Chapter 87 If nothing's wrong, they're imposters; if something happens, we're family.
A somber mood hung heavy over the Yu residence.
When Yu Zhiyi arrived at Madam Yu's bedroom, she smelled a strong medicinal fragrance.
Only the disabled Sanlang Yu Mingquan was attending to the sick in the room; Minister Yu and the other three sons were not there.
"Third Brother," Yu Zhiyi greeted.
Yu Mingquan frowned slightly, as if he were slightly worried.
Upon seeing Yu Zhiyi arrive, he nodded slightly: "Yi'er."
"Is that Yi'er?" Madam Yu's gentle voice came from the bed.
Yu Zhiyi looked up and saw that Madam Yu's face was normal, only slightly haggard.
The most noticeable thing was her eyes, which were red and swollen.
Yu Zhiyi looked away and gave a slight bow: "Mother."
"Mingquan, you can go out now."
Madam Yu, née Zheng, waved her hand.
Yu Mingquan maneuvered the wheelchair towards the outside.
As they brushed past each other, Yu Zhiyi heard him say in a low voice, "Do what you can, there's no need to worry."
Yu Zhiyi pursed her lips.
Zheng didn't hear Yu Mingquan's words, and waved to Yu Zhiyi: "Yi'er, come and sit down."
Yu Zhiyi walked over.
Zheng sighed, "It seems like it's been a long time since my daughter and I had a truly intimate conversation."
Yu Zhiyi remained silent.
Receiving no response, Madam Zheng smiled bitterly: "I know you're blaming me for neglecting you, but Yi'er, Jiaojiao is still my daughter."
“She was stranded outside at the most vulnerable and helpless age, and suffered so much. As her mother, I feel so sorry for her.”
"And the one who caused all of this was your mother."
"I both love and hate you."
Yu Zhiyi was completely unmoved.
The same heartfelt words were spoken by Zheng in his previous life.
She wholeheartedly agreed at the time, and even put herself in the girl's shoes. If her own daughter had been maliciously switched at birth and suffered for ten years, she would definitely not have kept the girl.
Don't tell her that the child is innocent.
Your mother maliciously switched you with a wealthy family, taking their daughter to the countryside to live a life of hardship. Your very existence is the original sin.
But sometimes she couldn't help but wonder, what did she do wrong, this original sin?
She can't possibly atone for this contradictory and messed-up life by dying just because she's a "sin."
Therefore, after learning that Yu Jiaojiao was the Achilles' heel of everyone in the Yu family, she gave up struggling.
Even when someone tries to frame or trick her, she remains unmoved.
In her past life, she was deeply moved when she heard Madam Yu say these intimate words.
She thought that her mother still had a sliver of tenderness for her.
She turned back unintentionally because she had left something behind, and overheard Madam Yu and Yu Zixuan's conversation.
"Mother, you don't actually still have feelings for that ungrateful wretch, do you?"
"How could that be? If your father hadn't been at a crucial juncture in his promotion and couldn't afford to leave any leverage for his political enemies to attack, your father and I wouldn't have kept her around at all. I only said that to make her obediently help your fourth brother arrange a position."
***
"Yi'er?"
Seeing Yu Zhiyi in a daze, Madam Zheng was somewhat displeased, but she suppressed her anger.
Yu Zhiyi snapped out of her reverie: "Sorry, I was thinking about some unhappy things. Go ahead and tell me."
She thought that having been reborn, she had long forgotten these unpleasant things.
Unexpectedly, when the scar was uncovered, the inside had already turned into a lump of rotten flesh.
Only by digging with a knife can the rotten tissue be removed and new tissue regenerated.
Her clear, bright gaze was like a spring of water, so calm, clean, and pure that Zheng felt somewhat uncomfortable being looked at by her.
You brat, weren't you supposed to be able to predict the future and be known as a goddess?
How could you not know what you mean?
Sure enough, all those so-called skills were fake.
However, she was well-liked by Prime Minister Du and his wife, and that was enough.
Thinking of this, she suddenly shed two lines of clear tears.
Yu Zhiyi watched quietly.
Zheng cried silently for a while, and when she realized that the person in front of her was not comforting her, she felt embarrassed and ashamed.
She almost lost her temper, but forced herself to speak properly.
Knowing that tears wouldn't work, she dabbed her tears with a handkerchief, but her voice was still a little choked up: "Yi'er, you and Jiaojiao grew up together, you know her, there's no way she could be involved with those assassins."
"She has suffered outside for ten years, and finally returned to our side to live a few years of peace. Now she has been dragged into this undeserved disaster. Yi'er, my heart aches so much."
Yu Zhiyi said indifferently, "This matter is under the jurisdiction of the Dali Temple, and I am powerless to help."
"After all, although I was granted an official position as an exception, I am only a minor fifth-rank physician, and I have no say in anything."
Hearing her reply, even though it was a rejection, Zheng felt reassured.
She grasped Yu Zhiyi's hand: "Yi'er, His Majesty made an exception and appointed you because of your ability to predict the future. As long as you tell His Majesty that Jiaojiao is innocent, he will definitely believe you."
“This involves treason. How can you be so sure that His Majesty will believe me instead of treating me as an accomplice of the treasoner and wiping me out?” Yu Zhiyi withdrew her hand.
Madam Zheng didn't mind and hurriedly said, "No, you only said a few words in the main hall, and His Majesty believed in your abilities. Moreover, the effectiveness of your defensive bracelet is convincing. I believe that as long as you say it, His Majesty will believe you."
Yu Zhiyi: "You only saw me say a few words in the main hall, but didn't you see that I asked His Majesty to find evidence in the middle of the conversation? His Majesty didn't believe me because I told a bizarre story, but because I guided them to find evidence. They believed me because of the evidence. Don't get the cause and effect wrong."
Zheng was speechless.
Yu Zhiyi continued, "Actually, this matter is easy to resolve, isn't it? As long as Yu Jiaojiao explains why she knows about the assassin, and if what she says is true and she really has nothing to do with the assassin, she can clear her name."
Zheng: "..."
Isn't it because Yu Jiaojiao couldn't explain it?
When they visited her in prison, they asked her, but Yu Jiaojiao stammered and couldn't give a reason, only telling them to believe her.
They certainly believed it.
But their belief is useless; only the Dali Temple and His Majesty can believe it.
Madam Zheng bit her lip and grasped Yu Zhiyi's hand again: "Yi'er, could you tell His Majesty that you foresaw the assassins and unintentionally revealed it to Jiaojiao..."
Yu Zhiyi stood up jokingly: "So the real intention has been revealed? You've said so much, but this is actually the key point."
Minister Yu was no fool. Even if Madam Zheng couldn't understand the reasons behind what happened in the main hall, Minister Yu could see what the emperor truly believed in.
Even so, they still found her and brought her back.
Having her true intentions exposed, Madam Zheng felt somewhat embarrassed and was speechless for a moment.
Yu Zixuan couldn't stand it anymore and burst in: "We're all family, what's wrong with you helping Sister Jiaojiao?"
Yu Zhiyi said with a sneer, "When things are fine, I'm just a disgusting imposter, unworthy of being family with you. But when trouble comes, we become family?"
Author's note: Hello, is anyone reading?
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