Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2737 Still Vigorous in Old Age 121.0
"After so many years, how could we still find such crucial evidence in this case?" Jin Miaomiao expressed great surprise. She looked at Xiao Fengqi and asked, "Could it be that someone showed favoritism and protected the concubine and her family back then? Or that someone interfered and confused the truth?"

"I don't know then. Maybe they hid it well and weren't discovered. In these kinds of things, it's a matter of who's better in some way than the other," Xiao Fengqi sighed. "Although they're daughters from the same family, it's clear that the Princess Consort, her cousin, her parents, uncles, and aunts are not the same kind of people. The Princess Consort is kind and empathetic, but the concubine and her family..."

"Narrow-minded and petty?"

"More or less." Xiao Fengqi nodded to Jin Miaomiao. "My great-aunt once said that she couldn't imagine how a family so good at scheming and calculating could raise a daughter like the princess. If the princess were like her family, she would never have lent a hand."

“We’ve also heard that the late Princess Liao was a very kind and compassionate person, but unfortunately…” Shen Cha sighed, “we never had the chance to meet her.” She looked at Chu Han, “You should have met him, Grand Uncle?”

"I met her once, and she is indeed a good person." Chu Han nodded. "It's just a pity that she has bad luck. She lets others go, but others won't let her go."

“My benefactor is right.” Xiao Fengqi sighed. “When the princess was pregnant for the first time, the concubine and her family were on high alert. They harbored great hostility towards this unborn prince and wished they could get rid of him as soon as possible. After all, there can only be one throne, and there are already two princes eyeing it. They don’t want a third one to appear.”

"Wait a minute, those two princes are siblings from the same mother. Are they already tacitly acknowledging each other as rivals at such a young age?"

“That’s natural.” Chu Han smiled at Jin Miaomiao, who asked the question. “The two of them have disliked each other since they were young. They always compete to see who is better in everything they do. But this is just internal strife. Once another opponent appears, they will temporarily put aside their differences and join forces to deal with that third person.”

"The third one is the princess and the little prince?" Seeing Xiao Fengqi nod, Jin Miaomiao frowned. "Speaking of which, they are family, aren't they?"

"Theoretically, that's true, but it's true that neither of us treats the other as family."

"Wait a minute!" Song Yaojia interrupted the conversation between Xiao Fengqi and Jin Miaomiao. He looked at Xiao Fengqi and then at Chu Han. "There's a question I've always wanted to ask."

"what?"

"Has the Princess really never doubted her own origins?" Song Yaojia's expression was very serious. "From what she just said, it's clear that whether it's her biological parents, her uncles and aunts, or her grandparents, they all seem to harbor a lot of hostility towards her, don't they? It's like..."

“I understand what Your Highness means, and I've had my doubts too.” Xiao Fengqi spread his hands helplessly. “It's just a pity that the Princess Consort passed away many years ago, and the clues related to her background have long since disappeared. When Young Master Lan investigated this case, he also had the same question and naturally investigated as well, but…” He shook his head slightly, “…he found nothing.”

"It was deliberately erased, right?" Seeing Xiao Fengqi nod, Song Yaojia thought for a moment, "Grand Uncle? What do you think?"

“The Princess Consort of Liao is indeed not their biological daughter.” Chu Han smiled. “I’m not entirely sure what happened.” He gestured with his chin toward the Third Grandfather. “He should know some of the inside story. If you’re really curious, why don’t you go and ask him?”

"The old man knows?" Xiao Fengqi was taken aback. "Then we'll have to ask him later."

"After dinner, the old man is in a good mood right now, so let's not spoil his good mood at this time." Shen Haolin waved his hand, looked at Shen Cha who had sat back down next to him, and then at Jin Miaomiao, "Why don't you find a chance to ask her, Miaomiao?"

"Sure," Jin Miaomiao patted her chest and readily agreed. "I'll tell you in detail after I get my information back."

"Then I'll leave it to Lord Jin!" Xiao Fengqi bowed to Jin Miaomiao. "If we can really find out the Princess's identity, Young Master Lan will be very happy. Then we can find the Princess's real home, which will be a comfort to her spirit in heaven."

"Perhaps the princess herself found out, which is why she's gradually distancing herself from them." "That's possible." Xiao Fengqi smiled. "In any case, I'm entrusting this to Lord Jin!"

"Okay, I'll definitely find out!" Jin Miaomiao nodded. "Let's continue. When that concubine found out that the Princess of Liao was pregnant, she was furious and powerless in the palace. Her family members frequently came to the palace. What countermeasures did she come up with?"

"That's not a nice way to put it. What do you mean by impotent rage? They still succeeded in the end!"

“Yes, in the end, we really succeeded.” Xiao Fengqi nodded to Shen Cha and said, “At the beginning, the late king was on high alert. There were special people to take care of her food and drink. All the food and drinks sent to the princess had to be tested to make sure there were no problems before they were given to her. So, it was absolutely impossible to make a move on this.”

“That’s for sure. Three meals a day—oh, you have two—plus snacks, tea, and the herbal medicine you need to drink daily, everything should have been checked.” Jin Miaomiao thought for a moment, “There shouldn’t be many places where they could tamper with it. They can’t possibly tamper with the fabric, can they?”

"They don't really interact with each other, so it's unlikely they would have done something like this, right?"

"It's not fabric, it's incense."

"Incense?" Shen Cha looked at Jin Miaomiao. "Can incense be used for this?"

“It’s okay to be careful, because women often experience a lot of discomfort during this period, such as insomnia, vivid dreams, hot flashes, excessive sweating, and mood swings, such as being easily angered and irritable.” Jin Miaomiao listed a few typical symptoms on her fingers. “Of course, we don’t recommend it in the early stages, but in the middle and later stages, burning some incense to calm the mind and soothe the nerves can be very helpful. However, you should avoid things like musk, as these are quite dangerous.”

"I see." Shen Cha nodded. "So, you used musk?"

“No.” Xiao Fengqi shook his head gently. “Didn’t I say before that two maids and a wet nurse were arrested? They confessed that they did it themselves, and that it was the concubine’s family who instructed them. One of the two maids is particularly skilled at perfumery. The fragrances she blends are very special, and even the Empress Dowager likes them very much. The Empress Dowager knew that the Princess was very uncomfortable during her pregnancy, so she wanted to blend some fragrances to calm her nerves, and that’s why she asked that maid to come over.”

"Didn't she know the two of them had a conflict?"

"know."

"Then why ask the concubine's maid to mix perfume for the princess? Isn't that..."

"The Queen Mother was also worried that such a situation might occur, so she informed the late King and the Queen in advance. They felt that having the concubine's maid come to mix the perfume in such a grand manner meant that it was impossible for her to tamper with anything, because if she did, the evidence would be caught immediately."

“That’s true.” Shen Cha nodded. “Once it’s found that the incense is the problem, then there’s no denying it.”

"So, during the very beginning, which was also the period when she was being watched the most closely, for about a month and a half to two months, the maid did not make any moves. She dutifully prepared a calming incense for the princess. After the princess used the incense, her condition improved significantly, and the maid was rewarded."

"and after?"

"Around the third month, that maid gradually changed the incense formula, adding a little something that could cause miscarriage," Xiao Fengqi sighed. "My great-aunt didn't say exactly what it was, but that kind of incense seemed very hard to find; it came from the Western Regions. The princess used this incense for about a month and then showed signs of a slight miscarriage. No one suspected that the incense was the problem. Coincidentally, the princess hadn't been eating well those days, so everyone assumed that was the cause and didn't think about the incense. Later, the Imperial Hospital's medicine to prevent miscarriage barely saved it. About a month and a half later, one night, the princess was in unbearable pain, and the little prince..." He sighed softly, "The people in the North and South Courtyards and our family investigated several times before finally finding the source in the incense, which led to the discovery of the two maids and the wet nurse who served the concubine."