CMWKSD -Chapter 258 The Child Isn’t Yours, But the Wife Is

After speaking, Jiu Yue glanced at Emperor Fengyuan.

The emperor clicked his tongue. Why did he feel that Jiu Yue’s glance was loaded with meaning?

Just as he was about to ask, he saw Jiu Yue scampering over to his side, deliberately waving at him.

Confused, Emperor Fengyuan bent down.

Jiu Yue spoke softly into his ear this time—truly a whisper: “Your Majesty, do you want to ask him whose child the Second Prince is?”

Emperor Fengyuan: !!!

He knew it—he just knew it!

Who had ever said Jiu Yue was foolish? What was there that she didn’t know?

Back when she had taken his pulse, she had absolutely known that Chu Yao was not his son.

That little brat!

A majestic emperor being cuckolded.

Emperor Fengyuan wanted to pinch his philtrum but saw Jiu Yue blinking those big innocent eyes at him. He felt even worse.

Jiu Yue tilted her head and looked at him: “Your Majesty, are you upset?”

Zhuo Mu and the Crown Prince exchanged puzzled glances, watching Emperor Fengyuan and Jiu Yue.

The emperor didn’t even know whether to feel sad or angry.

Then Jiu Yue said something shocking:

“It’s not too tragic. When it comes to paternity tests, men are indeed at a disadvantage.”

Throughout history, as long as it wasn’t a deliberate baby swap in the delivery room or accidentally taking the wrong child:

“After all, for women, as long as it comes from their own womb, it’s their bloodline. For men, that’s not always the case.”

Jiu Yue wanted to reach out and pat Emperor Fengyuan’s shoulder, but then remembered he was the emperor. Somehow, she recalled a line from a TV drama she had seen: “Although the child isn’t yours, the wife is yours.” — The Romance of Chen Qianqian

Emperor Fengyuan: !!! He felt like spitting blood.

He watched Li Feng’s hand on the duster twitching, and Jiu Yue’s clear, innocent eyes made him realize—some people could kill with words without lifting a sword.

After speaking, Jiu Yue also glanced at Zhuo Mu kneeling on the ground, cold sweat pouring.

“Your Majesty, do you want to ask?”

The sincerity in her expression made Emperor Fengyuan realize that Jiu Yue was purely curious.

It was as if a man being cuckolded was no big deal at all.

For some reason, he felt a bit of sympathy for Ji Yiqing.

Emperor Fengyuan closed his eyes and silently chanted “don’t get angry” in his mind. Besides, Jiu Yue was a princess. If he lashed out at her, she’d lose face. He could only shut his eyes and practice self-hypnosis: If I close my eyes fast enough, what she says isn’t about me.

“No need to ask. The person behind the Pingtai County incident should be Chu Yao’s biological father.”

Jiu Yue let out an “oh” and immediately scampered over to Zhuo Mu. Her little tiger teeth showed: “Speak. Only these things can save your life.”

As for the border defense maps and such… better not bother. Besides, even if Zhuo Mu had obtained them, who could guarantee they were genuine?

Zhuo Mu knelt silently, unable to speak.

Jiu Yue lifted his chin with a scalpel, her eyes staring into his like they could capture his soul.

“The Third Prince? The Seventh Prince? The Eighth Prince? The Eighth Prince!”

Zhuo Mu’s pupils contracted. “You!”

Like he had seen something horrifying. How did Jiu Yue know?

Jiu Yue straightened her posture and looked at the Crown Prince and Emperor Fengyuan:

“If I remember correctly, the Eighth Prince of Northern Barbarians is titled Hui, extremely intelligent, but… isn’t he disabled?”

The Crown Prince and Emperor Fengyuan exchanged glances. They knew the same—that because he was disabled, he hadn’t been a contender when the Northern Barbarians emperor fought for the throne.

Jiu Yue turned back to Zhuo Mu: “Your cooperation with Prince Hui… no, the matter of Prince Hui… could it be something the entire Northern Barbarians royal family tacitly agreed upon?”

Zhuo Mu lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Jiu Yue clicked her tongue.

“See? You underestimated him. Your Majesty, did you also not pay much attention to him because he was disabled?”

Emperor Fengyuan frowned and nodded. Because Prince Hui was disabled, not only Da Qi but many neighboring states hadn’t taken him seriously.

The reports they received only mentioned that Prince Hui had a gloomy disposition and disliked going out…

So when reports said he was at his residence, he could have already planted spies everywhere and been carrying out his own plans.

Emperor Fengyuan’s face darkened. He recalled twenty years ago when Prince Hui came to Da Qi as a Northern Barbarians envoy. It was probably then that Consort Rong got involved with him.

Jiu Yue looked at Zhuo Mu: “This Eighth Prince is truly talented, adaptable. Failed to seize the throne, yet still helped you with all this.”

“There must have been some conditions, right?”

With Jiu Yue guessing so many details, Zhuo Mu had nothing left to hide.

“Indeed.”

The Crown Prince squinted: “Speaking of conditions, I remember something. Northern Barbarians seems to lose many children every year. Even near the border between the two countries, children often go missing, which is why Da Qi’s border is so strictly controlled.”

“But over all these years, the number of missing children only increased, and no clues were ever found.”

What case could go on for over ten years without finding the mastermind?

At first, the Crown Prince suspected it was bandits. But the missing children were mostly infants just a few months old. Such children are too unpredictable—they cry, throw tantrums, wet themselves… most don’t go outside much.

Unlike older, mobile children, missing mostly from markets and crowded places. In Northern Barbarians, they vanished at night.

“This matter… could it be related to Prince Hui?”

Zhuo Mu, now sweating no more, rolled his eyes and nearly fainted.

Jiu Yue jabbed a silver needle, forcing him to awaken.

In a steady voice, she stared at him: “Children? What does Prince Hui use the children for? Alchemy? Healing?”

“Healing!”

Jiu Yue couldn’t even speak. Although the ancients were considered ignorant and there were rumors of using children or virgins for cures, she had never seen such reports. The only stories she had heard were about Bloody Mary abroad.

The Crown Prince and Emperor Fengyuan widened their eyes. Using children to heal?

This… was utterly absurd!

The Crown Prince kicked Zhuo Mu in anger: “Beast!”

“You people are still the Northern Barbarians royal family.”

“Each and every one is a beast!”

It was obvious what kind of life Northern Barbarians citizens lived.

Zhuo Mu knew he could no longer hide the truth and revealed what he knew.

The poisoning of Da Qi had been known to Northern Barbarians emperors for generations.

According to the Northern Barbarians saintess’s medicine, Emperor Fengyuan should have had no heirs. Yet he still had a son and daughter.

Northern Barbarians guessed that after many years, the effect of the medicine had waned, so the poison in Emperor Fengyuan’s body wasn’t deep, resulting in two weak children.

Prince Hui found out by chance, and then the entire royal family knew.

Initially, the Northern Barbarians emperor feared the news would reach Emperor Fengyuan. But after many years without incident, he relaxed.

Prince Hui then revealed his plan. First, he contacted the Rong family, who had assisted them when the saintess administered the medicine. Then, he sent the Rong family’s daughter into the palace. Later, he arranged for her to conceive his child.

By then, Emperor Fengyuan’s own children would be weak and childless. The throne would naturally pass to Prince Hui’s child.