[because...]
Even Tong Yibin couldn't help but prick up his ears. Before the system even started, the carriage curtain was lifted.
Tong Aning: "!!!"
Her first thought was that the Third Prince had come knocking on her door.
[Ugh, this is so perverted!]
The hand that had been lifting the carriage curtain paused, revealing Su Zhouyue's face, which held a mixture of kindness and bewilderment.
" Aning, Yibin, what are you doing?"
Tong Aning: "..."
"Mother, Father, Second Sister, you're back so soon... Wait, aren't we in the carriage?"
A Shu stood behind the three of them, scratching his head. "Fourth Miss, we haven't set off yet."
Tong Aning: "..."
The three of them boarded the carriage.
Tong Aning stared at the three of them, scrutinizing them carefully, as if they had just walked through a dragon's den and tiger's den.
Su Zhouyue asked, "What's wrong?"
Su Zhouyue asked Tong Aning, but her gaze fell on Tong Yibin.
Tong Yibin clenched his fist, pressed it to his lips, and coughed lightly. "I was just talking to Aning about a case from the Ministry of Justice."
Tong Yibin secretly made a three with his other hand.
Tong Aobai and Su Zhouyue are both shrewd people, Tong Siyan is their child, so she can only be even smarter.
The three immediately understood: this case was related to the Third Prince?
Tong Aning sat down between Tong Siyan and Su Zhouyue and asked, "Did you give the things to the Third Prince?"
Su Zhouyue and Tong Siyan both looked rather grim.
Tong Aning was completely baffled.
Tong Aobai said in a deep voice, "The Third Prince intends to marry Siyan."
Tong Aning: "Huh?"
[I knew it! Ahhhhh, I absolutely can't let this pervert get away with it.]
The three paused, wondering if the Third Prince was a pervert.
After returning home, Tong Aning went to catch up on her sleep as usual, while Su Zhouyue and the others went into Tong Aobai's study.
Tong Aobai looked at Tong Yibin and asked, "What happened?"
Tong Yibin then repeated Tong Aning's thoughts from inside the carriage.
Tong Siyan frowned. "Slaughter the village?"
Recalling her first meeting with the Third Prince, she finally understood why she had been so wary of him.
Although the Third Prince grew up in the Cold Palace, he was a rare person of integrity and upright conduct. That day... the Third Prince was like that too, but it seemed more like an act. Tong Siyan had glimpsed the Third Prince's sinister gaze towards those refugees.
Tong Siyan's heart skipped a beat.
Tong Aobai said, "The most urgent task is to find out why the Third Prince has his eye on that village. I will go to the palace and inform His Majesty of this matter."
Su Zhouyue wondered to herself, "Can His Majesty be trusted?"
The Third Prince's mother is currently highly favored, and the Third Prince himself is at the height of his power.
Would a high-ranking emperor doubt his own exceptionally gifted child because of this?
Tong Aobai replied confidently, "Yes."
Because these all came from Tong Aning, the emperor had no choice but to believe them.
Let's return to the matter of the Third Prince proposing to Tong Siyan.
Su Zhouyue's attitude was firm. "I disagreed in the first place, and now that this has happened, I can't agree even more."
Tong Aobai put his arm around Su Zhouyue and sighed, "I disagree too, so we must tear off the mask of the Third Prince before His Majesty grants him the marriage."
[What mask? Xixi, have they discovered that the Third Prince is being impersonated?]
Tong Aobai and the others. "!!!?"
Counterfeit?
Who dares to impersonate a prince?
Where is the real Third Prince?
The system considered for a moment, then said, "[Host, your family members are all very intelligent. Perhaps this third prince is too different from the previous one.]"
Tong Aning nodded.
The next moment, the study door opened in front of her.
Tong Aning, who was about to leave, could only give an awkward smile. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation."
Tong Aobai: "How can that be considered eavesdropping? You can listen to anything."
Tong Aning: "...?"
Su Zhouyue asked, "Are you hungry? I already had the kitchen prepare your favorite food."
Distracted by this, Tong Aning came back to her senses and found herself sitting at the table, which was set with all sorts of her favorite foods.
[So happy.]
Su Zhouyue's eyes crinkled into a smile.
[Actually, the Third Prince has always been quite happy. Although he spent ten years in the Cold Palace, he and his mother relied on each other and supported one another. But now, that Six-Eared Macaque has taken everything away from the Third Prince. Most importantly, he treats the Third Prince's mother badly.]
Su Zhouyue thought for a moment. If her child were replaced by someone else, and that person, using the child's face, were to yell at her, she didn't know how heartbroken she would feel.
[ Xixi, is the Third Prince really still alive?]
[He's still alive. The imposter especially hates the Third Prince. He didn't kill him because he wanted the Third Prince to watch him use his identity to get everything.]
[Tsk, this is the ultimate way to kill someone by destroying their spirit. Why does he hate the Third Prince so much?]
[Well, this is just a story about a farmer and a snake.]
[How did we suddenly get onto this fable...? Never mind, just tell me where the real Third Prince is being held, and we need to rescue him first.]
The system gave a location name.
Tong Aning immediately told Su Zhouyue and Tong Yibin about the place name.
Su Zhouyue asked Tong Yibin to take a headcount of the personnel.
[This matter should be reported to Heir Xue.]
Su Zhouyue looked at Tong Aning, her gaze becoming intriguing.
Aside from her family, Tong Aning only told Xue Lin.
It seems that Xue Lin has already occupied a very important place in Tong Aning's heart.
Su Zhouyue was secretly annoyed; there had clearly been signs of this all along, but she hadn't noticed them.
It's true what they say, you can't guess what a daughter is thinking once she's grown up. Besides, Tong Aning transmigrated to this world, and her soul is already in her twenties.
Su Zhouyue had a headache.
*
Prince Yong's Residence.
" Miss Tong, why did you tell me such an important secret?" Xue Lin looked at Tong Aning.
Those beautiful eyes were brighter than any Tong Aning had ever seen before.
Because I trust you.
Xue Lin murmured, "Trust me?"
"Yes," Tong Aning said, her eyes crinkling, "Just like how you trust me."
Xue Lin's thoughts were suddenly exposed, and he stood there stunned behind the desk.
Tong Aning was very curious about Xue Lin's study, and she asked, "May I look around?"
Xue Lin had already sent Sichen with his men. He said, "Please."
The study was meticulously decorated, clearly in Xue Lin's style, but the addition of flowers from Radiant Youth Garden infused a touch of nature into this meticulous style, instantly bringing the entire study to life.
Even those things that were placed in a rigid, orderly fashion suddenly didn't seem so boring anymore.
"Eh."
As if she had discovered something interesting, Tong Aning pointed to the two grasshoppers made of straw and said excitedly, "I can make these too!"
Xue Lin strode up to Tong Aning, and for some reason, his heart, which was as cold as ice, began to pound wildly.
This grasshopper was originally made by Tong Aning.
*
The next morning at court.
An imperial edict caused a great stir in the court.
The third prince looked at the emperor on the high throne in disbelief. "Father, why? You clearly promised me, why are you going back on your word?"
The emperor actually wanted to withdraw the imperial edict that conferred the title of Prince of Prince of Jin upon the third prince. Such a thing had never happened since the founding of the Great Xia.
What exactly did this third prince do to disappoint His Majesty so much?
The emperor looked coldly at the third prince. "I have agreed, but the one I will bestow a title upon is my son. Are you one of them?"
The courtiers were collectively stunned by this statement, and some royal secrets began to surface in their minds.
Could it be that the Third Prince is not His Majesty's bloodline?
But the Third Prince and His Majesty look very alike...
The third prince remained calm and asked, "Father, what do you mean by that?"
Crown Prince: "That means you are not Father's son."
"How ridiculous! What makes you think I'm not Father's son? Do you want a blood test to prove our kinship? Come on, what do I have to fear?"
[This person is incredibly cunning; he even guarded against this trick. Every morning at court, he has to bleed some of the Third Prince's blood onto himself. If this continues, even if the Third Prince isn't tortured to death, he'll bleed to death.]
In the rear hall, the Third Prince's mother, now the Imperial Noble Consort, was sobbing uncontrollably, and the Noble Consort quickly helped her up.
The emperor narrowed his eyes. "There's no need for a blood test to prove kinship."
The third prince paused, then thought, "This dog of an emperor, he actually believed him?"
The emperor said, "I have summoned someone to confront you."
A standoff?
The third prince's lips curled into a mocking smile, but he wasn't afraid.
But when the Third Prince saw who it was, he was stunned.
The court officials were also stunned.
Some even rubbed their eyes.
"Have I been attending court for too long and am my eyesight failing? How come there are two third princes?"
"Good heavens, has a deity appeared?"
Several people secretly glanced at Tong Aning.
[You didn't expect that, did you? We brought the real thing here. Show yourself, you Six-Eared Macaque!]
Everyone understood then that one of the third princes was an imposter.
The third prince was very weak. He coughed a few times, but his gaze was firm. " Yuan Ming, are you waiting for me to tear off your human skin mask?"
Yuan Ming burst into laughter, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace. "How could that be? My plan was flawless; even your father and mother didn't suspect a thing..."
"You liar."
The Imperial Noble Consort stepped forward. "How could a mother not recognize her own child? You are not my child at all."
"Mother..."
The Imperial Noble Consort hugged the Third Prince tightly, her hands trembling as she touched his face. "My son, you've suffered so much. My son, you've suffered so much."
"Enough! Stop pretending to be all loving mother and filial son in front of me. What I hate most is this kind of mother-son relationship. We have the same background, so why does your mother love you so much while I'm just an abandoned child?"
[A hostage and a prince—their backgrounds are completely different. Moreover, the Third Prince has always considered Yuan Ming a good friend. Besides his mother, Yuan Ming is the most important person to the Third Prince. That winter, Yuan Ming was cheated out of his charcoal and almost froze to death. It was the Third Prince who saved Yuan Ming, only to find that he had saved a cold-blooded and ruthless snake.]
[On one occasion, this man actually took advantage of the Third Prince's momentary lapse in attention and pushed him into the pond.]
The Imperial Noble Consort's hand tightened.
It was him! If the Imperial Concubine hadn't happened to pass by and had someone rescue the Third Prince, her child would have drowned!
With tears in her eyes, the Imperial Noble Consort said, "You beast!"
[Sigh, that's true. One must be careful when making friends; you should never try to save a frozen snake.]