Chapter 50

Lady Yirou and Nanny Luo found a gap in time to slip out of the Prince Rong Estate. After shaking off the estate guards, the two arrived at a secluded residence they had visited before.

Currently, this remote residence was no longer as quiet as it had been; it had become somewhat lively. Lady Yirou and Nanny Luo had to enter through a small side door.

Luo Fei was already inside, having brewed fragrant tea while he waited. Seeing Lady Yirou and Nanny Luo enter, he felt a surge of emotion, but he quickly composed himself and poured tea for them.

“Mother, Sister, you’ve finally come.”

“Xiao Fei…” Lady Yirou looked at her peerlessly handsome brother with a complicated expression. Perhaps after today, their relationship would become awkward.

“Mother, Sister, Rong Mo said that I am the true member of the Rong family. Is it true?” Luo Fei asked softly, lowering his gaze.

Nanny Luo and Lady Yirou exchanged a glance and gave a bitter smile. “Yes, what Young Master Rong Mo said is true. You are the legitimate eldest son of the Rong family.”

Upon hearing this, Luo Fei could hardly sit still. A flash of complexity crossed his eyes—so he really was a Rong. He didn’t know whether to be shocked or glad. From his earliest memories, he had called Nanny Luo “Mother”; he never expected to be the true descendant of the Rong household.

Ever since Rong Mo mentioned his heritage, he had secretly “coincidentally encountered” the Marchioness of Changle. He discovered that he did indeed share a resemblance with her, especially those eyes—they were strikingly similar. He had long been mentally prepared.

“I want to know the whole story from beginning to end.”

At his words, Nanny Luo’s expression changed slightly. Deep sorrow and guilt flickered in her eyes. However, she didn’t speak of the Rong family’s affairs directly; instead, she asked a seemingly unrelated question.

“Xiao Fei, do you know why Yirou used every ounce of her strength to enter the Prince Rong Estate?”

Luo Fei shook his head. “I don’t know.” A trace of unease flickered through his heart.

“Yirou entered the Prince Rong Estate for revenge, following your grandmother’s instructions. Back then, your grandmother was the trusted confidante nanny of the Consort of Prince Rong, the one she trusted most.”

Luo Fei’s handsome face changed drastically. He had been in the capital for some time and had heard many rumors about the Consort being cursed by heaven. Because his sister was the Prince’s favorite concubine, he had paid extra attention to the Consort. He knew that twenty years ago, the Consort’s trusted nanny had stolen the Prince’s legitimate eldest son shortly after he was born.

“The legendary nanny who stole the Prince’s son… it couldn’t have been Grandmother, could it?” Luo Fei asked hesitantly.

Nanny Luo nodded, a helpless smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “That’s right. It was your grandmother!”

Luo Fei’s heart sank. “…And then?” He couldn’t believe that his kind, gentle grandmother would be a traitor; there had to be a hidden story.

Outside the door, Cheng Ruyi and Rong Mo had rushed over as soon as Lady Yirou and the others went to find Luo Fei. Both were pricking up their ears to eavesdrop on the conversation inside.

Rong Mo was stunned, his eyes filled with astonishment. So Lady Yirou’s grandmother was the trusted nanny of the Consort back then? Cheng Ruyi, on the other hand, was listening as if it were a scandalous soap opera, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Afterward… your grandmother was pursued by assassins. With nowhere left to turn, she changed her appearance and sought refuge with the Rong couple, whom the Consort of Prince Rong had accidentally saved years prior. The Rongs secretly took in your grandmother and the Little Heir.”

“The fact that the Consort had saved the Rongs was something no one knew except your grandmother.”

Nanny Luo slowly recounted the events of the past. Luo Fei’s brow furrowed tightly. His mother’s words were self-contradictory. Since his grandmother had stolen the Little Heir, why would she seek refuge with people connected to the Consort? Wasn’t that walking straight into a trap?

“Why would Grandmother seek refuge with the Rongs if they were connected to the Consort?”

Lady Yirou looked toward her mother. She only knew bits and pieces of the inner story—specifically that her grandmother stole the child to save his life.

Outside the door, the eavesdropping Rong Mo was also desperate to know the answer.

Nanny Luo gave a mocking laugh, her voice filled with bone-deep hatred. “Because the current Consort of Prince Rong is a fake! She is the elder twin sister of the original Consort!”

Rong Mo and Cheng Ruyi were shocked. Neither of them expected to overhear such an explosive secret. After the initial shock, Cheng Ruyi immediately became thrilled. She felt a giant bucket of “melodrama” was about to be dumped on her.

Rong Mo’s eyes narrowed slightly. No wonder he felt that the Prince Rong Estate was filled with oddities; perhaps Prince Rong himself had sensed something. If he remembered correctly, his uncle had mentioned that the Consort had an elder sister who had eloped and then met with misfortune after marrying the wrong man. He never expected the current Consort to be that very sister. Rong Mo suddenly felt that this was the core of the truth.

“What? Wasn’t it said that the elder sister, with a broken body after visiting her sister, died right at the gates of the Lin family home?” Luo Fei was aghast, nearly dropping his teacup. This was completely different from the rumors he had heard.

Nanny Luo took a sip of tea and sneered. “Everyone was fooled. The sister’s health was perfectly fine. Her visit to the former Consort was premeditated. Your grandmother said the sisters wanted to share secrets, so everyone was dismissed.”

“Perhaps thinking the sister looked like she didn’t have long to live and posed no threat, Grandmother felt at ease letting them be alone. She didn’t know that woman had the heart of a wolf and the gall to swap places with the former Consort, who had just given birth.”

Nanny Luo became angry as she continued. “When your grandmother went back in, she saw the Consort being bullied by her sister. Your grandmother still remembers that when the ‘sister’ was dragged away, she couldn’t speak; her eyes were full of despair and hatred. At the time, your grandmother thought she was just unwilling… she didn’t realize they had already switched identities.”

“Because of this, your grandmother lived in painful regret for all these years.”

Lady Yirou couldn’t help but sigh. The former Consort was truly pitiable. “Mother, since you knew the Consort was a fake, why didn’t you let me tell the Prince?”

Nanny Luo took a deep breath to steady her emotions. She looked at her daughter with a hint of helplessness. “Except for your grandmother, no one knew she was a fake. She disguised herself too well and was a model among the capital’s noblewomen. If we had told the Prince, not only would we have gained nothing, we would have lost our lives. If it weren’t for the Lotus incident at Xiangguo Temple and the solar eclipse casting her into the dust, do you think you would be a match for her?”

“Even though she has lost power now, don’t forget she still has the Lin family behind her! I suspect the Lin family might not be entirely unaware that she’s a fake; it’s just that the former Consort is already gone, so they chose to keep the secret.”

Luo Fei nodded in agreement. “Mother is right. Sister, you think too simply.” Even though he knew they weren’t blood-related, Luo Fei was still accustomed to addressing them this way. This fake Consort had managed to hide for twenty years—that kind of scheming was not something his sister could handle, especially with the power of the Lin family and the Prince’s own strange attitude. Who knew what variables might arise?

Outside, Cheng Ruyi smiled triumphantly. This was all my credit. No wonder she felt that woman was off; she was a counterfeit.

“Mother, how did Grandmother eventually discover she was a fake?” Lady Yirou blushed after being lectured and quickly changed the subject.

“Your grandmother noticed the Consort looked at the Little Heir with very strange eyes. She secretly tested and observed her, finding that she had habits very similar to the elder sister. A terrible suspicion formed. Finally, your grandmother caught her trying to secretly smother the baby with a thick quilt. That confirmed it—the real Consort was dead. To save the Little Heir, your grandmother stole him away.”

Lady Yirou gasped. “That woman is so vicious!”

Luo Fei’s expression was also grim. Recalling what his mother said earlier, he closed his eyes as a sudden thought occurred to him. “Mother, you said I am the legitimate son of the Rong family. Then… is Rong Mo that Little Heir?”

Outside the door, Rong Mo’s pupils contracted, and his entire body went rigid. Cheng Ruyi was also stunned. She peeked at Rong Mo and saw that he was tense all over, his breathing becoming heavy.

Inside, Nanny Luo gave a bitter smile at Luo Fei’s guess. She replied hesitantly, “I’m not entirely sure about that. Back when your grandmother found Madam Rong with the Little Heir, Madam Rong had just given birth to a son, and there was also an abandoned infant she had taken in secretly.”

Luo Fei was surprised. “…Why was there an abandoned infant?”

Nanny Luo sighed and looked at Luo Fei with a trace of apology. “Because back then, a high monk predicted that the Rong family might face a massacre in five or six years. To ensure the Rong lineage wouldn’t end, Madam Rong planned to find an abandoned infant to take your place. She didn’t expect your grandmother to arrive with the Little Heir for help.”

“In the end, your grandmother stayed with the Rongs as a nanny. To ensure the Little Heir wouldn’t suffer, Madam Rong treated him as her own and told the world she had given birth to twins—one being the Little Heir and the other the abandoned baby. You, the true eldest son of the Rong family, were sent here to me.”

“Madam Rong intended to send the Little Heir away once he was older. But six years passed and the Rong family was fine, so she dismissed the monk’s words as unreliable. She didn’t send him away. Who knew that two years later, the Rong family would suffer that massacre…”

Luo Fei was not stupid. From Nanny Luo’s words, he guessed that the massacre was likely related to the arrival of his grandmother and the Little Heir; the mastermind was probably the fake Consort.

After a long silence, Luo Fei’s voice was raspy. “…So Rong Mo could be the Prince’s heir, or he could be that abandoned baby?”

Nanny Luo nodded, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “Correct. However, Young Master Rong Mo has always been a thorn in that fake Consort’s side. It’s very likely he is indeed that Little Heir.”

It was precisely because they weren’t certain that the mother and daughter hadn’t dared to show their cards to Prince Rong. What if they were wrong? They couldn’t afford to gamble. Because of this uncertainty, the Rong Mo living at the Marquis’s estate was the only thing keeping her mother going. If the true heir was dead, she didn’t know if her mother could handle the blow.

“Mother, does the Little Heir have any identifying marks on his body?” Lady Yirou suddenly asked.

Nanny Luo’s eyes lit up. “Yes! Your grandmother said the Little Heir has three small black moles on the sole of his left foot . Unfortunately, we have no way to verify it, and we don’t know if the fake Consort has ever checked.”

After saying this, Nanny Luo’s gaze dimmed. The room fell silent.

Outside, Cheng Ruyi, who was listening with bated breath, widened her eyes. She turned her head toward Rong Mo and asked curiously in a whisper, “A-Mo, do you have moles on the sole of your left foot?”

Sansukini: Wow! Sooo many switcheroos. (◔_◔)

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