"Father, your son has brought someone to see you." Jun Mohan led everyone in bowing to the Emperor and said respectfully with his hands clasped.
"Must I see someone in the middle of the night? Is it not going to be morning tomorrow?"
The Emperor rubbed his forehead, speaking with a headache.
"Father, this person's identity is special, and it's not appropriate for too many people to know." Jun Mohan's purple eyes looked at the Emperor, his expression solemn.
"Oh~"
The Emperor paused upon hearing Jun Mohan's words, his large eyes widening as he scanned the people below. Apart from recognizing the Cold King and his consort, and his two guards, he looked closely at the other two people. Only the old man who was meditating with his eyes closed seemed somewhat familiar. He truly didn't recognize the other old man.
"Father, do you remember Jun Nansheng?" Jun Mohan asked, seeing the Emperor's confused expression.
"Jun Nansheng? He's been dead for over twenty years. Why are you bringing him up?"
The Emperor replied irritably.
"No, Father, Jun Nansheng didn't die back then."
Jun Mohan's statement was shocking.
"He didn't die? Then where is he now?"
The Emperor asked him anxiously.
"Father, this person has been moving around right under our noses, and you've seen him before." Jun Mohan explained.
"I've seen him? Then who is he?"
The Emperor asked sternly.
"Father, he is the Valley Master of Ghost Valley whom you sent to cure my wolf poison more than ten years ago."
Jun Mohan said, looking at Jun Nansheng, who stood beside them with his eyes closed.
"Jun Nansheng is the Valley Master of Ghost Valley? How did you know?" The Emperor asked curiously.
"Father, don't rush. Your son will unravel the mystery for you step by step." Jun Mohan gave the Emperor a faint smile.
Then, he turned to Leng Ruoli and said, "Lier, please do me a favor."
"Okay!"
As soon as the words fell, Leng Ruoli readily agreed to Jun Mohan's request.
Leng Ruoli walked up to the fake Valley Master of Ghost Valley, took out a thin pair of gloves from her sleeve pocket, and carefully examined his facial skin. Then, she used her fingers to probe around below his ears, but she found no flaws on the fake Valley Master's face.
Later, Leng Ruoli pondered for a moment, her eyes darting around. She was delighted and suddenly thought of a method.
Thus, Leng Ruoli took out a unique potion from her wide sleeve pocket. This potion was developed in her previous life specifically for removing makeup and fake human skin masks, and it was very effective.
Immediately, Leng Ruoli quickly uncapped the potion, poured a little onto her palm, and began to smear it on the fake Valley Master's face.
However, Leng Ruoli's action startled the fake Valley Master greatly. He widened his eyes and looked at her.
"What are you doing?" the fake Valley Master asked Leng Ruoli, looking at her with a face full of terror.
He had just been confident that Leng Ruoli wouldn't be able to take off his human skin mask and had been quite pleased with himself. But now, seeing the bottle of slightly pungent transparent potion in Leng Ruoli's hand, he suddenly became flustered.
"What are you afraid of? What I have in my hand is not poison, nor will it ruin your appearance. You don't need to worry."
Leng Ruoli said to him with a cold smile.
"Then don't touch me!"
The fake Valley Master tried to evade Leng Ruoli's hand smearing the potion on his face, but he was immobilized by Jun Mohan's pressure points.
After Leng Ruoli applied the potion to him, about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the human skin mask on his face faded. Leng Ruoli easily tore off his human skin mask, revealing the fake Valley Master's true appearance.
Half of his face was disfigured, but the other half was intact. The Emperor recognized who this person was by looking at his intact half-face.
"Jun Nansheng, so you really weren't burned to death back then?"
After seeing the person's face clearly, the Emperor suddenly stood up from his chair and pointed at Jun Nansheng.
"Yes, Jun Haochen, you wouldn't have thought, would you? Hahaha..."
Jun Nansheng laughed heartily.
"Not only did I not die, but I was also invited to the capital as a distinguished guest, treated as a divine doctor, to cure your second son's wolf poison. Haha..."
"You, you filial villain, you are truly detestable." The Emperor cursed Jun Nansheng angrily.
"That's all because you were too foolish. Who can you blame for that?"
Jun Nansheng retorted immediately.
The Emperor did not want to argue with Jun Nansheng and directly asked.
"Tell me honestly, how did you escape from that great fire back then?"
"Heh, you want to know? Then I'll tell you slowly. After my attempted coup failed, I ran into my mother's palace, wanting to escape the imperial palace with her. But my mother was unwilling to leave the imperial palace where she had lived for nearly twenty years. So, she hid me in a small underground room."
"Then, she killed a eunuch who looked similar to me and made him my double. After that, she set a fierce fire in her palace and self-immolated with tears."
"And I changed into a eunuch's outfit prepared by my mother in the underground room, escaped through another passage from the underground room to the Cold Palace, and then, after many twists and turns, I managed to escape the imperial palace."
Jun Nansheng recounted the events of that year truthfully.
"This matter is all your own doing. If you hadn't implicated your mother with your coup attempt back then, she wouldn't have died." The Emperor retorted furiously.
Instantly, Jun Nansheng was rendered speechless by the Emperor.
Actually, Jun Nansheng also knew that his ambition had caused his mother's death (the late King's Consort Hui), but he was unwilling to accept it. Why should Jun Haochen, who was of the same concubine birth as him, become the crown prince, while he, Jun Nansheng, could not? Therefore, he was unconvinced and would not acknowledge Jun Haochen as emperor.
At this moment, Jun Mohan suddenly interjected:
"Father, Lier and I have retrieved the Imperial Seal from Jun Nansheng. At the same time, during our search for the Imperial Seal, we discovered that Jun Nansheng was leading several thousand rebels stationed in the large mountain valley closest to Sizhuang Manor, constantly plotting to attack the capital soon. However, upon discovering their objective, your son decisively sent Ye Ying and the others to General Leng's camp to summon two thousand reinforcements to encircle and suppress them. We will not leave any of them alive."
"Mm, Han'er, you have done very well in this matter. These rebels must not be allowed to escape and disturb the common people." The Emperor wholeheartedly approved of his actions.
With that said, Leng Ruoli also took out the Imperial Seal, wrapped in a cloth bag, from her wide sleeve and handed it to the Emperor.
The Emperor opened the cloth bag and was stunned after just two glances at the Imperial Seal.
He never expected the Imperial Seal to be found by the Cold King and his consort.
"Jun Nansheng, after so much time has passed, why are you still not giving up on this position?"
The Emperor raised his hand, patted the armrest of the dragon throne, and said to Jun Nansheng.