That brother naturally investigated carefully and found that the man was the previous Junwang Fei’s childhood sweetheart, but after she married the Junwang, they never met again. Additionally, that man did have an abnormal right toe.”
Yu Yi said, “This is the same as Ming Xu. He also has an abnormal right toe. No wonder I always felt Yan Bo’s dislike of Ming Xu was not ordinary. Sometimes when looking at Ming Xu, his gaze was always strange.”
“Yes,” Meng Qing said, “This is Yan Bo’s inner knot. On one hand, he doubts whether Ming Xu is his biological son, but he’s unwilling to investigate openly. The investigation yielded no conclusive proof of their affair. Yet, Ming Xu’s right toe is the same as that man’s. On the other hand, watching Ming Xu grow up, Yan Bo can’t pass on the title to a child potentially born from his wife’s affair. But if he finds reasons to disown this heir, what if he is truly his biological son?”
Yu Yi asked, “How could it be so coincidental that Ming Xu is not that man’s child, yet has the same abnormal right toe?”
Meng Qing shrugged, “It just happens to be this coincidental. An abnormal toe is a congenital malformation during fetal development and is not hereditary.”
Meng Qing said: “Modern medicine can prove this. A DNA test can determine whether Yan Bo is Yan Mingxu’s father.”
“
Yu Yi asked curiously: “How would you test?”
“When Yan Bo went to Xinghe Yuan this morning, didn’t I ask you to get Yan Mingxu’s hair?”
Yu Yi was surprised: “Can you verify paternity just with hair? So are they father and son?”
“Absolutely certain.”
Yu Yi breathed a sigh of relief, then thought of another question, “How can we make Yan Bo believe Mingxu is his child? Blood testing?”
“Blood testing is completely unreliable. Biological father and son can have different blood types, and unrelated people can have similar blood types.”
“But Yan Bo doesn’t know this. If only there was a way to fabricate evidence…”
“Fabrication method…” Meng Qing pondered, opened his personal terminal, searched for a while, and said: “Indeed, there is.”
Chapter 73: Little County Magistrate (7)
The second day was Yan Mingxu’s first day studying with his tutor. He woke up before dawn. Mi Yin advised him to go back to sleep, but he couldn’t. He secretly kept his eyes open, watching the water clock, eagerly anticipating the time to get up. After much waiting, when it was time to rise, he had breakfast, changed clothes, combed his hair. When everything was ready, it was still a quarter before the appointed hour.
Yan Mingxu excitedly went to the small study, which was next to Yan Bo’s study. However, Yan Bo was not there. For Yan Mingxu, this was an important first day, yet his father had already left the mansion.”
Yan Mingxu’s eyes were full of disappointment, the smile gone from his face. He properly bowed to the tutor and began the lesson.
Yan Bo left Ruyi Yuan early, and when he reached the intersection to the study, his steps paused. After a brief hesitation, he still didn’t take that path. He rode directly out of the county magistrate’s residence to patrol the city, planning to return only after the tutor’s lesson ended. He suddenly regretted arranging the lesson next to his study room – would he have to patrol half the day every day? Feeling irritated, he spurred his horse faster, with his guards quickly following.
After riding for a while, Meng Qing behind him suddenly said: “Oh, isn’t that Ting He?”
Yan Bo then dismissed the others, asking them to wait outside the courtyard, and began to carefully interrogate Ting He. To save her own life and out of hatred for Tong’s poisoning her, Ting He revealed to Yan Bo all the details of Tong’s plot to harm Yan Mingxu behind his back.
At first, Yan Bo was somewhat skeptical. Tong should have known that Yan Mingxu was not her biological child. He had accidentally overheard her conversation with Ting He that day, learning that the previous princess consort had a childhood sweetheart who also had a distinctive birthmark on their right foot.
Yan Bo’s expression grew increasingly dark. When pressed about the events from two years ago, Ting He admitted that Tong had indeed intentionally arranged for him to “accidentally” overhear.
However, these were still just Ting He’s one-sided account. Yan Bo brought Ting He back to the prince’s mansion and confronted the horse groom from that day. The groom was forced to admit that Tong had once ordered him to find a temperamental horse for the young prince. When Ting He was to stab the horse, he was supposed to be the one holding the reins, with a prior agreement to let go and allow the horse to run wild.
Yan Bo was furious. He bound Ting He and the groom and hurried back to Ruyi Yuan. But Tong was not there. Upon asking the maidservants, he learned she had gone to Xinghe Yuan. Yan Bo’s heart sank – was she going to cause trouble for Mingxu?
Tong learned that Yan Mingxu had been to Yan Bo’s study and realized he had been feigning illness all along, clearly on guard against her. She gritted her teeth secretly, thinking that this six-year-old young prince could not have come up with this idea himself – someone around him must be behind it.
But with Yan Bo back in the mansion, she could not act against Yan Mingxu and could only seek an opportunity to replace those close to him.
When Tong arrived at Xinghe Yuan, Yan Mingxu had just returned from his lesson with the tutor, and Mi Yin was washing the ink stains from his hands.
The tutor had taught Yan Mingxu to write large characters and recite the Thousand Character Classic today. As he washed his hands, he recited the first section the tutor had taught him to Yu Yi and Mi Yin.
Yan Mingxu recited the first section fluently, not making a single mistake, and a joyful smile began to spread across his small face.
Just as Yu Yi was about to praise him, a greeting of “Greetings to the Princess Consort” was heard from the courtyard outside. Yan Mingxu’s smile vanished instantly. He looked nervously at Mi Yin, then at Yu Yi. Yu Yi gave him an encouraging smile.
Mi Yin quickly dried the water droplets from Yan Mingxu’s small hands, and together with Yu Yi, they bowed to the door.
Tong entered slowly, followed by over a dozen maidservants, clearly not coming with good intentions.
She swept her gaze around the room and asked with a half-smile, “Are you feeling better, Mingxu?”
Yan Mingxu looked at her timidly and could not respond. Just the day before, he had been lying here feigning illness to deceive her. He still felt guilty about lying, even though Xun Qin had called her someone who “wanted to harm him”.
Yu Yi stood up straight and said, “Reporting to the Princess Consort, the young prince recovered after seeing the Prince.”
Tong’s smile deepened with sarcasm: “How touching. A father’s love is truly better than any medicine. This morning he was unconscious, but after seeing the Prince, he can now go to the study and recite the Three Character Classic?”
Everyone in the room remained silent.
Tong’s face darkened: “Xun Qin, Mi Yin, you are quite bold. As servants, you actually instigated the young prince to feign illness and deceive his mother! And now you act as if nothing happened. You servants are truly overstepping! Go kneel in the courtyard!”
As Yu Yi and Mi Yin walked out, Tong turned to the dozen maidservants who had followed her: “From now on, you will serve the young prince. You must take care of his clothing, food, housing, and movement meticulously. You cannot deceive or hide anything. Understood?”
Mi Yin was shocked and stopped, looking back at Yan Mingxu but not daring to say anything.
Yu Yi also stopped.
She looked at Yan Mingxu, knowing this was his moment to stand up.
