Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 265 The Candidate for the Fake Emperor!

Tan Lin's words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky!

Can he deduce the identity of the fake emperor?

Zhou Wei and Jiang Yueli, no matter how many extravagant hopes they had, never thought about this possibility.

After all, the fake emperor seemed to have appeared out of thin air, without a single clue.

Tan Lin, however, said that he might be able to deduce the person's identity.

Simply shocking!

Even the eldest princess looked at Tan Lin as if he were a god.

For the first time in her life, Jiang Yueli experienced the difference between the geniuses of this blessed land and ordinary people!

The profound heritage of this blessed land with a thousand-year history is not just empty talk.

Tan Lin, nurtured by the thousand-year-old orthodox tradition of Zhengshan Academy, is like a monument, standing there and inspiring awe in ordinary people.

Zhou Wei was amazed that such a remarkable person would willingly serve as a staff member for Wang Shu, a fence-sitter, for so many years.

I wonder what kind of expression Lord Wang would have if he knew how formidable Tan Lin was?

Seeing that Zhou Wei and the Princess remained silent for a long time, Tan Lin couldn't help but chuckle.

“Princess, Zhou Dianjun’s statement is merely speculation and may not be the truth. There’s no need to be so surprised.”

Zhou Wei showed no flattery whatsoever: "Of course we should be surprised! Even if your guess isn't the truth, you're still much better than us."

"Neither the princess nor I had any clue about the fake emperor's identity."

The eldest princess also sighed, "Mr. Tan has truly wasted his talents by staying by Wang Shu's side all these years."

Tan Lin waved his hand, "It's not that bad. The princess and Zhou Dianjun are both very intelligent. If they could study at Zhengshan Academy, they might not be any worse than me."

Zhou Wei burst into laughter, praising Tan Lin for being so modest.

The subject Tan Lin studied requires extremely strong logical reasoning ability, and such people are often also very talented in mathematics.

Therefore, Tan Lin played chess extremely well.

The eldest princess also has this talent, but Zhou Wei certainly doesn't.

She's never been good at math since she was little; and when it comes to math, you can't fake it at all.

At that moment, Jiang Zao's voice came from outside.

"Princess, the courtyard has been cleaned. Huo Diancheng is going to invite the two princes over. Please give your instructions."

The eldest princess said, "There's no need for my two elder brothers to come. I will go there myself in a little while."

Jiang Zao received the instructions and immediately went to inform Huo Shan.

Huo Shan felt annoyed after hearing this.

If the eldest princess is going to see the eldest and second princes, then they need to make arrangements for the venue.

This will require a lot of work, which is much more troublesome than having the two princes come directly to the Princess's courtyard.

Huo Shan sighed and could only hurry up and make the arrangements.

Now that the steward is dead, things are in a bit of chaos in the manor, so Huo Shan can only work with a few military advisors to take over the situation.

Once the noise outside subsided, the princess turned to look at Tan Lin.

"What matters concerning the Great Zhou royal family do you wish to know, Mr. Tan? I will answer any questions you may have."

Tan Lin did not ask questions immediately, but instead began to analyze the Great Zhou Emperor.

"Princess, Zhou Dianjun, what kind of person do you think could completely imitate someone's life?"

Zhou Wei has a wide range of interests in this area.

After all, in the world she lived in, information came from a wide range of sources.

"Aside from twins who are born identical, people who are related by blood may have some similarities, which can be concealed with makeup."

"But if they are two completely different people, then we can only use disguise techniques."

Tan Lin nodded. "What Zhou Dianjun said is not only about appearance, but also about behavior and manners."

"To completely imitate a person's words and actions, one must be very familiar with that person."

"If you're not spending every day together, then you have to build up that relationship over time. The longer you know each other, the more familiar you become."

Tan Lin's words provided a line of thought.

The fake emperor not only had to deal with the concubines in the harem, but also with the court officials.

The concubines in the harem needed close contact, so the fake emperor could reduce his visits to the harem by claiming he was busy with state affairs.

But as the emperor, he could not skip court.

If one's words and actions differ greatly from those of the Great Zhou Emperor, it will inevitably arouse suspicion.

A thought flashed through Zhou Wei's mind: "So Mr. Tan means that the person who can switch identities with the Great Zhou Emperor must be extremely familiar with him, and may have spent a lot of time with him or known him for a long time!"

The eldest princess added, "Not only that! As the emperor, Father is very wary of outsiders. Anyone who can make him lower his guard must be someone he absolutely trusts."

This further narrows down the scope.

Before Jiang Zhou became emperor, he lived a very hard life, and almost all of his family members died in the war.

His experience of seizing power can be seen as a replica of that of Zhu Yuanzhang.

It was only through the influence of Consort Rong's family that they were able to obtain military resources.

Consort Rong was deeply in love with Jiang Zhou, and Jiang Zhou had promised her the position of Empress.

After Jiang Zhou consolidated his power, he did not break his promise and truly honored Consort Rong as Empress!

Unfortunately, when the fake emperor later ascended the throne, he not only deposed Consort Rong but also forbade anyone in the palace to mention her name again.

As time passed, the people serving in the palace changed batch after batch, and many people didn't even know that Consort Rong, the former empress, existed.

Even the old men in the palace referred to her only as Consort Rong.

Tan Lin then asked, "Does the princess have someone in mind who meets the criteria?"

The princess remained silent, her mind flashing with images of countless people.

After a long pause, he said, "When my father was conquering the world, he had no brothers to help him. Consort Rong's family was the same; there were no outstanding men to take the lead, which gave my father the opportunity."

"Therefore, both the Jiang clan and Consort Rong's clan can be excluded."

Tan Lin nodded, agreeing with the Princess's analysis.

Jiang Yueli continued, "Aside from those with kinship ties, the only people who can gain the absolute trust of the Emperor and spend every day with him are the civil and military officials who fought alongside him to conquer the country."

"Among them, two stand out the most. When the situation in the world was unclear, Father Emperor even thought of becoming sworn brothers with these two."

The story sounded familiar, and two names popped into Zhou Wei's mind.

"The princess isn't referring to Miss Ning's father, Prime Minister Ning, or that scholar Xie Pengju from the North, is she?"

Zhou Wei had heard the Princess mention these two people's lives when she helped Ning He escape from Lu Zhiyan's control.

When the Great Zhou Emperor was conquering the world, Prime Minister Ning and Minister Xie were practically his right-hand men.

The two were known as the Two Worthies of the Great Zhou Dynasty. During the time when heroes vied for power, it was because of the two of them that the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty was able to ascend to the throne!

Unfortunately, their circumstances were very different.

After Ning Xiangguo was appointed Left Prime Minister, Xie Pengju was executed along with his entire family by order of the Great Zhou Emperor for colluding with the Great Chu in a treasonous act.

Xie Yuan, the only son of the Xie family, was secretly protected by Prime Minister Ning at the risk of exterminating his entire clan!

If the princess was referring to these two people, then that would be rather absurd.

Jiang Yueli knew that what she said was somewhat inappropriate, so she shook her head and said, "I can only think of these two people. However, Prime Minister Ning is a bit older. Although he no longer attends court, he has not retired to his hometown. He still occasionally attends banquets hosted by nobles, appearing to be enjoying his retirement."

"As for Xie Pengju, that's even more impossible! More than a decade ago, the entire Xie family was executed."

Upon hearing Jiang Yueli's words, Tan Lin's eyes suddenly lit up.

His gaze was fixed intently on the eldest princess!