Chapter 118 Where did the two children go?
Li Shuyi looks much more mature than the portrait painted by Shi Yu.
How could a woman who could enter the Eastern Palace and become the prince's concubine have a bad appearance? But now, her face is loose and sagging, and her body is thin.
Seeing the two people come in, her eyes fell on Shi Yu, "I remember that His Royal Highness Prince Rong and I have no hatred. I wonder why Prince Rong wants to arrest me?"
Wei Qingyan's eyes moved slightly.
When she left the palace, Shi Yu was only a few years old, but she could recognize Shi Yu at a glance, which showed that she had seen Shi Yu before.
Yu Zhengde said that Li Shuyi had been in Jiangnan since she left Beijing, and even if Shi Yu went to Jiangnan, he would conceal his identity. So Li Shuyi could only have known Shi Yu and learned of her identity in Beijing.
She had secretly come to the capital over the years, and she gently pulled Shi Yu's sleeve.
Shi Yuyi thought of this and said calmly, "You are wrong. I did save you."
Li Shuyi's lips curled up into a bitter smile, "Thank you for saving my life, Your Highness. I just don't know what you will do to me."
She called herself a commoner in order to draw a clear line between herself and the emperor and Yu Zhengde. She had no feelings for the former, and she did not want to be implicated by the latter.
"There are some things I want Concubine Li to clarify. Once I figure it out, it won't delay Concubine Li from seeing her daughter." Shi Yu said in a light voice.
Li Shuyi's heart suddenly sank.
Prince Rong knew her identity and the purpose of her coming to Beijing.
"What does your Majesty want to know?"
I’m afraid it’s not a small matter.
Shi Yu held Wei Qingyan's hand and took a step forward. "Where are Concubine Shu's two children?"
Li Shuyi raised his eyes and looked at him. Instead of answering immediately, he asked, "Does Prince Rong have the same thoughts as the emperor?"
Do you all want to find those children, or is it that there is no room for those children?
Shi Yu thought about it and nodded, "I am asking this on behalf of Concubine Shu."
On the way back to the capital, Li Shuyi heard the news that the queen had died and Lan Shu had returned to the capital. Seeing Shi Yu say this, he said, "Sister Shu's daughter was taken out of the palace by Liu He. You already know about this.
The eldest prince was replaced by me. Babies were often born in the slave house, so I ordered people to steal one out and switch the babies on the way when the midwife took him to the queen.
After the Queen strangled the child from the slave camp and handed the two children over to Liu He, I wanted to steal the eldest princess as well, but Liu He was too vigilant, so I had no chance and had to give up.
She received Yu Zhengde's letter, experienced robbery, and almost lost her life. There were some things she didn't want to hide, and she wanted to lower her posture to satisfy Prince Rong and give her a chance to meet her mother.
"The Queen is determined to save Concubine Shu's twin children. How could you switch them so easily?"
Li Shuyi nodded, "It's indeed not easy, but someone helped me. It was that person who revealed to me that the Queen wanted to kill Concubine Shu's twin children.
But whether you believe it or not, I still don’t know who that person is.”
"You stole a child from the slave camp and sent the emperor's eldest son to the slave camp?" Wei Qingyan asked.
"Yes, it's not easy to leave the palace, and it's even harder to send a child out. After that person helped switch the child, he never showed up again. I have limited abilities, so I had no choice but to send the child to the slave camp.
I had planned to tell Sister Shu about this after some time, when the Queen had relaxed her vigilance, but I didn't expect that she would go crazy because of it.
The imperial palace is the most honorable place in the world. How can it tolerate a mad person? If I tell her, she won't be able to protect her own child, and it will also implicate me.
Our feelings are not deep enough for me to take risks for her again. I can only look for opportunities in the future.
I also knew that the children in the slave camp were the result of the chaos in the royal family of the previous dynasty, and most of them would not live long, so I bribed the person in charge there and asked him to take care of them.
However, I later got the opportunity to fake my death and leave the palace, so I didn’t have time to care about him.
When I managed to get someone to contact the manager again, I learned that the manager no longer cared about the child because he saw that I was "dead" and there was no money or benefits.
I used all my connections in the palace, but I still couldn't find the child.
In a place like a slave colony, a child left unattended would most likely have died."
She looked at Shi Yu and said, "Sister Shu was kind to me before. I switched the children as a way of repaying her kindness. As for that child, I did my best.
Because I was looking for that child, I exposed myself and had to stay away from the capital for these years, and mother and daughter were separated.
I have repaid Sister Shu's kindness. Helping her is a favor, and I am not in the least bit wrong to not be busy. Please, Your Highness, let me go because I have tried my best."
She is straightforward.
There is little true love in the palace. The fact that she is willing to save Lan Shu's child shows that she still has a conscience and knows how to be grateful.
Shi Yu thought to himself that they couldn't blame her for not trying her best to protect Abu.
Wei Qingyan bit his inner lip.
After listening to Concubine Li's narration, she didn't know whether it was right or wrong for her to steal Abu away.
If she hadn't stolen Abu away, would Concubine Li have managed to get Abu out of the palace and found an ordinary family to raise him, and he wouldn't have died in the battle.
Shi Yu held her hand and whispered, "I can't take her out."
Shi Yu knew what she was thinking. He was telling her that even if she had not stolen Abu out, Concubine Li would not have been able to take Abu out of the palace. In this way, Abu would have been tortured to death in the slave camp.
Wei Qingyan recalled the scene when she first met Abu and agreed with Shi Yu's words.
Even when Concubine Li was in the palace, she was unable to send Abu out of the palace. After she left the palace, she was just Yu Zhengde's concubine, and it was almost impossible for her to take anyone out of the palace.
Seeing the self-blame disappear from her face, Shi Yu turned his gaze back to Li Shuyi, "Who are you hiding from?"
Li Shuyi hesitated for a moment and replied, "When I was meeting the palace maid at the teahouse, I was seen by Nanny Wang Chun who was with the Queen Mother.
Nanny Wang Chun recognized me at a glance and tested me. Although I fooled her, she was the most useful nanny around the Empress Dowager.
How could they not investigate me? I can only stay away from them."
"But the Queen Mother doesn't know that you are still alive, otherwise you wouldn't be here now." Shi Yu frowned slightly.
He knew the Queen Mother. If she knew that her son's woman was unhappy that her son had faked his death and left the palace, and that she had also cheated on her son, she would definitely find the person and execute him.
Li Shuyi was not surprised that Shi Yu guessed that he had secretly returned to the capital.
She looked troubled. "I was lucky before. Maybe Aunt Wang Chun didn't take my case seriously and didn't investigate.
But this time when I returned to Beijing and was arrested in Linzhou, they obviously knew me or had seen my portrait.
I was drugged and bit my tongue hard to keep myself awake, then pretended to faint. I heard them say that this woman must not be allowed to return to Beijing.
Not many people in the capital know me, and even fewer know that I'm still alive, so I think it's not that Nanny Wang Chun didn't check, but perhaps she just didn't tell the Empress Dowager.
I just don't know what her relationship with Princess Yu is. At first, when I was brought to Zhuangzi, they disliked me because I was too old.
Now that I know what Princess Yu did, I am even more certain that she captured me not to cure me but to capture me."
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