Chapter 445 Who is the Bastard

"Crown Prince, I have been so good to you. Are you trying to kill me along with yourself?"

Luo Jingshen raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Consort Li, you can't put it that way. I've remembered all the kindness you've shown me, but now I truly have no other choice. You know how formidable Ji Yuntang and Luo Junhe are. I'm no match for them in any way now. If I don't get rid of these two, I'll never be able to rest easy."

"I can promise you that after you die, I will burn plenty of paper money for you to honor your soul in the afterlife."

Consort Li: "!!!!!"

She never in a million years expected that Luo Jingshen, whom she cherished most, would say such things.

Tears immediately streamed down her face. "Crown Prince, do you have any idea what the consequences of your actions will be?"

"What consequences? Consort Li has been so good to me. Aren't you willing to give up your life for me?"

In Luo Jingshen's eyes, as long as he could get rid of Luo Junhe, then Consort Li would have died a worthy death.

After all, she was the one who had the affair first, so she had no one to blame but herself.

Consort Li felt her heart shatter into pieces so thoroughly that she couldn't even pick them up. She gasped for air, her heart twisting in agony.

"Of course I can give up a life for you, but do you know that if you take this matter to your father the Emperor, the one who dies won't be Luo Junhe—it'll be you."

Luo Jingshen froze, staring at her in shock. "What do you mean by that?"

Consort Li stared at him, her eyes bloodshot, and said slowly, word by word, "Luo Junhe is Emperor Jingyang's son, and you—you're my bastard child."

The moment she finished speaking, a large hand clamped down on her neck. Luo Jingshen's eyes were sharp as knives, his expression dark and menacing.

"Bitch, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I am the son of the Empress, the legitimate eldest son of the Queen. How could I possibly be some bastard you gave birth to?"

Consort Li could barely breathe as he choked her. Her face was twisted in pain, but she still mouthed the words, "I'm not talking nonsense. Otherwise, why do you think I've been so invested in your affairs?"

Luo Jingshen's gaze turned dark. Just before Consort Li was about to black out from being choked, he abruptly let go of her.

"You say I'm your son. What proof do you have?"

Consort Li collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. She looked up at Luo Jingshen.

"On your inner thigh, there's a black birthmark. You've had it since birth."

Luo Jingshen's pupils constricted. Indeed, there was a black birthmark on his inner thigh, but very few people knew about it. There's no way Consort Li should have known.

Could everything she said actually be true?

Luo Jingshen couldn't accept this. He let out a cold laugh. "There's no black birthmark on my inner thigh, period. If you keep spouting nonsense, I swear I'll run you through with my sword."

As he spoke, he grabbed a sword from the rack and pressed it against Consort Li's neck.

Consort Li didn't dodge or flinch. She gave a bitter smile. "Do you know why you and Luo Junhe were born on the same day, month, and year?"

"Because I took medicine to induce labor three months ahead of time, all so you'd be born at the same time as the Empress's child."

Luo Jingshen's face was already frighteningly dark, but Consort Li continued on her own, "If you'd stayed with me, you'd never have a shot at the throne in this lifetime. But if you were the Empress's son, it would be different—you'd be born destined to be the Crown Prince."

"I bribed the palace maids to switch you with Luo Junhe. I did all of this for your own good. Do you have any idea how much I've suffered inside all these years?"

Her words hit him like a thunderbolt. The sword in Luo Jingshen's hand clattered to the ground in shock.

His mind went completely blank, and his eyes were full of shock and fury as he stared at Consort Li.

So, he was the bastard born of Consort Li and some wild man?

And Luo Junhe was the Empress's son?

The news came too suddenly. Luo Jingshen's entire body seemed to turn to stone. He barely managed to steady himself with the sword in his hand, or he would have collapsed.

How could this be?

How could this possibly be?

How could someone of his noble status possibly be a bastard born of Consort Li?

Luo Jingshen felt like his sanity was on the verge of collapse. He still refused to believe it.

Veins bulged on his neck as he rushed over, grabbed Consort Li by the shoulders, and shook her violently.

"Tell me this is all fake. It's all fake, right?"

Consort Li's throat tightened, and her nose stung with emotion. She instinctively turned her head away, refusing to look at him.

"If Your Highness still doesn't believe me, you may send someone to take some of your father's blood and verify it. You'll know the truth."

"I didn't intend to tell you this so early, but I can't bear to watch you walk into a trap. Your father and I want nothing more than for you to do well and ascend the throne."

Luo Jingshen's heart was a whirlwind of emotions. In the end, he released Consort Li, and his gaze instantly turned cold and icy.

He clenched his fists. "Leave. Do not come to the Eastern Palace again. Consider that I never saw you today."

With those words, it was equivalent to cutting ties with Consort Li!

When Consort Li realized this, she was greatly alarmed and quickly said, "Shen'er, even without the Marquis Yongning estate, your father and I will still help you."

"Your father has been planning for you for twenty-two years. He has been watching over your every move. And Qian Xue—she is your biological sister. After she marries, she will also help you..."

Before Consort Li could finish, a teacup smashed violently onto the ground, sending porcelain shards flying everywhere. Luo Jingshen roared, "Shut up!"

"I am already the Crown Prince. This throne is rightfully mine. I do not need your help, nor do I need to acknowledge that wild man as my father. If you ever mention them in front of me again, do not blame me for being ruthless."

Consort Li felt as if a knife had been driven deep into her heart.

She was suffocating with pain. "Shen'er, your father is not a wild man. He is Prince Nanxiao!"

"The throne of the Dongchen Kingdom rightfully belongs to him. Luo Chengyuan stole his position. I only wanted you to take it back. What wrong have we done?"

Luo Jingshen's pupils suddenly contracted.

Prince Nanxiao!?

No matter how he guessed, he never would have imagined that Consort Li's old lover was actually his Fourth Imperial Uncle—the one who voluntarily resigned from office and left the palace to live a carefree life of leisure?

It would be a lie to say Luo Jingshen was not shocked!

He had heard of Prince Nanxiao before. The man was the son of the late Empress, the legitimate heir of the central palace.

Although he had not been named Crown Prince, the position of heir apparent was rightfully his.

Later, because the late Empress was discovered to be pregnant from an affair, the Grand Emperor found out. The late Empress was deposed, thrown into the cold palace, and ordered to die, and Luo Qizheng fell along with her.

Emperor Jingyang happened to benefit from the situation and became the heir apparent.

If not for that incident, the throne rightfully would have belonged to Prince Nanxiao, not Emperor Jingyang.

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