"Hmph. Someone carrying twins is bound to give birth prematurely, and her belly will be much larger than that of an ordinary pregnant woman. Even if you bribed the imperial physicians and silenced all the midwives and palace maids who helped with the delivery, the entire Imperial Palace was filled with the Former Emperor's informants. Did you really think you could hide it from him?"
The Empress Dowager's face turned even paler.
She had done all that. She... how could Su Qiao know?
Could it be... could it be that the Former Emperor had truly known about it all along?
Then why... why had he never exposed her?
"The Former Emperor was kindhearted. He couldn't bear to kill his own child, so he turned a blind eye and pretended not to know."
"But he had secretly watched this child all along. After discovering that the child possessed both excellent character and ability, and after one Prince after another died at Jin Moli's hands, he issued an Imperial Decree passing the throne to this child—his true third son, Jin Canghan."
The first half of what Su Qiao had said was true. The second half was false.
The Empress Dowager finally collapsed to the ground, while Jin Moli refused to believe any of this nonsense.
"Impossible! What evidence do you have?"
"Father has already passed away. Your wild claims are completely meaningless."
Su Qiao turned around, took a rectangular wooden box from Jin Canghan's hands, and opened it. She took out the Imperial Decree and a white jade seal that she had prepared long ago.
"An Imperial Decree personally written by the Former Emperor, and the private jade seal he never let out of his possession while he was alive. Do these count as evidence?"
Su Qiao handed the Imperial Decree and