Chapter 218 Substitution
"Didn't you already guess? Otherwise, why would he be in prison?"
Consort Rong answered easily.
Du Zhengming's heart skipped a beat as he listened, as if he had grasped something.
When Consort Rong spoke of the Third Prince, it sounded like she was talking about an outsider, showing no concern whatsoever for her son's safety.
Even knowing he was doomed, he didn't struggle at all, and was just so calm?
From a human nature perspective, Du Zhengming didn't believe it.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "I don't think the Third Prince looks like you or Prince Rui at all."
Consort Rong pursed her lips and said, "After all, they are of royal blood; there's no way that can be wrong."
Du Zhengming's heart skipped a beat: "Could the Third Prince really be His Majesty's child?"
"So what if it's His Majesty's child?"
With a mother like me, how good can he be?
Du Zhengming felt even more uneasy at this moment. Every word Consort Rong uttered sounded like she wanted the Third Prince to die.
The two chatted for a while, and after Du Zhengming came out, he had a lot of doubts in his mind.
Go find Huan Zi'an and discuss it quickly.
Huan Zian was also in a bind when he heard this.
"This is not something to be confused about. We should report it to the palace as soon as possible and have them send an expert to examine it."
At midday, in the sweltering heat outside, Du Zhengming hurriedly entered the palace again.
While His Majesty was taking his afternoon nap, Du Zhengming went to the Eastern Palace to see the Crown Prince.
Xiao Ling happened to be there as well, so he said, "My wife said last time that she has a way to easily distinguish them."
"Wait here, I'll send someone to fetch her from her home."
Xie Yunyu was sleeping at home when she was summoned to the East Palace.
Fortunately, the Duke of Qi was on holiday today, otherwise Xie Yunyu would have brought the child again.
When Xie Yunyu came in this time, Du Zhengming's gaze did not linger on her for long; he was very polite.
This made Xiao Ling and the Crown Prince like him much more.
After listening, Xie Yunyu explained:
"Well, let me put it simply."
Human blood is classified into five types: type A, type B, type A-B, type C, and type D.
We can basically determine their kinship through a simple blood test.
For example, if both parents have blood type A, their child cannot have any other blood type.
If the father is A and the mother is B, the child could be A, B, or both A and B.
...
Of course, this is just a basic assessment.
Xie Yunyu briefly explained the blood type information.
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince said, "Then let's test it first; perhaps it is different."
Xie Yunyu nodded and said, "Alright, then I'll trouble you to provide the blood samples for the three of them."
He then went to prepare the reagents for testing and debugging.
Soon someone brought blood samples from the three individuals.
Xie Yunyu quickly compared the test strips and was very lucky. Prince Rui was type B, Consort Rong was type O, but the Third Prince was type AB.
Xie Yunyu was stunned when she came to this conclusion.
Did I make a mistake?
I checked it carefully twice more, and even checked it myself once more, and finally confirmed that there was no problem.
Then he turned around and stared blankly at the three of them.
Seeing her strange expression, Xiao Ling quickly stepped forward and asked:
"What's wrong?"
"The Third Prince is not the child of Prince Rui and Consort Rong."
To be precise, the Third Prince could not possibly be Consort Rong's child.
Upon hearing this, both the Crown Prince and Xiao Ling were taken aback.
"Could there be a mistake in the verification?"
Xie Yunyu shook her head, holding up her bleeding finger, and said:
"I checked it three times."
I even pricked my finger to check; there's no mistake.
Only Du Zhengming, who was listening nearby, seemed to be deep in thought and said:
"No wonder she showed no worry or fear when I mentioned the Third Prince during my interrogation of Consort Rong."
Instead, he calmly accepted the inevitable death of the Third Prince.
If the Third Prince wasn't her son, then it would make sense.
"If the Third Prince is not Consort Rong's son, then who is he?"
And what happened to the child that Consort Rong gave birth to?
The crown prince was stunned for a long time before he realized what was happening and asked.
"Could it be that they've switched people again?" Xiao Ling asked.
Xie Yunyu nodded seriously and said, "That's possible. It's in line with Prince Rui's usual way of doing things."
Du Zhengming suddenly frowned and said, "Could it be that they switched the children with the children from the Northern Prince Rui's side?"
"Wait, how old is the Third Prince again this year?"
Xie Yunyu asked a question inspired by a sudden inspiration.
"Twenty years old, one year older than the orphan."
"Among those who uphold benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, who is his equal?"
“Xiao…Zhi…”
Xiao Ling answered tremblingly.
Xie Yunyu's heart pounded: "When did Xiao Zhi go blind?"
"They say that when she was very young, before she was even a year old, she was poisoned and blinded..."
Xie Yunyu's expression was one of extreme terror:
"Could he be..."
"What...is it?" The crown prince also became nervous.
"Could he... be His Majesty's biological son..." Xie Yunyu boldly speculated.
Upon hearing this, the four people in the hall gasped in shock.
Du Zhengming quickly sorted out his thoughts and said:
"Suppose that Consort Rong gave birth to Xiao Zhi, and after the child was born, it was discovered that the child had an eye problem."
In order to maintain her position in the palace, Consort Rong contacted Prince Rui to have Xiao Zhi and the Third Prince exchanged.
That makes sense.
But the question now is, is Xiao Zhi actually His Majesty's son?
The crown prince reached up and touched his forehead, closed his eyes, and didn't know what to say.
After a long pause, he finally spoke:
"Du Shaoqing, I'd like to trouble you to go and interrogate Consort Rong again. You must get her to talk."
"Here you go."
Du Zhengming came to the palace, learned about this huge scandal, received a new mission, and then left.
After Du Zhengming left, the Crown Prince looked at Xie Yunyu and said:
"I will arrange for people in the northern border to obtain Xiao Zhi's blood sample as soon as possible and send it over."
I'll have to trouble my younger brother and sister-in-law to come over then.
"Your Highness is too kind," Xie Yunyu replied.
After she left, the Crown Prince and Xiao Ling exchanged a glance and went to see the Emperor together.
The shock of the Emperor over the news of the First Prince's death has subsided considerably in the past two days.
Upon seeing the two arrive, he calmly asked them to sit down.
After Xiao Ling explained the situation, the emperor was completely astonished.
"Are you saying that the blind but intelligent commander-in-chief in the North who is currently directing our army is possibly my son?"
Although Xiao Ling also thought it was a bit far-fetched, he still nodded.
The crown prince explained it to the emperor in a different way.
The emperor gradually came to his senses, and after a long silence, said:
"Then we should get his blood sample as soon as possible for testing."
If he were truly of my blood, perhaps this war could end much sooner.
The Crown Prince and Xiao Ling thought the same thing.
However, if that is really the truth, it would be too cruel for Xiao Zhi.
How will he face himself after this?
Her biological father was the Emperor, her biological mother was Consort Rong, and her adoptive father was Prince Rui...
What can he do?
The Dali Temple has started working non-stop again.
Du Zhengming continued his interrogation of Consort Rong in the afternoon.
"Your Highness Consort Rong, we have tested the Third Prince's blood. He may be Prince Rui's child, but he is definitely not your child."
Don't you want to say something to me about this?"
Consort Rong listened and said calmly, "Oh, I see. That explains why someone suddenly came to collect my blood at noon."
After saying that, he looked up and smiled, then looked at Du Zhengming and said:
"Now that you've already investigated this far, why don't you continue investigating?"
What else did you find?
Du Zhengming continued, "Naturally, the investigation led to the child you gave birth to."
Otherwise, I wouldn't be asking you at this time.
When Du Zhengming said this, he stared intently at Consort Rong's expression.
Sure enough, her eyes twitched slightly.
"So what if you find out?"
He's not in your hands, and you can't threaten me.
Upon hearing this, Du Zhengming immediately realized that the guesses made by the people in the Eastern Palace that morning regarding Xiao Zhi were almost certainly correct.
……………………
Ah... I'm so sorry, I went out to have fun yesterday, Christmas. I got back around 11 PM, and when I was updating, I was half asleep and skipped chapter 217, going straight to chapters 218 and 219.
I just realized it, and I've changed it back.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com