The legitimate daughter returns to the capital and embarks on a splendid life, tearing apart the fak

Lan Ying waved to Mingyue, and after Mingyue left, she scolded Chu Duanshan, "You're a grandfather now, can't you be less impulsive? What does this have to do with the family physician?"

Chu Duanshan sat down awkwardly, still fussing over Lan Ying, asking her what she wanted to eat and checking if she had a fever.

Seeing him like this, Lan Ying felt both heartened and helpless. No outsider would know that the imposing General Chu was actually like this in private.

Over the next two days, people from the General's Mansion frequently visited various medical clinics, and the news of Lan Ying's "serious illness" quickly spread throughout the capital.

In the past two days, Lan Ying also told Mingyue about her granddaughter being switched. Mingyue was her dowry maid, had been with her since childhood, and later married the steward of the mansion, so it was believable.

There are some things she can't avoid involving Mingyue, so she might as well let her keep an eye on things for her.

On the third day after Lan Ying fell ill, she said to Mingyue, "Go and send a message to the Yun family, saying that I am ill and asking Wanqing to come back."

Inside the Yun residence, Chu Wanqing was extremely anxious upon hearing that her mother was ill. She hurriedly went to ask Yun Xiu, "Xiu'er, Grandmother is ill. Would you like to come with me to see her?"

Upon hearing this, Yunxiu's eyes flickered, and she feigned hesitation, saying, "Mother, I haven't finished the homework Mr. Liu assigned... Why don't you go first, and I'll go pay my respects to Grandmother after I've finished?"

Chu Wanqing, without suspecting anything, nodded and said, "Alright, I'll go check on my grandmother first to see how serious her illness is."

After saying this, he hurriedly headed towards the General's Mansion with two maids.

Upon entering Lan Ying's bedroom, one would see her lying on the bed, pale-faced and weak.

"Mother! How are you?" Chu Wanqing rushed forward and took her hand.

Lan Ying smiled weakly: "It's nothing, I probably just caught a cold."

She glanced at the two maids behind Chu Wanqing and said to Mingyue, "Let them wait in the outer room. I want to talk to Wanqing."

The maids left, and the door was gently closed.

Just as Chu Wanqing was about to speak, Lan Ying suddenly made a "shh" gesture, signaling her to keep her voice down.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Chu Wanqing asked, puzzled.

Lan Ying sat up, leaning against the soft pillows, and stared intently at her: "Wanqing, how has Heting treated you all these years?"

Chu Wanqing paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "It's fine. He has always respected me."

"Respect?" Lan Ying pressed. "Then...does he...sleep in your room every night?"

Chu Wanqing's face flushed instantly, and she said somewhat embarrassedly, "Occasionally...occasionally I go to the study. He said he's busy with official duties and doesn't want to disturb me."

Lan Ying sneered inwardly, thinking that he was probably busy meeting with Madam Liu!

She continued calmly, "How does your lady-in-waiting, Madam Liu, treat Xiu'er?"

Mentioning Liu, Chu Wanqing's face softened: "Mr. Liu treats Xiu'er extremely well; sometimes even I, as her mother, feel ashamed of myself."

Lan Ying's heart sank. Just as she thought!

That Lady Liu was using this method to win people's hearts, and even her own daughter was kept in the dark!

She took a deep breath and changed the subject: "Wanqing, don't you think... Xiu'er is looking less and less like you?"

Chu Wanqing smiled and said, "She looks just like He Ting. Look at her eyebrows and eyes; they are very similar to He Ting's when he was young."

Looking at her unguarded state, Lan Ying felt a pang of sadness and slowly asked, "Do you still remember the day Xiu'er was born?"

"How could I forget?" Chu Wanqing recalled, "That day was particularly difficult for her, and it took most of the night to give birth. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep as soon as I saw her. But Xiu'er was born fair and clean, unlike other babies who were all wrinkled. He Ting loved her so much and wouldn't let go of her."

Lan Ying instantly understood: whose baby isn't wrinkled and looks like a little monkey when it's born?

It seems that Yunxiu was definitely born earlier than Yunjin!

It seems that Madam Liu had been preparing for a long time, just waiting to use her own daughter to replace Wanqing's bloodline!

She stared intently at Chu Wanqing and said, word by word, "Wanqing, is it possible... that your daughter was switched while you were asleep?"

Chu Wanqing was taken aback at first, then laughed: "Mother, what are you saying? How could that be? If it were a boy, it might be possible to be switched, but who would switch a girl?"

"What if the other party is also a daughter?" Lan Ying's eyes were unusually serious. "What if someone wanted their daughter to enjoy everything that should belong to your daughter, bearing the title of the General's granddaughter, while your daughter was left to wander outside and suffer endless hardships?"

Chu Wanqing's smile froze. Looking at Lan Ying's serious expression, a sudden, inexplicable panic welled up inside her: "Mother... what... what do you mean by that?"

"I received information that Liu is Heting's mistress, and Yunxiu... is very likely their daughter."

Lan Ying's voice wasn't loud, but it struck Chu Wanqing like a thunderclap.

Chu Wanqing was struck dumb, her whole body stiffening. She instinctively wanted to retort, but her mind was filled with uncontrollable questions:

The admiration and tenderness that Yunheting showed whenever he mentioned Liu Shi, and the tacit understanding they occasionally revealed;

Liu Shi showed Yunxiu meticulous care, and Yunxiu felt even closer to her than to her own biological mother...

These details, which she had previously overlooked, are now all clear to her.

She jumped to her feet, her face pale. "I...I'll go ask them!"

"Sit down!" Lan Ying snapped, pulling her back. "If you go ask them now, do you think they'll admit it? Without evidence, they'll just say you're crazy! Wanqing, wake up! They've kept this from you for fifteen years; they've already set up this scheme! The successful baby swap back then meant they had an inside man by your side. Your impulsive actions will only alert them!"

Startled by her outburst, Chu Wanqing slumped into her chair, tears welling up unexpectedly.

She's not stupid; she's just blinded by years of "happiness."

Lan Ying's words were like a key, unlocking the corner of her heart that she was least willing to touch. Those uneases that she had deliberately ignored now turned into sharp pains.

"Yun Heting, how could he... how could he do this to me?" she asked, choking back tears, her voice trembling.

Seeing her daughter's distraught state, Lan Ying felt both pain and anger. She softened her tone and said, "You need to calm down and pretend you don't know anything. Go back to the Yun residence first, do what you need to do, and don't let Liu Shi and Yun Heting notice anything amiss."

She grasped Chu Wanqing's hand, her eyes resolute. "They dared to play tricks on the Chu family, dared to bully my daughter and granddaughter. I will never let them get away with this. But this can't be rushed; we have to take it one step at a time. Haste will only make things worse!"

Chu Wanqing sniffed, wiped away her tears, looked at the determination in Lan Ying's eyes, and slowly nodded: "Mother, I know what to do."

Her voice was still a little choked up, but it carried an unprecedented sense of determination.

Lan Ying was still a little worried, concerned that her daughter was love-struck. If she weren't, she wouldn't have insisted on marrying Yun Heting, who was just a student at the Hanlin Academy at the time.

Lan Ying nodded helplessly: "Go back first, secretly confirm what I said, and then come back to discuss the next step with me."

Chu Wanqing stood up, straightened her clothes, took a deep breath, turned and walked out of the room. She was eager to go back and confirm what her mother had said.

Yun Heting would never do that to her; perhaps her mother was mistaken…