Chapter 554: The First Wife Arrives

Chapter 554: The First Wife Comes Calling

"You only need each of you to drip a drop of blood into the water and conduct a blood kinship test with Young Lord Yuanchao. The rumors will fall apart on their own."

At these words, the Imperial Master and Empress Dowager Yuan's expressions soured instantly.

A blood kinship test?

Even if you gave them a hundred times the nerve, they wouldn't dare.

Because once the test was conducted, all the lies they had just fabricated would backfire on them.

As the head of the imperial harem and acting regent, if Empress Dowager Yuan were caught in lies, which minister would dare trust her word in the future?

This reasoning was something both the Imperial Master and Empress Dowager Yuan knew all too well.

Empress Dowager Yuan looked at Yuan Jiuan with a dark expression and said, "Prince Chengxuan, do you know what you're saying?"

"Today is the investiture ceremony for the Crown Prince. If I were to actually undergo a blood kinship test with Yuanchao, wouldn't that mean anyone could walk all over me in the future?"

"I've already been accommodating enough with you today. As for the blood kinship test, I will absolutely not agree to it."

As she finished speaking, flustered and furious, Yuan Jiuan smiled.

"If Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is unwilling to undergo a blood kinship test with Young Master Yuan, then why not have the Imperial Master do it with him instead?"

"If the results show that the Imperial Master and Young Master Yuan share no blood relation, then I will publicly apologize to both the Imperial Master and Her Majesty the Empress Dowager."

Yuan Jiuan knew very well that this request would never be agreed to by Empress Dowager Yuan and the Imperial Master.

Naturally, he would never have a day where he needed to apologize.

The Imperial Master's expression turned sour. He clenched his fists and said with barely contained fury, "Prince Chengxuan, don't go too far. I can see that you didn't come here for the investiture ceremony at all—you came here to pick a fight on purpose."

A smirk curled at the corner of Yuan Jiuan's mouth. "Is the Imperial Master flustered and furious?"

"Or is it that you simply don't dare to undergo a public blood kinship test with Young Master Yuan?"

"Of course he doesn't dare." Suddenly, a furious female voice came from outside the palace hall.

Everyone turned to look and saw Shen Xiangming entering with a middle-aged woman whose hair was styled in a flowing cloud bun.

After the two entered the main hall, Shen Xiangming immediately knelt on the ground and said respectfully, "Your humble servant pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. Just now, outside, I encountered this Madam Cao."

"She said that the Imperial Master bears a striking resemblance to her husband, who went missing after jumping off a cliff seventeen years ago. She has been searching for her husband for many years without success. Seeing how pitiful she was, I took the liberty of bringing her into the palace. I hope Her Majesty will forgive me."

Though Shen Xiangming's words asked for forgiveness, he felt not a shred of guilt for what he had done.

From the moment he heard the recording at the scene, he knew that the Imperial Master was none other than Jiang Yanfan, who had supposedly jumped off a cliff and disappeared.

Unfortunately, both he and Empress Dowager Yuan were stubborn as mules—even when Ji Yuntang had already shoved the evidence in their faces, they still refused to admit the truth.

Now, bringing Madam Cao in was merely to watch her publicly humiliate them.

The moment Empress Dowager Yuan saw Madam Cao enter the hall, she had already recognized her.

The woman had noble bone structure and a graceful, composed demeanor, but that once-beautiful face had been worn down by the years.

Back then, Empress Dowager Yuan had been extremely jealous of Madam Cao—not only because the woman was prettier and younger than her, but also because she was Jiang Yanfan's officially wedded wife.

As for herself, she could only be with him in secret, like a rat in the sewer.

Even though they already had a son together, their relationship could never be brought into the open.

Empress Dowager Yuan had considered killing Madam Cao before, but Jiang Yanfan had said that Madam Cao was kind, dutiful, and considerate—keeping her alive was more useful than killing her.

After all, his family still had elderly parents and two children to care for. He didn't trust anyone else to do it, so having Madam Cao stay at the Jiang residence to look after them was the best option.

This way, he could be with Empress Dowager Yuan with no worries at home.

Empress Dowager Yuan thought about it and found his reasoning sound.

Jiang Yanfan was the only son of the family, and he had been devotedly filial since childhood. He had never endured much hardship and never defied his parents' wishes.

If she really killed Madam Cao, then Jiang Yanfan's parents and two children would have no one to care for them, and he would surely be distracted by thoughts of them.

That way, he couldn't devote himself entirely to her, always worrying about his family.

Another point was that she feared killing Madam Cao would make Jiang Yanfan resent her, and then the loss would truly outweigh the gain.

But even so, she still kept people watching Jiang Yanfan's every move.

Empress Dowager Yuan wasn't unaware—in fact, she knew very well that Jiang Yanfan hadn't returned home in these seventeen years, but he had arranged for people to keep tabs on the Jiang family's affairs.

Whenever anything happened, he would receive news from his spies right away.

Back when his father died, he had shut himself away in his room for a long time.

Only after his father was laid to rest did he personally visit the grave, burn some paper money for him, and he had done so every year since.

Empress Dowager Yuan knew all of these things, but she had never asked Jiang Yanfan about them.

As long as he had her in his heart, as long as he didn't return to Madam Cao's side, she felt she could endure all of it.

After all, a filial and deeply emotional Jiang Yanfan was more charming and manly in her eyes, wasn't he?

She had accepted him precisely because she valued his emotional nature, believing he would be a fit and proper father.

But now, she never expected that Madam Cao would learn of this matter and even find her way to the palace.

Now, seeing the woman standing before her, the jealousy she had hidden deep within her heart flared up wildly once again.

She feared Jiang Yanfan meeting Madam Cao, and feared even more that he might have thoughts of backing out.

After all, in Empress Dowager Yuan's view, Jiang Yanfan's body, heart, and everything else had long belonged to her!

Suppressing the hatred in her heart, she looked down her nose at Madam Cao kneeling before her and said with a forced smile.

"I didn't recognize you at first—so it's Madam Cao. It's been a long time."

By family rank, she should even address Madam Cao as "cousin's wife."

But the relationship between her and Madam Cao had never been on good terms.

She had known Jiang Yanfan first, yet in the end, he married Madam Cao.

She had always harbored a dislike for this woman.

Madam Cao looked up at Empress Dowager Yuan, her gentle, tender eyes now welled up with tears.

She never imagined that she would one day truly enter the palace and meet Empress Dowager Yuan.

Even less did she expect that Empress Dowager Yuan would steal her husband, manipulate him into deserting his wife and kids, stage his own death, and leave her behind.

------------