Chapter 689: Chapter 689

"Yes, it was this old servant!"

Before Nanny Zhao even stepped into the Magistrate Mansion, she was still hesitating.

But once she had sounded the drum of injustice and was brought into the main hall, her heart became, instead, calm.

There was no turning back now; she could only forge ahead!

No longer struggling, Nanny Zhao found herself feeling even more composed.

She straightened her back, lifted her head, and looked intently at the Capital Governor, "I don’t know if your Excellency is aware, but over a decade ago, our lady gave birth to a son for the Marquis."

The Capital Governor had been serving in the Magistrate Mansion for only six years, but he had previously been transferred around several Yamen (government offices) in the Capital City.

Thus, he had heard some old tales about the city.

After concentrating for a moment, the Capital Governor’s eyes lit up, "I have heard of this matter—it was said that Marquis Pingnan had even requested to appoint the child as the Princely Heir, but unfortunately—"

The Saint had not yet decreed it, and the little master of the Marquis Mansion passed away.

At the time, some in the court suspected, "Could it be that Marquis Pingnan did not wish to send his son to the Capital City for schooling and deliberately spread such news?"

And everyone understood why Marquis Pingnan might be unwilling, though no one spoke of it openly.

The Saint and the court wanted to control Marquis Pingnan. Upon hearing that the Marquis planned to request a title for his legitimate eldest son, they intended to bring the child to the Capital City.

It wasn’t to be called a hostage, but rather to serve as a warning to Marquis Pingnan.

And what happened? There were those in the court who suggested this, but before the Saint could decide, news came from the Southwest—the child had died!

This, this was too much of a coincidence, and it made people suspicious.

However, subsequent events proved that Marquis Pingnan had not lied; the child truly did die.

Consequently, the matter came to nothing.

The Capital Governor remembered such a trivial incident because, during that year, he happened to be at the Imperial Censorate and saw several Imperial Censors arguing non-stop over it.

"Your switching of the Marquis Mansion’s young master, is it related to the events of that year?"

The Capital Governor had his suspicions, but his face showed nothing as he asked in a heavy voice.

"Indeed, it is related!"

Nanny Zhao’s answer was swift. As she brought up the past, a nostalgic expression appeared on her face.

"After the child passed away, our lady was devastated. Luckily, heaven showed mercy, and the following year, our lady became pregnant again!"

"Initially, this was a cause for joy, but for some reason, our lady started thinking about the deceased eldest son, and she began to let her thoughts wander."

"She would also constantly have nightmares at night, either dreaming that the child had an accident or that someone had stolen away the child!"

Nanny Zhao was quite astute, refraining from saying in public that Mrs. Zhang was afraid that after giving birth to a son, the court would take him to the Capital City as a hostage.

However, the Capital Governor knew of the past events. Even if Nanny Zhao spoke obscurely, the Capital Governor understood Mrs. Zhang’s worries.

Although he found Mrs. Zhang, the Marchioness, to be somewhat melodramatic, as a parent himself, the Capital Governor could understand and surmise certain things from it.

He narrowed his eyes, hiding the sharp light in their depths, and without interrupting, he continued to listen to Nanny Zhao’s narrative.

"I am the lady’s wet nurse and, if I may be so bold to say, in my heart, the lady is like my own daughter."

"Seeing the lady worry over some wild thoughts, becoming more and more haggard each day, was as painful for this old servant as needles piercing the heart."

"I could not bear to see our lady suffer , and as it happened, my daughter-in-law was also pregnant, with the due date not much different from our lady’s."

"I then came up with an idea: If the Marchioness gave birth to a daughter, there would be nothing to fear; but if she had a son, and my daughter-in-law just happened to have a daughter, I—I would switch the children!"

Nanny Zhao spoke slowly.

However, the Capital Governor suddenly asked a question, "Does Mrs. Zhang know about this matter?"

In fact, what the Capital Governor wanted to say was, could Mrs. Zhang be the mastermind behind this whole affair?

It’s still the same truth, the Marquis Mansion is not an ordinary family.

Even if Nanny Zhao were a respected servant, the childbirth of the Marchioness was definitely a major event for the entire Marquis Mansion.

Not to mention the Grand Madam, the Second Madam, and other masters who would be waiting outside the birthing room, but even inside the birthing room, there was a large group of maids and old women surrounding.

Under such intense scrutiny, swapping the baby without the master’s permission would be extremely difficult for just one old servant to accomplish!

Unless there was a mastermind plotting and arranging everything from behind.

"No! Our lady was not aware!" Nanny Zhao firmly denied.

She took the initiative to "surrender herself" precisely to clear Mrs. Zhang’s name; how could she allow her to be tainted with the slightest suspicion?

"All of this was the old servant’s own decision!"

After saying this, Nanny Zhao deeply bowed down, her forehead touching the bluestone floor tiles, and heavily kowtowed, "The old servant deserves to die, the old servant is foolish, thinking it was for the sake of the lady, but a grave mistake was made!"

"The old servant has confused the bloodline of the Marquis Mansion, and, and deceived the monarch, the old servant deserves death a thousand times over!"

"Now that the young master is growing up, and the lady has no children at her knees, the old, the old—"

"Today, the old servant came specifically to confess, hoping that the Capital Governor would help our lady seek justice and allow our young master to acknowledge his ancestors and return to his clan!"

After finishing her speech, Nanny Zhao desperately kowtowed again.

Her forehead struck the floor heavily, making a muffled sound that caused people to cringe.

After a moment, her forehead had already turned a purplish blue.

"...Let this official sort it out again!"

The Capital Governor watched Nanny Zhao’s performance with a cold eye, his face deliberately showing an expression of not quite being able to accept it.

"For the sake of loyalty, you swapped your granddaughter with the Marchioness’ baby?"

Nanny Zhao nodded vigorously, "Yes! It is all the old servant’s fault, the old servant deserves death a thousand times!"

"The Marquis Mansion’s young son was then raised under the names of your son and daughter-in-law?" the Capital Governor asked slowly.

"...Yes!" Nanny Zhao had a bad premonition and hurriedly called out first, "The old servant knows, the Capital Governor suspects that the swapping of children was intentional by the Marquis Mansion!"

"But, it really has nothing to do with the Marquis, nothing to do with the Marchioness, everything was the old servant’s own doing!"

"After the Marquis Mansion fell into trouble, the old servant was also afraid that her actions from the past were crimes against the emperor, but, the old servant just wanted to help our lady keep her only son!"

"Fortunately, our Marquis has been absolved of false accusations, and now the Saint has brought justice for our Marquis, the Marquis Mansion is no longer branded with crimes..."

So, Feng Yanting is not the descendant of a convicted traitor but the distinguished legitimate eldest son of the Marquis Mansion!

"What a loyal servant!" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novelFirｅ.net

The Capital Governor didn’t believe a word of what Nanny Zhao said!

Although he had no evidence, he just felt that in the matter of the child swap, Mrs. Zhang definitely wasn’t innocent.

"However, this case is related to Marquis Pingnan’s Mansion, this official cannot conclude it hastily!"

The Capital Governor clapped the gavel and issued an order to the bailiffs, "Summon people, invite Marquis Pingnan, the Marchioness, and Feng Zhongliang and his wife, along with all involved..."