Luo Lan glanced at the three old ladies and chuckled softly:
"This is Aunt Zhou. She has two sons, both of whom are married. One is Liu Dahu, and the other is Liu Erzhuang."
She pointed to another old woman and said:
"This is Aunt Li, the village midwife. She lives with her husband. Although she has been delivering babies her entire life, she has no children of her own."
"And this one, Sister Wang. Her mother-in-law passed away last year. When her mother-in-law was alive, she suffered a lot from her mother-in-law. She was not allowed to sit at the table for meals. But when her mother-in-law was paralyzed in bed, she still served her at the table and below..."
After she finished describing the family backgrounds of these three people, Liu Dechang looked at General Liu, who was standing not far away and comparing his information with a notebook, and asked:
"Is Princess Yu right?"
General Liu nodded heavily, "Yes."
Hearing this, Leng Yu pulled up a relaxed smile at the corner of his mouth. The three old women looked at Luo Lan with a very kind and relieved look.
Luo Lan also looked at the three of them, nodded and chuckled:
"Luo Lan has been away from Changliu Village for half a year. I haven't had the chance to go back to see you. Are you all okay?"
"Okay, okay, we heard that you became Princess Yu. We are so happy for you. At least you can have a full stomach now."
"Yes, you have been in the Shui family for so many years and have suffered a lot of grievances, alas!"
“…”
Listening to these people chatting about their daily lives, Concubine Chang cleared her throat and said to Liu Dechang:
"General Liu, let's switch to the next group! Don't waste time here."
After receiving the order, Liu Dechang nodded slightly, then waved to General Liu. The three women then left the place reluctantly, looking back every few steps.
Next, more people from Changliu Village were brought to Luo Lan for her to identify. Without exception, she could clearly describe the background and family situations of these people.
In response to this, Concubine Chang's expression became increasingly ugly, but Luo Lan remained calm and responded calmly.
Until he had identified the last group of people, Luo Lan had not misidentified a single person's name. Leng Yu solemnly clasped his fists towards the Emperor and said:
"Father, Lan'er has recognized all fifty people from Changliu Village. Does this prove her true identity?"
The emperor frowned and clicked his tongue. Just as he was about to nod in agreement, Concubine Chang spoke again:
"Then how will Princess Yu explain her transformation from an illiterate country woman to a talented woman proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting?"
Hearing this, everyone's eyes fell on Luo Lan. Regarding this question, she could only look at Leng Yu, smile bitterly to herself, and then bowed and said:
"Before entering Prince Yu's Mansion, I accidentally fell into the water. Just as I was about to drown, I heard a voice in my ear repeating the same words: Shui Luolan, you are of noble status and should not die like this. Go back! Then, I came back to life and knew everything."
She spoke lightly, as if she was telling a story that had nothing to do with her.
The people present naturally thought that what she said was nonsense. How could such a strange thing happen? This was simply a fairy tale!
Concubine Chang suddenly looked at her with a sullen expression, gnashing her teeth and asking angrily:
"That's nonsense. You mean you tried to commit suicide by jumping into the river but failed, and then you were enlightened by the gods?"
Luo Lan raised his eyebrows and nodded in response:
"You could say that."
Her words made Concubine Chang so angry that she rolled her eyes. She looked at Luo Lan with gritted teeth and suddenly raised her eyebrows and said:
"Since you are a country girl, then according to the royal rules, you cannot be the principal wife of Prince Yu's mansion."
After saying this, she looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I feel that since there hasn't been a formal ceremony to take a concubine, why not take this opportunity to explain this matter so that he can choose a suitable wife for Yu'er in the future."
Seeing that her chances of success were slim when she tried to target Luo Lan's identity, Concubine Chang immediately switched to a second method to target her.
Hearing this, Leng Yu's already gloomy face suddenly darkened. He looked at Concubine Chang and directly retorted:
"Don't worry about this, Concubine Chang. You were the one who chose me as my principal wife. I listened to you, but now you want to go against my will. I cannot obey your orders."
Hearing him say this, Concubine Li, who had not spoken for a long time, covered her mouth with a handkerchief and said in an extremely gentle voice:
"Your Majesty, I also feel that we shouldn't rush into the selection of Prince Yu's consort. Although Shui Luolan's identity as a country girl has been confirmed, she was only picked up by that Shui man. No one knows her true identity. I also feel that Yu'er should not take someone whose true identity is unknown as his principal consort."
Hearing what Concubine Li said, Leng Xi, who had been sitting on the side for a long time without saying a word, could no longer sit still. He stood up and shouted to his mother:
"Why can't the Emperor's sister-in-law be the principal wife? Mother, could you please say something nice? It's really a waste of the precious fish oil that the Emperor's sister-in-law gave you."
The moment Leng Xi spoke, Concubine Li's face turned pale. She frowned and glared at him, gritting her teeth and roaring:
"Xi'er, your father put you in solitary confinement for three days, and you still haven't learned your lesson, right?"
Leng Xi looked at her unwillingly, and retorted with a red face and thick neck:
"Mother's words were unpleasant to hear, but why can't I refute them? My sister-in-law originally entered Prince Yu's mansion as a concubine buried with the prince. Why didn't anyone say she didn't qualify? That's because you all thought Fourth Brother would die. But now that Fourth Brother is better, you're saying my sister-in-law isn't worthy of being Prince Yu's principal wife. I swear, isn't this what you call killing the donkey after it's done its work?"
"you……"
Leng Xi's words made Concubine Li's face turn pale with anger. Concubine Chang's face also looked unhappy. The emperor was even more angry and shouted at him:
"You are becoming more and more outrageous, you dare to yell and scream in front of me! Someone, drag him out and give him twenty lashes to teach him a lesson."
Hearing this, Concubine Li was a little panicked. She hurriedly stood up, knelt in front of the emperor, and pleaded softly:
"Your Majesty, Xi'er spoke hastily and offended you. Please forgive him for his immaturity!"
"Humph! He no longer takes me, the Emperor, seriously. If I don't teach him a lesson, I'm afraid he'll become even more arrogant."
After saying this, he raised his hand and was about to call for help when he heard a weak voice coming from outside.
"Father, please don't hit Fifth Brother."
Hearing this, Concubine Chang's face turned pale from ashen. She hurriedly stood up and went to greet him, muttering,
"Ming'er, why did you come out? Your wound hasn't healed yet. What if you stretch it? Go back quickly. These servants are becoming more and more unreasonable. Mother will definitely punish them when she gets back."
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