Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

It wouldn't be too difficult for someone to leave Weihui alone amidst the chaos.

But what happens after you leave?

Many people already know that he looks very much like the Jiajing Emperor in his youth.

If they cannot gain the recognition of the royal family, they will definitely be in big trouble.

Things are different now. He is no longer impersonating Lu Chen, the captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but the emperor's younger brother.

Having come this far, there is no turning back; we must firmly establish our identity as the posthumous son of King Xingxian!

The old Taoist priest cannot die yet, at least not tonight!

. . .

At the same time.

Dozens of meters away, in the room of Lu Bing's mother, "Madam Yousheng" Fan.

At this moment, several trusted servants of the Lu family were already on guard outside, preventing anyone from approaching.

"Where did this old man get such audacity?!"

After hearing Lu Bing relay Lu Chen's words, Madam Fan clutched her chest for a long while before finally uttering her first words.

"Is that vixen's son just deceiving you brothers?"

"Mother, there are indeed many untrue parts in what Lu Chen said."

Lu Bing whispered,

"My son has served in the Embroidered Uniform Guard for so many years, he must have noticed it."

The manor deep in the mountains of Yunyang Prefecture that Lu Chen mentioned was entirely fabricated by him.

He didn't want to tell us where he had actually lived all these years.

But these are all trivial matters; where he grew up is actually not important.

Most importantly, his birth mother was indeed the maid, Lady Wang, whom you, Mother, bestowed upon Lu Kun back then.

His son has been by His Majesty's side since childhood. He studied and practiced martial arts with His Majesty in Chengtian Prefecture. It can be said that he grew up with His Majesty.

His Majesty's appearance from childhood to adulthood is all too familiar to his son.

When I first saw Lu Chen at the post station today, I actually mistook him for His Majesty!

Lu Chen's physique, appearance, and even his voice are exactly like His Majesty's from over a decade ago.

Neither Father nor Lu Kun could have had a child with Wang Shi who would grow up to look like this.

This Lu Chen must be a descendant of the dragon prince, left behind by Prince Xing back then; there is absolutely no other possibility!

"Although I haven't seen Lu Chen in person yet, for you to mistake him for His Majesty, he must look very much like His Majesty."

By this time, Madam Fan had recovered her composure.

"Your father has passed away. I didn't want to bring up his shameful deeds back then, but this matter concerns the safety of my entire Lu family, so I can't worry about that now."

When I gave that vixen to the ugly steward Lu Kun as a concubine, you were already eight years old, so you should remember some things.

When have you ever seen me treat my maids so harshly?

"Mother is right, you have always been kind to the servants around you."

Lu Bing nodded quickly.

"But since Wang seduced her father, it's only natural that her mother would punish her a little more severely."

"Back when we were in Chengtian Prefecture, there were quite a few young maids in the household who wanted to marry into wealth."

As long as they don't go too far, I usually just give them a few words of reprimand and fine them a small portion of their monthly allowance.

Madam Fan spoke slowly,

"But Wang was different from the other maids; I caught her red-handed."

A servant secretly informed me that day that this vixen had been having a secret rendezvous with your father in the woodshed, which I initially did not believe.

The servant swore to me that he was absolutely not mistaken, so I took a few trusted servants with me to the woodshed.

To my surprise, there was a huge bed there, and the two of them were doing that filthy thing.

I was so angry that I didn't care about your father's reputation at all. I flew into a rage on the spot and ordered my men to tie up that Wang woman.

Originally, I was going to order my men to beat this vixen to death with sticks, but your father didn't even bother to put on his clothes and insisted on stopping me from doing it.

After I caught my breath, I also felt that something was wrong.

It's not a big deal that your father, as the head of the family, took a fancy to one of my maids.

In other wealthy families, it would be common for her to be promoted to a concubine.

I really went too far by getting so angry about this.

However, now that I have already acted out, even if I spare that vixen's life, I certainly cannot let her live.

But if you sell them to a broker, it might expose your family's dirty laundry to the world.

After some thought, I decided to choose an ugly servant from the Lu family and give this vixen to him as a concubine.

Lu Kun is the ugliest steward in our Lu family.

I'm telling you this today not because I want to expose this old, shameful matter.

Rather, I want you to know that I personally witnessed your father's illicit affair with that vixen Wang.

I'm sure my eyes can't be wrong!

"If you say that Lu Chen, born to that vixen, is your father's illegitimate son, I would certainly believe it, but how could he possibly be His Highness Prince Xing's offspring?!"

"So that's what happened!"

After a moment of silence, Lu Bing's expression suddenly dawned on him.

"Although Lu Chen's words were not entirely untrue, it is absolutely true that he was secretly raised in a certain place since childhood."

The story that Wang switched the child was something we fabricated with Lu Chen in order to absolve the father of responsibility in front of His Majesty.

The one who actually did this must be my father, and only he has the ability to do it.

I had never understood why my father went to such lengths, but after hearing my mother's words, I finally understand.

The servant who informed on my mother back then was probably arranged by my father himself.

Even the large bed in the woodshed was probably just put there recently.

Father did this for one purpose only: to get Mother to catch you in the act.

"Back then, it was said that family scandals shouldn't be aired in public, and that it would be better to give Wang Shi to a servant. Wasn't that your own suggestion, Father?"

"That's really true!"

Fan thought about it carefully for a while.

"Could this scandal have been staged by your father for my benefit?!"

After this incident, your father couldn't hold his head up in front of me for a long time. Why did he do that?

"Father has gone to great lengths to protect our Lu family!"

Lu Bing let out a long sigh.

"His Highness Prince Xing did indeed visit Lady Wang. This happened while you were away, Mother, and only Father knew about it."

According to the rules, Father should send Lady Wang to the Prince Xing's residence to serve His Highness.

But Father dares not!

Not long ago, her father had also favored Wang.

If Wang were to be sent to the Prince of Xing's residence and it were discovered that she was pregnant, she herself might not even know whether the child belonged to His Highness the Prince of Xing or her father!

If Lady Wang is pregnant with her father's illegitimate child, but is raised as a member of the royal family, this would be a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of her family if it were discovered.

It would be better to use my mother's connections to give Wang Shi to a servant as a concubine.

Mother was unaware that His Highness Prince Xing had favored Lady Wang; ignorance is no excuse.

Given His Highness Prince Xing's favor towards the Lu family, he will at most reprimand my father a couple of times and that will be the end of it.

It's not something to be proud of for a maid who has been favored by His Highness to become a concubine of a servant in the Lu family, and His Highness himself wouldn't make a fuss about it.

This potential catastrophe was thus averted.

"That old man, he kept it from me for so long!"

Fan sighed.

"Huh, there seems to be some noise outside. It's already past midnight, this shouldn't be happening!"

Just as Fan was sighing, Lu Bing suddenly stood up and flung open the window.

A fire has already broken out in an area not far from the center of the palace!