Some of the noble ladies who recognized the situation knelt down on the ground bravely and kowtowed. "Your Majesty, I'm not quite clear about the truth... But this woman is indeed the personal maid of the former princess, who used to be the legitimate daughter of the Peng family."
The woman immediately said, "Your Majesty, every word I say is true. Originally, I would never dare to disclose such a private matter even if it rotted in my stomach. But now I'm really forced into a corner. If the heir apparent just wanted my life, that would be fine. But I have children. I have to think about them. That's why I tried every means to stop your carriage... Your Majesty, actually, I would never dare to talk about this matter randomly with others. I'm afraid it might..."
If she were to complain about this matter elsewhere, she might be disposed of before it even reached the imperial presence.
The queen asked in a deep voice, "You said that the heir apparent is not the prince's biological son. Do you have any solid evidence?"
The woman added, "If we calculate the time of pregnancy, the heir apparent was born on August 22nd. And at the time of conception, the prince had been in the palace accompanying Your Majesty and never returned to the mansion."
The queen squinted her eyes, thought for a while, and shook her head. "No, Chen'er was born after seven months."
The woman shook her head desperately. "Everyone says that the heir apparent was a premature baby, but I know clearly that he was a full - term baby!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was in an uproar.
Another lady, who was quick - tongued, couldn't help but say, "Back then, the former princess had a premature birth. It was said that she was stimulated by the concubine..."
Gu Liyue cast a sharp look at her. The lady shivered and quickly lowered her head. Only after lowering her head did she realize later that Gu Liyue was just a young girl. Why should she be afraid?
But when she raised her head again in defiance, Gu Liyue was no longer looking at her. And since everyone was staring at the woman kneeling on the ground, she felt embarrassed to speak again.
The queen calculated for a while, thought seriously, and then looked up in surprise. "Your Majesty, if we calculate it as a full - term baby, it was at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter of the previous year. That year, you were seriously ill, and all the affairs in the court were handled by the Prince of Liang. He rarely returned to the mansion."
"Oh?" The emperor looked at the woman kneeling on the ground and asked again, "Since you've known this for a long time, why did you only speak out now?"
The woman said pitifully, "I... I've always been in fear and uneasiness after knowing the truth. But after all, I served the princess since childhood. I... I had some selfish motives, so... I'm guilty. Please punish me, Your Majesty. But please spare my husband and children. They don't know anything, absolutely nothing!"
The emperor's indifferent expression gradually turned into anger. It was a long time before he asked again, "You said that the heir apparent is not the son of the Prince of Liang. Then... who is his biological father?"
The woman obviously had a well - thought - out plan. She slowly raised her head and said word by word, "I know. That person... is Xu Nian, the descendant of the Xu family."
Many people present gasped. Gu Liyue was a bit stunned. The Xu family? She had never heard of any noble family named Xu in the capital.
"Xu Nian! You mean he wasn't dead at that time?"
The woman lowered her head. "That's right, Your Majesty. I know that after the Xu family committed a crime, Xu Nian bribed a tenant farmer to die for him. And with the help of the princess, he escaped. In the following two years, the princess kept him in the manor of her dowry and often went to visit him. They never stopped their contact."
The emperor asked, "Is Xu Nian still alive?"
The woman said, "I don't know. But as far as I know, after the princess passed away, all the manors were in the hands of the heir apparent and were managed by special people."
The emperor was silent for a while and said to Gu Junyan beside him, "Junyan, take this woman and send her to the Supreme Court for custody. Wait until the truth is found out before dealing with her. Someone, go and search all the manors of Lu Jinchen. Be sure to find Xu Nian. If he's dead, bring back his bones. If he's alive... I only want the living person!"
He stood up, scanned the crowd, and then said, "This matter has not been finalized yet. If anyone spreads rumors! Where are Gu Zhongxian... and Gu Qingren?"
Gu Junzhe quickly replied, "Your Majesty, there was an accident on the cliff. Uncle led people there."
The emperor nodded and pointed at Gu Junzhe. "Then I'll leave this matter to you. If anyone spreads rumors and despises the royal dignity, you can handle it as you see fit."
The two brothers, Gu Junyan, quickly frowned and said, "Your servant obeys the order."
The emperor and the queen got on the carriage. Everyone quickly knelt down to see them off. Then someone stepped forward and whispered something to the emperor. The emperor paused, then looked back in the direction of the Gu family.
But all the male members of the Gu family were not there. Only the female members were left. He couldn't even find a person in charge.
It was the queen who spoke up. "Your Majesty, your health is of utmost importance. Why don't you return to the palace first? I'll go and find Gu Zhongxian to ask about Yunxi's situation."
The emperor had been anxious for days. There were blisters on the corner of his mouth, and a lot of his hair at the temples had turned white. He frowned for a long time before reaching out to pat the queen's arm. "I'll leave it to you."
Gu Liyue got on the carriage with the old lady. When they got home, all the female members of the family sat together, looking at each other. The men had all gone to take care of things. They couldn't help at all and could only wait.
I don't know how long they waited. Gu Liyue couldn't help but ask carefully, "Grandmother, who is the Xu family?"
Jiang raised her eyebrows and said, "I know something about this. The Princess of Peng and I were both the legitimate eldest daughters of noble families when we were young. We had a good relationship. The head of the Xu family was the former Minister of Works. But later, he committed a crime and was reported to the emperor. The whole family was beheaded and exiled. Xu Nian was the legitimate son of the minister and was also on the list of those to be beheaded. Moreover, the Peng family and the Xu family were in - laws. The Princess of Peng and Xu Nian grew up together since childhood... They also grew up with the Prince of Liang."
"As far as I know, Xu Nian always admired the Princess of Peng. Before the princess was selected, she once told me that she was troubled by such feelings. But the person she always liked in her heart was the Prince of Liang, who was decisive in action and only cared about the court affairs. I don't think what Tongling said is true. If the Princess of Liang had an affair with Xu Nian, she wouldn't have responded to the selection back then, let alone agreed to the marriage with the Prince of Liang."
Qin was silent for a long time before asking, "The Prince of Liang... was fully devoted to the court affairs. Could it be that because the princess was neglected by the Prince of Liang, she..."
"She is definitely not such a person." Jiang blurted out. Then she calmed down, shook her head, and said, "I know her. She wouldn't do such a thing. She would rather be broken than be whole. If her heart was cold, she would either get a divorce or... she would never do such a thing."
Everyone fell into silence again. These words were useless. The person was already dead. Could they dig her out of the ground to ask clearly? And just at this time, there was no news about the Prince of Liang and the heir apparent.
Finally, the old lady made the final decision. "That's enough. His Majesty has said that we are not allowed to discuss this matter. And he has handed this case over to the Gu family to handle. This is His Majesty's trust in the Gu family. We should set an example. We must not disgrace the Gu family. Do you understand? From now on, we must never mention this matter again."