The Fengyi Palace.
The queen loved flowers. At this moment, she was trimming the branches of the flowers in the flowerpot. Worried day and night because of the matter of the Third Prince, and having searched all night for a good foster mother for the Fourth Prince, her face was now deathly pale.
"Your Majesty, the Yin family has sent a token, saying that they have something urgent to see you."
Hearing that the Yin family had something urgent to see her, the queen was not surprised. However, her hand holding the scissors tightened slightly, and she cut off the trimmed flower branch.
The queen guessed that the Yin family had come for the Third Prince. Her younger brother should be angry with her, thinking that she had indulged the Third Prince to bully Su Su. Maybe this time he had come to question her.
Having been in the palace for more than a decade, with an unfilial and immoral son and a distanced natal family, the queen gave a bitter smile and put down the scissors in her hand. "Please invite Lady Yin in."
The queen went to the bedroom to change into clothes for receiving guests and also brought the compensation prepared for Yin Su Su.
The Yin family had indeed come for the Third Prince, but it was not as the queen had thought. The visitor was not Lady Yin, but the queen's younger brother, Father Yin.
"Your Majesty, you've suffered so much in the palace!" Father Yin paced anxiously in the side hall. When he saw the queen, he stepped forward excitedly.
The queen was startled by Father Yin's enthusiasm and took a step back. But as she took a step back, Father Yin took a step forward.
Until she reached the door and had nowhere to retreat, the queen finally reacted. "What's going on?"
Just this sentence made Father Yin's eyes fill with tears. He had thought that the queen had allowed Yin Su Su to be bullied in order to protect the Third Prince. But today, when he went to the Princess Mansion and saw his real nephew, the Fourth Prince, Father Yin realized how miserable his sister was in the palace!
As the noble queen, she had had her own flesh and blood replaced by Concubine Li. Looking at her complexion, it was obvious that she had suffered a great deal.
The more Father Yin thought about it, the more heart - broken he felt. He cursed himself in his heart for being such a jerk. Before, he had blamed his sister for protecting the Third Prince and wronging Su Su. The one who was truly wronged was clearly his sister. No, no, his poor nephew was the most pitiful one.
Thinking of his poor nephew, Father Yin remembered the main thing. He looked around and said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, I have something important to say. I hope Your Majesty will listen to me."
Seeing Father Yin constantly glancing around, the queen understood his meaning and waved her hand to let the maids and eunuchs in the hall leave first.
As soon as they left, Father Yin told the queen about the letter he had received last night and what he had seen of the Fourth Prince today. "... Sister, the Fourth Prince looks so much like you. It must be Concubine Li who stole and replaced your nephew with her own child. This also matches her harsh treatment of the Fourth Prince. What kind - hearted mother would let others bully her own child like that!"
The queen was smarter and more cautious than Father Yin. "Are you sure that's really the Fourth Prince and not a deliberate plot by someone else? It's not difficult to find someone who looks similar to the Yin family in this vast world."
"Moreover, the Foolish Child Poison is a deadly poison, and no one has found an antidote for it so far. Who has the magical power to help the Fourth Prince detoxify?"
Father Yin was stunned for a moment, and then he found an excuse. "I heard that the female marquis has been living in the Princess Jingning's Mansion. Presumably, the gods couldn't stand the Cui family bringing harm to the Great Yong Dynasty and decided to help. Moreover, that child not only looks like you, but his eyes are exactly the same as Princess Ning'an's. There can't be such a coincidence in the world, and he just happens to be the same age as the Third Prince."
Hearing the name of Princess Jingning, the queen's heart skipped a beat. If it was Shen Baozhu who had saved the Fourth Prince, then there might be a way to detoxify the Foolish Child Poison. Coupled with the eyes that were exactly the same as Princess Ning'an's, the queen already believed seven - tenths of it. The remaining three - tenths could only be confirmed after she saw the Fourth Prince.
The queen was thinking about a way to leave the palace and future arrangements, while Father Yin started to paint a pitiful picture of the Fourth Prince. "Sister! You have to believe me. The Fourth Prince is your child. That poor child was starved by Concubine Li. When he got to the Princess Mansion, he just kept eating. Even after he was full, he still stuffed food into his mouth. It was really heart - breaking."
"I heard that when he first arrived at the Princess Mansion, he was covered in ashes. He had to take more than a dozen baths to get clean. His hair was so dirty that there were bugs flying everywhere. He almost got kicked out."
Father Yin's constant chatter gave the queen a headache. She staggered a few steps and sat down on the chair. "I know. I'll think of a way to leave the palace and see the Fourth Prince in person."
The queen had made a decision in her heart. If the Fourth Prince was really her child, then there would be no need to spare the Third Prince and Concubine Li.
...
The Cui Family.
The Crown Prince had been deposed. Outsiders thought it was the Yan family and the Yin family who had taken action, but Cui Zhengping knew clearly that Shen Qingshan was also involved.
Lady Cui was also in the study, anxious about the deposition of the Third Prince. "Why was the Crown Prince deposed? There were no such things before!"
"Who asked the Third Prince to provoke Shen Baozhu and say those unnecessary words? Now it's good. He's annoyed the teacher." The more Cui Zhengping thought about it, the more annoyed he became. He had become the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel thanks to Shen Qingshan, and he didn't know if it would have any impact.
He had a close relationship with the Shen family and knew how much Shen Qingshan doted on Shen Heqing.
Shen Qingshan was old, and his power was not what it used to be. He only cared about his reputation, and Shen Heqing's achievement of passing all six imperial examinations was what Shen Qingshan valued the most.
Lady Cui still had unrealistic illusions in her heart. "Then, if we go to apologize now, can we make Shen Qingshan forgive the Third Prince and get the Crown Prince position back?"
This remark made Cui Zhengping laugh out of anger. He looked up at Lady Cui. "Do you think Shen Qingshan has that much power? Do you know why the Third Prince was deposed? In the final analysis, it's all because of you all!"
"This, how can it be my fault? It's those people who were jealous of the Third Prince and united to bully him. The Yin family was also crazy. They even made a fuss about deposing the Crown Prince..." Lady Cui stared at him with wide eyes. She thought Cui Zhengping was so angry that he was talking nonsense.
It was not that Cui Zhengping was wronging them. He had heard about what the Third Prince had done from others and only then did he know what the Third Prince had said in the palace. It made Cui Zhengping so angry that his chest hurt.
Cui Zhengping interrupted Lady Cui and pointed at her. "I'll ask you, did Her Majesty ever tell you that the Crown Prince is the future emperor?"
Lady Cui nodded blankly. "Her Majesty did often say this."
"You knew!" Cui Zhengping was so angry with Lady Cui that his chest hurt. He didn't expect that his sister had also said this to Lady Cui. "Why didn't you stop Her Majesty? Can this kind of thing be said?"
Seeing that Cui Zhengping was about to faint from anger, Lady Cui stepped forward to support him, her tone confused. "What's wrong with this statement? Isn't the Crown Prince the future emperor?"
"That Third Prince was still the Crown Prince, the future emperor..."
Cui Zhengping couldn't stand to hear the words "the future emperor" now. Just hearing them gave him a headache. He clenched his fist and let out a long sigh. "I thought they were just talking nonsense, but I didn't expect it to be true."
"No wonder His Majesty didn't protect the Third Prince. After hearing such words of coveting the throne, even if His Majesty doted on the Third Prince, he would be heart - broken!"
Lady Cui had never thought of this. Like Concubine Li, she thought that the Crown Prince was the future emperor and had never considered the emperor's reaction after hearing such words.
After all, they were his own sister and nephew. Cui Zhengping decided to go to the Shen family and tell Shen Qingshan what had happened back then.