Chapter 122: Consort Yuan’s Biological Son

Chapter 122: Consort Yuan's Biological Son

Upon hearing this, Nurse Fei felt increasingly ashamed.

"It's all this old servant's fault."

Pausing for a moment, she continued, "In truth, Prince Qi is not actually Consort Yuan's biological son, but rather the offspring of my good-for-nothing nephew."

At this revelation, Mo Jiuya and He Zhiran both widened their eyes in astonishment.

This information was too shocking for them to digest all at once.

However, they quickly regained their composure and the first thought that crossed their minds was that the true Third Prince might very well be Fei Nanyu.

Of course, this was only their speculation, and they needed Nurse Fei's explanation to confirm the facts.

Nurse Fei sighed and went on, "Twenty-one years ago, a wise man told Consort Yuan that the child in her womb was a girl. To consolidate her position, Consort Yuan decided to switch the babies at birth. She secretly found several pregnant women with due dates close to hers."

Intent on replacing her newborn princess with a boy from another family, she had made arrangements beforehand with pregnant women who had yet to give birth.

Unforeseen circumstances led to Consort Yuan's premature delivery, leaving those prepared mothers-to-be unable to fulfill their roles.

Coincidentally, on that very day, news reached us that the elderly Marquis Dowager had given birth to a boy early in the morning - that is, the current Marquis, which is you.

In a desperate situation, Consort Yuan targeted the Mo family.

At the time, I, along with Nanny Xu, bribed the midwife assisting Consort Yuan, instructing her not to announce the birth and instead hand the child directly to us.

Then, I discreetly left the palace with our newly born young master, planning to exchange him at your Mo residence."

As she recounted this, Nanny Fei appeared increasingly guilt-ridden.

"I blame my selfishness. My sister-in-law had just given birth to a boy the day before, and I succumbed to a devious thought. I wished for my nephew to become a prince, living a life of luxury, so I could feel I had done right by the ancestors of the Fei family.

So, upon leaving the palace, I dismissed the guards, assuring them that I had a plan to obtain the Mo child. Perhaps because they perceived the heavily guarded Mo estate as a difficult target, they seemed relieved by my assurance."

When the guards had left, I carried the young prince back home and explained the situation to my elder brother and sister-in-law. Leaving the child there, I took my nephew, who is now Prince Qi, with me.

Upon my return to Consort Yuan's palace, I didn't reveal the truth to her. She believed that I had exchanged the child for a member of the Mo family's offspring.

Once everything was settled, I dispatched someone to inform the Emperor that Consort Yuan had given birth to a prince.

Upon receiving the news, the Emperor immediately came with the Empress and the Empress Dowager to see the newborn prince.

Following Consort Yuan's orders, Ama Xu and I were tasked with silencing the midwife. As the noose was placed around her neck, she laughed and revealed that Consort Yuan had indeed given birth to a prince, and we had foolishly risked an exchange.

I initially thought the midwife was trying to torment us with her words, but to verify her claim, I found an excuse to visit my family the following day.

After seeing the child in my sister-in-law's arms, I was convinced that the midwife spoke the truth – Consort Yuan had indeed given birth to a prince.

To alleviate my guilt, I suggested to my brother that the third prince should have 'Nan' in his name.

Considering that 'Nan' was the royal surname and might arouse suspicion, my brother replaced it with the homophone 'Nanyu', and thus the child was named Fei Nanyu.

This secret was known only to me, my brother, and my sister-in-law, and we agreed never to disclose it to anyone else.

To avoid implicating ourselves, after learning the truth, I hurriedly arranged for my elder brother and sister-in-law to secretly take the real Third Prince out of the capital that very night. We've had no news of them since.

When Consort Yuan later found out that the ninth son of the Mo family was still a boy, she realized she had been deceived by that so-called master.

However, the Emperor and others have already seen the face of the Third Prince. It's too late to switch back now.

Consort Yuan has always believed that you are her true son. I'm sure Duke Guo is aware that her treatment towards you is different."

These revelations from Nurse Fei were entirely unexpected by both He Zhiran and Mo Jiuya.

Now that the truth was out, Fei Nanyu was the genuine Third Prince, the biological son of Consort Yuan.

This raised a new question.

"Where did Nan Qi learn about all this?" Mo Jiuya pressed.

Having revealed such a significant secret, Nurse Fei had no intention of holding anything back.

"At the beginning of the year, when Consort Yuan heard that Duke Guo had returned victorious, she summoned me and Nurse Xu to discuss how to summon you to the palace under some pretext for a meeting.

It was then that our conversation was overheard by Prince Qi, who had come to pay his respects.

He threatened Empress Concubine that she mustn't divulge a single word of this matter, or else, even in death, he would drag her maternal family down with her.

To make matters worse, two days later, Prince Qi sent men to take away Nurse Xu for harsh interrogation. Fortunately, I returned from my palace duties late that day. Upon hearing that Nurse Xu had been taken by Prince Qi's men, a terrible premonition gripped me.

So, I gathered some valuable items and fled the palace under cover of night.

For the past half a year, I've been evading pursuit by Prince Qi's men. It was no easy feat to escape here, only to encounter those ruffians who intended to rob me."

At this point, Nurse Fei still seemed shaken by the ordeal.

"Today, if not for Lord Marquis saving me, I might have lost my life at the hands of those men."

Neither He Zhiran nor Mo Jiuya could muster any sympathy for Nurse Fei's deceitful actions towards the upper echelons. However, they understood that Nurse Fei needed to survive.

Only with her alive could Nan Qi's true identity be exposed one day.

Currently, they were on their way into exile and couldn't bring Auntie Fei along with them. If they were discovered by Nan Qi's men, it would only ignite more trouble for themselves.

They weren't afraid of Nan Qi, but who would turn down a peaceful life?

Especially now that the Mo family had no ties to the prosperous land of Great Shun, Mo Jiuya had no intention of getting involved in this mess.

Considering this, Mo Jiuya realized that the person who wanted Auntie Fei to live the most was Fei Nanyu.

In that case, why not do him a favor?

Surely, under Fei Nanyu's care, Auntie Fei would survive.

"Mrs. Fei, do you want to see Fei Nanyu?"

Mrs. Fei's eyes widened in disbelief. "Does Duke Guo know Nanyu?"

Mo Jiuya nodded. If his guess was correct, Fei Nanyu should be in the capital at this moment.

Mrs. Fei then solemnly knelt before Mo Jiuya.

"Old Servant has divulged all that I know to Duke Guo. I have faith in Duke Guo's integrity and trust that you won't divulge this matter. Now that I'm aware of the true Third Prince's whereabouts, I intend to find him and clarify the truth."

With that, Nurse Fei stood up, preparing to depart.

Mo Jiuya interjected, "Wait a moment, Nurse. It might not be safe for you to return to the capital alone. I can dispatch someone to escort you."