After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

Rong Yingluo sensed his sadness and stopped moving.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Gu Ce finally released Rong Yingluo.

Rong Yingluo could clearly see the apology in his eyes.

"I think you must have also investigated the Emperor's harem. Did you find out who his birth mother was?" Rong Yingluo asked softly.

"I checked. The Emperor's harem has had twelve princes and princesses born."

There were five princesses, and they all grew up to be adults.

There are seven princes, four of whom are registered in the imperial genealogy. The eldest prince is the crown prince, the second prince went missing when he was two years old, the third prince died at the age of seven, and the fourth prince has now broken his leg.

None of the three who weren't included in the imperial genealogy lived past 100 days.

One of them was premature and died shortly after birth.

One was born to Consort Xian, and died on the day of her full moon celebration.

Another was born to Consort De, who died of a high fever when she was a little over two months old. Gu Ce could find out about these things with just a little research; the inner court had records of them.

"Then who do you think you were born to?" Rong Yingluo couldn't figure out who it could be for a moment.

"The second prince born to the Empress and the prince born to Consort Xian are about the same age, differing by only two months. The other two princes' ages don't match up."

"So you are very likely the second prince born to the Empress?" Rong Yingluo understood.

Only the Second Prince went missing, and Gu Ce also went missing around the same time as the Second Prince, about a month apart.

"I think so too. But I don't look like the Empress at all. I only look about three-tenths like the Emperor." This is the main reason why Gu Ce is not sure.

"Everyone looks different. They don't necessarily have to look like their parents. They can also look like their grandparents or maternal grandparents. Any elder with a blood relationship is a possibility," Rong Yingluo analyzed.

"You're right. In any case, it's now basically certain that I'm not the Duke of Zhenguo's biological son, but most likely a member of the royal family. With a target in mind, all we need to do is find evidence to prove my identity."

Or perhaps my father knew perfectly well, but just didn't tell me; he was waiting for an opportunity. Gu Ce thought of An Er's words and became even more certain of this possibility.

"The Gucci mentioned by An Er should be the real heir of the Gu family." Rong Yingluo was basically certain.

Even if a grown man has scars on his face, there's no need for him to wear a mask for years.

"Most likely. The former Duchess of the State happens to have the surname Gu," Gu Ce said.

"My lord, how about we find a way to let you and the Empress recognize each other first?" Rong Yingluo suggested, thinking of the Empress's health.

"Why?" Gu Ce was taken aback.

"Her Majesty the Empress has fallen ill from worry, which is shortening her lifespan. On the day of the Imperial Ancestral Temple ceremony, I secretly took her pulse." Rong Yingluo recounted the incident of secretly taking her pulse that day.

"But I have no evidence to prove that I was born to the Empress," Gu Ce said helplessly.

"Do you have any unusual birthmarks or anything like that?" Rong Yingluo asked after thinking for a moment.

"No." Gu Ce shook his head; he was very clean.

"That's really a bit troublesome. Why don't we just write a letter to the Duke?" Rong Yingluo thought that was the most direct way.

"No. My father hasn't revealed my identity all these years, which means he has some concerns, or the time isn't right, or he has some purpose. If I write to ask directly, it might backfire. If he has a purpose, asking might lead to our deaths." Gu Ce thought further.

Now, both Su Shi and his second uncle have sided with the Crown Prince, but he doesn't know whether his father has sided with the Crown Prince.

If the father appears to be loyal only to the emperor, but is actually working for Consort Cao, he might execute him if he finds out that the man has discovered his true identity.

Keeping him around now is just a precaution. If the crown prince ruins his own life and fails to ascend the throne, he will be his father's trump card.

If the Duke of Zhenguo is indeed as he suspects, then no matter what, the Duke of Zhenguo will be the ultimate winner.

He was merely a civil official with little real power; the Duke of Zhenguo could easily take his life.

Therefore, you should absolutely not write a letter to ask.

"In that case, we'll have to figure it out ourselves." Rong Yingluo spread her hands, indicating that this was the only option for the time being.

The next day.

September 25th was the perfect day for the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion to hold a chrysanthemum appreciation banquet.

Rong Yingluo got up early and first calculated her fortune for the day to have a better understanding of what to expect. She found that good and bad fortune were intertwined, so she had to be extra careful.

Rong Yingluo had breakfast early and came to the main courtyard to receive instructions.

Today, all the masters of the Duke's mansion have been assigned tasks by Su Jingyi.

Gu Xi from the first wife's family and Gu Xu and Gu Ming from the second wife's family were responsible for receiving the young noblemen from various families.

Rong Yingluo, along with her younger sisters, was responsible for receiving the young mistresses and ladies from various families.

The two wives, Madam Su and Madam Guo, received the ladies of their generation.

The gates of the Duke's mansion were wide open, and starting at mid-morning, the invited guests entered the mansion one after another in carriages.

Rong Yingluo had no idea who the Su family had invited.

She had never interacted with these noble ladies from the capital and knew almost none of them.

Knowing Rong Yingluo's weaknesses, Gu Qingyin stayed by her side and secretly explained things to her.

"This is the third young lady of Princess Pingyang's mansion, Tan Shitong, who has just come of age. The man beside her is the second young master, Tan Feiran." Gu Qingyin immediately introduced the two young men and women who were walking over.

Rong Yingluo felt that the emperor named his princesses after places.

Princess Pingyang was clearly Princess Jinyang's aunt, but their titles sounded like those of sisters.

In fact, Pingyang and Jinyang were both fiefdoms of their own.

"Oh, that second young master seems to be the son-in-law that Second Aunt had her eye on before." Rong Yingluo suddenly realized.

"Yes."

Gu Qingya and Gu Qingwan greeted the two and led them to pay their respects to Madam Su.

Just as the two left, a mother and daughter arrived.

"Sister-in-law, this is Lady Su, the wife of the Marquis of Dingxi. She is my mother's cousin. And that is her daughter, Cui Liyuan," Gu Qingyin introduced softly.

Rong Yingluo narrowed her eyes. These were the family members of Gu Ce's first wife.

She had inquired and learned that Gu Ce's first wife was not the biological daughter of this Lady of Dingxi, but rather the daughter of the former wife of the Marquis of Dingxi.

No wonder she was willing to marry into the Gu family; her purpose is self-evident.

I wonder if the Marquis of Dingxi knew that his daughter was murdered.

As the saying goes, having a stepmother means having a stepfather, so perhaps the Marquis of Dingxi didn't care whether his eldest daughter lived or died.

The Su family is truly capable; they like to marry their daughters into high-ranking families as second wives, thereby gaining entry into the elite circles of the capital and securing a place for the Su family in the court.

The Su family was considered low-class in the capital, but they changed their status by marrying their two daughters into high-ranking families as second wives.

Rong Yingluo led Gu Qingyin forward with a smile: "Greetings, Madam of Dingxi, Miss Cui. Please come in."

The Lady of Dingxi didn't recognize her and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Who are you?"

"I am Rong Liuli, the young mistress of the Gu family." Rong Yingluo bowed again gracefully.

"You're the fourth wife my son-in-law married?" Su Jingyan looked at Rong Yingluo with a scrutinizing gaze.

The words were clearly meant to be difficult.

"Exactly." Rong Yingluo answered crisply, without any sense of being deliberately made difficult.

"My good daughter is so lucky to have four younger sisters who treat her like a concubine," said the Lady of Dingxi with a smile.

But there was a hint of sarcasm in her tone, which Rong Yingluo immediately noticed.

"What you say is true, Madam. We're evenly matched, just a matter of degree." Rong Yingluo's smile was even brighter than that of the Lady of Dingxi.