Upon hearing this, Su Yushan's ominous premonition grew stronger, but she still decided to listen. No matter how cruel the truth was, it was better than being kept in the dark forever.
After a brief pause, Hongli finally made up his mind and told him everything: "I have always understood your concerns. In fact, I don't care about the child himself, after all, he is our flesh and blood."
But Father and the others have been paying attention to this matter. And since you were murdered and took the pill to change your gender, I'm worried that if you give birth to an abnormal child and the palace finds out, they might say you gave birth to a freak. It's not a big deal if you don't get promoted, but if Father then considers you an unlucky person, that would be troublesome!
To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, I instructed Li Yu to find a baby boy who was born a few days ago. I thought it would be better to be prepared. If our child is healthy, regardless of gender, we can keep him. If he has any defects, we can use that baby boy instead.
Upon hearing this, Su Yushan felt a chill run down her spine! The situation Hongli described seemed to be more serious than she had imagined!
"So...there's something wrong with our child. The one I saw the other day wasn't our child?"
However, Hongli said, "What you see is indeed our child."
"Really?" Recalling the events of that day, Su Yushan's suspicions remained. "That day I said I wanted to see the child, but you stopped me and told me to sleep for a while. Did you take that opportunity to switch the child?"
Her eyes were brimming with tears, red and swollen, and she was on the verge of crying. Hongli held her hand and explained gently:
“The baby had just been born, and no one was sure if there were any problems. I was worried that if there were any defects, you would be upset if you saw it, so I thought I would wait until I had checked the baby and made sure everything was fine before letting you see it.”
"Does that child have any defects? Was the one I saw really our child?"
“There’s nothing seriously wrong, so I didn’t change it. The child is indeed our flesh and blood, there’s no doubt about that.”
No major problems? Su Yushan immediately thought of a possibility, "Then is there a minor flaw? Otherwise, why are you looking so worried?"
But she had checked that day, and it was definitely a boy, without any female characteristics. What was wrong? Su Yushan grew increasingly anxious. Seeing her so worried, Hongli had no choice but to tell her the truth.
"The child's facial features and fingers are normal, but he is missing a little toe on his right foot, and only has four."
His reminder made Su Yushan realize that she had only been checking her child's fingers that day and had neglected his toes. She had only glanced at his little feet casually and hadn't looked closely. So that was where the problem lay!
Will losing a toe affect his health?
This was exactly what Hongli was worried about. "I asked the doctor, and the doctor said that when he walks in the future, it might have a slight impact, and he won't walk as steadily as a normal person, but the impact will not be significant and will not be noticeable unless you look closely."
"Besides that, does the child have any other problems?"
Hongli nodded with great certainty, "There are no other defects, everything else is normal."
After confirming, Su Yushan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, realizing it was a false alarm.
“You really scared me. I thought there was something seriously wrong with the child. If it's just his toes, no one can see them when he wears shoes. As long as he's not laughed at, it's fine. It's not a serious matter. You should have told me directly.”
“You just gave birth, and I’m worried that if I tell you, you’ll feel upset and won’t be able to rest in peace.”
"Of course I hope my child is healthy, but I was murdered and accidentally ate a gender-changing pill. What I feared most was that my child would be neither male nor female and have obvious defects. Now, only his toes are missing, which is a stroke of luck for me."
Things are hard to control. Su Yushan still can't be sure whether the person who changed her body's shape was actually from the Fucha clan. Unable to take revenge, she can only think positively now.
In fact, Hongli himself didn't mind that his child had a disability; he knew it was due to the effects of the rebirth-changing pill.
“Even if his toes are incomplete, he is still our flesh and blood, and I will still treat him well and not mistreat him.”
But others didn't think so, especially Father Emperor and Mother Empress. I was worried that if they found out, they would use this against you, thinking the child was a freak, and that would affect you. So when the palace maids came to see the child, I had someone bring over a substitute that Li Yu had found. Only after she had seen the child did I have Li Yu send the substitute away.”
No wonder Hongli took so long after he left that day; he was arranging a stand-in. Recalling those scenes from storybooks, Su Yushan couldn't help but worry.
"Won't those two children get mixed up?"
“No, I saw our son when he was born. He had a birthmark on his arm. Besides, the two children look different, and their toes are different too. I can tell them apart. I wouldn’t make a mistake.” After saying this, Hongli felt a sense of relief, no longer feeling the oppression he had felt before.
“I’ve been keeping this to myself. I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to accept it, which is why I’ve been so downcast.”
Unknown suspicions amplify fear. "If you tell me, I won't be afraid anymore. The more you hide it, the more anxious I become. I know you mean well, but I still hope you'll tell me what's on your mind and not hide it from me. Otherwise, you'll feel bad, and I'll become suspicious, and neither of us will be happy."
After speaking frankly, Su Yushan felt somewhat better, but the thought of so many people caring for her child made her realize that it would be difficult to keep this a secret for long.
"Won't the servants reveal the child's defect?"
“I have already given those people orders that they are strictly forbidden from spreading this outside. They know very well what the consequences will be and they will not gamble with their lives. As long as the palace is unaware, then there will be no problem.”
Later, Su Yushan also personally examined the child's toes and found that his little toe had only grown halfway and had no toenail. Fortunately, it was on his foot and did not affect his appearance. However, the missing toe would affect his balance when walking, so she had to wait until the child turned one year old to observe whether his walking was normal.
Fortunately, Hongli had made prior arrangements, and the palace had kept it a secret, with no one knowing about it.
Now that Yu Shan has given birth to a baby boy, the emperor should keep his promise. So, when Hongli paid his respects to his father, he mentioned for the third time that he wanted to promote Yu Shan to the rank of secondary consort.
If the emperor doesn't agree this time, Hongli will not give up easily!
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