bayedsolid Chapter 365 The Prince's Mystery: The Cannon Fodder Bride Forced into a Substitute Marquis'
Chapter 365 The Prince's Mystery: The Cannon Fodder Bride Forced into a Substitute Marquis'
Chapter 365 The Prince's Mystery: The Cannon Fodder Bride Forced into a Substitute Marquis's Marquisate VS The Frail and Early-Dying Eldest Son of the Marquis's Family (40)
Song Ming glanced at Shen Huaizhi, took a breath, and continued, "Shen Mingze and Miss are childhood sweethearts. He admires Miss and once wanted to propose marriage to the Marquis of Wu'an. However, things are unpredictable, and Miss directly entered the palace and became Emperor Xinghe's concubine."
The young lady dared not come directly to the door, so she staged a scene where a mistress brought her son to the door, and that's how you, young master, became Lord Shen's illegitimate son.
Lord Shen is aware of your background, but at that time, the Xuanping Marquis's family was a royalist party, and Lord Shen and Miss had a past relationship.
Lord Shen's disregard for your life is disloyal to Emperor Xinghe; revealing to Emperor Xinghe that Miss faked her death is unkind to her.
Therefore, Lord Shen tacitly accepted the stigma of keeping a mistress.
Such romantic affairs are countless among the powerful and wealthy in the capital. Although Lord Shen is upright and honest, it is surprising that such a thing has suddenly come to light, but it is not impossible.
In this way, everyone's attention in the capital was drawn to Lord Shen's affair, and you, as his concubine, were left unnoticed, thus ensuring your safety..."
Shen Huaizhi listened intently. This explanation was bizarre and strange, yet damnably reasonable. Shen Huaizhi clenched his fists, and the veins on his hands bulged.
After a long while, Shen Huaizhi seemed to accept Song Ming's words. He sat back down in his chair as if his body was exhausted, and asked in a tone of resentment.
"That's just your side of the story. How can you prove that what you're saying is true?"
Song Ming quickly replied, "Young Master, your status as a prince is beyond doubt."
In the royal lineage, every male has a red plum blossom birthmark on his left shoulder.
This matter is not a secret in the capital; you can find out about it if you investigate further.
Before handing you over to the Marquis of Xuanping's residence, the young lady left you her jade token.
Every member of the Song family's direct descendants possessed that jade pendant. The young lady's given name was Zhihua, hence the character "Hua" was engraved on the pendant.
Shen Huai subconsciously raised his hand, pulled open his collar, and took out the jade pendant he always carried close to his body.
Song Ming looked at the jade pendant with delight and exclaimed excitedly, "Young Master, it's this jade pendant! You really are the young master!"
Shen Huaizhi threw the jade pendant onto the table, his expression somewhat disheartened: "No wonder Father... Marquis Shen was so cold to me, kicking me out of the manor as soon as we got married. It turns out that he and I are not related by blood at all."
He has already done more than enough to support me for eighteen years.
Shen Huaizhi turned his gaze to Song Ming and asked quietly, "And what about you? What is your purpose in coming here now?"
I've been poisoned since childhood, and my body is already in a terrible state. If it weren't for the estate included in my wife's dowry, I would have been homeless and nearing the end of my life long ago.
"Young master, don't underestimate yourself. Although the young lady is far away, she always thinks of you."
The poison that the young master was poisoned with was a slow-acting poison passed down from the previous dynasty, and the antidote was not easy to obtain.
The young lady has been searching for an antidote for years. Although she has not yet found a complete antidote, she has collected rare and precious medicinal herbs and invited renowned doctors to finally create a pill that can suppress the poison.
The young lady also asked me to bring the pills, and she also wrote you a letter.
Young master, you must not give up hope! Your health will definitely improve!
Song Ming took out a small medicine bottle and a letter from his pocket and handed them to Shen Huaizhi.
Shen Huaizhi took them one by one, first opening the medicine bottle, inside which were about ten pills the size of mung beans. He brought the bottle close to the mouth and smelled the medicinal fragrance.
Shen Huaizhi placed the medicine bottle on the table, opened the letter, and read it quickly.
Song Zhihua's letter was short, mostly expressing her longing for her son and her resentment towards Emperor Xinghe for his ruthless extermination of the Song family. She also urged Shen Huaizhi not to forget to avenge the Song family.
Shen Huaizhi's eyes reddened as he read the letter. He put it down, looked up, and asked Song Ming, "Where is my mother now? Can I go see her?"
Song Ming looked troubled: "Young Master, it's not convenient to reveal Miss's current location, and the journey is too far for you to go."
Shen Huaizhi's expression was sorrowful: "Then what use is it for me to know my true identity now?"
My mother can't see me, my father doesn't even know I exist, and there's a deep-seated hatred between my parents—a hatred that could have wiped out our family!
With my frail body, how could I possibly afford such precious medicine? I'd rather just fend for myself. Perhaps I shouldn't have been born eighteen years ago.
Song Ming was really anxious this time. He didn't expect that after Shen Huaizhi learned about his background, he would feel despair and lose the will to live.
That won't do. We'll need Shen Huaizhi's intervention for the follow-up matters!
Song Ming rushed forward and pleaded, "Young Master, you can't die! Miss has been longing to see you again!"
Although the young lady cannot come, there are still many former members of the Song family in the capital, and the young master can order these people around at his beck and call.
"The grudge against the Song family cannot go unavenged, and we will also do our best to find the medicine to suppress the toxins in your body."
A glint flashed in Shen Huaizhi's eyes, but he said calmly, "Oh? The Song family still has people in the capital?"
Song Ming said proudly, "Of course, although the dog emperor killed the entire Song family first, the Song family was not without precautions and had a backup plan. Otherwise, how could Miss have faked her death and escaped from the palace?"
Although the young lady has been living in other places over the years, she has been managing her connections in the capital.
"This time I risked everything to find you, young master. Besides telling you about my background and delivering medicine and a message, I also need your help with something else."
Shen Huaizhi thought to himself, "It's finally here."
"Uncle Song, what's the matter? As you know, I'm powerless and have no influence right now, so there seems to be nothing I can do to help you."
Song Ming disagreed with Shen Huaizhi's self-deprecating words and retorted, "What are you saying, young master?"
Actually, I came to see the young master because what I'm about to do is related to him.
Soon after, it was Emperor Xinghe's 50th birthday. We learned that the eldest prince, Tang Ruibin, had obtained a precious Tian Shan snow lotus, which he intended to present to Emperor Xinghe on his birthday.
However, this Tianshan snow lotus is also the main ingredient in your pills to suppress the toxicity, young master. The more precious the medicinal material, the better the effect of the pills made from it.
For your health, young master, we plan to secretly steal the Heavenly Snow Lotus from the First Prince's residence!
But the eldest prince, Tang Ruibin, was extremely careful with this birthday gift, and we had no way of finding out where he had put it..."
Shen Huaizhi was touched but also puzzled: "I haven't been to the capital for several months now, so I know even less about the situation at the First Prince's residence."
Song Ming was a little embarrassed, but seeing that Shen Huaizhi didn't understand, he made his point even clearer.
“Young Master, although you are on the estate, I have heard that you have recently been getting along very well with Tang Ruihao, the grandson of Prince Zhuang, Fan Hengjun, the grandson of Princess Ning'an, and Feng Enchi, the grandson of Marquis Cheng'en, and even want to do business with them.”
These are all powerful and influential figures in the capital, not to be trifled with. The young master must possess extraordinary abilities to have established connections with them.