The dirty things in her palace at that time were all put in by Ye Qingxue's people, so Ye Qingxue accidentally discovered that painting.
Empress Shen sneered: "I entered the palace at the age of fifteen and gave birth to Chi'er at the age of seventeen. I have nothing to fear, so you can search for me."
Huaifu immediately led his men to Fengwu Palace.
Soon, a painting was brought back and displayed in front of the emperor. When everyone saw the painting, they all gasped in astonishment. This...this...this perfectly matched what Ye Qingxue had said.
However, Empress Shen's expression was very calm and composed. She even stood up, walked towards the painting, and carefully examined it.
“This girl’s appearance is at least 70% similar to that of the Empress!” Pan Yuanzhou said.
Prince Yu, General Lan, and the others all stared wide-eyed!
General Lan said, "Your Majesty, what else do you have to say now? Is Prince Ding truly not a prince of the Great Zhou?"
Empress Shen sneered: "I only have a painting in my collection. How does it relate to Chi'er's background? Does the person in the painting look a lot like me?"
"If you all think that way, then you have good eyesight! How could she not resemble me? Because the person in the painting is none other than me!"
She returned to the emperor's side and nestled into his arms.
"Your Majesty, I long for the vast grasslands and the days of galloping freely on horseback. So I asked a painter to paint a picture of me galloping on horseback on the grasslands when I was young, which can be considered as fulfilling my dream."
"Miss Ye is truly laughable. To deduce that this girl is my child and that Chi'er is not of royal blood is utterly untenable and absurd!"
Empress Shen leaned against the Emperor's chest, looked at Ye Qingxue, and a victorious smile curved her lips.
Ye Qingxue's gaze was sharp as she stared at her, then suddenly sneered, "Is it Her Majesty the Empress herself? Very well, then Her Majesty, please take a look at this young lady. Dongbai, bring her up."
The twelve-year-old girl, with her hands bound, was forcibly brought to the palace by Dong Bai.
The moment everyone saw her face, they were once again shocked and stunned.
I kept looking at her, then at the girl in the painting; they looked so alike, so incredibly alike.
If the girl in the painting bears a 70% resemblance to Empress Shen, then we can say that the girl in the painting bears a 100% resemblance to the girl in front of us.
No, it's not just similar, it's that you can tell at a glance that it's the same person, the girl depicted in the painting.
The victorious expression on Empress Shen's face froze for a moment.
Of course, it wasn't just her expression that froze, but her body as well; in just a moment, she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
The girl's mouth was gagged, and she struggled with muffled sounds, unable to speak.
Ye Qingxue stepped forward, grabbed the girl by the collar, and forced her to the side of the painting.
"Your Majesty, did you see that? This girl has a small mole on her neck, and this painting has also depicted that mole. She is the girl in the painting! The Empress is not!"
Hmph, do Empress Shen and Yun Chi think that she dared to complain to the Emperor without any preparation?
While she was still unconscious, the Heavenly Eagle Holy Kingdom suddenly proposed a marriage alliance, sending the princess over along with two cities in exchange for 400,000 shi of grain!
Where in the world can you find such a good thing?
Yun Zhuo became suspicious at that time.
Suspecting that Empress Shen had resorted to a second scheme after her first one failed, Yun Zhuo knew there must be some conspiracy he was unaware of. Therefore, he secretly arranged for people to go to the Heavenly Eagle Holy Kingdom.
Not long after Princess Lingyang's entourage set off for the Great Zhou, Yunzhuo's people secretly kidnapped the girl!
Everyone looked at the Empress, including Yun Chi and the Emperor.
Empress Shen's face was pale. She slowly stood up from the couch and walked towards the girl. She even reached out to touch the girl's face, but Dong Bai stopped her.
"What does Your Majesty the Empress intend to do?" Dong Bai asked in a deep voice.
"They look so alike, so incredibly alike!" Empress Shen exclaimed. "Even I almost thought this child was mine."
She burst into laughter, tears streaming down her face, and turned to look at the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, as I just mentioned, I entered the palace at the age of fifteen to serve by Your Majesty's side."
"In the past twenty-one years, apart from going out to find medicine for Your Majesty every year, when have I ever left Your Majesty's side for three to five months? Even when I was searching for medicine, the longest I went out was no more than half a month."
"Is half a month enough time for me to give birth to a child outside the palace? Besides, twelve years ago I hadn't even started leaving the palace to find medicine for Your Majesty."
"I was by Your Majesty's side day and night back then. If I were pregnant, my belly would definitely be swollen. Even if the imperial physicians couldn't tell, wouldn't Your Majesty have noticed?"
Not only was the emperor stunned, but even those who had always stood by Ye Qingxue, such as Pan Yuanzhou, were stunned.
Empress Shen suddenly turned around and pointed at Ye Qingxue:
"It was you who, in order to frame me and Chi'er and put my son to death, deliberately found a girl who looked like me and lied to the Emperor that she was my daughter!"
"His Majesty and I have shared a deep bond for many years. He will not be deceived by you and falsely accuse me and Chi'er. Ye Qingxue, you should plead guilty yourself!"
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