Thinking of how his mother was humiliated even on her deathbed, Mingzhi clenched his fists, his whole body trembling slightly.

He did so much for the new emperor, and in the end—

"Mingzhi, this is just a dream."

Seeing Mingzhi's serious expression, Jiang Yun felt inexplicably uneasy.

In fact, in that situation, it's quite possible that the babies were switched at birth.

Could it really be that the babies were switched at birth?

Seeing the tears on the child's face, I forced myself to stay calm.

"Don't scare yourself like that. Maybe it's true, Your Majesty—" Jiang Yun's voice also weakened a bit, "No one can say what methods you want to use to deal with him."

Even if it's a fabricated charge, what can you do? You can only bear it.

“I’m not entirely sure either, but he spoke with such conviction that I couldn’t help but believe him.”

"That was just a dream. Don't overthink it. The more you think about it, the more troubled you'll become. If you really mind, we can go find that child together."

If the babies were indeed switched at birth, we should at least see the other child.

But—Jiang Yun sighed, telling her to give up Mingzhi was something she couldn't do.

Her mind is so bright and well-behaved.

"Mother, what if I'm really not your son?"

"Silly boy, what do you mean by 'what to do'? No matter what, you're still my precious son."

Children raised by their own parents are always different.

Even if the babies were switched at birth, she can't take back all the feelings she's invested over the years.

Besides, it was just a dream.

It was just a dream—

"And what happened to the child who was switched at birth with you in your dream?"

"He's dead, he's been dead for many years."

"What?"

"This is the result of the new emperor's investigation. He said that our family killed him in order to cover up the truth."

The problem is, he has no idea who it is.

How do we kill them?

Even on his deathbed, he believed he was a member of the Ming family.

Mingzhi covered her face, took a deep breath, and calmed herself down.

“Child, it’s alright. We’ll investigate ourselves and find out eventually. Maybe it’s all just a crime that the new emperor has pinned on us. It’s a trumped-up charge, and no matter how much we argue, it’s useless.”

It was just a dream, but for some reason, she felt it was real—

"Mother, we must prepare early. This kind of thing can be big or small." In an ordinary family, this kind of thing wouldn't be a big deal, would it?

But they are different.

The succession of a marquis's title is a delicate matter; a single misstep could easily constitute the crime of deceiving the emperor.

Dashan Village

Grandma Ning leaned against the bed, watching tenderly as her eldest grandson fed her medicine.

Hong said that he picked them himself.

It was medicine I personally prepared; she'll definitely get better after drinking it.

She knew perfectly well that the family had no money to buy medicine, which was why Hongze comforted him like that; he knew nothing about medicine.

But it didn't matter; she still appreciated her child's filial piety.

Anyway, she won't live much longer, so there's no need to hurt the child anymore.

However, she didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she suddenly felt much better.

"Grandma, you must get better."

"Okay, okay, Grandma will definitely get better soon."

She also wanted to live a good life.

The two children are so young, how can they be left alone?

Ning Hong then used charcoal to draw the herbs he needed on a wooden board at home.

Lifelike, just like the real thing.

Seeing that Ning Anuo admired his brother even more, he knew his brother was very capable, but he didn't expect his brother to be this capable. He could do everything, and his painting was even better than that of the eldest son of the Luo family.

The Luo family was the one that had the money to be raised as a child bride. They owned several shops in the town and were considered the wealthiest family in the village.

The youngest son of the Luo family is mentally challenged, but the eldest son is intelligent and is currently studying at a private school in town.

The Luo family often boasted that their son was very talented, that he could draw beautifully, and that he could write beautifully.

She can also play the piano and other instruments.

But in terms of painting alone, he is definitely not as good as his brother.

He picked up the wooden plank, put on his basket, and decided to go to the foot of the mountain to take a look.

His brother had told him this.

You can't go up the mountain; it's too dangerous.

When Anuo passed by the river, she saw Qian Duo washing clothes by the river.

Because of the relationship his brother had mentioned to her before, his gaze involuntarily fell on Qian Duo.

Qian Duo was wearing a gray coat with four or five patches. It must have been her mother's hand-me-down; the color was old-fashioned and it was much too big.

There was also a pair of faded trousers, and her hair was tied into a braid with straw rope, hanging down her back.

Well, although she's not exactly good-looking, I find her strangely pleasing to the eye.

Her eyes are big enough, her nose is delicate, and her mouth is a little too big.

Qian Duo had just finished washing the clothes and turned around when he saw Anuo staring blankly at him.

"Annuo, how is your grandmother?"

"It's much better now."

Turns out her voice is quite nice.

Why are you staring at me like that?

"Who's staring at you?"

Ning Anuo snorted and turned her head away.

Oh no, his performance was terrible. What if Qian Duo dislikes him because of it?

"Hey, be careful, the riverbed is very slippery."

He coughed lightly and gave a few more instructions.

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