The peerless and dark princess

As for matters concerning the imperial palace, Zuo Ci's people in the palace naturally knew about them, so they quickly spread the news outside the palace. They had all received instructions from their superiors to pay close attention to the Second Prince's concubine.

Although in their opinion, this person is not worth their attention, but they must obey the order, otherwise they will receive severe punishment or be eliminated and then... those who are punished or eliminated will not live to see the end, so they all cherish their lives.

In fact, if Zuo Ci knew about this, he would be speechless. He did have strict rules, but they were enforced by Leng Qing and others, and the so-called means of controlling them were just some common drugs, so there was no way to find out. Zuo Ci didn't trust those people that much because of his parents' situation, so he controlled them. But in the end, he was not a bad person, he just made people feel controlled. In reality, there was nothing more.

Zuo Ci, having learned of this news and having something to discuss with Mu Wange, informed her of the situation. Mu Wange could have easily exposed Muruohan's affair with Zhou Yu at this point. With the clues Zuo Ci's men had uncovered, Muruohan's downfall was certain. However, exposing Muruohan now would have been of little benefit; simply eliminating her would have been far from their goal. It would have been better to keep Muruohan alive, allowing her to act as a check on Chen Yunfeng's wife, the official daughter. This would undoubtedly create a lot of excitement in the Second Prince Chen Yunfeng's residence, freeing him up to focus on other matters. Furthermore, the usually reserved Third Prince Chen Yunbin was gradually showing signs of ambition, raising the prospect of unpredictable events in the Dali court. Even the cloaked Empress Meng Yujiao would likely be forced to reveal her true colors.

Not to mention the good intentions of Zuo Ci, Muruohan, the Chu family, the Dong family and others, Meng Yujiao was really angry. As the master of the central palace, she had to suppress her anger and clean up the mess for her disappointing son Chen Yunfeng.

That day, Meng Yujiao, as the Empress and the second prince's biological mother, had to accompany Muruohan at her palace. Coincidentally, Guan Lianyi was also there. Guan Lianyi's father had previously hinted that Muruohan's child would be given to Guan Lianyi to raise. However, due to Chen Yunfeng's manipulations, Muruohan became a concubine, and naturally, the child could not be registered under the name of the principal wife, as was the case with concubines. Originally, Meng Yujiao had intended to leave the mother and the child, but who knew Chen Yunfeng was also there?

That day, Muruohan gave birth to the "Emperor's eldest grandson," as she had hoped. Meng Yujiao's face finally brightened considerably, but she had no idea that Muruohan had been able to switch the baby right under her nose. Yes, Muruohan had given birth to a baby girl that day. Upon hearing it was a girl, she had the midwife and Zhou Yu take the baby away without even looking at it, replacing it with the baby boy Zhou Yu had prepared earlier, the so-called "Emperor's eldest grandson." That day, Zhou Yu was leaving the palace with Muruohan's daughter. Within a few hundred meters of the palace, they were ambushed and murdered, falling into a lake. The baby girl was also missing, along with the midwife who had delivered Muruohan that day.

The next morning, Empress Meng Yujiao's reward arrived at the Mu residence. Of course, the nanny at her side and the Meng family behind them were instrumental in this. Since the idea of ​​expelling the mother and keeping the son was impossible, and the Meng family was aware of Crown Prince Chen Yunjie's recent estrangement from Mu Heng, why not use this opportunity to appease Mu Heng and bring him under their wing? Meng Yujiao suddenly realized that while Mu Ruohan was not Mu Wange and did not have the Prince of Yan's residence, she was Mu Heng's daughter. While she lacked access to the Prince of Yan's residence, Mu Heng, the Minister of State, was a valuable asset. Since the Crown Prince was estranged, she could exploit this opportunity to infiltrate him, especially since his daughter was currently residing in the residence of her own son. Thus, Meng Yujiao used this reward as an opportunity, and Old Madam Mu's disdain for the scandal of Mu Ruohan having a child before reaching adulthood faded.

Mu Wange, who was listening to the snow garden, gave a sarcastic smile. Mu Lanxin felt something was wrong when she saw the smile. She was just telling her elder sister the news she heard from Madam Mu.

"Sister, what are you laughing at?"

"It is unknown who this eldest grandson of the emperor is descended from."

"Ah? No way..." Mu Lanxin subconsciously whispered, "Could it be that my second sister..."

"Think about it, Mu Ruohan wants to be Chen Yunfeng's principal wife," Mu Wange thought for a moment, but didn't say anything definitive. Instead, she adopted a skeptical tone, causing Mu Lanxin to speculate, "Third sister, if this baby is a girl, can she still be safe in her position as Chen Yunfeng's concubine, and will the Queen tolerate her? Moreover, this reward may be because the Queen has figured out that our father is still a legitimate Shangshu..."

"Um, eldest sister, so, what about the second sister's child?"

"I'm just guessing. I'm not in the palace to know. However, when it comes to cruelty, Muruohan can really be so cruel. After all, if she can kill her own brother, why can't she kill her own flesh and blood?"

"Eh... this is horrible. That's the child I gave birth to with so much difficulty. If it were me, I would definitely not want to let him go."

Mu Wange took a sip of tea and said, "First of all, you can't be like her. Secondly, if you were really like her, you would have long ago challenged her in Mu Heng instead of being suppressed by her in every way. Of course, it was also because of my stupidity at the beginning, but you can't compare to her in terms of thinking alone. The reason you have been able to be your aloof Third Miss all these years is because she and Shen Xinyue's thoughts were on me, wanting to become the first wife..."

"..." Mu Lanxin was speechless, but she was thinking: Back then, you were fooled by them, mother and daughter. Now you're not smarter, and your words are a bit too harsh. Although what she said was true, it was because she was a concubine without any obstacles, and her concubine was not competitive. Together with her younger brother, in order to avoid conflict with her eldest brother Mu Yucheng, she chose a private school outside instead of the well-known academy. Although it was not the academy for the prince or the prince's companions, it was also the choice of many children of officials.

"Forget it, let's not talk about her. By the way, you didn't come here just to talk to me about this, did you?"

"No, it's the thing we talked about before. Big sister, how about you take a look at these rules?" Mu Lanxin quickly took out a few pieces of paper from her sleeve and handed them to Mu Wange.

"Well, Lan Xin, since I'm handing this matter over to you, I naturally trust you. So, you can make the decision yourself. If you encounter something you can't solve, you can..."

"But……"

"It's nothing. I'll take a look at this matter first and see if there are any suggestions for revisions. Next time, you can make your own decisions on what I assign to you. That way, you can learn more instead of... Lan Xin, you must remember that if you marry someone else in the future, you will still be in charge of your own courtyard or household affairs, so you will have to decide all the rules yourself..."

Mu Lanxin felt warm in her heart after hearing this. Her aunt had told her and her brother to be prudent and protect themselves, but now her elder sister was teaching her how to do things. She was speechless at the moment. She could only say, "Eldest sister, thank you."