Chapter 165 Prince Yu: Shen Qingtan has found his relatives

Marquis Cheng'en was startled, and after pondering for a moment, his expression suddenly changed: "Shen Qingtan deliberately released this news..."

No, that's not right.

"If so, what is her purpose?"

Marquis Cheng'en couldn't understand why Shen Qingtan went to so much trouble to set up this trap just to sever ties with the Marquis's Mansion?

He had been threatened by the wife of the Earl of Yongyi before, and was afraid that she would really hand over the evidence to Shen Qingtan, so he did not dare to act rashly in the few days after silencing her.

During this period, he sent people to monitor the Yongyi Marquis's mansion. After the death of the Yongyi Marquis's wife, no one came out of the mansion, and no strangers contacted Shen Qingtan.

Shen Qingtan acted as if nothing had happened and remained motionless.

He suspected that the wife of the Earl of Yongyi was killed by them because she did not have time to give the evidence to Shen Qingtan.

Or maybe the evidence was not enough to bring him down, so Shen Qingtan did nothing.

Even so, he was still planning how to make Shen Qingtan die quietly.

But before he could come up with a perfect plan, Prince Yu attacked Shen Qingtan first.

On the one hand, he was afraid that Prince Yu would vent his anger on him and was eager to show his loyalty.

On the one hand, Shen Qingtan was missing, and Shen Shaohuai's plan was the most appropriate at the time.

Looking back now, the most important reason why they fell into Shen Qingtan's trap was that they lost the initiative and were led by her.

"She knows about the Marquis's crimes and wants to sever ties with me. Once the Marquis's crimes are exposed, she will have nothing to do with them." Marquis Cheng'en speculated, "Even if I don't take action against her, she will create momentum and force me to sever our father-daughter relationship."

"You're not hopelessly stupid." Prince Yu's eyes were dim, and he said with an ambiguous tone, "You're only half right."

Marquis Cheng'en subconsciously looked at Prince Yu, waiting for his next words.

Prince Yu's eyes flashed with a sinister light, and he said coldly: "She already knows that she is not your daughter, and has found her relatives."

These words were like a bolt from the blue to Marquis Cheng'en.

Marquis Cheng'en said in disbelief, "How is that possible?"

No one in the mansion who knew the news would reveal it to Shen Qingtan. How did she find out?

"Don't be indecisive or soft-hearted in anything you do; you must eradicate the problem completely and prevent it from happening again."

Prince Yu's gloomy eyes were dark, and he said coldly and ruthlessly, "You are stupid because you killed your brother and his wife, but left their child behind. You knew your mother favored the eldest wife, but you coveted the wealth in her hands and kept her as a burden on you."

Marquis Cheng'en was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Your downfall stems from being too greedy and not ruthless enough," Prince Yu sneered. "You don't believe in blood ties, and even less in the unrelated Shen Qingtan, which is why you chose to support your own daughter. In your mind, you're Shen Mingzhu's support, and your family's interests are tied together. Yet, you abandoned Shen Qingtan, wanting her to serve you, leaving yourself vulnerable."

Marquis Cheng'en put himself in other people's shoes and indeed thought so.

For the sake of profit, he murdered his brother and sister-in-law.

Besides, Shen Qingtan is not his biological child?

Before Shen Mingzhu was found, they cultivated Shen Qingtan as a beneficiary and never thought that there would be a day when his life story would be revealed.

It was not until Zhao Jue brought Shen Mingzhu back to the capital and personally delivered her to the Cheng'en Marquis Mansion that they had to acknowledge her.

How to explain the extra child to others?

His first thought was to clarify the two people's backgrounds, but at that time he had to win over the Duke of Zhao's mansion for Prince Yu. He specifically tested the Duke of Zhao's attitude, bringing up a similar story and asking him what he thought of the marriage exchange.

Duke Zhao bluntly stated, "Either the engagement be terminated and the two children find new and suitable partners. Or, the two children continue with this engagement. It is absolutely unreasonable for one child from the mansion to replace another child in marriage to a man."

He did not want to lose the opportunity to marry into the Duke's Mansion, so he remembered that his wife was pregnant with twins that year, and almost all the wives of officials in the capital knew about it.

They announced to the public that Shen Mingzhu and Shen Qingtan were twins.

Unexpectedly, the Marquis's Mansion held a banquet and some officials' wives saw Shen Mingzhu.

He accidentally heard someone privately discussing that Shen Qingtan and Shen Mingzhu were not alike, or more accurately, that Shen Qingtan did not look like someone from the Cheng'en Marquis Mansion.

He felt even more uneasy.

It's probably because he's guilty and afraid that one day the truth will be revealed.

Only then did he abandon Shen Qingtan without hesitation.

He was afraid that Shen Qingtan would marry Zhao Jue, so he supported Zhao Jue. Later, when Shen Qingtan learned the truth, she would turn against him and use Zhao Jue's power to deal with the Cheng'en Marquis Mansion.

Before the matter was exposed, it would be most appropriate for Shen Qingtan to marry Zhao Yi.

Firstly, with Shen Qingtan's soft personality, if they coaxed her, she would put aside her past grudges and help them support Zhao Jue and squeeze out her last value.

Secondly, Zhao Yi will not live long. If one day Shen Qingtan knows the truth that he has died of illness, she will be powerless to take revenge as she is a widow living in the inner house.

But no matter how much he planned, he didn't expect that Shen Qingtan's personality would change drastically because of the marriage exchange, and she would completely turn against them.

Now, after hearing Prince Yu's words, Marquis Cheng'en finally understood.

Shen Qingtan hated them only after he learned about his life story.

If that's the case, everything makes sense.

"Your Highness, where are his biological parents?" Marquis Cheng'en's eyes flashed with murderous intent.

"If I remember correctly, you told me that she was given to you for upbringing by a family surnamed Gu in Nanlingzhou."

When Prince Yu said this, he laughed meaningfully, clearly not believing what Marquis Cheng'en said.

Given the Gu family's background, how could they give their child away?

He continued, "It's a coincidence that there's a family in the capital named Gu who came from Nanlingzhou and has been very close to Shen Qingtan recently."