She got pregnant after the swap marriage, and the scumbag's family regretted it so much they cr

After Lu Huan and the others entered the Ni Chang Pavilion, Shi Dong didn't rest either. Following Lu Huan's instructions, he went to the brokerage firm and found Granny Sun.

Lu Huan had previously acquired several shops from Prince Yan and his wife, including the one owned by the Cheng family on Zhuque Street, and planned to rent them all out.

In addition, several shops needed new leases, and with so many things to do, we had to rely on Granny Sun, the expert, to handle them.

There were four people when they came, but only three left.

Gao Manting, carrying a wooden box, excitedly climbed into the carriage, while Lu Huan helped Zhou Shi behind her.

"Eldest daughter-in-law, you've spoiled Manting too much." Zhou's gaze swept over the wooden box in Gao Manting's hand, and her brow twitched.

Lu Huan smiled and said, "It's nothing valuable."

It wasn't particularly valuable; just two gilded silver bells. It was only ten taels of silver, barely a penny compared to the thirty-two chests of dowry Gao Zhongbao had prepared for her in her previous life.

"How many taels of silver did you spend at the Ni Chang Pavilion today?" Zhou asked again.

Lu Huan certainly wouldn't be so presumptuous as to think that Zhou was trying to subsidize her.

“Not much. Manting’s dress cost sixty taels, while your and your father-in-law’s clothes only cost twenty taels to make because we brought our own fabric.”

That cost a hundred taels! Luckily, it wasn't my own money.

After comforting herself with this thought, Zhou's heart ached a little less. She quickly revealed her true intentions: "In this way, the coming-of-age gift that you and your husband gave to Zhongbao is rather meager."

Lu Huan sneered inwardly; the fox's tail couldn't be hidden so quickly.

She didn't object, but instead agreed, "Then... my husband and I will add a few more pieces of good ink for my second brother!"

"Good, good, good!" Zhou's eyes narrowed into slits with laughter. Something she'd pried out of Lu Huan's hands must be something special.

But then she realized a very important question—these things were originally meant for Zhongbao!

The expression on her face quickly changed from happiness to regret.

Lu Huan sat next to her and saw the whole thing out of the corner of his eye, barely managing to hold back his laughter.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the study of the Prince of Yan's residence was unusually tense.

The King of Yan almost laughed at the popularity of this person who might be his younger brother.

"You're a man! Don't always listen to your wife!"

Gao Yan curled his lip, defiantly asserting his authority as the Prince of Yan, and said, "When I was in the Gao family before, no one treated me like a human being, so why should I flaunt my power in front of Huan'er?"

The thought of his younger brother being taken away by remnants of the previous dynasty and ending up in the Gao family filled the Prince of Yan with a pang of guilt: "You! Aren't you just stabbing me and Father in the heart!"

Gao Yan turned his head away uncomfortably: "Your Highness should first find out if I am indeed your brother. Don't let misunderstandings arise and cause the real prince to be left to wander outside."

The Prince of Yan was genuinely amused and exasperated. He pointed to his face and asked Gao Yan, "Look at my face! We look at least 50% alike, and you and Yun Yi are even more alike. You still say you're not my brother?"

Recalling the boy he had met in the back room by the main gate of the Prince's Mansion who wanted to sneak out to play, Gao Yan's expression softened.

“Yunyi is a good boy. As a boy from the North, you shouldn’t have raised him to be too weak.”

The Prince of Yan laughed so hard his mustache twitched: "What, now you admit it?"

Gao Yan pursed his lips, deciding to put up a fight one more time: "You have no evidence!"

The Prince of Yan frowned, his sharp eyebrows furrowing. "That's what I'm also wondering about. I've already sent someone to retrieve and examine the jade pendant that Gao Yan was carrying."

The carving is quite realistic; it might fool a family like the Gao family, which lacks resources. However, the material is so poor that I could tell at a glance.

Gao Yan recalled their wedding day and said, "This jade pendant was with my wife before. Could it have been switched by the Lu family?"

"That's the only way to investigate."

“There’s one more thing.” Gao Yan said it, then regretted it, but he didn’t want the Prince of Yan to go to Lu Huan. “I heard from the villagers that the swaddling blanket that wrapped me was very special, but it was kept by my adoptive mother, Zhou, and she refused to give it to me. Your Highness can investigate from this angle.”

The Prince of Yan smiled and teased, "You don't want me to investigate your wife, do you?"

"I'll ask Huan'er about the jade pendant myself, so don't make things difficult for her!"

"They protected her so quickly?"

In fact, based on his appearance, approximate age, and the fake jade pendant, the Prince of Yan was quite certain that Gao Yan was his kidnapped younger brother.

Back then, Yanjing was still the capital of the previous dynasty. Emperor Yuande had just proclaimed himself emperor in Jinling and gathered most of his troops to march north.

In an attempt to stop the emperor, the previous dynasty sent people to kidnap Gao Yan, who was less than six months old at the time, from Jinling.

However, due to the long journey and the unfamiliar environment, he barely grew during the first half of the year.

As a result, not only did the Gao couple misunderstand, but even the people in Gaojia Village failed to recognize Gao Yan's true age, all thinking he was only seven or eight months old.

This mistake lasted for twenty years.

The Prince of Yan sighed deeply. He himself had come to Yanjing to take up his fiefdom when he was twenty years old, but his younger brother was still wandering outside.

"I don't care what you think, but I definitely can't keep it from Father. As for what Father decides in the end, that's beyond my control."

Gao Yan's eyes widened as he refused, "That won't do. You haven't verified my identity yet! Besides, what would I do back there if I've never been to school? Just to be ridiculed?"

"Even if you're uneducated, you're the son of the current emperor, my brother. Who would dare to laugh at you!"

Alright, alright, I promise you, I won't report this to Father Emperor yet. I'll investigate further first.

"And Father isn't such an unreasonable person..."

"Is it unreasonable of you to have so many women around you?"

"You brat! You dare interrupt me!" The Prince of Yan grabbed a booklet from beside him and threw it at Gao Yan.

He picked it up and inadvertently saw a few words: "Dong Family?"

The Prince of Yan's smile vanished, replaced by a stern expression: "They're just a family that's incredibly audacious."

He seemed to understand Gao Yan's concerns: "Alright, alright, once the matter is clarified, I will submit a secret memorial. Don't worry, as long as you don't plot rebellion, Father will take good care of you considering that you've been living away from home for so many years."

Gao Yancai would never believe the King of Yan's words.

He had seen the imperial report when he was training the militia. If he were indeed recognized and taken back, he would be confined to his fiefdom and not allowed to leave without an imperial edict.

Gao Yan couldn't bear to part with Lu Huan at all, confining him to a small fiefdom where he could just laze around and wait to die.

His beloved child should be as free as a lark in the sky, able to witness the magnificence of mountains and rivers and the vastness of the sea.

Instead of being confined to the rules and a small backyard like the Princess of Yan.