Chapter 459
~ NOW THAT THE CONSPIRACY IS OVER, THE SU FAMILY IS TAKING RISKS STEP BY STEP ~
Su Qing stood beside the Grand Princess Yi De and looked at Su Li and Wang Shi with a complicated expression.
When she was adopted, she had a hard time. In the beginning, she didn’t know that she was not their biological child. Seeing that children her age were taken care of by her parents, but she had to dress herself and eat alone, she felt very envious in her heart. Later on, she grew a bit older and overheard the argument between the two, and she knew that she was adopted, so the injustice in her heart was gone. She was instructed to do work all day and stopped arguing. Afterward, she married Mu Cheng and left her adoptive parents’ house. She gradually forgot about the shadow they brought to her. Unexpectedly, they came here.
The Grand Princess Yi De’s expression was indifferent as she said, “Su Qing, who you two are looking for, has already arrived. Then tell me, what matter is involved both her and Ben Gong?”
The two of them were already nervous. But upon hearing the Grand Princess’s words, their expressions became even more cautious. “Reporting to the Grand Princess, this humble commoner is from a lowly background. If it wasn’t for the fact that this matter is of great importance, I wouldn’t dare to come to this mansion and disturb Her Royal Highness. The reason why I took the liberty to come here is because the matter is related to Su Qing’s true identity.”
The Grand Princess Yi De slightly raised her eyes. Her long and narrow phoenix eyes were indifferent. She didn’t seem to make any unnecessary movements, and her imposing aura was already spreading in all directions, “Speak the truth.”
“Yes, it was only recently that the commoner couple found out that Su Qing was not the daughter of the Su family. She might even be the daughter of the Grand Princess.”
“How dare you!” Qu Mama snorted sharply, “How dare you speak nonsense in front of the Grand Princess. Men, drag these two bold and troublesome villains down.”
The surrounding guests who heard this were shocked on the spot. Su Qing is the lost daughter of the Su family, so how did she get involved with Grand Princess Yi De now?
The two of them quickly knelt down. Su Li kept kowtowing, but the words in his mouth did not stop. “Her Royal Highnesss Grand Princess, this humble one does not dare to lie to you. Su Qing is really your daughter.”
The Grand Princess Yi De raised her hand to stop Qu Mama. With a calm voice, she asked, “You said Su Qing is my daughter. What evidence do you have?”
Su Li carefully took out a handkerchief from his chest pocket. Half of a piece of the Phoenix Jade was wrapped in it, “Please have a look, Her Royal Highness Grand Princess. Can this jade pendant be used as evidence?”
[Phoenix Marking Jade]... It was the keepsake she had left with her daughter …
The Grand Princess Yi De frowned, motioned to Qu Mama to step forward and take it, and rubbed it carefully in her hand: “Why do you have this half piece of jade?”
“To tell Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess, this matter is a long story. In the beginning, my wife and I had no children for many years, so we thought about adopting a child. We met the young Su Qing in the hand of a man coincidentally. She was one or two years old, and she could not walk steadily, but she was protecting a child younger than her. We, husband and wife, could not bear to see them in such a state. So, we bought them from the man and named them both sisters Su Qing and Su Xue.”
“What does it have to do with this jade pendant?” The Grand Princess was impatient to hear their stories. “Reporting to Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess, please let this commoner finish his story first. These two children had a deep relationship and were willing to share anything. At seven years old, Su Qing slipped, fell into the river, and Su Xue accidentally drowned in order to save her....” As Su Li said this, he couldn’t help but wipe his tears, “Su Qing was very sad, so she gave Su Xue her personal jade pendant, which is this half piece of phoenix pattern jade, and buried it with Su Xue. She also had the jade ornament that Su Xue left behind, but we didn’t notice it when the child was young. This year, the village wanted to move the grave, and we helped Xue’er collect the bones and found this jade pendant. After discovering this jade pendant, I suddenly remember this matter....”
Su Xue, Su Qing …
Before the two of them could finish their words, the surrounding guests had already made up for the situation for them in their hearts. The exchange of mementos had happened too long ago, and the couple had forgotten about it. Later, when they saw the keepsakes and remembered them, Su Qing had already been mistakenly picked up as the daughter of the Su family. They took the jade to clearly distinguish when they asked so they would not be held responsible after the Su family discovered it.
The Grand Princess Yi De gave the Phoenix Marking Jade in her hand to Mu Yunyao. “Yao’er, take a look.”
Mu Yunyao took the Phoenix Marking Jade and carefully stroked it for a moment before lowering her head to look at the people kneeling on the ground. “Have you seen the Su family?”
“Yes... we took this piece of jade and found the Su family. Initially, we wanted to tell them that Su Qing was not the biological daughter of the Su family, but we did not expect to be informed that Su Qing might be the daughter of The Grand Princess Yi De. That’s the reason why we came here to seek confirmation from the Grand Princess. After all, the Grand Princess loves her daughter. If Qing’er is really the daughter of the Grand Princess, then everyone will be happy.”
In the beginning, quite a few people knew that Su Qing had brought half a piece of Jade Marking Phoenix Mark on her. Thus, it was reasonable to guess this.
Wang Shi raised her head and looked at the Grand Princess, then Su Qing, before revealing a fawning smile. “Although Qing’er is not our biological daughter, we have nurtured and loved her for so many years, and we still hope that she can find her true relatives.”
The corner of Mu Yunyao’s mouth lifted into a smile, her eyes carrying thick ridicule. “You guys sure are kind.”
The Grand Princess Yi De raised her teacup and took a sip, then turned to look at Shen Binghuai. “Lord Shen, you are the governor of Shuntian Manor, but the matter involves my children, which is also related to the Imperial Family. I will have someone interrogate them personally, so Lord Shen shouldn’t have any objections, right?”
“Yes, everything will be handled by the Grand Princess.” Shen Binghuai responded quickly.
“Qu Mama, bring Su Li and Wang Shi down and arrange for them to stay for the time being. I must thoroughly investigate this matter.” Did the Su family regard her and the Imperial Family as a fool so they could mess around with us? Let’s not talk about concealing the news about her daughter, and now they had made up an excuse for her sister and Su Qing. Did they really think that pulling a child who had died for Su Qing’s sake could offset the evil deeds the Su family had done?
Qu Mama had Su Li and Wang Shi retreat.
The Grand Princess Yi De raised her head and looked at Jin Wang. “Junjin, today is the Lantern Festival, although some small changes have occurred, but don’t ruin the interest of so many people. Let the Lantern Festival continue as usual.”
Jin Wang quickly replied, “Yes, I’ll go make the arrangements.”
The banquet was still going on as usual, but after hearing such a crucial piece of news, the people present didn’t have the mood to enjoy the lanterns. They were all thinking about what Su Li and Wang Shi had just said. Everyone was already envious of Mu Yunyao being recognized by Grand Princess Yi De as her granddaughter. If Mu Yunyao wasn’t chosen by luck, but by nature? If she was related by blood to the Grand Princess, what happened to make her mother become the daughter of the Su family? What unspeakable secret was there in exposing all of this? The move of the Su family indeed confused people.
Mu Yunyao placed the Pheonix Jade Pendant on the table and raised her eyes to look at Grand Princess Yi De with a smile. “Grandmother, what do you think the Su family is up to?” In order to not reveal her mother and her true identity before, they had thought of killing them to silence them. But now, they actually disclosed this information of their own accord.