Greetings, Ninth Uncle

Ch.24 - Exposed

From the very beginning, Cheng Yujin felt that as a father and son, the way Old Master Cheng treated Cheng Yuanjing was very strange. Today, when the Old Master sent everyone out, his eyes were looking for someone. Among all Cheng family members present, Cheng Yuanjing was the only one absent to see the imperial physician off.

Needless to guess, the Old Master was looking for Cheng Yuanjing.

Old Master Cheng was seriously ill, and he could be gone anytime. The arrangements for the properties and title he would leave behind was the utmost importance. But at this critical time, he wasn't in a hurry to arrange his posthumous affairs, but instead sent everyone off and talked to Cheng Yuanjing alone. The meaning behind this action was inexplicable.

Cheng Yujin felt the oddity of this matter, so she made a special arrangement, avoided everyone's eyes, and ran back into the Old Master's bedroom. She wanted to know what actually was in the Old Master's mind, that he should talk with Cheng Yuanjing alone while disregarding other family members.

How could she know that she would hear such a shocking secret!

Cheng Yujin was caught off guard and almost screamed on the spot. She slammed her mouth tightly, so hard that small teeth marks were left on her fingers. For the first time, Cheng Yujin regretted her action. She wished she could cover her ears and stopped listening any further.

But betraying her expectations, the voice of conversation simply weakened a bit by the wood separating them, but still clearly flowed into the cabinet.

Old Master Cheng was dying, and was at his last strength. He wanted to sit up but only managed to raised his head. His eyes could no longer see clearly and only registered a blurry figure.

This was the crown prince. Even if he fell off from the cloud, even after receiving so many setbacks, he was still a noble and high figure, with the imperial aura radiated throughout his body.

Cheng Yuanjing sighed softly. He sat down by the bedside and said: "Marquis, I'm here. If you have any unfulfilled wish, please speak out."

In the narrow cabinet surrounded by heavy wooden doors, Cheng Yujin's fingers tightened even more. Cheng Yuanjing didn't deny the Old Master's call and acquiesced it.

He isn't Cheng family's son, but the crown prince who has been missing for 15 years?

With a bang, many past events suddenly exploded in Cheng Yujin's mind. It's no wonder that Old Master Cheng and Cheng Yuanjing's interaction didn't seem like a father and son. When the Old Master made a decision, he would look at Cheng Yuanjing, as if making a request. After seeing Cheng Yuanjing nodded, it was as if he was relieved; it's no wonder that the Old Master asked Cheng Yuanjing to write calligraphy for the Emperor's longevity feast; no wonder he was very protective towards Cheng Yuanjing, even to the point of being biased so blatantly; no wonder the Old Madam has always been suspicious about Cheng Yuanjing's parentage. Little Xue-shi has been separated from Old Master Cheng for almost twenty years, but suddenly was back with a six-year-old son in tow. Old Madam Cheng always suspected that Cheng Yuanjing wasn't a Cheng's descendant, but little Xue-shi was deliberately lying.

So the truth turned out to be like this. The Old Madam suspicion was correct, but the child's real parentage was too big for their imagination.

The torrent of thoughts barraged Cheng Yujin one after another, pushing her mind into total chaos. The more chaotic she felt, the lighter her breathing. She knew she had touched a big disaster today. The crown prince's disappearance was a major event; the whole country has been searching for him for fifteen years. Who would have thought that the crown prince actually was being raised in the capital so uprightly? Cheng Yujin didn't dare to guess whether the Emperor knew about it or not, but she was sure that neither the Empress nor Senior Grand Secretary Yang was aware.