’s likely he wants to reclaim it too."

"Ah, I think in the history of dynasties, Great Zhou might be the one with the most coups. Almost every Emperor’s accession is tumultuous, always resulting in deaths."

"The succession from old dynasties to new is just like that. But the conflicts between imperial sons in Great Zhou are too overt, whereas other dynasties have fiercer covert battles. Let’s go upstairs."

Back in the room, they heard Lele speaking outside, and Ye Zi’an went out and told him about the events in court that day.

Lele, being sensitive, said, "Father, you should quickly take this thing to Uncle Shaoling, and you need to explain why you said you hadn’t seen this thing when Uncle Shaoling came looking."

"That’s easy to explain!" Ye Zi’an laughed, "Back then, neither Uncle Shaoling nor your cousin knew they were looking for the gold bar, only that the treasure of the Luo Family was taken out. I will tell your cousin that it wasn’t until the Grand Emperor came that I realized the gold bar was actually a secret decree. Who would have thought this gold bar would be the treasure? I just assumed it was your grandmother leaving it for me to spend."