Wenyu waited for a while, but seeing that she wasn’t continuing, urgently said: “What might happen? Sister, please tell me.”

Princess Xin’an looked around, then pulled her to a relatively secluded corner, speaking in a voice only they could hear: “Could it be that Yunyi is not Father Emperor’s blood at all?”

Wenyu never expected her to say such a thing, and blurted out: “You mean Mother Empress she… mmph, mmph!”

Princess Xin’an firmly covered her mouth, scolding in a low voice: “Do you want everyone to know we’re discussing this matter behind their backs?”

Wenyu also realized she had just made a mistake, pulling down Princess Xin’an’s hand, saying in extreme shock: “Fourth Sister, isn’t this idea too absurd? She is the mother of the nation, and Father Emperor dotes on her so much. How could this be possible?”

Princess Xin’an wiped away the saliva that had gotten on her palm, saying calmly: “Nothing is impossible. Besides what I just said, can you think of any other reason why Father Emperor would neglect Yunyi?”

“This…” Wenyu thought for a long while but truly couldn’t think of any, yet what Princess Xin’an said was really too shocking for her to accept. After a good while, she finally said: “If this were true, how could Father Emperor swallow this humiliation and still keep her in the palace, well-fed and well-cared for, even choosing two Prince Consorts for her?” As she spoke, she said sourly: “Father Emperor has never chosen a Prince Consort for me even until now.”

“Given Father Emperor’s devotion to Mother Empress, it’s not impossible.” Saying this, Princess Xin’an continued: “I remember that before the third year of Daye, Yunyi once left the palace without a word and only returned after more than half a year. It’s very likely… she learned about her true parentage at that time, so she went to find her biological father. Otherwise, why would she be so secretive about where she went and what she did during those six months? No matter how we asked, she refused to say a word, only claiming she went out of the palace to have a look. Hmph, who would believe that?”

Wenyu thought while saying: “She called him father… that means she found her biological father?”

“Most likely so.” Princess Xin’an said with a face full of disgust: “To think we’ve been sisters with that bastard of unknown origin for so many years makes me feel sick. She still has the face to brazenly call him father – I feel embarrassed for her.”

“Exactly! She’s just like…” Wenyu saw no one around, with even the palace servants at some distance, and whispered: “She’s just as shameless as Xiao Shi.” Although they called her Mother Empress, they didn’t truly regard Xiao Shi as their mother. On the contrary, because she favored Yunyi, they harbored considerable resentment.

Princess Xin’an’s eyes rolled, and she suddenly smiled: “What do you think… if Father Emperor learned of this matter, what would happen?”

Wenyu frowned: “Didn’t you say Father Emperor might already know? Why bring it up again?”

Princess Xin’an smiled mysteriously: “Father Emperor may indeed know that Yunyi is a bastard, but he may not know what she did during those six months, much less know that she called… someone else father!”

Wenyu’s eyes lit up at her words, clapping her hands: “That’s right! How could I forget this? Sister thinks most carefully.” Then she said urgently: “Let’s go tell Father right now.”

Princess Xin’an held her back: “No rush. What we know now is still too little. Let’s first find a way to have someone investigate her situation, and after we understand clearly, then we’ll tell Father Emperor.”

Wenyu nodded repeatedly. In the following days, the two of them found various ways to inquire at Feixiang Palace where Yunyi lived, even spending heavily to bribe palace servants of Feixiang Palace, and they actually did manage to find out some things.

When the two saw the timing was about right, they went to see Yang Guang, who was in the midst of revelry. Being interrupted by them, he was quite displeased, but since they were his daughters after all, he said nothing. After ordering the consorts to withdraw, he said indifferently: “You’re so urgent to see me – what’s the matter?”

Princess Wenyu stepped forward: “Reporting to Father Emperor, two days ago when this daughter-subject saw Seventh Sister, I inadvertently heard her calling ‘father’ or something. This daughter-subject found it strange and casually asked Seventh Sister about it, but unexpectedly Seventh Sister’s expression immediately became very odd, as if afraid someone would know something, and she hurriedly left after saying just a few words. The more this daughter-subject thought about it, the more wrong it seemed, so I discussed it with Fourth Sister and found ways to inquire at Feixiang Palace. We actually did find out something.” Except for the very first sentence, everything else was fabricated by them.

Yang Guang’s eyes flickered slightly as he stared at her: “What did you find out?”

Princess Xin’an took over: “Does Father Emperor still remember when Jinyang left the palace in the ninth year of Daye?”

“Of course I remember.” No one knew better than Yang Guang the full story of Yunyi’s departure from the palace that year, though he hadn’t expected anyone to bring it up after all these years.

“This daughter-subject heard from the serving maids of Feixiang Palace that after Jinyang returned from outside the palace, she often mentioned some inexplicable things, and also said she… she…” She glanced at Yang Guang and deliberately stopped speaking. Only after Yang Guang indicated for her to continue did she whisper: “Said she found her father outside the palace. From the maid’s description at the time, it didn’t sound like she was talking about Father Emperor, so this daughter-subject wonders, could it be… she acknowledged some outsider as her father?”

Yang Guang’s cheek twitched slightly. Princess Xin’an was secretly delighted and continued to embellish: “Father Emperor is the Son of Heaven, the supreme ruler. No one can be compared to Father Emperor. Since Jinyang is Father Emperor’s daughter, how can she call someone else father? This goes against both reason and propriety. This daughter-subject and Wenyu once advised Jinyang about this matter, but not only did she refuse to listen, she even said we were meddling in her affairs. This daughter-subject and Wenyu felt greatly wronged, so we came to ask Father Emperor to judge.”

She was very clever not to directly voice suspicions about Yunyi’s parentage. If she was truly born of Xiao Shi and another man, that would be an enormous humiliation for Yang Guang. Mentioning it to his face might result in their receiving rebuke before Yunyi suffered any consequences. So after much deliberation, they decided on the above approach, which both saved Yang Guang’s face and accused Yunyi – killing two birds with one stone.

After a brief silence, Yang Guang said coldly: “Is this truly so?”

Wenyu quickly said: “How would this daughter-subject dare deceive Father Emperor? When I think of Seventh Sister’s previous attitude, I can’t help but feel anger rise in my heart. She actually compared some unknown person to Father Emperor – this is simply desecrating Father Emperor. What’s infuriating is that she doesn’t think she did anything wrong at all.”

“Jinyang…” Yang Guang murmured the name once, then said: “I understand. You may withdraw.”

Wenyu was startled. They had said so much, and Father Emperor only had this one sentence? Just as she was about to speak again, someone tugged at her sleeve. Looking sideways, she saw Xin’an giving her meaningful glances, indicating she shouldn’t say more.

Wenyu had always listened to Xin’an’s words, so she said no more and withdrew from the great hall together with her. Not long after they left, Yang Guang said to Zheng Ying, who had been standing quietly to the side: “Summon Jinyang to see me.”