The Shen Residence.
Shen Qingshan eyed Cui Zhengping coldly, his face showing disdain. "The Third Prince is an ungrateful white-eyed wolf. I've suppressed so many memorials for him, but the other day he beat my Baozhu and even mocked me as a commoner. If you're here to plead for him, leave now!"
"Teacher, you've misunderstood. I'm here to tell you a huge secret!" Cui Zhengping first bowed deeply, making himself look extremely humble. Only then did he earn a bit of good grace from Shen Qingshan.
He told Shen Qingshan about the switch between the Third and Fourth Princes back then.
However, Shen Qingshan didn't believe it. He even scoffed and said, "Do you think you can fool me like a fool? With the power of the Cui family and your sister's little abilities, how could you have the means to swap the Crown Prince of the Queen? Even if the Fourth Prince is a fool, he still has the Cui family's blood in him. Are you so disdainful of him?"
The news that the Concubine Li had been demoted to a lesser rank hadn't spread yet. Shen Qingshan and Cui Zhengping still thought of Concubine Li as the Consort Li.
Cui Zhengping had taken Shen Qingshan as his teacher, and the two families had frequent interactions. Shen Qingshan knew something about Consort Li. According to the words of the Old Madam Shen, Consort Li was just a stupid beauty. Not only was she stupid, but she also thought herself smart.
Shen Qingshan didn't believe that such a stupid woman could have deceived the emperor and swapped the legitimate son of the queen.
Indeed, as Shen Qingshan had guessed, Consort Li didn't have the ability to swap the children. The switch of the two children was due to an accident.
At that time, Consort Li was still a concubine. She gave birth to a child at the same time as the queen. The emperor was worried about the queen and stayed outside waiting for her, thus neglecting Consort Li. To make up for it, he promoted her rank.
This didn't console Consort Li. Instead, she became jealous of the queen, thinking that the queen was against her. So she always compared herself with the queen.
She even ignored her just - given - birth body and carried her child to the Fengyi Palace, clamoring for the emperor to bestow her something.
The emperor, who had just got two sons, was in a great mood and agreed to all her requests.
Hearing that Consort Li had directly gone to the Fengyi Palace to ask the emperor for things, Shen Qingshan couldn't help but frown. Such a ruckus was very much in line with Consort Li's brainless behavior.
At that time, the queen was still unconscious. The senior maids were busy with things. In the side hall, there were only a few grannies and the little prince born to the queen.
Consort Li thought that she was younger and more beautiful than the queen, and her child must be better - looking than the queen's. So she put her own child on the wooden bed too. It was this act that led to the children being mixed up.
Shen Qingshan asked, "The swaddling clothes of the children were different. How could they be mixed up? Didn't the maids in the Fengyi Palace notice?"
Cui Zhengping explained that Consort Li had just asked for the same swaddling clothes and changed them for the child. So by coincidence, the children were mixed up. The next day, when she found out, Consort Li wanted to swap the children back. But then she learned that the emperor wanted to establish a crown prince. For her own child to become the crown prince, she had a selfish thought and kept the child.
This logic seemed reasonable, but Shen Qingshan was an old fox. How could he not see Cui Zhengping's concealment? He smiled subtly and said, "There had long been rumors about the emperor establishing a crown prince. It wasn't an impromptu decision. This explanation is probably not appropriate."
"Rather than saying the children were mixed up by accident, it's more likely that Consort Li had a sudden thought and took advantage of the fact that no one in the Fengyi Palace was paying attention to her and had a wrong idea."
Fine sweat broke out on Cui Zhengping's forehead. He neither admitted nor refuted. He just bowed and said, "I, Cui Zhengping, will follow your lead, teacher. If you can help, I'm sure the Third Prince will also be grateful to you."
The room was silent. Shen Qingshan was calculating the utility value of the Third Prince in his mind and didn't want to agree.
"Teacher! Do you still remember the embezzlement case back then?" Cui Zhengping lowered his head. His face showed respect, but his words were not respectful at all.
After a long while, Shen Qingshan's voice rang out in the room. "Fine, I'll help you."
...
The Princess Mansion.
Today, Yan Mingli cooked by himself and made a lot of food. He still remembered that the Fourth Prince should eat light food, so he made ginseng and black - bone chicken soup especially for him.
Shen Baozhu was eating the duck leg in her bowl. She thought the Fourth Prince was so pitiful that he could only eat tasteless food.
The Fourth Prince didn't care about the taste. He just stuffed food into his mouth. When he understood that this ginseng and black - bone chicken soup was for him, he looked at the boiling soup eagerly.
Feeling the Fourth Prince's burning gaze, Yan Mingli reminded him, "It's too hot. Eat it later."
Bai Zhi changed the position of the ginseng and black - bone chicken soup, along with the bowl of soup that had been served.
"Baozhu, I miss my mother. Can I go home?" Qiu Qiu finished the rice in her bowl and discussed with Shen Baozhu.
Shen Baozhu raised her head and looked at Qiu Qiu blankly.
Yan Mingli picked out all the dishes that Chen Miaochun liked and put them into a food box. He was going to send the meal. He casually helped to explain, "What Qiu Qiu means is that if she goes home now, can she come back to the Princess Mansion to live later?"
"Hey, I have to say my mother has foresight. She just threw me here."
The Dragon King: [The fool is quite proud of it.]
Lin Yu: [Mingli is cooking today. Does he want to send a loving lunch to Miaochun?]
The Dragon King: [Probably. Although he's a bit silly, he's quite good to Chen Miaochun.]
After understanding what Qiu Qiu meant, Shen Baozhu gave her a definite answer. "Of course you can. You can come whenever you want!"
With Shen Baozhu's words, Qiu Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I'll come to play with you tomorrow, Baozhu."
"Qiu Qiu is going home? I'm just going to take Baozhu to the Zuiyin Tower. I'll drop you off at home first." Yan Mingli covered the food box. He still remembered that he had to take Shen Baozhu to thank Old Man Gu.
The Fourth Prince didn't want Shen Baozhu to leave. His eager eyes shifted from the ginseng and black - bone chicken soup to Shen Baozhu. "Baozhu."
Shen Baozhu finished the food in her bowl. She comforted the Fourth Prince. "It's okay. Mingli - gege and I are just going out for a while and will come back soon."
The Fourth Prince struggled for a while and still wanted to follow Shen Baozhu out, but was stopped by Bai Zhi.
Bai Zhi served the cooled ginseng and black - bone chicken soup to the Fourth Prince. "Your Highness, the soup is ready to drink. Have some soup first?"
The Fourth Prince didn't say a word. He didn't go back to the table to drink the soup until he couldn't see Shen Baozhu's back.
After the experience of breakfast, there was very little food on the table, just enough to eat. After the Fourth Prince finished the soup, Bai Zhi brought a few small bags and discussed with the Fourth Prince. "These are all fresh snacks. The ones around your neck should be changed. Your Highness, quietly, there are more snacks in these."
With the new small bags, the Fourth Prince let Bai Zhi take off the small bags around his neck and replace them with new ones.
...
On the other side, Yan Mingli dropped Qiu Qiu off at the Yong'an Marquis Mansion and then took Shen Baozhu to the Zuiyin Tower.
Chen Miaochun had been waiting on the second floor for a long time and started to eat fruits and drink tea to fill her stomach.
Suddenly, a voice rang out. "Yo, are you hungry? Why are you just drinking tea and not eating? You're lucky. I'm in a good mood today. I'll treat you to a meal!"
Chen Miaochun looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old man with his hands behind his back, as if he was strolling around.
The content - fed Prince Rui was in a great mood. He saw that Chen Miaochun looked good but was thin. She had been sitting on the second floor for a long time and kept drinking water. He mistakenly thought that Chen Miaochun didn't have money to buy food, so he told the waiter to serve a good meal.
Just as the waiter was about to agree, Yan Mingli's voice came from the stairs. Listening carefully, it seemed to be a bit annoyed. "Stinky old man, are you deliberately against me? I specially made lunch for Miaochun, and you still let her eat the food in the restaurant!"