Chapter 133 The Truth

Lan Wu's mind was in a mess, but she tried to sort out her thoughts.

But this was a royal scandal, a huge scandal—she couldn't figure it out.

Compared to this, the intention of Consort Shu or Consort Li to offer Panxi is truly a trivial matter.

"Bring them into the hall." As Chen Kang'an finished speaking, two older women dressed in coarse cloth were brought into the hall.

"Tell us everything you know. If you conceal anything, you will not be spared," Chen Kang'an said coldly, glaring down at him.

The two women both bowed their heads and knelt down, saying yes.

"This commoner was the midwife who entered the palace to deliver the babies of Wen and Wen's daughters."

"I was a palace maid in the palace of Consort Hui back then."

The midwife spoke first: "When I first entered the palace, I heard that two concubines had similar due dates, but I didn't pay much attention to it. Later, coincidentally, on the same day that Consort Hui gave birth, Lady Wen's water broke..."

"The two palaces were close together, and the woman's cries were so tragic that it was almost dawn before Wen's child was born. The woman only had a quick glance at the child and was scolded by a palace servant when she tried to look at it more closely."

The midwife continued, "When ordinary women give birth, the midwife confirms the sex of the child before handing it over to others. I thought that the ladies in the palace must also be hoping to give birth to a prince, but Wen Shi is different."

“The imperial heir has not cried since birth. The commoner was taken aside, and the palace maids around Lady Wen ordered her to pretend to continue giving birth to Lady Wen.”

"Although the woman did not understand, she had no choice but to do as she was told."

"After a long time, when the play ended, the woman was taken to a separate room, and then someone came out of the hall and said that the Empress had given birth to a prince."

As the midwife spoke, her arms trembled and her voice began to shake: "Although I only saw it briefly, I still remember that the prince Wen gave birth to had a black mark the size of a fingernail on his arm, while the prince who was carried out had a clean arm."

“I know that it must be Lady Wen who did something, but I dare not say more. I can only pretend that I don’t know anything and pretend that the prince who is still in swaddling clothes is the prince born to Lady Wen.”

"I can still have a little peace in the palace, but I know that as soon as I leave the palace, I will be driven to my death by the Wen family."

"So, so when the day came for me to leave the palace, I pretended to have accidentally fallen into the river in front of many people and faked my death to escape."

"After that, he went into hiding and stayed far away from the capital."

After she finished speaking, a series of noisy voices rose in the hall. Although it was impossible to hear exactly what they were saying, it was clear that they were all saying that Wen was cunning and resourceful. She had wantonly harmed other people's children and taken their lives, but then she knew how to be so clever as to leave a glimmer of hope for her own child.

So, the son of Lady Wen was switched with the prince of Consort Hui, and the prince who later died in Lady Wen's palace was actually Consort Hui's prince.

And this Prince Wei is the one born to Lady Wen... the prince.

Applause rang out in the hall, and everyone looked over to see that it was King Wei clapping.

King Wei laughed and said, "What a wonderful story! But do you think you can arbitrarily attribute my origins to a wicked criminal based solely on your word?"

"Your Majesty, I, a commoner, can also testify."

Previously, it was the midwife who was speaking, but now it was a palace maid from Consort Hui's palace who spoke.

The palace maid's speech wasn't very clear, but at least it was organized.

“At that time, I was working in the kitchen of Consort Hui’s palace, boiling water. When the Consort was giving birth, I heard from inside that the birth of the Consort was not easy, so I asked the kitchen to prepare more hot water.”

"Although there are many people around, most of them are inside the hall. The rest of the people are doing their own jobs. The nanny said that the palace staff must not be disorderly."

"When I went to the back hall to get water, I saw a strange palace maid carrying a food box enter the hall through the side door."

"I kept an eye on things, so I squatted behind the tree and watched for a while."

"But after a while, we saw the palace maid carrying a food box out of the palace gate. At that moment, the palace announced that the Empress had given birth to a prince."

"Afterwards, all the palace maids received their rewards, and the little prince born to the Empress was very healthy, so I didn't take the matter to heart. I just thought that the palace maid was from the kitchen delivering tonics."

Chen Kang'an glanced at the emperor's expression, then said to the people below, "Come and identify whether this servant is the same person you saw back then."

After saying that, the woman in the hall carefully raised her head, as if she had found the exact figure, and then looked at Zhu Qing's face.

She looked closely, then bowed her head and replied, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. It has been more than twenty years, and I can no longer remember what that person looked like. I only remember that the palace maid had just left when I returned to the front hall and smelled a fragrance as I walked through the corridor."

aroma?

When Prince Wei was born, it was the time when all the flowers had withered, and pregnant women should avoid strong fragrances. So the fragrance was naturally not the same as the one in Consort Hui's own palace.

Zhuqing, on the other hand, is particularly skilled at making incense.

Chu Mingheng waved his hand lightly, and the guards took the two women away, leaving only the key people in the hall.

"The imperial heirs in the late emperor's harem were murdered one after another. When Consort Wen and Consort Hui gave birth on the same day, you, who are skilled in making incense, used incense to drug the newborn princes and then quickly switched their heirs."

"The Empress Dowager was intelligent and noticed something was amiss, but soon she lost the child in her womb and lost all interest in the affairs of the harem."

"And you, a loyal servant of your master, fearing the exposure of Wen's son, used drugs to set fire to Kunning Palace with traitors in the Empress Dowager's palace."

“When Prince Wei is ten years old and leaves Consort Hui’s palace, you will tell him his identity.”

"It's just that your conversation was overheard by Consort Hui's maid, so she simply disposed of the person."

Chu Mingheng spoke slowly and deliberately, not showing any anger, but simply stating the facts: "You intended to incite him to avenge his birth mother and wanted him to sit on the throne."

"Based solely on an empty imperial edict that the late emperor once bestowed upon the Wen family."

After saying that, Chu Mingheng raised his hand, and Chen Kang'an immediately handed him something. The familiar brocade was the imperial edict.

At this point, the King of the Palace was pale and ashen-faced. He seemed to be surprised that Zhu Qing would confess so clearly, that she would really betray him, and that the imperial edict he had hidden would be found.

How could this be... how could this be...?

Zhu Qing lowered her head, her expression sorrowful, and all her strength gave way, causing her to collapse to the ground.