Chapter 1645 - 599: The Fake True Heiress (Part 20)_2

The Princess Consort of Prince Qi remembered her contributions, and valued her very highly.

Then the scandal of her illicit affair with the mansion’s guard broke out, and the Princess Consort of Prince Qi simply expelled her from the mansion without overly punishing her.

"...I thought she was a loyal servant despite not cherishing herself. But I never expected her character to be so flawed as to swap a child secretly!"

"She, she truly deserved death!"

The Princess Consort of Prince Qi was so furious she wished she could kill Wei Yong’s House on the spot.

What’s worse, this wretched old slave, when discovered, was so guilt-ridden that she ended up smashing her head and dying.

Even on the brink of death, she refused to admit her wrongdoing, claiming she was framed and had not stolen the child.

Little did she know, the more she denied, the more firmly the Princess Consort of Prince Qi believed in her guilt.

As for Jingniang’s background, the Princess Consort of Prince Qi was absolutely convinced.

Thus, when He Tiantian finally extracted a version of penicillin that was orally administrable without too many side effects, a massive scandal suddenly erupted in the capital—

"The Princess Yongping from Prince Qi’s Mansion was not the biological child of the Princess Consort of Prince Qi, but a trashy slave had swapped her for an abandoned rural infant!"

He Tiantian: ... What efficiency.

Truly befitting of the Eldest Princess An Le, who held power over the entire court, and the Princess Consort of Prince Qi, soon to become the "Empress Dowager."

With the Ma Family actively leaving clues, the matter of the Fake Lady was cleared up thoroughly within less than a month.

Prince Qi submitted a memorial to the Emperor, first pleading guilty, acknowledging that although it was the act of a troublesome slave, it was also due to Prince Qi’s lax domestic governance that this scandal of royal blood confusion happened.

The Emperor: ...

What else could he say?

Why did the Princess Consort of Prince Qi hide from the mansion back then?

Was it not due to the rebellion of the two princes?

As the Emperor’s biological brother and a steadfast royalist, Prince Qi naturally became a prime target of the two princes.

The Prince Mansion was nearly breached, losing piles of guards.

Had the Princess Consort of Prince Qi not escaped, she might have ended up with a fate involving both her life and her child’s.

After escaping with difficulty to a broken temple, she encountered the resentful troublesome slave—

Even the Emperor could not help but feel compassion for his sister-in-law, who was also his cousin.

So be it; Yongping was merely a girl, and though it tarnished the royal family’s reputation, it did not cause a severe impact.

In response to Prince Qi’s repentance, the Emperor symbolically docked a few months’ salary.

Of course, since she was a counterfeit, the title of Princess Yongping was naturally revoked.

The Emperor re-conferred the title of Princess Yongan upon the real daughter, Jingniang, thus preserving the dignity of Prince Qi’s Mansion and expressing his own guilt and recompense to his "biological niece!"

Prince Qi’s Mansion was naturally overwhelmed with gratitude.

Jingniang, however, was somewhat taken aback by all the attention.

The only one not pleased might be Princess Yongping.

Oh no, she was no longer a princess; she had become Wei Wuyou.

In fact, even the surname "Wei" was allowed by the Princess Consort of Prince Qi due to the mother-daughter bond of over ten years.

According to Prince Qi, since Wei Wuyou was not of royal blood, her name should be removed from the jade tablet of the House of Ancestral Affairs and be expelled from the mansion.

But the Princess Consort of Prince Qi couldn’t bear to do so.

Back then, the entire incident was caused solely by Wei Zhong Family.

Not to mention that Wei Wuyou was just an innocent infant; even her biological parents never intended to "swap the prince with a civet cat."

The child had already been abandoned, and it was Wei Zhong Family who took her back and secretly swapped her into the arms of the Princess Consort of Prince Qi.

Thus, the entire matter featured only one villain, Wei Zhong Family.

Wei Wuyou was innocent, and having been the daughter of the Princess Consort of Prince Qi for over a decade, their bond was naturally profound.

For the sake of these past ten-plus years, the Princess Consort of Prince Qi did not want to abandon this daughter.

At most, she could no longer be as indulgent as before, but she could be raised as an adopted daughter in the mansion.

After all, the mansion wasn’t lacking a bowl of rice.

Moreover, although Wei Wuyou had a poor temper, her appearance was quite good.

With the status of a mansion’s "adopted daughter," she could still marry into a decent family in the future.

This could indeed add a measure of strength to Prince Qi’s Mansion.

Thus, the Princess Consort of Prince Qi persuaded Prince Qi to keep Wei Wuyou, the "daughter of the lowly," in the mansion, still permitting her to bear the surname Wei.

Wei Wuyou: ... doesn’t particularly feel honored!

She was practically on the verge of a breakdown, was she not?!

The day before, she was high atop as the most noble lady feared and respected in the capital, no less than the only princess in the palace, Princess Changan.

As a result, in the blink of an eye, she turned from a noble lady of the Imperial Family into the daughter of the lowly!

The huge psychological gap nearly sent the once proud and domineering Wei Wuyou into madness!

Yet she couldn’t throw a tantrum, nor dare to express the slightest dissatisfaction.

Because she knew that the slightest sign of "unrest" would see her expelled from the mansion.