Chapter 44

Xie Shouzheng, Dami, and the division guards were all stunned when they heard the name "Dongfang Yan," and then silently gave Lin Qingyue a thumbs up:

"Deputy Envoy Lin is generous; to transcend the ghost mother, she is actually willing to offer up her own husband!"

"Worthy of being our Deputy Envoy of the Xuanjing Division! Sacrifice one to protect the masses! We admire you!"

"I thought you were just on a whim, giving up the glory of being the Princess of Jin to come and do dirty, tiring work with us. Now I know, the Deputy Envoy is a hero among women, willing to abandon her man for the sake of the cause!"

"Just for your selfless and great character, from now on you are the person we respect the most!"

Lin Qingyue was praised until she was beaming, and a sense of passion surged in her heart: "For the great cause of driving away evil, for the well-being of the people of the world, what is a man? What is a dog Prince? This official is willing to sacrifice the small family for the sake of the big one!"

"Good!" everyone shouted!

Xie Shouzheng asked in a low voice: "Will the Prince of Jin agree?"

Lin Qingyue stroked her chin and laughed: "Whether he agrees or not, it is not up to him!"

"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!" In the Prince of Jin's mansion, Dongfang Yan sneezed three times in a row.

Steward Zhao hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe Dongfang Yan's nose.

"This servant has heard that sneezing suddenly means someone is missing you. Your Highness, could it be that the Princess is thinking of you?"

Dongfang Yan glared at him: "Do not discuss your master recklessly."

"Yes!" Zhao An retreated with a grin.

Emperor Qi Zhaodi claimed illness and had not held morning court for several days.

Dongfang Yan had recently learned of Qi Zhaodi being infected by the Mayfly Silk and guessed it was the sequelae after the Mayfly Silk was drawn out.

The longer the Mayfly Silk was parasitic, the tighter the bond with the host, and the greater the impact on the host's body.

Although Dongfang Yan did not know how long Qi Zhaodi had been infected, judging by the time he had been ill, it had been at least several months.

However, this illness was a good thing for Dongfang Yan.

He had already quietly contacted several trusted ministers, using the excuse that the Emperor was old and the country could not go a day without an heir, to bring up the matter of changing the crown prince again.

If he could use this to become the crown prince, then the Mayfly Silk would have performed a great service.

At this time, a subordinate came to deliver something: "Your Highness, this is the pouch embroidered for you by the Second Miss of the Lin family."

On the lotus-root-colored pouch, a few stalks of elegant and refined orchid grass were embroidered. Beside them were two small butterflies, flying wing to wing.

Dongfang Yan understood Lin Ruzhen's meaning; she hoped that the two of them could also fly wing to wing.

"Sigh." He sighed softly, "Why can't Lin Qingyue be as gentle and intelligent as Zhen'er?"

"Your Highness, the people you sent to Nanping have sent a letter back."

Nanping was the place where Lin Qingyue lived before she was recognized by the Lin family. Previously, Dongfang Yan had doubts about Lin Qingyue's past and had sent people to inquire.

Because the place was too far away and it was inconvenient to go back and forth, in order to complete the task as soon as possible, the investigators wrote everything in a letter and sent it back via an 800-mile urgent courier.

The letter detailed the situation in the Nanping area; in the depths of the mountains, it was one word: "poor."

And Lin Qingyue was originally an adopted daughter bought by villagers; her foster father had a bad temper and would beat and scold her at every turn. Her foster mother was mean and lazy, and all the big and small chores in the house were thrown to the adopted daughter.

As the adopted daughter grew more beautiful, the foster mother had ideas and took her out of the mountains to the county town, wanting to sell her for a good price.

And the old nanny of the Lin family happened to return to her hometown to visit relatives and discovered that the child looked like her own mistress. Not long after, the Hou Mansion sent people to pick Lin Qingyue up.

Before leaving, they even gave the foster parents a large sum of hush money.

The people Dongfang Yan sent, after promising some benefits, learned a shocking piece of news: Lin Qingyue was stolen from the Hou Mansion by an evil servant, a case of a civet cat replacing the crown prince!

The stolen baby girl was sold to the deep mountains until the matter was exposed later, and the Hou Mansion sent people to find and bring her back.

When Dongfang Yan saw the end, he gripped the letter paper tightly.

If Lin Qingyue was the legitimate daughter who was swapped out of the Hou Mansion, then who would the other baby girl who was swapped with her be?

The answer was self-evident!

"The Lin family, what great audacity!"

In Dongfang Yan's heart, noble blood was far superior to outcast blood. Even if the Lin family was deceived at first, after knowing that Lin Ruzhen was fake, they should not have let her continue to appear as the legitimate daughter.

And he, he had actually foolishly held a woman with outcast blood in his heart, and had even once thought of marrying her as his primary wife!

How was she worthy?

The pouch that had just been hanging at his waist was ripped off by him and thrown to the ground.

When Lin Qingyue returned, what she saw was Dongfang Yan's sour face.

She frowned and pondered: "I haven't even told him to marry the ghost mother and be a happy father, why is he unhappy?"

Looking down, she saw the pouch thrown on the ground and asked: "Where did this pouch come from? The embroidery is so poor, and you have the nerve to send it out to embarrass yourself?"

Dongfang Yan looked up and questioned coldly: "Why didn't you say anything about your and Lin Ruzhen's background?"

Lin Qingyue knew it; Dongfang Yan must have sent people to investigate her background and dug up the identity of Lin Ruzhen as a fake daughter.

"Because that good father of mine, from the first day I returned to the Lin family, repeatedly forbade me from revealing my and Lin Ruzhen's background. Of course, I didn't dare to say it."

"Was it that you didn't dare, or was it a deliberate concealment?" Dongfang Yan questioned sternly, "So, you have been watching all along as this Prince developed feelings for a lowly woman and sank deep into the mud?"

Lin Qingyue couldn't help but laugh: "Why does it sound like I forced you to be with her? Besides, would you have believed me if I had said it? Haven't you always thought I was full of lies, sharp-tongued, and a stubborn stone in a latrine? And your Zhen'er was a pearl in the sky, worthy of your lifelong treasure? What, now you call her a lowly woman?"

"You!" Dongfang Yan was rendered speechless and said angrily, "If you had said it, even if this Prince didn't believe it, that would be this Prince's business! But not saying it is deliberate deception!"

Lin Qingyue shrugged and asked: "Oh, is that so? Then I'll tell you now, the person who saved your life more than half a year ago was not Lin Ruzhen, but Lin Qingyue. Do you believe it?"

"Why must you invert right and wrong?"

"See, I told the truth and you don't believe it; you only believe what you investigated yourself. So, noble Prince, now that you know Lin Ruzhen's background, are you still willing to make her a Secondary Consort?"

Dongfang Yan stopped talking.

Even if he still regarded Lin Ruzhen as his savior, there was a distinction between noble and lowly.

No matter how many years of upbringing Lin Ruzhen had received in the Prince's mansion, it could not change the outcast blood flowing in her body.

And he, the Prince of Jin, still had a great possibility of conquering the world in the future; his Secondary Consort was also more noble than the primary wife of an ordinary family.

Lin Ruzhen... was no longer worthy.

"I suddenly feel a bit sorry for Lin Ruzhen," Lin Qingyue said idly, speaking sarcastically, "She went to such lengths to please you, only for her sweetheart to deny everything because of her background. Tsk tsk, how pitiful!"

It's just that I don't know if she will become even more pitiful after the matter of impersonating the savior is confirmed?

A dull knife cutting meat is the only way it hurts; take it slow.