"Could it be that something happened to the father of the Empress's unborn child?"
"No. It's just that the identity of the child's father is a bit... "
"Forget it. Let's not talk about him. Anyway, he's just a man. What does it matter?" The Empress waved her hand magnanimously, but her eyes shot a fierce look at Mu Fengqie.
Mu Fengqie stared back defiantly. She even deliberately moved closer to Jing Xunce and wrapped her arms tightly around his.
Jing Xunce was a bit dazed by her sudden action, but he gladly accepted it. After all, it was Qie'er who took the initiative to get close to him.
The Empress was so angry at their interaction that she felt her lungs were about to explode.
"Please enlighten us, Your Majesty. The future crown prince of our Southern Qing Kingdom cannot be a child with an unknown father."
"Please enlighten us, Your Majesty."
"Sigh~ Fine. I originally wanted to cover this up, but since you're so persistent, it's okay to tell you."
"The father of the child in my womb is the man beside the Princess of the Qin Dynasty."
Everyone followed the direction of her gaze and saw the Princess of the Qin Dynasty hugging that man.
"How outrageous! As the Princess of the Qin Dynasty, you've stolen the consort of our Southern Qing Empress. Is your Qin Dynasty trying to rebel?"
"Humph! Let's not even mention that he's my husband. Have you considered the consequences of your Southern Qing bullying the princess personally enfeoffed by the Empress Dowager of the Qin Dynasty and the General Anyuan enfeoffed by the Emperor?"
"You say our Qin Dynasty wants to rebel? Our Qin Dynasty is strong and powerful and doesn't depend on any other country. Instead, it's your Southern Qing that has to rely on our Qin Dynasty. I'm afraid it's you who wants to rebel!"
"You... You're simply unreasonable!" The minister was rendered speechless by her.
"Moreover, my husband and I have been married for a long time. How can I be said to have stolen your Empress's man? I think it's your Empress who wants to steal my man!" Mu Fengqie's sharp eyes scanned the people around.
"That's right. General Anping is right. When we were in the Qin Dynasty, they were already married. At that time, we hadn't come to Southern Qing yet, and your Empress wasn't pregnant either!"
"In my opinion, we still need to investigate who the father of your Empress's child is. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
"The Fifth Prince is joking. If I don't even know who the father of my child is, wouldn't I be too useless? How could I manage this country well?"
"Who knows? Maybe you saw that my elder sister's husband is good - looking and got carried away by lust, trying to steal my elder sister's man. Moreover, you say the child in your womb is my elder sister's husband's. Do you have any evidence? You can't just assert the fact based on empty words."
"If so, can I also say that the child in your womb might be the child of one of the ministers here?"
"We dare not, Your Majesty!" A whole bunch of people knelt down in a hurry.
"You're being presumptuous! Princess Tianlin, don't talk nonsense!"
"Then you, Your Majesty, should also provide evidence for your words. You can't just talk nonsense because you're the Empress."
A Ru pressed on step by step without showing any weakness. This time, she was no longer just a simple princess, because she understood that even if you don't bully others, others will still bully you.
"You..." The Empress never expected this little girl to be so sharp - tongued. But so what? She still had a trump card.
"Who says I don't have evidence? If I remember correctly, Zhan Zhi has a red birthmark on his left shoulder."
Mu Fengqie suddenly tightened her grip on Jing Xunce's arm. She was right. When she detoxified Jing Xunce, she saw that there was indeed a red birthmark on his shoulder.
Mu Fengqie's face turned pale, and she slowly let go of Jing Xunce's arm.
Jing Xunce sensed Mu Fengqie's mood and felt a bit nervous. The fact that he had a birthmark was known to the Southern Qing Empress when he was injured and she treated his wound when they were together before. So it wasn't strange that she knew about the birthmark on his shoulder.
But the problem was that this fact was brought up now. If he couldn't prove that the child had nothing to do with him in three months, he might really be in big trouble.
"You're the Empress. It's easy for you to find out anything. What does this matter you've mentioned prove?"
Mu Fengqie knew that no matter what, she mustn't admit it now and mustn't admit defeat.
"Oh? Then what do you want?"
"I've heard that there's a secret method in this world that can tell whether a child is the biological child of his father when the child is still in the mother's womb."
"Sure. No matter how you test, this child is definitely Zhan Zhi's. I wouldn't lie about such a thing."
"Don't worry. Even if this child is Zhan Zhi's, I won't break you two up. I'll raise this child alone."
"Isn't the Empress speaking a bit too early?"
The Southern Qing Empress knew that Mu Fengqie was unwilling to believe this, but she didn't mind.
"Fine. Then do as you said. Come and tell me after you find the secret method. Maybe by the time you find it, my child will already be born." A victorious smile hung on the Empress's face.
She just wanted to provoke Mu Fengqie now. No matter how they investigated, this child was Zhan Zhi's!
"Then please wait for our news, Your Majesty." Mu Fengqie didn't care about the etiquette anymore and turned around to walk out of the palace hall.
Jing Xunce and the others quickly chased after her.
"Qie'er, don't believe her. The child in her womb must not be mine."
"Then how do you explain the birthmark on your shoulder?"
These words shocked A Ru and Yuan Yuhan. Oh no... Was what the Southern Qing Empress said true? Did he really have a birthmark on his shoulder?
"She saw it when she treated my wound before. I didn't know she would still remember it until now and bring it up at this moment."
Mu Fengqie didn't say a word. She just led A Ru away without even looking back.
Yuan Yuhan looked at Jing Xunce with a troubled expression. If he were Mu Fengqie, he wouldn't believe it either. After all, it was really hard to accept.
His own man, and another woman knew so much about him.
"Zhan Zhi, you'd better find a way to clear up the misunderstanding between you two as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'm afraid Mu Fengqie's temper... Tsk - tsk..."
Jing Xunce stood there, lowering his head and clenching his fists tightly.
After his problem was solved, he must deal with the Southern Qing Empress! How could he have been so blind as to take a fancy to such a thing back then!