Song Yanran suddenly slumped to the ground.
She covered her swollen cheek with one hand and remained in a daze for a long time.
She was completely stunned by this sudden slap.
After a moment, she looked at the Prince of Song in disbelief, frowned and asked, "Father, why did you hit me?"
The Prince of Song was furious, his body trembling with rage as he roared, "Song Yanran, I never thought you could be so cruel! A Yu is your own younger sister! How could you lay a hand on her!"
On his way to the palace, he had learned from the palace servants what had happened in the Golden Luan Hall that day.
Hearing this, Song Yanran shook her head repeatedly. "No, she's not my sister! She's an imposter! Father, look at her carefully! She's really not Song Qingyu! She was sent by the Crown Prince to impersonate her!"
The Prince of Song snorted coldly. "Even now, you still refuse to repent! You're hopeless!"
Then, he bowed to the Emperor and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, it's my failure to educate my daughter well. I beg Your Majesty for forgiveness!"
The Emperor lifted his eyelids slightly and gave the Prince of Song a cold look.
Then, he pointed at Ruan Jiu standing in the hall and asked, "Are you sure? Is she really Song Qingyu?"
The Prince of Song nodded vigorously, his words sincere. "Your Majesty, A Yu is my daughter. I would never mistake her!"
"Father!" Song Yanran shouted, still looking utterly incredulous. "She's clearly not Song Qingyu. Why do you recognize her? You're deceiving the Emperor by doing this!"
The Prince of Song glared at Song Yanran fiercely and roared, "I think you've gone mad! Can't I tell whether she's Song Qingyu or not?!"
At these words, Song Yanran went limp and slumped to the ground.
She instantly realized that her father was determined to recognize Song Qingyu!
Ruan Jiu, standing nearby, saw Song Yanran's lost and dejected look. A sneer involuntarily appeared on her lips.
Yes, of course the Prince of Song knew whether she was really Song Qingyu or not.
Song Yanran would never have thought that as soon as she was summoned to the palace, Ruan Jiu had already anticipated what would happen and informed the Prince of Song.
One was a concubine's daughter already despised by the royal family, while the other was the legitimate daughter who could help the Prince's Mansion maintain its glory. Any sensible person would know which one to choose.
Moreover, if the Prince of Song were to publicly admit that she was a fake Song Qingyu, it would be tantamount to telling everyone that the Crown Prince had indeed committed the crime of deceiving the Emperor.
Would the Emperor spare the Prince of Song's Mansion afterwards?
Song Yanran was too naive, thinking that blood kinship was her last straw.
What she didn't know was that on the very first day Ruan Jiu entered the Prince of Song's Mansion, she had already understood that both Song Yanran and Song Qingyu were nothing more than pawns for the Prince of Song to maintain the glory of his mansion.
Now that Song Yanran was of no use, whether the Song Qingyu in the Golden Luan Hall was real or fake, the Prince of Song had no choice but to recognize her. He had no way out.
In the end, this farce ended with Song Yanran being sent to the Music Bureau.
In the long years to come, Song Yanran would have to spend the rest of her life in darkness.
Both Song Yanran and the Queen had paid a heavy price for their wrongdoings.
The only thing that made Ruan Jiu feel regretful was that once again, Gu Kexing had managed to escape.
However, she always believed that everything that happened left a trace.
She didn't believe that Gu Kexing would always be so lucky!
-
The autumn rain was continuous. The dense dark clouds had hung overhead for half a month without dispersing.
Perhaps it was because of the overhanging clouds that Ruan Jiu always felt restless.
It was too quiet!
More than three months had passed since what happened in the Golden Luan Hall last time.
But during this period, the capital had been unusually quiet, eerily so.
In order to prevent people from gossiping about the true and false Song Qingyu, Ruan Jiu had to stay in the Prince of Song's Mansion.
But it wouldn't be long. As soon as the weather turned cold, she could use the excuse of Song Qingyu's old illness flaring up to completely get rid of the identity of Song Qingyu.
Just as Ruan Jiu was lying on the table in a daze, Xie Jingchu suddenly walked over slowly, holding a delicate box in his hand.
"Why are you here?" Ruan Jiu looked up and exclaimed.
The moment she saw Xie Jingchu, the annoyance in her heart dissipated a lot.
Xie Jingchu placed the box on the table.
He knew that Ruan Jiu had disliked rainy days since childhood, so he had specially searched for some strange and interesting things to make her happy.
However, Ruan Jiu didn't rush to open the box.
On her delicate little face, the eyebrows that had just relaxed knitted together again.
"Do you have something on your mind?" Xie Jingchu frowned and asked.
Then he reached out his finger and gently touched Ruan Jiu's eyebrows, trying to smooth out the worry on her face.
Ruan Jiu pursed her lips and nodded. "A Jing, don't you think the Prime Minister's Mansion has been too quiet recently?"
After hearing this, Xie Jingchu frowned tightly.
These days, he had always sent people to keep a close eye on the Prime Minister's Mansion.
But they had found no abnormalities about Gu Kexing.
However, this was exactly what was most suspicious.
Previously, when Gu Kexing was placed under house arrest by the Emperor, he had been eager to contact the court officials to plead for mercy for him.
But this time, Gu Kexing had stayed obediently in the mansion. Except for Xiao Qi who had visited him when he was first placed under house arrest, no one else had been to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Xie Jingchu said in a deep voice, "I also think Gu Kexing is a bit abnormal."
Suddenly, as if Ruan Jiu had thought of something, her eyes flashed.
"A Jing, tell Qin Yuan to secretly sneak into the Prime Minister's Mansion and find the Prime Minister's wife. Ask her if there's anything abnormal about Gu Kexing recently." Ruan Jiu said.
She had almost forgotten that Cui Jin was still in the Prime Minister's Mansion.
With Cui Jin's ability, if there was really something wrong with Gu Kexing, Cui Jin must know.
But with her current identity, she couldn't go directly to meet Cui Jin.
After thinking for a while, Ruan Jiu added, "Tell Qin Yuan that when he sees the Prime Minister's wife, he just needs to say the word 'Tan Er'."
After all, Cui Jin was cautious. If Qin Yuan went rashly, Cui Jin might not tell the truth.
Tan Er was Cui Jin's dead son. Presumably, after hearing this, Cui Jin would guess that Qin Yuan was sent by her.
After hearing this, Xie Jingchu immediately told Qin Yuan to go to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
But even as the sky gradually darkened, Qin Yuan still hadn't returned.
This made Ruan Jiu feel even more anxious.
She paced back and forth in the room restlessly.
At this time, Xie Jingchu also frowned tightly.
Qin Yuan's martial arts were not weak. He shouldn't have taken so long to come back.
Had something really happened to him?
Just as Xie Jingchu was about to gather the other secret guards to investigate, there was a sudden noise at the courtyard gate.
Xie Jingchu stared intently and saw Qin Yuan staggering in.
But as soon as he entered the door, a strong smell of blood filled the room.
When Qin Yuan got closer, they found that his lips were pale and there was no trace of color on his face.
His black clothes were covered in sticky blood, which was shocking.
Xie Jingchu exclaimed, "What happened to you?"
Qin Yuan forced himself to hold on, his brows tightly furrowed.
"The Prime Minister's wife has been locked up in the dungeon by Gu Kexing!"