After the delicate and soft-spoken wife gave up, the aloof and powerful minister embraced her and sh

Chapter 359 Is Pei Huaijin a fake heir?

"explain."

In the study, Shen Fuhan leaned back in his chair, watching the guards who had returned from Liuzhou with a relaxed posture.

Whether Pei Huaijin had any problems or not was no longer that important to him.

His relationship with A-Yue was no longer as tense as before, and Pei Huaijin gradually became insignificant in his heart.

However, now that the people he sent had found out the truth, he naturally wanted to hear it.

The guard composed himself and laid out the prepared speech he had prepared along the way.

"In response to your question, Your Excellency, the heir of the Duke of Qi is extremely low-key in Liuzhou, rarely venturing out. His neighbors only have the impression of him as gentle and refined, and exceptionally intelligent."

"However, three years ago, they did not see the Crown Prince for half a year. When they met again, the neighbors felt that he had changed a bit. His face was still the same, but his voice had changed, and he seemed to have grown taller."

"I then carefully investigated based on the suspicious points here," the guard said, taking a deep breath, "and discovered that the heir of the Duke of Qi was not the Duke of Qi's biological son."

Shen Fuhan straightened up and looked at him with some surprise. Pei Huaijin wasn't the son of the Duke of Qi?

However, he found it reasonable, after all, Pei Huaiying had said it many times, and after hearing it so many times, he naturally had his doubts.

When he first heard this, he thought he would ask Pei Huaiying about it, but he was too busy to care about this trivial matter.

The guards brought out the evidence they had collected and placed it in front of the Marquis.

Shen Fuhan read through the letters one by one and picked up two of them.

The two letters are written in identical handwriting, but upon closer inspection, subtle differences are found, clearly indicating that someone deliberately forged them.

The guard pointed to one of the documents and said, "This one was written by the real Crown Prince, and the other one was written by the current Crown Prince."

Shen Fuhan pondered for a moment, then asked, "Have you found out where the real heir is?"

The guard said with shame, "I have not found anything."

Shen Fuhan fell silent. Since he had disappeared without a trace, he was most likely dead.

Was it Pei Huaijin who killed him?

He recalled what Ling He had found out about Pei Huaijin's childhood—the neighbors all said he was a concubine's son, an illegitimate child.

If he had moved to Liuzhou at that time, it would have been plausible for him to meet the real heir and take his place.

Shen Fuhan asked, "Does the Crown Prince have any friends in Liuzhou?"

The guard thought for a moment and said, "It seems not, but some neighbors said they saw a masked man entering and leaving the house. Although they only saw him twice, masked men are not common, so they have a deep impression of him."

Shen Fuhan tapped the table, pondered for a moment, and continued to ask, "Have you found out the background of the current heir?"

The guard said apologetically, "There was no news before I returned to the capital. Other guards are investigating. I don't know if there has been any progress after several days."

Shen Fuhan nodded slightly. It would take half a month for them to come and go. With only ten guards, it was already quite good that they had found out so much in a month and a half.

He then said, “I will give you a clue. Carefully investigate the people who went from Chang’an to Liuzhou after the thirteenth year of Chengde. There was a mother and a child. The woman was beautiful and the child was ten years old. His name was Gu Tingqing. It is also possible that he changed his name.”

The guard carefully noted it down, then clasped his hands in thanks and said, "Thank you, Your Excellency."

Shen Fuhan said, "You may leave now. Rest for a day or two before heading to Liuzhou. Also, please send ten guards with you."

Although he wasn't paying as much attention to Pei Huaijin anymore, he naturally wouldn't sit idly by since there were still suspicious circumstances surrounding the matter.

Moreover, he became somewhat interested in this matter: how exactly did Gu Tingqing manage to become Pei Huaijin without anyone knowing?

If, as he suspected, Gu Tingqing had indeed killed the real Pei Huaijin, then he, as the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, could not stand idly by.

He was happy to see his love rival turn into a prisoner.

After spending the evening in the study, Shen Fuhan returned to his bedroom.

Unexpectedly, Wen Jiayue was not in the main room, but in the side room.

He then followed.

I thought she was talking to Zhao Zhao, but it turns out she was just watching Zhao Zhao sleep.

The two little maids were also asleep on Zhao Zhao's bed, their three little heads huddled together, looking especially heartwarming.

Wen Jiayue sat to the side, watching this scene with a gentle expression.

Shen Fuhan took a closer look, his brows furrowing. It was against the rules for a maid to sleep with her master.

Just as he was about to speak, Wen Jiayue shushed him, stopping him from speaking, and got up to pull him out.

Back in the bedroom, Wen Jiayue said, "Husband, don't say anything improper. This is Zhaozhao's request. If you take them out and Zhaozhao wakes up crying, you'll have to comfort her yourself."

Moreover, she didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Eating and sleeping together could better cultivate the bond between master and servant. She had also slept with Ruyi when she was a child.

When she was six or seven years old, she suddenly wanted to sleep by herself, and from then on, Ruyi slept in the outer room.

Zhao Zhao will be like this in the future, so she plans to let her daughter be happy.

Shen Fuhan squeezed her hand: "You really know me, you know what I'm going to say."

"So, what does my husband plan to do?"

“Of course I’ll listen to you,” Shen Fuhan said, looking down at her. “I’ll listen to A-Yue in everything.”

Although he didn't quite understand, it wasn't a big deal. Perhaps girls are different from boys and need more companionship from their peers when they are young.

Wen Jiayue gave him a reproachful look: "Go have your meal."

Shen Fuhan casually asked, "Were you like this when you were little?"

Wen Jiayue nodded: "I slept with Ruyi until I was six years old."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Fuhan pushed open the door.

As Ruyi bowed respectfully outside the door, she suddenly felt a chill on the top of her head.

After the lady and the marquis passed by her, she stood up and glanced at the still trees in the courtyard.

That's strange, there wasn't any wind just now.

She followed the Marquis and his wife, one foot about to enter the side hall, when she suddenly heard the Marquis say coldly, "I don't need you to serve me."

Ruyi quickly withdrew her foot and looked at the lady.

Although Wen Jiayue was a little surprised that he didn't let Ruyi serve him, it was a small matter and she wouldn't embarrass him, so she said, "Ruyi, you can go out now."

Ruyi curtsied and left. Shen Fuhan snorted and picked up his chopsticks.

Wen Jiayue looked at him with a puzzled expression: "What's wrong with you?"

Shen Fuhan said calmly, "I suddenly find myself disliking her."

"This is really inexplicable," Wen Jiayue muttered softly.

"You want to know why?" Shen Fuhan put down his chopsticks again and said seriously, "I'm jealous."

Wen Jiayue was even more puzzled. How could someone be jealous of Ruyi?

"What did Ruyi do?"

"She sleeps with you."

Wen Jiayue: "..."

Shen Fuhan really wanted to ask her if she had slept in the same bed with Pei Huaijin when she was young, but she held back.

This matter shouldn't be thought about too much, otherwise he won't be able to eat. In short, just pretend it never happened.

At the same time, he was also wondering whether or not to tell Wen Jiayue about what the guard had reported that day.

He was eager to know Wen Jiayue's reaction after learning that Pei Huaijin was not the heir of the Duke of Qi.

However, if she couldn't resist asking Pei Huaijin for confirmation, she would alert him.

Shen Fuhan hesitated for a long time before picking up his chopsticks.