The prince consort does not hold military power. His acceptance of the imperial decree for marriage means that he will not inherit the military power held by his father. Compared with military power, the title is secondary.
The timing of the imperial edict's arrival at the Duke of Du's residence was so opportune that even if Old Madam Du succeeded, she dared not reveal it, fearing that her son's military power would slip away, and also fearing that she would anger the late emperor and bring disaster upon the entire Duke of Du's residence.
That day, he was so angry that he wanted to kill Madam Du, but he was also afraid that Madam Du would fight him to the death, and that the late emperor would withdraw the imperial decree of marriage, meaning that he would never be able to marry Princess Huyang in this lifetime.
What they wanted was his position as heir apparent, so he used that position to get Madam Du to settle things with her niece from her maternal family.
On that occasion, Madam Du's niece became pregnant and gave birth to the child. She even had wicked intentions towards Princess Huyang, causing Princess Huyang to give birth prematurely and almost lose both her child and her baby.
However, Princess Huyang was fortunate to survive the difficult childbirth and severe bleeding. On the other hand, Madam Du's niece gave birth on the same day as Princess Huyang. Because the imperial physicians were all at the princess's residence, they could not provide timely treatment. When the midwife had to choose between saving the mother or the child, she was chosen to save the child and died.
On the day Princess Huyang gave birth, he stayed outside the delivery room. When the midwife brought the baby out for him to see, he saw a cloud-shaped birthmark on the baby's thigh.
During that time, Princess Huyang was very weak, and his thoughts were all on her. In addition, the child was being cared for by a wet nurse, so he didn't notice anything amiss. One day, when the wet nurse was changing the child's diaper in the room, he noticed that the child's inner thigh was clean and white, and the birthmark was gone. Upon asking, he learned that the child had been switched on the day of birth.
The only person with the ability and courage to do such a thing could be Old Madam Du; he went directly to Old Madam Du to ask for the child.
He was the child that Old Madam Du demanded by choking her. Unfortunately, on the way to Old Madam Du's family home, the child was stolen because the maid had a stomachache and left the child, who was in a food box, outside the latrine. He has been missing ever since.
From that day on, he has been searching for his son.
They dared not search openly, fearing it would arouse suspicion from Princess Huyang and the Empress Dowager. They could only pretend to be searching for the longevity lock bestowed by the late emperor, and have people search for it secretly.
After searching for more than a decade, we've finally found a clue.
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