Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Although Wang and Lu Chen rarely left the manor, they did not stay away from it entirely; they would occasionally go out.

At this time, Wang was unsupervised and had some money, so she was able to buy a child of the same age and switch the young "Lu Chen" with him.

If Lu Chen was born to Lady Wang, whom King Xingxian had favored, her motive for revenge would be even greater!

After being favored by Prince Xingxian, Wang Shi had the potential to enter the Prince's residence and become his concubine, which would be a meteoric rise for a maid.

After being given to the ugly steward Lu Kun as a concubine by the mistress, her chance to defy fate was gone. How could she not feel resentment?

This resentment will only intensify once the pregnancy is discovered.

This hatred was directed not only at Lu Song, but also at the mistress she originally served, Lu Song's wife, and the wet nurse of the Prince of Xing.

If she hadn't been given away as a concubine by the mistress, but instead sent to the Prince of Xing's mansion by Lu Song, she could have risen in status through her son.

When Emperor Zhengde (Zhu Houzhao) passed away and the Prince of Xing became the heir to the throne, the resentment in Lady Wang's heart, who had already given birth to a boy, reached its peak.

If Lu Song had sent her to the Prince of Xing's mansion back then, her child would have been granted the title of Prince, and she herself could have become a Dowager Consort, enjoying a life of wealth and honor.

At this point, Wang's motive for revenge against Lu Song and his wife was incredibly strong.

But to pull off a successful substitution, motive alone is not enough; you also need the ability.

Can she do it?

Lu Chen thought about it carefully and realized that it was probably impossible.

If "Lu Chen" were merely Lu Song's illegitimate son, Lu Song could have allowed him and his mother, Wang, to live on the Chengtian Prefecture estate.

But if it were a descendant of the Prince of Xingxian, Lu Song would absolutely not dare to do such a thing.

The fact that Wang herself could switch the child could only be achieved if "Lu Chen" was Lu Song's illegitimate son.

On the contrary, Lu Kun has this ability, because he could not possibly know that the child is the son of Prince Xingxian.

Ignorance breeds fearlessness.

Lu Kun wanted to switch the baby, and all Wang Shi had to do was cooperate.

If Lu Kun did this, it would have been when "Lu Chen" was still an infant.

At this time, Emperor Zhengde was still alive, and the throne had nothing to do with the Xingwang Mansion, so Lu Song didn't need to keep a close eye on it.

However, there is still a problem. If Lu Kun switched the child, why send the illegitimate son of Lu Song, whom he knew as Lu Song, to the capital when Lu Song was seriously ill and wanted to see "Lu Chen" before he died?

Sending that imposter who grew up in Chengtian Prefecture and has no blood relation to Lu Song would be the best revenge against Lu Song.

Therefore, although Lu Kun and Wang Shi had the motive and the ability to switch the children, there are inexplicable loopholes in their actions.

If you were to fabricate a lie to point the finger at Lu Kun or Wang Shi as the child who was switched at birth, you would have to find a way to patch up these loopholes yourself.

With his current methods, no matter how he plans, there will be flaws, and it is very likely that suspicion will be directed at him.

No, the real mastermind behind this must be Lu Song!

Is there no loophole in attributing the mastermind behind the substitution of the prince to Lu Song?

Of course!

Can this be resolved?

Lu Song is not like Lu Kun and Wang Shi; his eldest son, Lu Bing, is now only one step away from becoming the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Lu Chen chuckled softly. He didn't need to fabricate the story of the prince being replaced by a cat, nor could he forge any evidence.

The more you do, the more flaws you reveal.

Truly brilliant strategies are often simple and unpretentious.

There's really only one thing I need to do!

That is to completely pin the blame for this "switching the prince for a cat" on Lu Song, a dead man who cannot defend himself, and drag the entire Lu family down with him!

If this matter is not handled properly, it would be a crime of deceiving the emperor!

Even if the Lu family were favored ministers of the Jiajing Emperor, they couldn't bear such a huge burden of blame.

As long as this loophole isn't so big as to cause a major upheaval, Lu Bing, as the third-rank commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, will definitely have a way to plug it and do it flawlessly!

As for himself, he only needs to play the role of a boy whose life has been arranged for him since childhood and who knows nothing about his true identity.

What should I do?

While at Feidun Garden in Yuyao, Xie Pi promised that once he discovered the truth about his origins, he would personally report it to the Jiajing Emperor.

As a high-ranking official of the third rank, Xie Pi was certainly qualified to directly request an audience with the Jiajing Emperor.

If I were "Lu Chen" who grew up in Chengtian Prefecture, doing this would certainly be feasible.

However, he was not really "Lu Chen" and needed to explain his background through a story of "the prince being replaced by a cat".

If Xie Pi were to report to the Jiajing Emperor, the pressure of explaining his origins would fall on his side.

Even if she tried to pin the blame on Lu Song in front of the Jiajing Emperor, it wouldn't work, because the Lu family knew nothing about it and would be caught off guard and make a mistake.

To drag the Lu family into this mess and have them confirm his true parentage, he had to reach an agreement with them and coordinate their statements before the Jiajing Emperor learned of his existence.

Lu Chen turned his head to look north.

It is unknown whether Emperor Jiajing's southern tour entourage has departed from the capital yet, but even if it has not yet set off, it should be soon.

Lu Chen had no recollection of the specific places the southern inspection team would pass through, only knowing that a fire broke out at the Weihui Palace in the early morning of February 28th, and that the final destination was Chengtian Prefecture, where he was located.

There was nothing in Weihui that would cause Emperor Jiajing to delay his journey. The entourage would most likely arrive in Weihui during the day on February 27th, and at most no earlier than February 26th.

The distance between Chengtian Prefecture and Weihui is about the same as the distance between me and Linqing when I set off from Sheqidian Town in Nanyang Prefecture to take up my post.

Today is only the fourth day of the second lunar month. If I set off tomorrow, I won't even need to rush. At normal speed, I can arrive in Weihui before Emperor Jiajing's southern tour.

Lu Bing himself was definitely in the group, but whether his mother, Lady Yousheng, who was also the wet nurse of the Jiajing Emperor, accompanied him is not recorded in historical records.

However, Lu Chen felt that there was a good chance that he would go with them, because the Lu family also rose to prominence in Chengtian Prefecture, and the Fan family had lived there for a long time. It would be only natural for them to take this opportunity to return home in glory.

More and more people have seen him now, and since he'll drag the Lu family down with him sooner or later anyway, it's better to do it sooner rather than later.

The quickest way is to travel north yourself and meet Lu Bing in Weihui.

It would be even better if Lu Song's widow, Madam Fan, were also alive.

As the person involved in the awarding of the Wang family property to Lu Kun back then, she was able to provide Lu Bing with many valuable clues, helping Lu Bing to confirm his identity while clearing the Lu family of any responsibility.

After reaching a consensus with Lu Bing and his mother and agreeing on their statements, Lu Bing can personally take him to meet this historically renowned Daoist Emperor, the Supreme Great Luo Heavenly Immortal, Purple Extreme Longevity Saint, Wise and Spiritual Unifying the Three Elements, Jade Void General Manager of the Five Thunders, Great True Man of the Mysterious Capital Realm, Longevity Emperor!