1 Stealing the Dragon to Exchange for the Phoenix
Dongyue Country
Royal Residence in the Capital City
The cold wind of February howled, filling the air with dryness.
That night, the main courtyard of the Royal Residence was accompanied by a piercing wail, followed by the crying of a newborn baby.
"Nanny, is it a boy or a girl?" The woman, who had just gone through childbirth, was pale and weak. Yet she ignored her own condition and immediately asked about the child.
The old nanny holding the baby hesitated, her expression grave as she said, "Replying to the Princess Consort, it's a Commandery Princess!"
The Princess Consort, who had just given birth, seemed to lose half her life force as she collapsed back onto the bed, murmuring in a daze, "Why is it a Commandery Princess? How could she be a Commandery Princess?"
The nanny, unable to bear it, glanced outside and leaned in to whisper to the Princess Consort's ear, "Princess Consort, Madam Mo's son has been brought over. Do you really… want to switch the Commandery Princess?"
Looking at the tiny child in her arms and thinking how the dignified Commandery Princess was about to become the daughter of a fifth-rank official, the nanny's heart ached.
The Princess Consort's eyes also flickered with deep sorrow, but she remained resolute as she said, "Do it, the only thing to blame… is that she should not have been born a girl!
Moreover, I am as close as sisters to Zi Yan, and I trust she would treat this child well.
Besides, Zi Yan and I had already agreed to swap her son for this child and let the two children marry when they grow up.
As for this child, even though she cannot be a Commandery Princess, she will still be the Crown Princess in the future, which won't confuse the Imperial Family's lineage."
The old nanny looked at the baby in her arms and finally couldn't bring herself to be heartless. She said, "Princess Consort, it's still a bond between mother and daughter, won't you hold the Commandery Princess?"
With tears in her eyes, the Princess Consort turned her face away, heartbreakingly ordering, "Take her away!"
She was afraid that if she delayed any longer, it would be even harder to let go.
Roar…
Thunder boomed, and the rain poured down.
In the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan in Dongyue Country, the birth of the eldest son of the fourth prince, the thunderstorm that had shrouded most of Dongyue Country for two years finally relented, the rain falling heavily, signaling the end of the disaster and was seen as a great omen.
That very night, a decree from the Imperial Palace arrived, conferring the title of Princely Heir to the eldest son of the prince.
At the same time, the one who should have been the esteemed Commandery Princess was secretly placed in a food box and carried out. Continuous heart-wrenching cries came from the box, but they were drowned out by the unceasing thunder in the night.
In an alley not far from the Royal Residence, a discreet carriage was parked there. A guard carried the food box with the child inside over to the carriage and then left.
But as soon as he reached the quiet corner, someone immediately slit his throat, and his body was silently dragged away.
A maid brought the food box into the carriage and reported to the lavishly dressed woman inside, "Madam, what should we do with this child?"
The woman in the carriage was none other than the Princess Consort's dear friend, the current Mrs. Mo, Zi Yan.
Mrs. Mo opened the food box, looked disdainfully at the crying child inside, and said without mercy, "Force the poison down her throat, then dispose of the body."
Mrs. Mo watched as the maid forced the prepared deadly poison into the baby's mouth, satisfied only when the carriage started to move away. Before leaving, she didn't forget to instruct, "Make sure to dispose of this dead child cleanly. Don't let anyone notice anything suspicious."
"Yes."
After Mrs. Mo left, the maid looked at the child in her hands, whose face was turning red from crying, and felt troubled.
On this rainy night, how was she supposed to dispose of the child?