The Eldest Daughter Reborn: She Provoked the Obsessive Crown Prince and Couldn't Escape

Fu Zhengzheng's words shocked everyone present; even Yu Weiyan, who had always been dissatisfied with Fu Luan, had a drastic change in expression!

He hissed, "Zhengzheng, what nonsense are you spouting!"

He then quickly bowed and said, “Your Majesty, Zhengzheng, she was just jilted and is feeling bad; she has also fallen ill recently, to the point that she is talking nonsense. Please do not listen to her!”

“Ah Luan is my and my wife’s first daughter; if she isn’t the eldest legitimate daughter, then who is? Guards, take the second young lady away immediately! Find another one…”

The Emperor interrupted, "No, let her continue! I still remember that on the day A-Luan and the Sixth Prince divorced, the Sixth Prince also said..."

"'She was simply exploiting a loophole in the ancestral precepts.' At the time, I was busy investigating the witchcraft case and didn't have time to discuss it; now that the two points are corroborated... there's more to this than meets the eye! This involves the ancestral precepts of the Great Wei Dynasty, so I must be extremely cautious!"

Fu Luan glanced at Yu Weiyan, but when it was his turn to speak, he couldn't say a word!

Although the Xue family members harbored resentment towards Yu Weiyan and Fu Zhengzheng, they harbored no ill will towards Fu Luan, and therefore remained silent.

After a moment's thought, Fu Luan said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Your Majesty, that 'loophole' simply means that I take my mother's surname, Fu, instead of taking my father's surname like the previous crown princesses of the Fu family."

"May I ask Your Majesty, the ancestral precepts of the Great Wei state only that the eldest daughter of the Fu family will be the Crown Princess. Does it ever specify that she must be the eldest daughter of a male member of the Fu family?"

"This..." The Emperor hesitated.

As Fu Luan said, the ancestral precepts of the Great Wei Dynasty did not mention this point.

Fu Luan laughed and said, "Back then, the Marquis of Changyi said my family was 'exploiting loopholes,' and that was all. I'm not afraid the Emperor will laugh at us, but my father found these loopholes by meticulously examining each and every one of the ancestral precepts of the Great Wei!"

"This matter was made public beforehand; you and Empress Zhaoshen both knew about it. Without the Emperor and Empress's permission, no matter how powerful my family is, it would be difficult to switch the baby, wouldn't it?"

"Who in Chang'an doesn't know that the Marquis of Chang'an married into the Fu family? And who doesn't know that I, Fu Luan, took my mother's surname? I wonder what Zhengzheng's mention of this now proves?"

"You're right, but... I'd like to hear what your sister has to say!" The Emperor said, his face showing displeasure. Even the Xue family noticed something amiss.

Although they were unaware that the Emperor harbored feelings for Fu Luan, the fact that he had been on Fu Luan's side from the moment he entered was enough to show where his heart lay.

Fu Luan's explanation this time was reasonable, well-founded, and convincing, and he should have been pleased; however, the emperor's brows not only did not relax, but instead furrowed even deeper!

Fu Zhengzheng sneered, "I never said that was what I was going to bring up!"

She then turned serious and said, "Your Majesty, what I want to say is that I don't only have one elder sister, Fuluan; before she was born, I had another elder sister!"

Upon hearing this, the front hall fell silent; it was Fu Ze who broke the silence first.

He laughed and said, "Zhengzheng is talking nonsense again! My mother only gave birth to four sons and one daughter. Her only daughter is A-Luan. How could you have any other elder sisters?"

Yu Weiyan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to herself, "Luckily, I have a son here, otherwise I really don't know how I would have ended up like this!"

Fu Zhengzheng said with a half-smile, "Fourth Brother, that's a good question! There's something I've been wanting to ask you for a long time, and this is a good opportunity to ask you in person—"

"Fourth Brother and Eldest Sister are twins, born only two hours apart; yet why do you call Fifth Brother 'Fifth Brother,' while Eldest Sister calls her 'Fifth Brother'?"

Xue Chen chimed in, "It must be..."

"I didn't ask you! When did it become your Xue family's place to interfere in my family's affairs?" Fu Zhengzheng immediately frowned, completely losing the fawning attitude she had shown when she tried to please her "future aunt" with ointment.

She paused for a moment, then continued, "You know, Fifth Brother is also born to Madam Fu, and shares the same mother as my older brothers and sisters! He's a whole year younger than you, Fourth Brother!"

"But your elder sister, who was born at the same time as you, has to call him 'Fifth Brother'... Your Majesty, don't you find that strange?"

The Emperor said with great interest, "Ah Luan, you heard what your sister said? Explain yourself!"

Yu Weiyan sighed silently. The Emperor was pressing the matter to the bottom of things, and he was powerless to do anything about it; if only his wife were still alive…

He glanced at Fu Luan furtively, hoping that his daughter, who bore a striking resemblance to his wife, would remain as quick-witted as ever.

Fu Luan smiled and said, "Then does His Majesty wish me to be the eldest daughter of the Fu family, or..."

The Emperor's smile vanished abruptly. Fu Luan had seen right through his lecherous thoughts. He naturally hoped Fu Zhengzheng's words were true! As long as Fu Luan wasn't the eldest daughter of the legitimate wife, she could never become the Crown Princess again—

At the very least, she cannot become the Crown Princess simply because of the ancestral precepts of the Great Wei Dynasty; when the time comes, a single imperial decree will suffice to claim him as her own!

Presumably, the Marquis of Chang'an, as a father, would not have any complaints; in fact, he might even be so eager to please him that he would want to personally tie up his daughter and send her to his dragon bed!

The Emperor said with a stern face, "What I want to see is evidence; what I want to hear is the truth! Ah Luan, don't think you can easily fool me!"

"The doll made into a 'human pig' that was found in the Chongwen Hall of the Eastern Palace that day had your birth date and time engraved on it; but... doesn't seem right? Your birth date and time are not like that!"

The Emperor even knows Fu Luan's birth date and time, making his feelings for her obvious once again, but no one dares to say it!

Fu Luan then said seriously, "That's right, the date and time engraved on that doll is my real birth date and time, not the one that was used when I registered my household!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Weiyan knew that the situation was hopeless; he closed his eyes tightly and sighed again.

Fu Ze's twin sister, the real "Fu Luan," died shortly after birth. The Fu family valued daughters highly; Madam Fu married three times, and only on her third marriage did she give birth to her precious daughter, but…

Who could not grieve? But Yu Weiyan not only did not grieve, she also quickly made a decision:

"The ancestral precepts of the Great Wei state that the eldest daughter of the Fu family should become the Crown Princess; now that I have married into the Fu family, my daughter will naturally take her mother's surname, 'Fu'; this girl is destined to be the Crown Princess!"

Despite her grief, Lady Fu remained clear-headed. "No, she's already dead! Besides, the matter of the Crown Princess must wait until my brother has a daughter..."

Yu Weiyan hurriedly said, "Madam, you're confused! The ancestral precepts of the Great Wei Dynasty didn't specify whether it's the daughter of a man or a woman from the Fu family!"

“Your surname is Fu, and your daughter will take your surname Fu. She is also our first daughter, so what else could she be but the ‘eldest legitimate daughter’?”

"Why don't you hurry up and send this news to the palace tonight, so that the Emperor, Empress, Empress Dowager, and Grand Empress Dowager can be happy! How many years has it been since the Fu family has had a legitimate eldest daughter?"

Lady Fu exclaimed incredulously, "But my lord, my daughter... she's already dead!"

She held the already cold, dead infant in her arms, refusing to let go no matter how the female doctor tried to persuade her that "the corpse contains corpse poison"!