The Valued Lady is Truly Dominant

”Impersonation?”

Emperor Chu was both shocked and angry. He looked at Song Zhiyuan, his eyes filled with a storm, and said, ”Is there any solid evidence for this?”

”Pardon my bluntness, there isn’t.” Song Zhiyuan shook his head honestly and said, ”It’s a bold guess that I got from a casual remark by my mother.”

Emperor Chu pointed at him and said, ”Song Yunzhi, you are indeed bold, to dare to come before me and make grand statements just based on conjecture, claiming that Prince Min is an imposter? That is a dragon’s descendant, confusing the royal lineage, which is a grave crime.”

”I acknowledge my guilt. It’s just a bold assumption on my part, still needing your wise judgment to distinguish the truth.” Song Zhiyuan bowed in apology and then asked, ”So, what do you think, Your Majesty? How likely do you find it? I believe that if it is indeed false, then some points match up.”

For instance, in the matter of Shang Pu, they suspect that Shang Pu is the lost heir, but there’s one point that doesn’t align. If before the age of six, the true heir Xia Houzhe was fostered by the Shang family, and after six, he was replaced by another, who is now Shang Pu, wouldn’t it all align?

”It’s a bit far-fetched.” Emperor Chu said, ”If there was a switch, where was he exchanged to, and what is the true identity of the current Shang Pu?”

Song Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow: ”Imagine if Prince Min and Shang Pu were swapped? Don’t forget, that Cabinet Minister Ning once impersonated the Prince Min Mansion’s officer Wu Guangyi, and stayed at the Prince Min Mansion for a while. Was it just a coincidence? Moreover, these events, including the longevity gift incident, all connect when pieced together.”

Emperor Chu’s heart was stirred, and he habitually rubbed the jade ring on his thumb, saying, ”But Prince Min indeed bears a resemblance to my late father.”

Song Zhiyuan laughed and said, ”As Cui Changxiao’s investigation suggested earlier, they suspect those people have some collusion with the Green Forest, and consider in my mansion, we have Granny Quan who knows the Bone Shrinking Skill. Just how much more of such secret martial arts do they control? Such as disguise, or poison.”

Emperor Chu’s expression finally changed.

Where once the suspicion was at fifty to sixty percent, now analyzed and compared, it had risen to seventy to eighty percent.

”Didn’t you also find the poisoning incident of Prince Min in the Heavenly Prison a clumsy affair, reminiscent of previous spy methods?” Song Zhiyuan added.

Emperor Chu clapped his hands; ”If it’s really as you said, then this one is fake, and the real one is Shang Pu? Could he be colluding with the Xia family?”

Tsk, tsk, it’s like searching to the ends of the earth with no success, and suddenly it’s right within reach.

”We must find the person to know the truth, and moreover, what kind of person was Prince Min at the age of six? It would be better to ask Princess Consort Ji.” However, Song Zhiyuan dared not say more here; he had never contacted Shang Pu personally and didn’t know his behavior. If the guess were true, what mindset would make him willing to collude with the Xia family?

Emperor Chu pursed his lips, carefully pondering and reflecting, before saying, after some time, ”This is truly a drama worth seeing. Cabinet Minister Ning, he indeed has some skills.”

If they hadn’t known this detail and Prince Min stayed quietly in his fiefdom only to raise the flag beneath his notice, what would the consequences be?

Emperor Chu squinted his eyes: ”There’s no sign of any movement from the Prince Min side. If he is indeed the lost heir, then Cabinet Minister Ning might have already abandoned this pawn.” He paused and then added, ”No, if they abandoned it, how would they later wave that banner?”

Song Zhiyuan was about to speak when hurried footsteps approached from outside the hall, and Chief Attendant Zhou appeared in front, reporting: ”To report to the Emperor, during the migration of female relatives back to Prince Min Mansion, they suddenly encountered an assassin’s attack, and the Eastern Young Master is missing without a trace.”