In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Hong Xiaoduo had learned the general outline.
Sure enough, it was something that happened in the emperor's harem.
After Emperor Jiade ascended the throne, his princess naturally became empress.
The Emperor and Empress Gao Jinning were childhood sweethearts and had a good relationship. The only regret was that Empress Gao gave birth to three princesses but no princes.
Xi Muyun, who later entered the palace through the imperial concubine selection, quickly rose to the rank of Imperial Concubine thanks to her beauty and understanding nature.
Eight years ago, Consort Yun and Empress Gao were both diagnosed with pregnancy. Not long after, Empress Gao was caught by the Emperor having a secret rendezvous with Peng Yu, the leader of the Imperial Guards.
Peng Yu committed suicide on the spot, and Empress Gao was banished to the Cold Palace.
Later, she gave birth to the fourth princess in the Cold Palace. Coincidentally, Empress Gao and Consort Yun gave birth on the same night; she gave birth to a daughter, while Consort Yun gave birth to a prince.
Empress Gao kept crying out that she was framed, but she could not produce any evidence. However, palace maids, eunuchs and two concubines testified that she had been having an affair with Peng Yu.
The eunuchs even found Empress Gao's personal undergarment in Peng Yu's residence.
Because it was impossible to determine whether the fourth princess was of the emperor's bloodline or Peng Yu's illegitimate child, the poor child remained in the cold palace with Gao Jinning.
Everyone thought the emperor would make Consort Yun, who had given birth to a prince, empress, but he did not. The empress's position remains vacant, and the ministers have urged the emperor many times, but he has ignored them.
"Although the person who came tonight did not say anything, I think that among the people who made the identification, there should be Gao Jinning and her daughter and himself. However, there is one thing I can't understand. Since the identification results show that he and one of the women are father and daughter, why is he still so angry?"
Could it be that the father wasn't him, but the deceased Peng Yu? And the other son was also Peng Yu's?
Did he dig up Peng Yu's grave and cut off the corpse's fingernails? Eight years have passed, wouldn't the dead man's fingernails rot? Wei Junpei couldn't understand it.
“Uncle, there’s another possibility. Maybe Consort Yun gave birth to a princess that night, and the demoted Empress Gao gave birth to a prince? As you said, Consort Yun was very favored. Changing the child wouldn’t be difficult if arranged properly.” Hong Xiaoduo helped analyze.
Upon hearing this, Wei Junpei found it unbelievable: "Impossible!" He was thinking, how could anyone give their own flesh and blood to someone else?
But then I thought, if it's for the position of emperor or empress, it doesn't seem impossible.
Furthermore, Consort Yun possessed such abilities while she was in the palace at the time.
“Why not? I’ve heard of even more outrageous and exaggerated stories, like the ‘Prince Replaced by a Civet Cat’ story. Have you heard of that, Uncle?” Hong Xiaoduo asked.
Seeing Wei Junpei shake his head, Hong Xiaoduo told him the story of "The Prince Replaced by a Civet Cat," in which a treacherous concubine and a eunuch conspired to replace the baby born to Consort Li with a skinned civet cat.
"Where did you hear about such a bizarre thing?" Wei Junpei asked, still shocked.
"Hey, I've traveled all over the country, so I've naturally heard more unofficial history and gossip than you have, Uncle. Let's not discuss the truth or falsehood of this matter for now, but many people in this world have no morals or bottom line when it comes to so-called power and money."
Tonight, the emperor received the results of the examination. Now it's up to him to decide what to do. A ruler of a nation who can't even protect the woman he loves—he'd be a pathetic coward. Hong Xiaoduo had barely finished speaking when she saw Wei Junpei's helpless expression.
"Xiaoduo, I know you're very capable, but you still need to be more careful with your words, or you might get into trouble," Wei Junpei advised with great concern.
With her connections, she actually wants to ask for a get-out-of-jail-free card for her whole family? That thing is more suitable for her to keep!
"Uncle, don't worry, I'll be fine," Hong Xiaoduo said with a smile.
"How can you be so confident?" Wei Junpei blurted out.
"Uncle, it's not that I'm confident, but you know the world outside is chaotic. If I weren't capable enough, I'd be long gone by now, how could I possibly be here in front of you?" Hong Xiaoduo found that she wasn't embarrassed at all when she was exaggerating.
But in his heart he thought, "Of course it's the protagonist's law! I'm the protagonist. Law one: the protagonist is immortal. Once defined as the protagonist, they won't die easily. Even if they do die, it'll probably be at the end of the series."
The second law of protagonists: whatever the protagonist does is right, and if he is wrong, there must be a reason for it.
The third rule is that once you become the protagonist, even if you stay at home obediently, trouble will still come knocking and drag you into it.
Law Four: A constant stream of romantic opportunities and being universally loved will always attract many members of the opposite sex.
As for Law Five? It says that the male and female protagonists will mostly end up together, but forget it. She has no intention of developing a romantic relationship with anyone in this era.
There are several other rules of this protagonist's law, but she only remembered these few.
And regarding that fourth rule, she didn't consider the few she'd encountered to be any real romantic prospects. They were simply things she herself had...
"By the way, Uncle, I plan to leave the day after tomorrow. I'll tell Kaiyang tomorrow." Hong Xiaoduo had something important to say.
Upon hearing that she was leaving the day after tomorrow, Wei Junpei immediately became anxious: "Isn't this too hasty? I haven't even shown you around the capital properly yet."
Hong Xiaoduo shook her head and smiled, "Sir, you should go about your business and not worry about me. I might come again if I have the chance in the future. Uncle, please don't try to keep me here. With my personality, it's not good for me to stay in the capital for too long. I might cause some trouble that even you can't handle, and that would be bad."
Her words left Wei Junpei both amused and exasperated, but he knew in his heart that she was not joking.
Today is her third day in the capital. I wonder what will happen at Gu Tongfan's residence, and who knows what kind of storm will be stirred up in the palace starting tomorrow.
"That's too hasty, Kaiyang, isn't it?" Wei Junpei still wanted to persuade him to stay.
"Uncle, don't worry, everything will be alright. I'm relieved to have Kaiyang back with you. Whether I leave sooner or later, this child will still be sad and cry."
"It's getting late, Uncle. You've had a busy day, so you should get some rest." Hong Xiaoduo said as she stood up.
Seeing that she had made up her mind, Wei Junpei sighed and stood up, instructing Zhongqing outside the door to send Hong Xiaoduo back to her room.
"Uncle Qing, you don't need to see me off. I remember the way. See you tomorrow." Hong Xiaoduo declined, walked outside, picked up a lantern from the side, and strolled back to her residence.
Without even turning around, one could tell that Lord Wei was watching them go.
She wasn't in a rush to leave the capital, but she felt she couldn't linger here any longer. It was only the third day, and she had already met the Emperor. The most important thing was that she didn't feel nervous, let alone excited, when she met the Emperor, which was the most crucial point.
She wasn't afraid of getting involved in royal power struggles; she was afraid that she might not know her place, act recklessly and tyrannically to anyone who dared to oppose her, and then implicate Lord Wei's entire family.
So, it's best to leave sooner rather than later.
It was past midnight, but candlelight was still burning in the main room of the Marquis of Fu'an's residence.
On the bed, Lord Mu silently counted the number of times the princess had turned over in her bed—thirty-six.
"Something's not right with Murong Jing." Princess Gan Fenglin suddenly rolled over, accidentally bumping her elbow into the Marquis's chest, causing him to hiss in pain...
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