"Don't believe him. Concubine Yun was banished to the cold palace simply because she angered the emperor." The Empress Dowager looked around and argued.
"No, you were whispering in the emperor's ear at that time, but don't forget that I was always following you." Gu Zhong said with a smile.
Concubine Yun frowned: "Another conspiracy?"
Gu Zhong said, "On the one hand, she hopes you'll give birth a few days earlier than her, but on the other hand, she also hopes that you and the little prince in your belly won't compete with her and her child for favor in the future."
Even without saying it explicitly, everyone understood.
Concubine Yun gasped, "So her real intention was to have me stillborn, leaving two lives?"
Gu Zhong glanced at the Empress Dowager and said, "She is the one who should be consulted with regarding your doubts."
After all, the Empress Dowager is the person involved.
Concubine Yun shouted, "Ling Li, give me an explanation!"
"These are just Gu Zhong's guesses, don't take them seriously." The Empress Dowager denied it.
"You hoped that our son and I would both die, so that you could maintain the old emperor's favor for a longer period of time." Concubine Yun sneered, "You are bringing this upon yourself. By scheming against others, you have caused the death of your own son."
Poor child, she was replaced by Ling Li at birth.
"Nonsense!" The Empress Dowager was agitated. "My son doesn't want to leave me either!"
Concubine Yun sneered, "Haha, Ling Li, Ling Li, you've had evil intentions from the very beginning. Ever since you treated my son as your own, you've been using tricks to conceal what happened back then."
As he laughed, he thought about how he had been separated from his son for more than 40 years. The pain in his heart could not be relieved for a while, and he collapsed on the chair.
Long Yi panicked and grabbed his mother's hand: "Mom, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing." Concubine Yun shook her head weakly.
"Imperial Physician, Imperial Physician, please help my mother." Long Yi ordered, and quickly said, "Yan Funing, come here."
The two imperial physicians and Yan Funing stepped forward.
Yan Funing took Concubine Yun's pulse first, and then the two imperial doctors also took her pulse.
"Father, my grandmother is depressed, that's why she is like this." Yan Funing said.
The old doctor also said: "Indeed, the Concubine Tai is in good health. There is no other problem. It is just the depression in her heart."
The middle-aged imperial physician agreed.
Long Yi still frowned, and looked at Yan Funing with a stern gaze: "You are capable. Even my brother praises you highly. Don't let me down."
Yan Funing nodded and said, "Father, if you want to resolve the knot in Grandmother's heart, please allow me to sort out what happened back then."
"Let's sort it out." Long Yi agreed.
Yan Funing said, "Back then, Concubine Li didn't want Concubine Yun to give birth. She deliberately requested different food and sent it to Concubine Yun under the Emperor's orders. When the children were finally born, Concubine Li's own child unfortunately died, so she snatched Concubine Yun's child away."
"To ensure that Concubine Yun would no longer become suspicious, Concubine Li, who had been promoted to imperial concubine, bribed the imperial physician, and Concubine Yun was sent to the cold palace."
"Many years later, the little prince grew up and married the daughter of the Qiao family as his principal wife."
"The Concubine Li had become a dowager, and she knew in her heart that the so-called son was Concubine Yun's. While she was glad that she had swapped the two children, she also felt resentful. After all, the son she raised was someone else's."
"So at this time, she came up with an idea, which was to let her niece from her mother's family enter the Prince of Jin's mansion and become the Prince of Jin's concubine."
"Even though her niece became a concubine, the Dowager still wasn't satisfied. She thought it would be best if all the assets of the Prince Jin's Mansion were inherited by someone with Ling family blood. So she tried every possible way to make things difficult for the Princess Jin, intending to disrupt her son and daughter-in-law's marriage."
"Because she is not his biological mother, she doesn't care who the woman his son truly loves is."
Hearing this, Long Yi nodded repeatedly. He held Qiao Wanyou's hand tightly with his other hand and said, "I finally understand why you love her so much."
This girl from the Yan family is indeed thoughtful.
"Fu Ning is very good." Qiao Wanyou nodded, "Your Majesty, please listen to Fu Ning finish her words."
Yan Funing continued, "The Princess of Jin gave birth to a son as her first child. The Prince of Jin was delighted and immediately petitioned the Emperor to confer the title of Crown Prince. The Dowager Consort was unhappy and requested that her niece conceive a child as soon as possible."
"After Concubine Ling gave birth to Long Lihui, the Concubine Dowager began to interfere with the couple's relationship more and more, and she also deliberately made things difficult for Princess Jin more and more often."
"Things like morning and evening visits are not necessary for concubines and other relatives, but Princess Jin must be present every day."
"Until one day, Princess Jin accidentally saw something she shouldn't have seen and heard something she shouldn't have heard. That was the Concubine Dowager nestling in Gu Zhong's arms."
"Thinking her secrets couldn't be exposed, the Concubine Dowager made a cruel decision and ordered Gu Zhong to poison Princess Jin, hoping to make her lose her memory and eyesight. To prevent the poison from taking effect, Gu Zhong pretended to be a ghost to scare her."
"But unexpectedly, the poison didn't take effect immediately. The Concubine decided to go all out and ordered Gu Zhong to set the fire."
At this moment, Gu Zhong raised his hand and said, "Princess Rui, everything you said before is correct. The Concubine Dowager did not directly order this old servant to set the fire."
The Empress Dowager thought that Gu Zhong's heart had returned, and she immediately said, "Yes, it wasn't me who set the fire and killed people!"
But Gu Zhong said, "Back then, the Concubine Dowager ordered me to give her the Crane's Beak Red, intending to poison the Princess and the Crown Prince. I told her that anyone who took the Crane's Beak Red poison would die instantly. If it were to be discovered and the Prince of Jin investigated, the consequences would be disastrous."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this.
Long Yi was so angry that his whole body turned cold and gloomy: "Empress Dowager, you actually wanted to poison my wife and son?"
The Empress Dowager gave a wry smile, leaned back in her chair, and said nothing.
Gu Zhong continued, "Actually, the Concubine Dowager first ordered me to go to Concubine Ling to find a suitable poison, one that could kill someone without being held accountable. The poison was unsuccessful, and my mask fell. The Concubine Dowager mentioned the Crane's Beak Red, and it was I who came up with the idea of using fire. The Concubine Dowager was delighted to hear that, saying fire would be the best way to burn everything cleanly."
"That day, I drugged the Princess of Jin in advance so that she wouldn't wake up during the fire. To prevent the Prince of Jin from also perishing in the fire, I also drugged him so that I could rescue him before the fire started."
"Things can happen unexpectedly, like that night when the Prince of Jin flicked his sleeves and set the curtain on fire. He then left the courtyard and went to drink alone."
Yan Funing sneered upon hearing this: "If that's the case, then I would say that Father must have been drugged. Mother fainted after arguing with Father, so there must be a reason for that."
Fu Ciyi glanced at his father, frowned slightly, but said nothing.
The Empress Dowager stood up and laughed bitterly. "Gu Zhong, I slowly dealt with everyone involved in the baby swap, leaving you alone. Do you know how much you hold in my heart? You treat me like this today, and you still say I don't have you in my heart? Do you have a clear conscience?"
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