After saying that, she took out a scroll from her sleeve. "Please take a look. This is a portrait of our late queen. She looks eight or nine parts like this duchess. No wonder my fourth prince recognized her at a glance."
The eunuch immediately took the portrait, unfolded it, and presented it to everyone.
Consort Zhou exclaimed in surprise, "She really does resemble the Duchess of the State!"
Su was shocked at first; she never imagined that she was actually a member of the Northern Di royal family.
She glanced at the portrait and thought it looked very similar. Seeing that Yun Yue seemed to have known all along, she secretly pinched Yun Yue's hand and said through gritted teeth in a barely audible voice, "You deliberately brought them back to the capital, didn't you?"
She said that it was just a border trade agreement, but the Northern Di people were making a big show of it, actually sending an envoy to the Great Zhou in person.
Yun Yue grasped her hand and pulled her to sit down. "Now that I've discovered your background, how can I keep it a secret any longer? However, you are, after all, of the Northern Di royal family. If you don't bring things out into the open, you'll inevitably invite trouble."
After thinking about it, Madam Su agreed. Amidst the shocked gazes of the crowd, she stepped forward and bowed to Emperor Shunqing. “Your Majesty, Your Highness, I was adopted by the Su family when I was young, but I have never known my origins. The Su family has searched everywhere without success. Although this portrait bears some resemblance to me, there are so many people in the world who look alike. I am afraid that this alone is not enough to confirm my origins.”
By this time, the portrait had already been circulated to Chief Minister Lin and his wife.
But then Madam Lin exclaimed in surprise, "Shan'er! Isn't this my little sister Shan'er?!"
Everyone looked over again.
Prime Minister Lin held the portrait, his face showing great shock.
Madam Lin staggered to her feet and walked over to the Fourth Prince and his wife, asking excitedly, "May I ask you two esteemed ladies, is the person in this portrait truly your Queen of the Northern Di? Where is she now? Did she grow up in the Northern Di?"
In her excitement, she forgot that the Fourth Prince's wife had just referred to the "former Queen".
The Fourth Prince's wife was a beautiful woman not yet twenty years old. Seeing that Old Madam Lin was somewhat agitated, she quickly took two steps to steady her before slowly saying, "Please allow me to tell you the story. Our Queen is from the Great Zhou. Thirty years ago, my father was seriously wounded in battle and was swept away by a river to the border city of the Northern Di. He was rescued by a female slave from a family. The slave cared for him diligently, and the two fell in love over time. My father saw that she was often beaten and scolded for her hard work, so he brought her back to the royal court. However, their marriage was not approved by my father and mother, and they were also ostracized and insulted by my three elder brothers and sisters-in-law. Unable to bear the torment, after giving birth to the princess, fearing that her daughter would be harmed, the late Queen secretly had the princess sent to Dingzhou in the Great Zhou, and died less than a month later. My father was furious and rebelled, biding his time, and only a few years ago did he seize the throne. Later, he secretly inquired about the whereabouts of my sister. We came here with a glimmer of hope, but we didn't expect to see my sister so soon!"
Upon hearing this, Madam Lin was already in tears, her face filled with disbelief, and she turned her sorrowful gaze toward Prime Minister Lin.
Chief Minister Lin came over to help the lady up, "Your Majesty, we have been disrespectful in front of the palace. We hope Your Majesty will allow us to leave first."
Emperor Shunqing waved his hand with great reluctance.
Consort Zhou asked with concern, "Prime Minister Lin, I heard years ago that you lost your younger sister. Are you referring to Shan'er, the one Madam Lin mentioned?"
Prime Minister Lin nodded, his voice tinged with grief, "Shan'er is the only daughter of the Lin family, and also my only sister. She went missing when she was seven years old, and we searched for her for decades without any news. My sister was only seven when she went missing, so naturally her appearance changed drastically as she grew up. But..."
He pointed to a touch of crimson on the woman's right eyebrow in the painting, "My mother had many portraits of my eldest sister when she was young painted. She had a peach-shaped cinnabar mark on her right eyebrow, exactly the same as this one. Perhaps it was because of this distinctive feature that my eldest sister was sold to the Northern Barbarians."
Everyone was filled with emotion.
Madam Lin sighed, "We searched desperately in the Great Zhou, never imagining that she would be sold to the Northern Di."
She walked slowly to Madam Su, her voice trembling with excitement, "You...you are Shan'er's daughter! You are really Shan'er's daughter?!"
Madam Su quickly helped her up, "Madam Lin, this matter... still needs to be investigated..."
"No! No!" Madam Lin gently touched her face. "The moment I saw you, I felt a sense of familiarity. I never imagined you were a member of the Lin family!"
She couldn't help but shed tears again, this time tears of joy. She looked at Prime Minister Lin and said, "Daoming, your mother has been crying every day for the past few decades. She is Shan'er's daughter! How could I not recognize her, not recognize her at all... If your mother knew that Shan'er's daughter was still alive, she would surely be able to leave the Buddhist hall!"
Prime Minister Lin also wiped away a tear. His wife had been helping to search for his sister for many years and was also worried about his mother's health. At this moment, she was truly crying tears of joy.
Madam Su looked at the Fourth Prince and his wife with difficulty, "Fourth Prince, Fourth Princess, as I said, there are so many people in the world who look alike. I'm afraid a single portrait is not enough to prove anything."
Unexpectedly, the Fourth Prince's wife took out a scroll from her sleeve. "This is a portrait of my father when he was young. You will recognize it at a glance, Madam."
As soon as Su took it, she saw a handsome man. The only two parts of her that didn't resemble her mother came from this man.
“Madam, you are the very embodiment of both Father and the late Queen!” Then, the Fourth Prince’s wife handed over a piece of paper. “As for physical evidence, it is said that when the late Queen sent my sister away, she took a glass bracelet with her. The peculiarity of this bracelet is that it is pink on the outside and blue on the inside, making it a two-tone bracelet.”
Clang!
Su's mind went blank.
Madam Lin was overjoyed and smiled through her tears, "Yes! That must be Sister Shan'er! That bracelet is a family heirloom of our Lin family!"
Prime Minister Lin looked at Madam Su with anticipation, "Madam Duchess, have you seen this bracelet before?"
Su nodded with great difficulty, "Yes."
Madam Lin's eyes brightened with hope as she looked at Madam Su. "If the two-tone glass bracelet that the Fourth Prince's Consort mentioned is on your wrist, then you must be the daughter of Sister Shan'er. This two-tone glass bracelet is an heirloom of our Lin family. It has been passed down in the Lin family for two hundred years. My mother said that when Sister Shan'er was young, she saw it and thought it was fun, so she put it on her wrist and could never take it off. So my mother had no choice but to let her wear it all the time."
She stepped forward and took Su's hand, saying, "I never expected that after all these years, you would still have to call me aunt."
Su was speechless for a moment.
A brief silence fell over the hall. Then Consort Zhou spoke up, "Your Majesty, today Chief Minister Lin found his niece, and the Fourth Prince found his elder sister. This is a double celebration!"
Prime Minister Lin also realized what was happening, wiped away his tears, and stood up, saying, "Yes, Mother originally thought she would never find any news of her daughter again in this lifetime, and had long assumed that she was definitely gone. I never expected... that I would be able to meet her daughter again in my lifetime."
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