Shen Tingsi frowned, and was about to ask something, but was stopped by Jiang Xiancao's look.
He remembered what he had promised Jiang Xiancao before, and softened his tone and said:
"Mom doesn't want to talk about those unhappy things, so let's not talk about them."
Madam Shu stared at him for a long time with her bright, watery eyes, then suddenly asked, "Are you really Cao'er?"
Hearing this, Shen Tingsi paused.
He showed a strange expression, "How could I not be Cao'er? Look at my appearance, I look so much like you when you were young."
Madam Shu remained silent, her eyes darkened as she looked back and forth at Shen Tingsi and Jiang Xiancao.
Jiang Xiancao thought to himself, this is bad.
Let her mother see that Shen Tingsi is a fake.
But what she couldn't understand was how Madam Shu knew that there was something wrong with Shen Tingsi?
She was about to explain, but Madam Shu smiled and said with a bit of desolation:
"Your Highness, there's no need to find a fake to test me. If you want to know what happened back then, I can tell you directly. But I have one condition: I ask that you, the royal family, stop embarrassing Cao'er. She's just a helpless and weak woman. There's nothing you can't tolerate."
In terms of bloodline, Cao'er is the prince's cousin. Now that the Shu family has completely fallen on hard times, and her father's family are a bunch of inhumane beasts, I can only entrust her to the prince. Please, for the sake of her sister, take good care of her."
Jiang Xiancao was stunned for a moment, and then heard Madam Shu say:
"Your Highness, there's no need to quibble. As a mother, although I haven't seen my daughter for many years, I have my own way of identifying her. As I said before, Your Highness, if you want to know what happened back then, bring the real Miss Jiang to meet me. Once I see her, I will naturally tell her everything I know."
After Jiang Xiancao took Shen Tingsi out of the house, his expression was heavy.
Shen Tingsi looked at her secretly, and said with some guilt, "Is it because I was too eager to ask about the Shu family's previous affairs that I was exposed?"
Jiang Xiancao looked up at him, wanting to say that he was useless and couldn't even handle such a small matter.
But when she thought about the fact that he and she were cousins, she didn't say anything unpleasant after all.
"I also want to know what happened to the Shu family in the past. Judging from my mother's attitude, there seems to be a hidden story behind what happened back then, and—"
Jiang Xiancao paused.
Moreover, my mother seemed to be very wary of the royal family, so much so that she could not even trust her nephew, who was born to her own sister.
Could it be that the Shu family’s tragedy was also related to the royal family?
Was Emperor Yong's deep affection and longing for Concubine Shu after her death all an act?
She asked Shen Tingsi:
"What was the Emperor's reaction when your mother passed away?"
Shen Tingsi was stunned for a moment, then realized what she was suspicious of, and said angrily:
"Of course, my father has been investigating the case of the imperial concubine's family and searching for the whereabouts of her mother and sister. To this end, my father even ordered the court to send troops to wipe out all the bandits in that area, but they only found two bodies that were suspected to be theirs, and they were eventually brought back for a proper burial.
If you suspect that my father wants to take action against the Shu family, then he has more clever methods. There is no need to fabricate the story of my mother being assassinated to save his life, and to clash with the Queen's family over the issue of conferring a title on my mother. Isn't this unnecessary?"
Jiang Xiancao kept his eyes calm and said nothing. Shen Tingsi lowered his voice and said:
"I really don't understand. Aunt Lin Yue disappeared in Yongzhou. How could she be imprisoned in Qingcheng by the Jiang family?"
He gritted his teeth and said:
"The Jiang family is so bold that they even dared to detain a princess. I think they were also responsible for the Shu family's annihilation! These bastards, my maternal grandfather and his family have already hidden themselves away from the world, so why are they so unwilling to let the Shu family go?!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xiancao's expression turned cold.
"You should already know that Marquis Wen Ning is indeed secretly implicated in Tianming Pavilion. The previously executed Jiang Huaizhu was just a cover. The Jiang family has been plotting evil for a long time."
She said coldly:
"There are also rumors that the true owner of Tianming Pavilion is a descendant of the previous dynasty's royal family, and the Shu family knows too many secrets of the previous dynasty. If Tianming Pavilion approaches them, but they refuse to help Tianming Pavilion's cause of restoring the country, and even send your mother to the harem to become the current emperor's concubine, this will anger Tianming Pavilion.
In order to seize what the Shu family has and to silence them, Tianming Pavilion fabricated a tragedy by pretending to be a murder of passion.
However, Shu Fei's mother and sister were not at the Shu Family Villa because they were visiting relatives, so they sent other people to hunt them down, but they blamed it on bandits. However, due to a strange combination of circumstances, my mother managed to escape alive and fled to another place. The Jiang family, knowing the truth, secretly took my mother away for some reason.
Doesn’t this all make sense now?”
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