Even though Fe Mama and Fei Nanyu had agreed on the terms beforehand, Fe Mama still hesitated.
Fei Nanyu sensed her hesitation and reminded her, "Actually, there's no need for witnesses to acknowledge kinship. Since ancient times, there has been the tradition of verifying kinship by mingling blood."
This was a reminder to Fe Mama that even if she didn't speak up, he could still reclaim his identity as a prince that very day.
Upon hearing his words, Fe Mama's hesitation vanished instantly. As long as there was a glimmer of hope to save her own nephew's life, she didn't want to let it slip away.
Fe Mama knelt before Emperor Shunwu and Concubine Yuan once more.
"This old servant is guilty. Back then, I was possessed by evil spirits and deluded. I took the newborn prince back home and swapped him with my own newborn nephew.
The current Prince Qi is actually my good-for-nothing nephew."
As she spoke, she glanced at Fei Nanyu with a hint of guilt.
"The man before you, who has suffered greatly in the Fei Family for many years, is actually the flesh and blood of Your Majesty and Your Highness..."
Fe Mama tearfully recounted the entire process of how she had swapped the two infants back then.
During this, Emperor Shunwu intentionally raised a few more doubts, and Fe Mama answered them clearly without any concealment.
Because she did not lie, there were no inconsistencies in her responses to Emperor Shunwu.
At this point, Emperor Shunwu basically believed that Fei Nanyu was indeed the Third Prince.
Especially Fei Nanyu's striking resemblance to Concubine Yuan made it impossible to disbelieve.
After all, with the imperial bloodline, even if Emperor Shunwu was incompetent, he had no reason to confuse the matter.
"If that's the case, let's proceed with verifying our kinship by mingling blood."
In He Zhiran's understanding, verifying kinship by mingling blood had no scientific basis whatsoever.
Not to mention Fei Nanyu and Emperor Shunwu being father and son, even if they weren't related, their blood still had over a 90% chance of blending together.
Therefore, she wasn't worried at all about any issues arising when Fei Nanyu and Emperor Shunwu mingled their blood to verify kinship.
Fei Nanyu wasn't worried about this either, since he was truly Emperor Shunwu's biological son.
The observant Granny Wang had already brought a bowl of clean water when Emperor Shunwu finished speaking, as it wouldn't be appropriate for Mo Jiuye to take out a dagger or the like in front of the Emperor.
Fei Nanyu did the same, biting his finger and letting a few drops of fresh blood fall into the bowl in front of Emperor Shunwu.
Emperor Shunwu did the same.
Under everyone's watchful gaze, the two drops of fresh blood quickly blended together.
At this moment, Emperor Shunwu was both excited and enraged.
He was excited because his biological son had appeared when he was in dire straits, which could be Heaven's opportunity for him to turn the tables.
He was enraged because Concubine Yuan had actually gone behind his back and done such a thing back then, causing him, the ruler of a nation, to raise a servant's child for over twenty years in vain...
But he also realized that this was not the time to dwell on such matters.
Emperor Shunwu's gaze at Nan Yu became much more affectionate than before.
"Child, you've suffered so much all these years. When I regain power, that will be the time for you to reclaim your identity as a prince."
Fei Nanyu still showed no reaction. Although these were his biological parents, he still felt they were strangers.
At the same time, he could tell that Emperor Shunwu did not reject his existence as a son.
Logically speaking, Fei Nanyu should have knelt down and addressed them as "Father Emperor" and "Mother Consort" at this point. He understood this reasoning himself, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Seeing Emperor Shunwu's expectant gaze, Fei Nanyu only slightly bowed with his hands folded.
At this time, Concubine Yuan was already crying uncontrollably.
Granny Wang helped her approach Fei Nanyu, and she raised her hand slightly, wanting to caress his face.
Fei Nanyu instinctively shrank back.
Seeing that Fei Nanyu refused to acknowledge her, Concubine Yuan cried even more sorrowfully.
Upon seeing this, Emperor Shunwu rebuked her, "If you hadn't committed such a mistake back then, our child wouldn't be unwilling to recognize you now."
Concubine Yuan, of course, understood this reasoning, and she had blamed herself for over twenty years.
It's just that for all those years, the object of her self-blame had only been Mo Jiuye.
Although Fei Nanyu resented Concubine Yuan in his heart, he did not wish for the current awkward situation.
After all, this was not his purpose for entering the palace that day.
After reprimanding Concubine Yuan, Emperor Shunwu said, "From this day onwards, you will no longer be surnamed Fei. The name Nan Yu isn't bad either - you must be used to it by now. From now on, you shall be called Nan Yu.
When I successfully regain power, my first order of business will be to publicly announce your true identity."
When He Zhiran had previously told him that there was another person who was the Third Prince, she had also mentioned Nan Yu's talents.
To verify this, Emperor Shunwu immediately asked Nan Yu some questions about the art of governing.
Fei Nanyu's talents were incomparable, especially after spending time alongside Nan Qi, he had improved even further.
To the questions posed by Emperor Shunwu, he not only answered smoothly, but could also extrapolate and apply the concepts more broadly.
Emperor Shunwu was very satisfied with his performance.
"Our Ancestor left behind a token that can mobilize an elite force of twenty thousand men.
This military force has never been mobilized since the founding of Da Shun... it was due to my incompetence..."
Hearing Emperor Shunwu admit his own incompetence surprised both He Zhiran and Mo Jiuye.
In their impression, Emperor Shunwu was the epitome of an incompetent ruler.
Regardless of whether he had a great awakening or was simply lucid in this critical moment, the fact that he was able to reveal his final trump card showed that he had not become completely incompetent.
As Emperor Shunwu finished speaking, he removed the headdress from his head.
In front of everyone, he took out a small but exquisite token from inside the headdress.
He handed the token to Fei Nanyu.
"This is the final lifeline left by our Ancestor for the descendants of the Nan Family. Take this token and go to the mountain valley seventy miles east of the capital to find this military force."
As for how to command them, Emperor Shunwu planned to give Nan Yu full authority.
Through their brief conversation, Emperor Shunwu had already confirmed that Nan Yu's talents were definitely a hundred times greater than those of the sons who grew up by his side.
Nan Yu did not hesitate at all, for he had already harbored ambitions of seizing power.
From now on, he would use this military force to turn the situation around.
Emperor Shunwu continued, "I have long delayed naming the Crown Prince because I felt Nan Qi lacked the ability.
Now that I know he is not of imperial blood, it seems my initial hesitation was correct.
I have now handed you my only remaining trump card. I hope you can reverse the court situation as quickly as possible and rescue your mother and me from this peril."
At this moment, Emperor Shunwu's heart was as clear as a mirror. Although Nan Yu still resented Concubine Yuan's actions back then, she was nevertheless his biological mother.
