Master Wuchen immediately told Concubine Yuan that she was pregnant with a little princess.
In order to maintain her position in the palace, Concubine Yuan planned to secretly switch her child if she gave birth to a daughter.
She secretly sent countless underlings to find and locate some women who were pregnant at the same time as her. As soon as someone's due date was close to hers, she would take that family's son and pass him off as her own.
On the day Concubine Yuan gave birth, she bribed the midwife and instructed her not to make any announcement after a successful delivery, but to wrap up the baby and hand it directly to her personal attendant.
Coincidentally, Concubine Yuan and the wife of the Duke of Guo from that year happened to give birth on the same day. Moreover, the wife of the Duke of Guo gave birth to precisely the boy she wanted.
Through Concubine Yuan's covert maneuvering, the newborn son of the Duke of Mo's house became the Third Prince, Nan Qi.
In fact, Concubine Yuan herself had also given birth to a boy. But because she believed too strongly in Master Wuchen's predictions, she had instructed the midwife not to announce anything when the child was born. Naturally, the midwife, who was bribed with silver, kept a tight lip and didn't say a word. She simply wrapped up the child and handed him over to the attendant.
As a result, aside from the midwife, everyone else was unaware at the time that Concubine Yuan had given birth to a little prince...
Only after the children had been switched did Concubine Yuan send someone to notify the Emperor.
When the Emperor heard that he had another prince, he was elated. He personally selected gifts and sent them to Concubine Yuan's palace.
The next day, when the personal attendant was about to silence the midwife, she learned that the concubine had actually given birth to a little prince as well, but had foolishly switched him with the Mo family's child...
When Concubine Yuan learned of this, she was heartbroken and inconsolable for quite some days.
But alas, the Emperor had already seen the Mo family's child, so even if she wanted to switch her own child back, it was completely impossible now. She could only let the mistake stand.
When Nan Qi turned five, it was time for him to start studying. Concubine Yuan made a request of the Emperor, saying that Mo Jiuye, the ninth son of the Mo family, was born on the same day as Nan Qi, and that was also a kind of fate. She hoped Mo Jiuye could become Nan Qi’s study companion.
This way, she could see her own son regularly.
Emperor Shunwu had no objections. He immediately issued an decree summoning Mo Jiuye into the palace.
After reading this passage, He Zhiran sucked in a breath of cold air.
Although this book was unofficial history, the content recorded in unofficial histories was not necessarily all fabricated.
Much of the unofficial histories contained records of secrets unknown to the public - things those in power did not want passed down.
That was why they tried to obstruct the existence of unofficial histories.
However, many such unknown secrets were still passed down to this day.
If this record really existed, it would not be hard to understand why Nan Qi would suddenly make a move against Mo Jiuye.
He must have obtained some information and learned of the switched-at-birth incident between them. He was worried the truth would come out, so he took action against Mo Jiuye.
This was no trivial matter. She had to think about how to subtly ask Mo Jiuye some questions.
At this moment, He Zhiran was sitting up straight, lightly tapping her chest with her small hand. To outsiders, she looked as if she had just had a nightmare.
He Zhiran was still quite disturbed by this.
If this unofficial history was true, then didn't it mean Emperor Shunwu had killed his own son with his own hands?
It was a real embodiment of Cao Zhi's Seven Steps Verse...
The wooden cart rattled and shook as it carried He Zhiran’s endless thoughts back to camp.
By now, the sun had set in the west, and the Mo family were all sitting by the roadside, craning their necks expectantly in their direction.
Seeing He Zhiran sitting atop the wooden cart from afar, Mo Hanxuan waved his little hand and shouted, "Sister-in-Law Nine is back!"
He Zhiran jumped down from the cart and walked toward her family.
Her sister-in-law considerately handed her a damp towel. "Ninth sister, you must be tired out from the trip. Quick, wipe off your sweat."
He Zhiran felt very comforted by her family's concern.
In her past life, she had lived 24 years without parental love or affection. She had never experienced the taste of so-called family bonds.
She didn't expect that after accidentally traveling to another world, she would gain the family affection she could only yearn for but never obtain.
Although the road of exile was arduous and dangerous, He Zhiran firmly believed that they would definitely get through this ordeal safely and live happily together in the future.
After thanking her sister-in-law, she took the towel and wiped her face.
Peng Wang also handed all 115 taels of silver they earned today to He Zhiran. He had agreed to let her distribute it, and would not go back on his word.
He Zhiran called over the Fang and Xie families when she received the silver, and showed all the silver to everyone present.
"Our wolf skins sold for 75 taels, and the dried meat sold for 40 taels. Our total income is 115 taels."
Hearing He Zhiran recite these figures, the Fang and Xie family members looked at each other in surprise.
They were happy in their hearts, but also silently wondering to themselves.
These silvers had nothing to do with them. Why was the He family announcing the accounts in front of everyone?
Soon their confusion was resolved.
He Zhiran took out 20 taels of silver and handed it to Xie Tianhai. "Uncle Xie, this is your share."
Xie Tianhai was utterly confused. For the current Xie family, 20 taels of silver could be considered a huge sum.
If used thriftily, it would be enough for their family to live for several months.
Looking at the silver He Zhiran held out to him, Xie Tianhai didn't know whether to take it or not.
His eyes couldn't help but drift towards Peng Wang.
Peng Wang shrugged indifferently.
"If the He family wants to give it to you, then take it. The Xie family did contribute when fighting off the wolf pack, skinning them, and making dried meat. This is what you deserve."
In Peng Wang's heart, giving the Xie family 20 taels really was a bit much.
Although he had just said they participated in those things, if he thought carefully about it, at least 45 out of those 50 wolves were killed by Mo Jiuye and his wife alone.
Although the Xie family did contribute significant effort in skinning the wolves and drying the meat, it still wasn't worth giving them that high of a cut.
Although He Zhiran also understood this reasoning in her heart, her decision to do this was after careful deliberation.
Putting aside the fact that the Xie family was her sister-in-law's maternal family, ever since that misunderstanding with Mo Jiuye had been cleared up, He Zhiran knew that the Fang and Xie families were exceptionally reasonable people.
They still had a long way to go together in exile. It would be better for the families to look after each other rather than fight and scheme.
Moreover, the Fang and Xie families were currently eating and drinking what her Mo family provided. That probably didn't feel good.
Now a rare opportunity to earn some silver had appeared. If He Zhiran shortchanged them and only symbolically gave them a tiny amount like wages, then her family would have to continue providing disaster relief for them in the future.
This was also He Zhiran's way of discreetly preserving their dignity.
Seeing Peng Wang's words, Xie Tianhai assumed this idea had come from him. He excitedly took the twenty taels of silver.
Seeing this, Peng Wang reminded, "I wouldn't be so kind-hearted as to give you silver. If not for He Zhiran speaking up, I reckon your family wouldn't even see the shadow of any silver."
After this explanation, Xie Tianhai suddenly understood. He now knew the Mo family got along well with Peng Wang, but even so, he could never imagine Peng Wang actually listening to He Zhiran and agreeing to give them a share of the silver.
Thinking of this, Xie Tianhai sincerely cupped a fist towards He Zhiran. "Niece, I will always remember this act of grace."
