Except for Liang Zhe and Qin Shuying, and Qu Linglong whose ears were covered by Qin Shuying, everyone else gaped with their mouths wide open.

Liang Qiong and Liang Jie didn’t even need to endure pain anymore – they couldn’t feel any pain at all now.

Although Liang Zhen hadn’t named names, everyone understood that the siblings she referred to were Liang Yunshan and Luo Meixiang.

But Liang Zhen continued: “Half-siblings sharing the same mother but different fathers. Since Mother knew about this, she naturally absolutely forbade it. But she couldn’t speak openly about it – she could only plead with you, could only go see Luo Meixiang privately. She hoped that by doing this, she could make Old Madam change her mind and intervene to stop it. But, heh heh heh…”

Liang Zhen actually laughed, her laughter not loud, but the mockery within it made everyone’s skin crawl.

Liang Yunshan and Luo Meixiang stood like wooden blocks.

After a long while, Liang Yunshan’s eyes rolled around once: “You, you, you – what nonsense are you spouting!”

Liang Zhe also laughed “heh heh heh” a few times: “Whether we’re spouting nonsense or not, the Earl can personally ask Concubine Zhou from the Luo mansion – Luo Meixiang’s birth mother.”

Liang Zhe emphasized the words “birth mother” heavily.

Liang Yunshan’s lips trembled: “This, this, this – how is this possible?!”

Liang Zhe clapped his hands, and Liang Yanjun walked in from outside, cupping his hands: “Commissioner!”

Liang Zhe said: “Go to the Luo mansion and invite Concubine Zhou here!”

Liang Yanjun agreed and walked out.

Luo Meixiang had been sitting on the ground. The ground was cold, and now she felt three degrees colder, her entire body shaking and trembling, constantly murmuring: “No, no, impossible…”

Liang Zhe laughed “ha ha ha” and said: “When Concubine Zhou arrives, after you hear what she has to say, you’ll understand everything. Earl, I hope you won’t be too shocked then!”

Looking at Liang Zhe’s expression, although Liang Yunshan’s heart rejected this matter, since Liang Zhe had spoken so confidently, recalling Zhao Wanniang’s agitation back then, he didn’t dare be certain anymore.

Could it be, could it be…

Suddenly, he thought of a problem and rebuked: “Same mother, different fathers – according to your claims, who is Meixiang’s father? Absolutely lawless – how dare you slander Old Madam’s virtue!”

Liang Zhen said in a flat voice: “Why should the Earl be so angry? Once Concubine Zhou arrives, won’t everything become clear?”

“Mother could never be that kind of person. You must have threatened Concubine Zhou!”

Liang Zhen sneered: “We can threaten Concubine Zhou, but what about Minister Luo? Could we threaten Minister Luo too?”

Liang Yunshan stared blankly: “Minister Luo?”

Immediately, he understood. If Concubine Zhou had given birth to a child back then, and if it truly wasn’t Concubine Zhou’s biological child, of course Minister Luo would know.

“Minister Luo has been dead for so many years, yet you still drag him into this?”

Liang Zhen said: “People die, but what they write doesn’t die.”

Liang Yunshan felt as if struck by thunder: “You mean Minister Luo left written records?”

“Minister Luo knew that confusing royal bloodlines was an unforgivable crime. He at least retained a trace of conscience and left behind a letter in his own hand.”

Royal bloodlines?

Liang Yunshan became even more unsteady on his feet: “Wh-what?”

His first thought was of Emperor Delong, but then he realized that wasn’t right.

Liang Zhen uttered two words: “Prince Liang.”

Liang Yunshan’s face turned ashen gray, unable to recover his senses.

Qin Shuying took up the topic: “Luo Meixiang is the child of Old Madam and Prince Liang. Now, Earl, do you understand why Mother kept saying you were utterly sordid! When Mother discovered this secret, she went to find Luo Meixiang privately, demanding that Luo Meixiang abort the child. Old Madam played along and staged a good show, making you witness Mother pushing Luo Meixiang, and the child in Luo Meixiang’s belly was lost. The Earl developed resentment toward Mother, the Earl and Mother quarreled daily, and in her anger Mother naturally implicated Old Madam as well. Later, Old Madam arranged for the Earl to witness Prince Liang and Mother together. Mother merely angrily rebuked Prince Liang, forbidding him from coming to the mansion again, but the Earl thought Mother and Prince Liang were having an affair. What happened after that…”

Not only did Liang Yunshan not believe it, but Luo Meixiang, Liang Qiong, and the others all refused to believe it.

Liang Jie gritted his teeth: “Don’t think that by fabricating a story to shame Father and Mother, to make us siblings look bad, you can achieve your goals!”

Qin Shuying glanced sideways: “Whether it’s true or not, there are many witnesses still alive in this world. Why are you so anxious?”

If Liang Zhen hadn’t told her, Qin Shuying would never have imagined that Zhao Wanniang would have told the four-year-old Liang Zhen back then, and that Liang Zhen, at such a young age, had remembered it all.

Qin Shuying had people watch Concubine Zhou and also bought information from various sources about that time, only then barely deducing some clues. But it was only speculation – she naturally didn’t dare be certain.

The first thing she couldn’t be certain about was that Old Madam Liang was, after all, five or six years older than Prince Liang. Back then, Prince Liang was only seventeen or eighteen, while Old Madam Liang was already married and was the wife of a super first-rank marquis. Her status and position were no less than Prince Liang’s.

No matter what, these two couldn’t possibly be connected, right?

But the world’s affairs are just so incredible. After Liang Zhen returned, the three of them sorted through the events of that time one by one, and Liang Zhen said that back then it was indeed Prince Liang who had an affair with Old Madam Liang – this was what Zhao Wanniang had personally told Liang Zhen.

Speaking of which, even now Old Madam Liang showed no signs of aging and still possessed an elegant temperament. When she had the affair with Prince Liang, she was only twenty-two or twenty-three – at the height of her mature beauty. No wonder Prince Liang would be infatuated with her.

Luo Meixiang was completely stunned, her mind in chaos.

She, she was Prince Liang’s daughter?

This meant her status was very noble?

But, but…

Luo Meixiang instinctively denied: “You’re lying, you’re lying!”

“Madam, the Luo mansion isn’t far from the Earl’s mansion. Concubine Zhou should arrive soon. Why is Madam so agitated? Madam is so agitated – it seems you know nothing. Old Madam wouldn’t tell you because she feared you couldn’t keep your composure! Now, Earl, you can understand many things, can’t you? For instance, why did Mother fall into the water, and even though cold injuries can be treated, why did she die so hastily? Why was Elder Sister caught in public back then? Why was Ziyu forced to leave home at the age of ten and go to the frontier? All of this was because Elder Sister and Ziyu were Mother’s children. But what Old Madam wanted were only the children of her biological daughter, not the children of some unrelated outsider!”

Provoked by Qin Shuying’s words, Liang Yunshan flew into a rage: “Nonsense! Mother was pure by nature – she’s absolutely not the person you describe! On the contrary, it was Zhao Wanniang – when she died, she already had a bastard child in her belly, yet I never even touched her once!”