Chapter 493: Prince Zhong Is Not His Son

Chapter 493: Prince Zhong Is Not His Son

This situation made Zheng Jinyu and the eldest legitimate daughter of the Wang family contemporaries, but now she had to address her as aunt.

Lady Prince Zhong walked towards Prince Zhong with a bewildered look on her face, sensing his body trembling slightly.

Lady Prince Zhong took his hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze, then turned to look at the others.

"What do you mean by this?"

Master Niu, tears streaming down his old face, looked at Prince Zhong and said, "My son, I am your biological father."

"Don't talk nonsense," Prince Zhong said angrily. "My biological father is Old Prince Zhong, who is currently living in retirement in the back courtyard."

"I'm not lying to you. If you don't believe me, bring Old Prince Zhong out to confront me."

Old Prince Zhong had long been under their control and could not be allowed to see anyone.

Prince Zhong was somewhat panicked, gripping Lady Prince Zhong's hand tightly, his eyes filled with fear and anxiety.

However, Lady Prince Zhong remained calm and quickly understood the situation.

She looked at Zheng Jinyu and Cui Yongnian and asked, "I wonder what Princess Chen and Mr. Qinghe mean by this?"

Cui Yongnian smiled and said, "I don't know either. My cousin asked me to come and help, but she didn't specify what kind of help. She just told me to follow her. When we arrived at Prince Zhong's Mansion, she asked me to pass the visiting card."

Zheng Jinyu: "..." You're good at passing the buck, very well, right onto my head.

"Uncle Prince Zhong, Aunt, it's like this. Master Niu is a craftsman who works in my jewelry shop. He is very skilled, you know that, right?"

Lady Prince Zhong's face darkened, "Get to the point." Who cares if he is skilled or not?

"The point is, he is very skilled and diligent. I once planned to reward him with some silver. But he refused, asking for my help instead. At the time, I was happy about the large income and didn't think much of it, so I agreed without much thought. Later, he told me that the help he needed was to find his son.

He and his son were separated, and the son is here in Prince Zhong's Mansion. He couldn't come to the mansion himself, so he asked me to bring him. Uncle, Aunt, I sincerely apologize, I really didn't expect that the son he was talking about would be Uncle Prince Zhong."

Lady Prince Zhong sneered, thinking to herself that the story was too well-crafted, almost believable enough to fool even herself.

"No, you have the wrong person," she said, looking at Master Niu seriously. "Master Niu, you have the wrong person. Prince Zhong is not your son."

"That's impossible," he ignored Lady Prince Zhong and looked at Prince Zhong, saying, "Child, I knew you were my son the moment I saw you. You look so much like your mother, Fan Shu. Do you remember her?"

Prince Zhong staggered a step, "How do you know the name of my mother?"

"Of course I know. I also know her nickname, Peng'er."

Prince Zhong's expression grew even darker.

Master Niu continued, "Child, your mother and I grew up together as childhood sweethearts. We were married. When I brought her back for the third-day visit, she was playing with her sisters and caught the eye of Old Prince Zhong, who forcibly took her away..."

From his account, they heard another version of the story, similar to what Xie Peiyu had said, yet with many differences.

Xie Peiyu claimed they were engaged, and Old Prince Zhong, while on duty in Yucheng, stayed at the Fan family's residence and fell in love with Fan Shu.

But according to Master Niu, they were already married.

Old Prince Zhong met Fan Shu for the first time on her third-day visit.

That day, she was playing with her sisters in the backyard when she accidentally bumped into Old Prince Zhong.

Not only did he not blame her, but he was attracted to her and asked for her from Lord Fan.

What did a prince from the capital mean to the local gentry?

Anyone he favored, regardless of their status, they had to find a way to satisfy him.

The Fan family, to curry favor with the prince from the capital, even fabricated her identity, swapping her with a younger sister.

On the third-day visit, the new wife Master Niu brought home became the younger sister-in-law.

Did Old Prince Zhong not know about these things?

No, he knew, but he pretended not to.

Later, didn't he send people to destroy their family?

"I originally thought that as long as you and your mother lived well, it was fine for me to live in obscurity all my life. But later, I learned that your mother did not live well. The other family had a main wife and legitimate son, who treated you both terribly. Your mother was tormented to death, and you had to recognize the enemy as your father.

I can't let you live in ignorance. That's why I came. Child, I didn't come to ask you to support me in my old age or anything else. I just don't want you to be deceived. I want to tell you that the man you honor as your father is the one who ruined our family."

By the time Master Niu finished speaking, he was in tears.

Prince Zhong could not empathize; he was more shocked and afraid.

What did this mean?

His brother was not of royal blood, thus he had no right to inherit the throne. What would happen now?

Lady Prince Zhong gritted her teeth and said coldly, "Have you considered the trouble your words might bring to your 'son'?"

Master Niu replied, "I just wanted to tell you this, I don't need you to do anything. I'll leave immediately. As for that old villain..."

Mentioning Old Prince Zhong still made him angry, "Whether you want to avenge your mother is entirely up to you."

With that, he turned to Zheng Jinyu and Cui Yongnian and said, "Thank you. Let's go."

He could see that his son did not want to acknowledge him.

He would not be like the Consort of Prince Chen, who, upon discovering that her adoptive parents were the culprits who separated her from her biological parents, resolutely decided to send them to prison.

It doesn’t matter; after all, he is this age now, and he has long given up hope of revenge.

“Hold it.” Cui Yongnian closed his fan and cast a penetrating glance at Prince Zhong and the Princess Consort of Zhong.

“The age of Prince Zhong seems to be off, Master Niu. You must have mistaken him for someone else.”

The Princess Consort of Zhong, who had just been insisting that Master Niu had made a mistake, now dared not speak.

Regaining her composure, she realized that it was better for Prince Zhong to acknowledge it than to implicate the Emperor.

“No, I haven’t made a mistake. Our Prince was indeed born as a commoner at first, and my mother-in-law’s maiden name is indeed Fan, which should be the newlywed wife you mentioned. Sigh! I never imagined that my mother-in-law had such an extraordinary background.”

The sudden change left both Master Niu and Prince Zhong momentarily speechless.

“Princess Consort.” Prince Zhong stared at her, utterly confused.

The Princess Consort of Zhong squeezed his hand tighter, signaling him with her eyes not to speak rashly.

She then turned to Master Niu and smiled. “No wonder I felt so close to you the moment I saw you, Master Niu. Oh, no, Father, since you’re here, why don’t you stay? We’ll take care of your old age from now on.”

Master Niu looked at her in surprise.

“At your age, you should enjoy the joy of having your children and grandchildren around. I’ve already given birth to a grandson for you, and he’s almost two years old. Would you like to see him?”

She might as well have left it unsaid; mentioning the grandson... a two-year-old grandson?