However, he suddenly came to his senses and was no longer heartbroken. He was not Sima Yuan's child, nor was he an illegitimate child. The illegitimate child was that Prince Zhaoyang, Ye Ranyi. He was not the late emperor's child at all, yet he had enjoyed the emperor's favor for so many years. The Dowager Consort was once a favored concubine in the palace, so the late emperor naturally loved her son very much. Although he did not make him crown prince, he was granted the title of Prince Zhaoyang very early on. He never expected that in the end, his joy would be for someone else's child.
"Mother, it's not your fault."
After Ye Lingfeng finished speaking, Hai Ling helped the Dowager Consort to sit down from the other side, and then nodded in agreement: "Your Highness, please don't blame yourself. This is not your fault. You fainted during childbirth. How could you have imagined that there would be such a scheming woman who would switch the little prince with you? Besides, wasn't there a fire in the palace that night? Everyone thought that the mother and child had burned to death. Who knew that not only did she not die, but she also had the mind to run to the Dowager Consort's palace and switch the little prince with you?"
Hailing thought about it more and more and felt that the Empress Dowager was too scheming. She never expected that she would plot against others in such a way.
"Yes, this woman is truly terrifying. Do you know that when the palace fire was extinguished, the late emperor found two sets of skeletons, one large and one small, inside? That's why he believed that the mother and son had perished in the fire. This was clearly something she planned in advance. Otherwise, why would there be two sets of skeletons?"
After the Empress Dowager finished speaking, the hall fell silent. A strong sense of malevolence surged in Ye Lingfeng's eyes.
However, he just couldn't understand why the Empress Dowager wanted him to ascend the throne.
"Why did she want me to become emperor? Shouldn't she have let Prince Zhaoyang become emperor?"
If it weren't for her insistence, he wouldn't have returned to Beilu, let alone become emperor. So why did she make herself emperor? Since her son is Prince Zhaoyang, why didn't she let Prince Zhaoyang become emperor?
The Dowager Consort was also puzzled. She had planned so meticulously, probably so that one day her own son could ascend the throne. But why did she not let Prince Zhaoyang become emperor, but let Ye ascend the throne instead? Why was that?
Hailin thought about it carefully for a moment, and then spoke.
"If I'm not mistaken, the Empress Dowager doesn't actually want Ye to become emperor. She wants to control Ye and then get rid of him. In the royal bloodline, only Prince Zhaoyang is left. If Ye is eliminated, Prince Zhaoyang will smoothly ascend the throne. So, the matter of Prince Anyang earlier was probably also orchestrated by the Empress Dowager. Her goal was to have Prince Zhaoyang eliminate the others in the royal family, leaving only her son. Once the emperor is eliminated, Prince Zhaoyang will smoothly ascend the throne. I remember when Ye went to Dengzhou, that Alang impersonated the emperor and entered the palace. As Ye's mother, the Empress Dowager didn't even notice. Now it seems that she did notice, but pretended not to know. She even took the opportunity to leak my birth date and time, and then wanted to use the fake emperor to smoothly let Prince Zhaoyang ascend the throne. However, I thwarted her plan, so it's not unreasonable that she hates me to the bone."
Hai Ling's words made Ye Lingfeng and the Empress Dowager grit their teeth in anger. They never expected that this woman had never cared about Ye from beginning to end, but only used him, plotted against him, and even wanted to kill him.
"Forget about these things. We've been out with the Imperial Concubine for too long. If we're discovered, it could harm her. So we need to send her back quickly. Does Your Majesty have anything to say to the Imperial Concubine?"
As soon as Hai Ling finished speaking, she waved to Shi Mei and walked out of the palace with her.
Ye Lingfeng gazed at the Dowager Consort, who looked at him with loving eyes. Although it was just a glance, he felt the love from a mother, unlike the one in Cixi Palace, from whom he had never felt that kind of motherly love.
"Mother."
"Night, I'm sorry, Mother has caused you to suffer."
The Dowager Princess reached out and held Ye Lingfeng's hand tightly. Her son was much taller than her, but over the years, he had never received a single bit of her care.
For the rest of her life, she would give him all her love and make up for the responsibilities she had not fulfilled as a mother.
Thinking of this, the Dowager Consort pulled Ye Lingfeng to sit down, then held his hand and gently advised him, "Ye, don't rush things right now. You are the emperor, the late emperor's favorite son. The late emperor passed the throne to you because he believed you were his son, so don't believe what others say. Your mother will always be with you."
"Thank you, Mother."
Hearing these words, which were as gentle as a spring breeze, Ye Lingfeng's heart was filled with warmth. So this is what true maternal love is like: gentle, like the wind, like the fine rain, making people feel warm and cozy involuntarily.
Although he wanted to keep his mother in the palace, it wasn't the right time yet, so Ye Lingfeng looked at the Dowager Consort and spoke.
"Mother, I'll have someone send you back. You must take good care of yourself."
"Okay, I will. I owe my family a lot, and I will spend the rest of my life loving Ye."
“Yes,” the mother and son smiled at each other, their eyes shining brightly.
Soon, Ye Lingfeng summoned Shizhu and Shiju and ordered them to immediately send the Dowager Consort back to the Zhaoyang Prince's Mansion, and to not disturb anyone.
"yes."
The two subordinates accepted the order and immediately led the Dowager Consort and Granny Qingzhu out of the palace quietly, escorting them safely to Prince Zhaoyang's residence. At Prince Zhaoyang's residence, the Dowager Consort had already arranged for her two personal nannies to pretend to be her maids and not let anyone into her courtyard, so no one noticed that the Dowager Consort was missing, and therefore the Dowager Consort was unharmed.
Inside the Ryugetsu Palace.
Ye Lingfeng and Hailin were discussing something.
"What are your plans for the night?"
Although it is clear that Ye is the biological son of the Empress Dowager, the world does not know this. If Ye were to announce this directly to the public, the Empress Dowager would surely have a scheme. Therefore, the current priority is to make this woman reveal a flaw and personally say that Prince Zhaoyang is her son.
“We have returned to the capital. If I am not mistaken, Prince Zhaoyang will definitely meet with Prime Minister Zhongli. I will send people to arrest them. Since the Prime Minister has committed such a serious crime, we will say that Prince Zhaoyang is in cahoots with him. Then he will definitely not be able to get away with it. I think she will not sit idly by.”
Ever since he learned that the woman had been using him from beginning to end and was not his mother, he could no longer call her "mother". To be honest, for more than 20 years, he had always thought she was his mother. Now that he suddenly knew she was not, and was a cruel and vicious woman, he felt not only hatred but also heartache, a very deep pain. Even if he was not her biological son, after more than 20 years of getting along, didn't she ever feel sorry for him at all?
Ye Lingfeng felt terrible. Although he knew that woman didn't deserve his heartache, one's feelings couldn't be taken back so easily.
"Okay, let's do it that way."
Hai Ling nodded. Ye's idea was good. In this way, the Empress Dowager would definitely take action and come to Ye for help. If Ye ignored her, she would take action, and then she would have no choice but to admit it.
The two agreed on the matter. Ye Lingfeng arranged for Shi Zhu and Shi Ju to lead dozens of subordinates to secretly keep an eye on the Zhaoyang Prince's residence. If the Zhaoyang Prince met with the Prime Minister, they would seize the opportunity to capture them. Then he could claim that the Prime Minister Zhongli was backed by the Zhaoyang Prince, thus providing them with enough evidence to imprison the Zhaoyang Prince.
After settling everything, Ye Lingfeng went to rest early. He had to attend the morning court session the next day, and Hai Ling was too heavy-set to be overworked.
The two of them originally thought that there would be no news of Prince Zhaoyang so soon, since they had just returned to the capital and he would need a couple of days of peace and quiet. But in the middle of the night, Shizhu came to the palace to report.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."
Ye Lingfeng stood up and slowly stepped out from behind the screen: "What happened?"
"We have captured the Prime Minister and Prince Zhaoyang, and they are currently being held in the Ministry of Justice's prison."
"He can't wait a moment longer. As soon as he returned to the capital, he couldn't wait to drag Zhongli along. He's really asking for trouble. Alright, I understand. You take your Feathered Guards and guard the Ministry of Justice's prison. Don't allow anyone to take them away."
"Your subordinate obeys."
Shi Zhu withdrew, and Ye Lingfeng went behind the screen. Hai Ling had already woken up and asked groggily, "What? Has Prince Zhaoyang made a move?"
Ye Banfeng went over and hugged her. He patted her back reassuringly, "It's alright, Ling'er, go back to sleep. I'll handle it."
Hai Ling didn't say anything, then shrank back into bed. The weather was a bit cold, and she was about to give birth, so she was especially sleepy. Besides, Ye no longer had any worries, and he could handle everything. She believed he had the ability.