To divorce his wife, the top scholar preferred being cuckolded to wearing a red hat.

Su Mingyue narrowed her eyes as she listened to Xiao Zhan's words, and after a long while, she spoke: "So, the Fourth Prince is already in the capital."

Hearing her words, Xiao Zhan was somewhat surprised: "Your intuition is so accurate?"

“If the Fourth Prince were not in the capital at this time, Su Sihai would not have agreed to cooperate with Zhou Wenjun so easily, and might have dragged it out. After all, Zhou Wenjun failed to assassinate me last time, and you are looking for her whereabouts. Her situation in the capital is not good.”

As long as Su Sihai is willing to reveal her information to you, you can go find her. When that happens, Zhou Wenjun will definitely leave immediately and return to her Western Qi.

Su Sihai didn't do that. Instead, he quickly reached a consensus with her, and the fact that they were targeting me meant that the Fourth Prince must be in the capital; he couldn't wait to cooperate with Zhou Wenjun.

"When I entered the manor just now, I saw a dark figure. That person is very likely the Fourth Prince."

"It seems I guessed right, he's back. And there's one more thing I'm certain of now."

"what?"

"Aunt Liu is very likely the Consort Mei who died of illness back then."

Xiao Zhan frowned deeply upon hearing the news.

Su Sihai is incredibly audacious. If these crimes are exposed, the Su family will surely be executed along with their entire clan.

No wonder he was so determined to help the fourth prince ascend the throne; there was no way out.

If the Fourth Prince fails to ascend the throne, and their treasonous crimes are exposed, the entire Su family will face certain death.

"There's something I don't quite understand. If the Fourth Prince is his biological son, why is he trying to matchmake Su Ziyu with the Fourth Prince? Could it be that Su Ziyu isn't his biological daughter either?"

"There are some things that he can do twice as well as once. Su Guanzheng is his son with Consort Mei, and as for Su Ziyu, he probably replaced her as well."

The two snuggled in the blankets and talked for a while. Gradually, Su Mingyue became sleepy, yawned, and fell asleep.

Xiao Zhan held her in his arms and soon fell asleep as well.

In the middle of the night, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Xingchun stopped the person knocking on the door: "Madam, it's the middle of the night, Miss has already gone to bed. If you need anything, you can come over tomorrow."

"I can't wait any longer." Madam Ruan knocked on Su Mingyue's door. "Mingyue, get up quickly! Ziyu is having another nightmare. She hasn't been sleeping well lately, dreaming that that family of bad luck is causing her trouble."

Su Mingyue nudged the person next to her, urging him to leave quickly so no one would see them. Xiao Zhan remained unmoved, holding her tightly.

“Madam, it seems that Ziyu has done too many bad things in the past, which is why she has nightmares every night after her family’s misfortune. If all else fails, you should get up early tomorrow and go to Qingfeng Temple to have a monk perform a ritual. That would be more effective than coming here. I don’t have any medicine here that can help her.”

After hearing Su Mingyue's reminder, Madam Ruan regained her senses.

Yes, Qingfeng Temple has many highly accomplished monks. You can simply ask one of them to perform a ritual.

……

Ruan took Su Ziyu out early in the morning, saying they were going to Qingfeng Temple to worship Buddha.

As long as Madam Ruan doesn't cause trouble or bother Aunt Liu, he won't care where she goes.

They simply instructed someone to keep an eye on the Ruan mother and daughter, to prevent them from causing trouble.

He was implicated by the censors in the last incident, but fortunately he had already brought the person back to his residence, and the emperor did not ask any further questions.

"Mother, was Father behind the death of Su Mingyue's mother back then?"

Madam Ruan sighed softly as she recalled the past: "I don't know much about what happened back then. I only know that not long after Helan Yi gave birth to Su Mingyue, her health deteriorated, and she stayed in the courtyard to recuperate, rarely coming out. In the third year after she gave birth to Su Mingyue, one day, your father suddenly announced her death, saying that her old illness had not been cured and she had finally succumbed to it. When Helan Yi passed away, I had just given birth to you and was recuperating in the house. I didn't go out to see how her funeral arrangements were made."

"Asking you is pointless." Su Ziyu was somewhat irritated. "We need to find evidence as soon as possible that Father framed Su Mingyue's mother. With evidence, we can cooperate with her. If she wants to avenge her mother, she will have no choice but to work for us. At that time, with Prince Zhan and her backing us, Father won't dare to do anything to us."

“Ziyu, do we really want to go against your father? He seems easy to talk to, but I’ve been married to him for many years and I know he has a bad temper. If we really offend him, he won’t let us off.”

“Zheng’er isn’t your biological son. Haven’t you ever thought about finding your biological child? What if he was given away or sold by your father? He treated you like this, what hope do you still have for him? Maybe he’s already planning to silence us.”

“Although Zheng’er is not my biological son, I raised him. There’s no way Zheng’er would abandon me; his choice will be mine.” Madam Ruan couldn’t believe that the son she had raised would abandon her.

The kindness of raising someone is greater than the kindness of giving birth to them; at worst, she can treat Aunt Liu better in the future.

"We've already got news about that midwife from back then. I've had someone inform her that we'll meet at Qingfeng Temple today. As for where your father sent your younger brother, we'll find out by asking around."

The carriage stopped directly outside Qingfeng Temple.

A young novice monk came out to greet them.

The mother and daughter first went to the main hall to worship Buddha, and then went to the side hall to rest.

At that moment, a sweeper was brought inside.

The servant saw Madam Ruan and immediately knelt down: "This old servant greets Madam. How have you been these past years?"

The maid in front of her was one of her maids from many years ago, who was dismissed because she wasn't very clever.

"Zhennu, is it really you?"

"It is indeed this old servant."

“Zhennu, when I was pregnant with the young master, you were still by my side. Later, when I was about to give birth, I kicked you out because you did something wrong. But on the day of delivery, you learned that I was having a difficult delivery and asked a midwife to come for me. I only found out a few days ago that the child I was raising was not my biological son. On the day of delivery, you had already been kicked out by me. You came and went secretly, and no one found you. Do you know what happened that day?”

Zhennu glanced at Su Ziyu, then at Ruan Shi, her eyelids drooping as she looked at the ground, unsure whether she was recalling memories or contemplating whether to speak.

"Don't worry, as long as you tell me the truth, I will immediately have someone send you out of the city and ensure that you will live a life of comfort and never have to get involved in anything in the capital again." As she spoke, Madam Ruan winked at Shuangjiang.

Shuangjiang took out a purse and stuffed it into Zhennu's hand.

Zhennu clutched her purse for a long time before finally speaking: "Madam, I don't know whether I should say this or not."

"Tell me quickly, all I want to know is the truth: did I give birth to a daughter or a son?"

Many people say that Zheng'er looks like her.

If Zheng'er wasn't her biological son, how could he have taken after her?

There must be something more to this than meets the eye.