The Truth Behind the Switched Sons

Prince Qi, Xiao Qianyì.

Xiao Qianyì had not originally borne that name. He had been called Chǔ Yì.

Chǔ Yì had been adopted from childhood by an elderly couple surnamed Chǔ. They treated him very well. Though they lived in the countryside, the couple managed their affairs wisely. They owned over a hundred mu of land and had several shops in the city that they rented out for income. They could not compare to the great wealth and splendor of powerful nobles, but they never lacked food or clothing.

They had no children and treated Chǔ Yì as their own son. From childhood, he had servants at his side and maids to attend him. He had never suffered hardship.

Once he was a little older, his adoptive parents eagerly arranged for him to study and learn to read, train in martial arts, and acquire skills. So long as Chǔ Yì was interested and wished to learn, they would spare no effort to nurture him, even if it cost them their entire fortune.

Chǔ Yì did not disappoint their expectations. Not only was he strikingly handsome, he also grew into a man accomplished in both letters and martial arts, upright in character. At seventeen, he passed the Juren Scholar examination and became a renowned young talent throughout the region.

Just as he was studying diligently in preparation for next year's journey to the capital examinations, single-mindedly hoping to pass the Jinshi Scholar examination, become an official, and properly repay his adoptive parents, a thunderbolt fell upon his head. His adoptive parents had gone to the capital behind his back to turn themselves in.

It turned out Chǔ Yì had not been found by them at all. He was the "evidence" of their crime, hidden away for twenty years. Chǔ Yì was the Empress's eldest legitimate son, stolen from the palace and switched at birth.

He should not have become the adopted son of a country upstart. He should have been the Crown Prince, lofty and exalted above the clouds.

The Petition Drum was struck, and the case shook the court. All under Heaven turned their eyes toward it.

The identity of a nation's Heir Apparent could not bear the slightest blemish or doubt. The Emperor flew into a rage and ordered the Three Judicial Offices to investigate the True and False Crown Prince Case, thus uncovering the truth behind the Changeling Prince affair from twenty years ago.

On the day the Empress gave birth, Prince Jiujiang's Heir's Consort happened to be visiting the palace. At the time, the Heir's Consort was also heavily pregnant.

The two had been sitting and chatting merrily when the Empress suddenly went into labor and was about to give birth.

Prince Jiujiang's Heir's Consort had originally intended to take her leave of the palace. Yet perhaps she had been startled, for her stomach began to twist with agonizing pain, and she too could no longer hold back her labor.

With no other choice, the palace attendants arranged Prince Jiujiang's Heir's Consort in a palace chamber adjoining the Empress's, hurriedly assigned her a Midwife, and left those attending the Heir's Consort to handle the rest.

The incident had unfolded in great haste that day, but fortunately, both women safely gave birth to a son. Afterward, the Empress Dowager arranged for people to escort the Heir's Consort, holding her infant, back to Prince Jiujiang's Estate.

Unexpectedly, the Empress's fright and premature labor that day had all been Prince Jiujiang's Heir's Consort's scheme. She had carried a sachet that could induce labor, intending to give birth on the same day as the Empress and secretly switch her own child with the Empress's legitimate Imperial Prince amid the chaos.

As for Prince Jiujiang's Heir's Consort's purpose, it was nothing more than greed and towering ambition. She dreamed of having her son replace the true Imperial Prince and, one day, be named Crown Prince and ascend the great throne.

After successfully switching the Imperial Princes, Prince Jiujiang's Heir's Consort ordered her Trusted Midwife to secretly carry the Imperial Prince out of the estate and put him to death, then casually dig a hole and bury him.

To explain the disappearance of the child from the estate, the Heir's Consort took another child from outside and passed him off as the Legitimate Eldest Grandson of Prince Jiujiang's Estate, supposedly born to her.

Had her conspiracy truly succeeded, the false Imperial Prince would one day have become Crown Prince. Once he later became Emperor and revealed the truth, he could welcome her as Empress Dowager. The supreme position and splendorous wealth every woman dreamed of would have been hers.

The ones coughing blood from sheer misfortune would have been Emperor Yongchang's line. They had welcomed a wolf into their house, let someone steal the sky and exchange the sun to usurp their realm, and remained utterly unaware.

Fortunately, Heaven had eyes. Having committed such a conscience-blackening crime of deceiving the sovereign and defying those above, the Midwife could not find peace in her heart. She could not bear to harm an innocent bloodline of the Imperial Family, so she secretly hid the Imperial Prince away, then returned to report to the Heir's Consort that she had disposed of the infant.

The Heir's Consort was overjoyed. Openly, she rewarded and promoted the Midwife; secretly, she laid poisonous hands upon her to silence her forever.

Knowing the Heir's Consort had a vicious heart, the Midwife had long taken precautions in private. She faked her death and escaped alive, taking the legitimate Imperial Prince to a distant land, where they concealed their names and identities.

Later, she married a country man while taking the legitimate Imperial Prince with her. Using treasures she had brought out of Prince Jiujiang's Estate, she bought land and property, became a country upstart, and carefully raised the legitimate Imperial Prince.

As time passed, and as she watched Chǔ Yì grow ever more outstanding and ever more filial toward her and her husband, the Midwife grew increasingly guilty and tormented. She deeply felt she had wronged the legitimate Imperial Prince, causing one born of Imperial blood to fall among commoners, forced to compete for fame and rank like an ordinary man. Her sins were grave indeed.

After pondering it day and night, the Midwife told her husband the secret and decided to reveal the truth, allowing Chǔ Yì to reclaim his identity. That was why they had struck the Petition Drum and turned themselves in.

Such a grave case could not be decided merely by listening to an old woman's words, especially when it involved the Imperial Family and Prince Jiujiang's Estate. Yet the Midwife produced the swaddling cloth that had wrapped the legitimate Imperial Prince at birth. She also identified the people involved in the switched-sons case, described the events, and even explained in crystal-clear detail the origin of the labor-inducing sachet Prince Jiujiang's Heir's Consort had carried. Her account was watertight, every seam fitting perfectly.