"My lord, what is going on?"

"Why is there such a huge contrast between mother's attitude towards Hua Qingcheng? Moreover, the emperor's concern for Hua Qingcheng seems to be too much."

After holding it in for a whole day, Yu Jingyang finally got to talk to Feng Cailan before going to bed at night and asked her about Hua Qingcheng.

Yu Jingyang still felt a lingering fear when he thought of Shan Zuo's sudden assassination attempt on the Emperor in the Qingrong Courtyard dining hall at noon. Even more unexpected was that Hua Qingcheng actually stepped forward to save the Emperor and was accidentally slapped by the Emperor. Fortunately, the child was lucky enough to be unharmed.

However, when the emperor saw Hua Qingcheng injured, he was immediately furious. He picked her up personally and ordered the secret guards to summon the imperial physician. His angry, worried and anxious look was the most difficult to understand.

"Sir, do you think that the emperor has a fetish for phoenixes and has fallen for Hua Qingcheng?" Ren Yujingyang racked his brains and could only come up with this reason.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Don't say such nonsense again." Feng Cailan stretched out her arms speechlessly, grabbed Yu Jingyang who was thinking hard and hugged him.

As the saying goes, "When the emperor is angry, millions of people die and blood flows for thousands of miles." Gossiping about the emperor is not something to be taken lightly. If someone with ulterior motives overhears and makes a big fuss about it, a small matter can become a big one, and a big one could even lead to disaster.

"Sir, I'm only mentioning this in front of you. Jingyang wouldn't be so inappropriate as to bring up this matter in front of others." Yu Jingyang looked at Feng Cailan with pretended anger and broke free from her arms.

"Okay, Yangbao, don't be angry."

Feng Cailan amusedly hugged Yu Jingyang again and kissed him on the cheek.

"The reason why my mother's attitude towards Hua Qingcheng is so different now, and why the emperor is so caring and tolerant of Hua Qingcheng, is actually because Hua Qingcheng looks 80% similar to my brother Lingyan. She... is very likely the emperor and my brother Lingyan's lost daughter."

Feng Cailan put away her playful smile, remembering the last time she'd contacted her brother Lingyan—a message from him asking for help finding his daughter—and a pang of pain welled up in her heart. She couldn't imagine how helpless and hopeless her brother must have felt, locked away alone within the palace walls, helpless to do anything about his daughter being snatched away...

"What? Sir, are you saying... that my brother's daughter is still alive? Then wouldn't Hua Qingcheng be..."

Rumors abounded that Empress Feng had given birth to a stillborn child, while the Emperor had suppressed the story of Princess Civet Cat, with no one daring to spread the rumor. Yu Jingyang was stunned to hear that the daughter of the Emperor and Feng Lingyan was still alive. If Hua Qingcheng was indeed the Emperor's and Feng Lingyan's daughter, then as the legitimate heir, she was the most qualified to inherit the throne.

As the husband of a great general, although Yu Jingyang lives in the rear house all year round, he is not a man with long hair and short knowledge. He also has some understanding of the developments in the court.

Although the current emperor is in his prime and has many children, as long as the crown princess is not appointed, all forces will compete for it, trying to send their own princess to the position of crown princess.

The Emperor had always let things slide, hoping to exploit the mutual restraints between the various factions to maintain a state of equilibrium in the court. If it were suddenly revealed that the daughters of the successors were still alive, Hua Qingcheng, the legitimate daughter of the Emperor, would become a thorn in the side of all factions, regardless of whether she had been appointed Crown Princess or not. This would disrupt the existing balance of power and plunge the court into a chaotic struggle for the throne.

"Yang Bao, these are just speculations at the moment and need to be investigated and verified. My brother must have been murdered back then, and we still don't know who the mastermind is. Since the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, we must never reveal that Hua Qingcheng might be my brother's daughter until her identity as a princess is revealed, otherwise Hua Qingcheng's life will be in danger!" Feng Cailan said sternly.

"Okay, sir, Jingyang will remember this. This is a matter of great importance, and Jingyang will definitely keep his mouth shut."

Hearing that the son-in-law had become his niece, and that she might even be the future princess, Yu Jingyang realized the seriousness of the matter. His curiosity faded, and instead he was filled with worry...

During the day, Shan Zuo had been taken away by the emperor's secret guards, and Hua Qingcheng, who was now alone, was left to stay in Feng Qiyan's Furong Courtyard.

"Brother, it's past midnight, you should go back to your Yuetingnan residence and go to bed!"

In the study room in Furong Courtyard, Feng Qiyan, who was forced to act as a tool to avoid suspicion, forced herself to keep her drooping eyelids open and looked resentfully at Si Chengfeng, who was still talking about poetry and painting with Hua Qingcheng at the desk.

They would talk about poetry, painting, and calligraphy. Of course, it was mostly Si Chengfeng who did the talking and writing, while Hua Qingcheng listened and watched. After dinner, Feng Qiyan was forced to watch them flirting in the study for over an hour!

She’s still a child! A child! A child!

Feng Qiyan wailed in her heart. She had already whipped her brother, who "forgot his sister for the sake of beauty", several times with the whip of her mind.

"Yes, Afeng. It's getting late. You should go back and rest early!"

Hua Qingcheng suppressed the corner of her mouth that was about to turn upward, and looked at Si Chengfeng with amusement. He didn't want to be separated from her at all. This clinginess was almost as strong as Sanlang Han Yichen.

However, for Si Chengfeng, his future wife had many husbands, and he had finally gotten out of the house with her. He didn't want to miss any chance to be alone with her, so he looked at Hua Qingcheng, who was driving people away with Feng Qiyan, with great resentment.

"Qingcheng, how about we play another game of chess..."

Glancing at the chessboard and chess pieces placed on the bookshelf nearby, Si Chengfeng suddenly had an idea.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!