Ah Ping was shocked when she heard what Nanny Qin said. She held onto the table with her hands and said in disbelief, "So my father is His Majesty, and my mother is the Queen?"
Nanny Qin nodded with tears in her eyes and said, "Yes, at that time I was fortunate enough to be rewarded by the Queen and was able to leave the palace and marry the housekeeper of the Qin family. I had just given birth to a child a few days ago.
I overheard my husband discussing with the uncle that if the queen gave birth to a daughter, they would exchange the Qin family's newly born baby boy for the princess."
Nanny Qin burst into tears and said, "Your Majesty has been so kind to me. When I learned that the Qin family was planning to switch the baby without telling you, I went into the palace despite the cold winter wind, even though I had just given birth. I thought I could stop the Qin family from switching the baby..."
But I didn't expect that the Qin family had already made plans. The Queen's palace had already been replaced by people from the Qin family. The Queen never doubted her own family because the fetus was too important. The Queen was also afraid that the virtuous concubine, the King of Shu, would do something, so she only dared to trust people from her own family.
The Queen had a difficult labor when she gave birth to you, and she fainted as soon as you were born. I saw you being put into a food box by the Qin family, so I took you out and planned to go into the palace to exchange you with the baby boy.
Just then the Queen woke up and Princess Pingrou came in. When she saw the two children, before I could say anything, Madam Qin turned the tables and said that I was trying to exchange my newborn daughter for the little prince..."
Nanny Qin burst into tears and said, "I wanted to say that they had replaced the little princess, but Aunt Qin came up to me first and threatened me in my ear. Now everyone in the court knows that the queen gave birth to a prince.
If I insist on telling the truth about the stolen dragon and the phoenix, the Queen will also be implicated, and my newborn daughter will die, and the Qin family will not be able to survive. My husband and my children are all members of the Qin family, and they will not be able to escape the death penalty..."
Nanny Qin bit her lip and said sadly, "Pingping, I'm sorry, I was cowardly at that time, and in order to prevent the Queen from being implicated and to save the lives of my husband and daughter, I concealed the matter.
After returning home, I tried countless times to tell the Queen the truth, but I had missed the best opportunity. The Queen no longer believed me and didn't want to see me.
Uncle Qin asked my husband to throw you into the river, and I jumped into the river to find you. The waves were high that day, and everyone thought we would not survive.
But thanks to God’s mercy, we all survived and were saved by a Taoist priest.
After the Taoist priest learned about this, he told me that saving my life was the most important thing. The little prince had been appointed as the Crown Prince, and everyone was sure that the child born to the Queen was the little prince.
Even if I go back and tell the truth, it will be difficult for me to fight against the entire Qin family alone, and people will only think that I am talking nonsense and want my daughter to be rich and famous.
Later, under the guidance of the Taoist priest, I took you to Shancheng. Shancheng is the fief of the King of Shu, and the people of the Qin family will not enter Shancheng without permission..."
Nanny Qin shed a tear and said slowly, "As time went by, the power of the Qin family grew day by day, especially after the death of old Prince Qi Yang, the Qin family's mansion became the largest in Da Sheng, and I dared not tell the truth anymore.
I feel guilty towards you. Now that you are old enough to get married, I don’t know what kind of husband to find for you, for fear of letting you down.
Later, when we arrived at Prince Qi's Mansion in North City, I learned that Qi Yu'an had feelings for you. I thought it was really unfair to you to let you be Qi Yu'an's concubine.
But Prince Qi is like a local emperor in North City. If you become his concubine, you can enjoy a lifetime of wealth and honor in North City. It is not like marrying an ordinary person. At least your children and grandchildren can continue to be rich and prosperous. "
Ah Ping sat down on the table in a daze, still in disbelief: "Aunt, is everything you said true? Am I really a princess?"
"Every word is true. If I lie to you, I will be struck by lightning!"
Nanny Qin cried, "Ah Ping, just now I saw the Qin family holding a portrait at the gate of Prince Qi's mansion to inquire about you. I can't be sure that Prince Qi's love for you now is enough to make him willing to give everything to believe in you and protect you...
Let's pretend to die and leave here. Shancheng is the territory of the King of Shu after all. The Qin family dare not act rashly and cause trouble for you on the territory of the King of Shu!"
Ah Ping looked at Aunt Qin and asked, "How did the Qin family know about me?"
Nanny Qin shook her head and said, "I don't know how the Qin family got your portrait, and why they came to inquire about you, but Pingping, you really can't go back to Shengjing. I can't defeat the Qin family with just my one-sided statement. Now it's best for you to fake your death and leave Prince Qi's Mansion."
Ah Ping lowered her head. She found it hard to digest such shocking news.
But she also understood, so what if she was a princess?
At that time, Nanny Qin was accused of being a thief who wanted to exchange her daughter for the prince. What could she prove now if she went back?
Qi Yu'an...
Will Qi Yu'an stand up for her? Will he risk the future of the Qi family for her?
A Ping shook her head, she was just daydreaming.
How could Qi Yu'an scold her and ignore her for several days for the sake of a princess who didn't exist? How could he gamble the future of the Qi family on Nanny Qin's one-sided words?
Even if she was pregnant, so what? There were thousands of women in this world who were willing to bear children for King Qi.
"Aunt, I'll go with you!"
Ah Ping touched her belly and said, "You can sell the jewelry that the princess gave me later. I have saved some money these days. The money from selling the jewelry will be enough for you, me and our children to have food and clothing for the rest of their lives."
Nanny Qin nodded and said, "I'll go sell it right away."
…
The East Palace’s birthday party was very lively.
Zhao Chong walked over to Lu Ze and asked, "Why didn't you bring Lingling with you? The princess didn't come either?"
Lu Ze raised his eyes and said, "The princess was afraid that her uncle and aunt would see her pleading for Qin Yuli, so she didn't come."
Zhao Chong said: "That's right."
Princess Pingrou walked up to Zhao Chong and smiled softly, "Brother, you are one year older now. You are already 23 years old. When will you let your big fat nephew hold you?"
Zhao Chong said: "Sister, if you haven't hugged enough of Lingling, you might as well wait until Ze'er and the princess get married so that she can give you a big fat grandson to hug."
Princess Pingrou said with a smile: "I am also thinking about this. I wonder when I can hold my first grandson in my arms."
The royal family was in a bustling mood in the East Palace. It was the Crown Prince's birthday party, and several of his royal brothers were also present.
As the eldest prince, the King of Shu had many children. Several of his sons were already sixteen or seventeen years old, and each of them was very handsome.
The King of Shu walked up to Lu Ze and said, "Ze'er is really becoming more and more handsome. I didn't expect that even when the child is three years old, you kept this a secret from your uncle. You really don't treat your uncle as your own."
Zhao Chong laughed and said, "Royal brother, Ze'er has even kept it a secret from his own parents. It doesn't mean that he doesn't consider you as his own."
Lu Ze picked up a glass of wine and said, "I should be punished for hiding the fact that I have a daughter from all the uncles and aunts!"
Lu Ze drank the glass of wine in one gulp, and the princes and princesses stopped criticizing Lu Ze and instead urged their younger brother, the Crown Prince, to marry a Crown Princess as soon as possible.
Emperor Shi Yuan and Empress Qin, who were sitting at the top, were very happy to see the large family with many children and grandchildren. When people get old, what they want most is to have their children and grandchildren live in harmony.
Emperor Shiyuan said, "The third family is still with Jie'er in the imperial mausoleum and won't come back?"
Queen Qin said, "Well, I sent someone to deliver charcoal to them not long ago. I heard that Jie'er can already read."
Emperor Shi Yuan thought of his third son who had passed away two years ago and sighed. When his third son passed away, Zhao Jie was still an infant.
Whenever Queen Qin saw her children and grandchildren having fun together, she always felt like there was a void in her heart.
Queen Qin didn't know why she had such a feeling. She thought it was because Zhao Chong had not yet married and had no legitimate grandson.
Lu Ze was forced to drink a lot of alcohol today.
After returning to Prince Qi's Mansion, he felt that he was covered in the smell of alcohol.
Lingling didn't despise him, "Daddy, you're finally back! Mommy and I missed you so much!"
Qi Yuning leaned closer to Lu Ze and said, "It's the prince's birthday, not yours. Why did you drink so much? You smell like alcohol?"
Lu Ze said, "It's been a long time since I had such a pure family dinner in the palace. Because I kept Lingling's affairs secret from them, I was forced to drink a lot more wine."
Qi Yuning chuckled and said, "Go wash up quickly. If you smell of alcohol, you are not allowed to enter my room."
As soon as Qi Yuning finished speaking, she heard Lichun come in and report that Qin Feng wanted to see her.
Qi Yuning asked curiously: "Qin Feng wants to see me? Isn't he here to see Master Lu?"
Lu Ze said: "Qin Feng doesn't know that I live in the palace now. If he wants to find me, he can go back to the princess's mansion next door to look for me. I think he is here to find you, the princess."
Although Lu Ze lived in Prince Qi's Mansion every day, he would go back to the Princess' Mansion first, and then go to the Prince's Mansion through the side doors of the two adjacent houses.
After all, they are not married yet, and it would be inappropriate for outsiders to know about living together. (End of this chapter)
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