The Grand Princess leaned back slowly and closed her eyes again.
"Finally, he passed away, and my son took my place on my bed. That was a barbaric land where sons inherited their fathers' wives, but I was taught to be faithful to one man from a young age and to follow the virtues of women."
To survive, I abandoned my dignity and bore children for my husband's son.
After finally outliving that son, I went to great lengths and endured countless hardships to bring my two children back to the country.
All she sought was the peace of her homeland, the joy of having her two children by her side, and the prospect of the three of them relying on each other for survival.
But my hypocritical elder brother, that damned Emperor Renzhao, wants to be a king who keeps his promises, yet he worries that my children will develop ambitions.
The Grand Princess's cloudy eyes filled with tears. "My Yiyuan and Nianxi accompanied me out of that man-eating barbarian den."
But in the Great Abyss, in my homeland, I was separated from you.
Emperor Renzhao mobilized the entire nation to search for my son and daughter. He is truly a good elder brother, a good uncle, and a benevolent ruler.
But the royal family and all the officials are incompetent; none of them could find my child.
Because Emperor Renzhao couldn't tolerate the child brought back by the princess sent for the political marriage, yet he wanted to maintain a facade of magnanimity, he pretended to search for the child, but in reality, he was obstructing things. I truly hate him to the core.
Her face flushed red, her eyes still closed, but her droopy eyelids trembled uncontrollably, and cloudy tears slid down her cheeks.
Her withered fingers gripped the chair armrests tightly. "If I want to live, I can only pretend to be deaf and dumb."
Now I don't even dare to die. I'm afraid to go down and see Yiyuan and his sister. I'm afraid they'll question me about why I brought them back, and why I couldn't protect them after bringing them back.
What they feared even more was that they would question why they themselves chose to live a life of ignominy instead of saving them.
Fu Jiang's appearance gave me a chance to make amends. Even if I made a mistake, I can go down to the underworld and tell them that I am old and mistook someone for someone else. They are the most filial and considerate people and will forgive my old mother.
But the emperor is determined to expose the truth, making it impossible for me to deceive myself.
This royal family is truly ruthless; there isn't a single good one among them. Emperor Renzhao was worried that I would cause trouble, so he elevated me to a high position, which was praised by the world. I have lived my whole life as a wise and sensible Grand Princess.
Now that he's buried up to his neck, his grandson, His Majesty, still demands that I be clear-headed and reasonable—how cruel!
He said Fu Jiang is not my grandson, then who is my grandson?
Marquis Zhongyong?
But he was the emperor's confidant.
Can I still trust the words of the royal family? Do I even dare to?
Is Xie Bang truly Nianxi's child, or is the Emperor deliberately pushing the Marquis of Zhongyong in front of me because he doesn't want me to find my own grandson?
"I truly can't figure this out... and I can't afford to gamble anymore... cough cough cough..."
As she spoke, she coughed violently, as if she couldn't breathe. Her confidante quickly said, "Your Highness, please don't feel unwell. I will call a doctor for you."
The old princess stopped her, saying, "No need, I'm not going to die yet."
After she stopped coughing, she revealed a mocking smile, "Emperor Renzhao gave me four royal bodyguards, ostensibly as an honor, but in reality for surveillance."
But he never dreamed that I would live so long. The emperors after me took his words seriously. Seeing that I had no children, they really treated me like an ancestor. Those secret guards also truly became my people.
However, once the jade pendant appeared, the royal family couldn't sit still anymore..."
She sighed deeply and instructed, "Go to Qingzhou in secret and investigate thoroughly what my Nianxi went through back then."
Since Fu Jiang and the old lady of the Marquis's mansion had such a set of explanations, it proved that Nianxi's incident did indeed occur in Qingzhou.
The confidant asked, puzzled, "Your Highness, why not directly interrogate the old lady of the Marquis's mansion?"
"I don't trust her. What if she's also one of the Emperor's people? What if Fu Jiang really is Nianxi's child..."
She paused, then added, "Send people from the Northwest to keep an eye on Marquis Zhongyong... Don't... don't hurt him."
She was ultimately afraid that what the emperor said might be true.
The old princess closed her eyes and said nothing more, and her confidante took the order and left.
Inside the residence of the Marquis of Zhongyong.
Xie Tingzhou asked the imperial physician to take over the care of the old lady.
Firstly, the physician was exhausted, and secondly, the old lady was covered in sores that she was in so much pain that she cursed at the physician.
Ye Zhen and Xie Tingzhou couldn't bear to listen anymore.
The old lady was a bully who preyed on the weak. Now that the imperial physician, one of the emperor's men, had been replaced, she dared not scold him anymore.
She kept whining and demanding that Ye Zhen serve her; even now, she was still thinking of tormenting him.
Ye Zhen naturally ignored it.
She had a good excuse: Feng Xing, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, wanted to discuss smallpox inoculation with her.
Cui Yihuan took the initiative, but she had acne and her face was burning red.
No one mentioned to the old lady what smallpox vaccination was, and the old lady was confused, thinking that Cui Yihuan had been infected with smallpox.
He was so frightened that he scolded her and drove her away.
Cui Yihuan leaned against the door, coughing weakly. "Madam, the Marquis is not here. I shall take care of you in his place."
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious for me. I'll be fine in a few days."
The old lady was terrified and didn't believe Cui Yihuan's words at all.
She was already half-dead; if she were to be infected by Cui Yihuan, she might lose her life.
She hurriedly replied, "I don't need you to serve me. Just stay away from me; that's the best way to be filial."
Cui Yihuan was helpless. "Madam, this is just a mild case of smallpox after vaccination. I'm really fine."
The same goes for Young Master Lanzhou. No matter how much his mistress and concubine tried to persuade them, they simply wouldn't believe it and refused to get vaccinated.
Madam, perhaps I should invite Young Master Lanzhou over so you can help persuade him... cough cough cough, smallpox vaccination won't kill you..."
The old lady felt like she was about to cough to death, and refused without thinking, "Lanzhou is perfectly fine, you are not allowed to touch him."
After she woke up, Ye Zhen told her that the eldest princess was coming to see her, and naturally explained why she wanted to see her.
Upon learning that Fu Jiang's wife and children had all been killed, the old lady fainted, only to be revived by Xie Tingzhou with a needle prick.
Fu Jiang was ruthless and wanted to kill her, his mother, to silence her, but Fu Jiang's children were all her grandchildren.
The old lady was heartbroken by the murder of her grandson, and now Xie Lanzhou was her only precious child.
Therefore, after seeing Cui Yihuan's situation, she was determined not to let Xie Lanzhou take any risks.
At the same time, he harbored resentment towards Fu Jiang.
She resented his viciousness, his disregard for his mother's life and death, and even his son's.
Cui Yihuan didn't bother with the old lady's complicated thoughts. Having received her approval, she went to Xie Lanzhou's courtyard.
Seeing that the people in the Marquis's mansion had responded well to smallpox vaccination, the imperial physician learned that the people in Xie Lanzhou's courtyard had not yet been vaccinated, so he came to persuade them to do so.
However, Xie Lanzhou's wet nurse was Fu Jiang's man, who was hostile to Ye Zhen and did not trust her, so she instigated Xie Lanzhou to refuse.
The imperial physician was unwilling to give up and wanted to inoculate himself with smallpox. He tried his best to persuade the emperor to stop, and the two sides reached a stalemate.
Cui Yihuan said to the imperial physician, "My lord, you have worked hard, but my old lady does not agree to Young Master Lanzhou being vaccinated against smallpox."
The master disagreed, and the imperial physician had no reason to force the emperor, so he had to leave regretfully.
Cui Yihuan looked at Xie Lanzhou and slowly smiled.
She was cruel to the old lady and Madam Liu, but she never thought of taking her anger out on the child Xie Lanzhou.
But Xie Lanzhou was courting death, so she had no choice but to comply.
This is also Ye Zhen's intention.
They wanted to see Fu Jiang and the old lady reap what they sowed.
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