Chapter 167 Bastard
The next day, Prime Minister Cui brought Cui Dalang into the palace.
Ever since he realized the grave mistake he had made, Cui Dalang had lived like a frightened bird, extremely cautious and timid, spending his days hiding in his bedroom in the Weizhou government office, afraid to show his face.
Fortunately, during that time, the Second Prince was in a state of utter despair, and Huang Wei was overwhelmed with problems, so no one did anything to him.
After the eldest princess arrived, she was busy with disaster relief every day, as if she had forgotten that he existed.
Later, the Cui family sent people to deliver grain to Weizhou, and he hurriedly followed the grain delivery team back to the capital.
Although he was severely punished by Cui Shiliang after returning home, at least he managed to save his life.
The purpose of my visit to the palace was to inform the Imperial Concubine about what had happened to the Second Prince in Weizhou.
To everyone's surprise, the Imperial Concubine didn't care about any of this. After paying her respects, she directly kicked Li Yuanshu and Cui Dalang out of the bedchamber.
Li Yuanshu felt a surge of anger rising within him.
It's one thing for Cui Dalang to be an idiot, but why should she be kicked out too?
These days she has been running around tirelessly, both for her brother and to mediate for the Cui family.
If it weren't for her, would my uncle and mother have been released so easily?
But now, they're even keeping these things from her, clearly treating her like an outsider!
If it weren't for her own grand plan, she would have loved to stop caring about them altogether.
Thinking of this, Li Yuanshu glanced coldly at Cui Dalang beside him and said sarcastically, "Cousin, you really have a lucky life on this trip to Weizhou."
Cui Dalang could easily tell that she was being sarcastic. He chuckled awkwardly and said, "Your Highness is joking."
Li Yuanshu then asked, "When we were in Weizhou, did my brother receive our letter? Why did he suddenly decide to become a monk? Did my sister say something to him?"
These days, Cui Dalang has been hiding in the government office, not daring to even step out of the gate, for fear that if he shows his face he will be dragged out to be "sacrificed" to atone for his crime. How could he know any of this?
He stammered and apologized, "Your Highness, please forgive me, I truly knew nothing about these things."
Li Yuanshu cursed under his breath, "Useless trash, what use are you?"
Seeing that she couldn't get a single useful word out of him, she turned and left.
Before leaving, he suddenly remembered something, but stopped and turned back to look at Cui Dalang, saying sincerely.
"By the way, the Cui family was in trouble this time, and it was all thanks to my cousin's wife who took care of everything and handled things smoothly. She is beautiful and capable, much better than you, cousin. Moreover, she is very loyal and devoted to you, cousin. You must treat her well in the future."
Upon hearing this, Cui Dalang was taken aback, then nodded repeatedly and replied, "Of course, of course."
But as soon as Li Yuanshu left, his face fell.
Liu Liniang?
What good is being highly capable?
And yet he still beats and scolds her.
He recalled the night he returned to Beijing, the woman's eyes filled with blatant mockery, and he spat fiercely.
Inside the inner hall, the charcoal fire in the stove flickered, and Cui Yunyi sat back on the soft couch, looking haggard.
After sitting down, Cui Shiliang looked at Cui Yunyi and asked with concern, "Sister, I heard you were sick. Are you feeling any better now?"
"Illness?" Cui Yunyi laughed coldly, as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world.
"That sickly Li Ye, plagued by headaches, couldn't win an argument with me, so he turned around and accused me of having delusions! I'm perfectly fine, I'm not sick!"
Upon hearing this, Cui Shiliang's expression changed drastically, and he subconsciously looked around.
Seeing that there were indeed only the two of them, brother and sister, in the inner hall, he lowered his voice.
"How dare you address His Majesty like that, sister? Be careful, walls may have ears, and it might reach His Majesty's ears."
Cui Yunyi seemed to have been hit where it hurt, and she sat up abruptly. "What do I have to be afraid of him for now? At worst, I'll just let Li Ye kill me!"
Seeing his sister's reckless attitude, Cui Shiliang felt a pang of unease and confusion.
"Why are you saying such nonsense? What happened?"
Cui Yunyi turned to the side and stared at Cui Shiliang for a moment.
The complex emotions in his eyes made Cui Shiliang's heart tighten uncontrollably.
After a long silence, Cui Yunyi finally spoke slowly, as if she had made up her mind, "Brother, there is something I have kept from you for many years."
"What's up?"
Seeing her unusually serious expression, Cui Shiliang's heart jumped into his throat, and a strong sense of foreboding washed over him.
After sighing, Cui Yunyi said lightly, "Li Yuanzhao is not Li Ye's daughter at all."
"What?!" Upon hearing this, Cui Shiliang was so shocked that he stood up immediately.
Cui Yunyi continued, "Back then, the Empress actually gave birth to a prince. I sent someone to switch Li Yuanzhao with the real prince."
Then, disregarding Cui Shiliang's shock, Cui Yunyi recounted the events of that year in detail.
How to bribe the midwife and secretly plot to cause the Empress to hemorrhage.
Taking advantage of the chaos in the palace and the fact that the imperial physicians were preoccupied with saving the empress, they switched the baby boy with a baby girl they had prepared beforehand.
And how could they throw the real prince into the river...?
As Cui Shiliang listened, he broke out in a cold sweat.
After Cui Yunyi finished speaking, he asked incredulously in a trembling voice, "But when the Empress was giving birth, so many people were watching, how could you have succeeded?"
At this point, a hint of doubt flashed in Cui Yunyi's eyes.
“I also found it strange. Afterwards, the midwife I arranged told me that, for some reason, the imperial physician who was giving the Empress acupuncture that day had driven all the palace maids out of the delivery room, leaving only her by his side. The imperial physician was so focused on giving the Empress acupuncture that he didn’t pay any attention to the child, which gave her the opportunity to succeed.”
Upon hearing this, Cui Shiliang felt a wave of fear wash over him.
He dared not even imagine the consequences if this matter had been accidentally exposed on the spot.
He managed to sit down by holding onto the edge of the table, but his voice was already trembling badly.
"You... How dare you?! How dare you do such a treasonous thing? Do you know that if this matter is exposed, you will not live, I will not live, and the entire Cui family will be implicated and executed!"
Cui Yunyi had naturally been afraid before, but now she said dismissively, "But look, so many years have passed, and I've done it flawlessly. Nobody has noticed! That bastard Li Yuanzhao is still holding the title of Princess, enjoying Li Ye's favor, and wielding great power, isn't he?"
Cui Shiliang was so angry that his chest heaved violently, and his vision blurred.
After a long silence, he finally blurted out angrily, "Sister, are you really that foolish!"
If he was so foolish as to do such a stupid thing, why didn't he tell him sooner?
Let him waste so many years fighting with this bastard who came from who-knows-where.
After his initial shock and anger subsided, he looked at the abnormal madness in Cui Yunyi's eyes, and his heart sank again. He asked warily, "You've kept this a secret for so many years, and now you're suddenly confessing. What is your intention?"
A fierce determination flashed in Cui Yunyi's eyes as she revealed her plan, word by word.
"I will publicly expose her identity as Li Yuanzhao's bastard child at the New Year's Eve banquet!"
"Isn't Li Ye biased towards her, giving her power and letting her compete with You'er? I'll let him know that the precious daughter he's doted on for over a decade is nothing more than a bastard of unknown origin!"
"Didn't he say that You'er is not even one-tenth or one-twelfth as good as Li Yuanzhao? I'm going to make him face reality. His own offspring is not even as good as a bastard born to a peasant woman!"
"I will make him lose face in front of all the officials, the imperial family and relatives, and make him beg You'er to come back and be the crown prince, no matter how much he looks down on You'er!"
"Hahahaha..."
She became more and more excited as she spoke, and in the end she laughed until tears streamed down her face. Her laughter was sharp and manic, making Cui Shiliang's scalp tingle.
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