Qing Ning, who was standing behind him, whispered, "Zhuang Cairen's sister is Zhuang Jing. She's my master's aunt and is extremely skilled at making medicines, especially those that are highly toxic but invisible to the average person. She already knew a thing or two before she even became my master's disciple."
The emperor was stunned at first, then said, "The queen teamed up with her, first drugging Zhen'er, and then attacking Qingning?"
Song Chengze thought for a moment and continued, "Not only that, they secretly switched Qingning out of the palace, and then created the illusion that he accidentally fell into the lake and drowned, and had his face eaten by a fish. At first, the prince took advantage of his old relationship with Prince Shen, and asked Prince Shen to deal with Qingning. However, firstly, the prince didn't know that Qingning was of royal blood, and secondly, he felt sorry for Qingning's young age and couldn't bear to kill him, so he sent him to a relatively good family for foster care. Later, the prince learned of Qingning's situation and sent people to hunt him down. It was when Zhou Yu's adoptive father rescued him that Yunling Mountain Master happened to meet him. He not only treated his injuries but also accepted him as his last disciple."
Qingning placed his hands on the emperor's temples and continued to massage gently. "The poison in my body had already taken effect at that time. If I hadn't met my master, I would never have met the emperor. Later, I followed my master to the mountains, learning medical skills while recuperating. Only when I was able to control my illness did my master allow me to leave the mountain."
The emperor slammed his left hand on the table. "Sixth Brother, go call the prince. I want to ask him in person."
Song Chengze stepped forward and said, "Father, I have something else to tell you about the Crown Prince. I'd like to share it with you as well."
"explain."
"The prince has always been in poor health. For so many years, he only had one daughter, Aihua. Fortunately, a son was born this year. But that son..."
The emperor said impatiently, "If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you hesitating?"
Song Chengze fell to his knees and said, "I dare not say anything."
"Don't dare? You just made everything about me and Zhen'er clear, and even brought Qingning to me. What else do you dare not say? Tell me, no matter what it is, I will forgive you."
Song Chengze was still kneeling there, "This matter is of great importance, and I am willing to risk my life to explain it."
The emperor was surprised and stopped Qingning's action, but Qingning saluted and said, "I am a commoner..."
"What kind of people are you? You are my son, so you don't have to go out. Let me hear what news Old Six has that will surprise me."
Song Chengze raised his head and said, "Father, I suspect that the prince's son is not his biological son."
The emperor stood up and said, "What did you say? Do you know what you are saying? It's not the prince's? How dare you say such a thing?"
Song Chengze raised his head even higher, "Father, do you remember that one year, a foreign country presented two hairpins as tribute, and you gave one to the late Empress Dowager and the other to Empress Jiang?"
"Hairpin?" The emperor's eyes were confused. He had rewarded so many things, so naturally he would not remember something from such a long time ago.
"Yes, that hairpin was actually specially made by the late Empress Dowager. Inside the hairpin is a drug that prevents pregnancy. Whether a man or a woman wears it regularly for a year or two, it will basically be impossible for them to have children. And the hairpin that the prince wears almost every day now was given to Empress Jiang back then."
The emperor seemed to take a moment to understand what Song Chengze meant. He looked at him in surprise, "You mean, the hairpin was made by Zhen'er?"
"Yes, the late Empress Dowager gave her hairpin to Zhou Yu's biological mother, who in turn gave it to Meng's mother. My mother-in-law was very angry about the Meng family's third branch framing Meng, so she gave the hairpin to the eldest daughter of the third branch as a dowry, but she never got pregnant."
The emperor met Song Chengze's meaningful gaze, his pupils gradually shrinking. He shouted to Lu Chengbao, "Go and call the prince, and ask him to bring his usual hairpin."
Then he added, "I want to open it myself and see what it is. Get up."
Song Chengze stood up and said, "Father, shall I go and bring Zhuang Jing here?"
"She's in the palace?"
"Yes, after discovering that the whole thing was related to her, I started looking for her. She must have heard the news at that time and went into hiding. After I found her, she tried to commit suicide several times. She was under guard and didn't say a word until her sister's biological daughter showed up."
The emperor seemed to be wondering who the biological daughter of Zhuang Jing's sister was, and asked in disbelief, "Mrs. Zhuang's daughter?"
"Yes, in fact, Concubine Zhuang's daughter did not die in childbirth. It was the late Empress Dowager who discovered that Concubine Zhuang had betrayed her and did something to her. The late Empress Dowager arranged for the child to be sent out of the palace, hoping to find a place to raise her. However, the family encountered a great disaster, and the whole family was wiped out."
The emperor was so confused by the whole incident that he couldn't believe his ears. How could this happen? Two lost children were found again on the same day?
Qingning was killed by Jiang in revenge against Zhen'er, and Zhuang Cairen's child was sent out of the palace because of Zhen'er?
"Fortunately, the child was born with a very distinctive feature, just like Qingning. She had a large mole on her forehead, and the child looked very similar to Zhuang Cairen. Only after seeing the child did Zhuang Jing confess everything that happened back then."
The emperor nodded indifferently, "Where is Zhuang Jing now?"
"Please forgive me, Father."
"You have asked me to spare you eight hundred times today." The emperor said coldly.
Song Chengze bowed and said, "The truth is that there are too many things to plan for this whole matter. I can only present it to the emperor after I have collected all the evidence."
"Go ahead. No matter what you say, do, or hear today, I will forgive you."
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