Upon hearing Song Nanxin's words, Lady Meng looked extremely surprised. Immediately after, she stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Song Nanxin, and broke into sobs.
"My child! When did you suffer such a hardship? Why didn't you tell me until now?"
Song Nanxin cried, "How could I tell you about this, Mother? At that time, I wished I could just dash my head against a tree and end it all! After I returned to the prince's mansion, every time I thought about that experience, I felt like my heart was being torn apart. When I found out I was pregnant, there wasn't a shred of joy in my heart. All I wanted was to jump into the lake and kill myself!"
"I thought that if I just got rid of the baby, everything would be okay. But who would have known that... I damaged my body instead, and it will be very difficult for me to conceive again in the future!"
"My poor child!" Lady Meng was heartbroken and cried so hard that she seemed on the verge of fainting.
Song Nanxin wriggled on her knees towards the Princess of Ning and grabbed the hem of her dress after breaking free from Lady Meng.
"Mother Princess, when I encountered such a thing, I didn't even dare to report it to the authorities. If this matter were to be known by others, I would have no choice but to die. I did this to protect the reputations of the Prince of Ning's Mansion and the Marquis of Ding'an's Mansion, so I made the decision to hide this matter on my own. I know I was wrong now!"
Song Yihuan watched as the mother - daughter duo put on this act, her heart as cold as ice.
It seemed that they had already thought about how to deal with the situation if this matter were exposed. The story about being defiled on the way back from Changyue Nunnery was probably colluded upon by the two of them long ago.
At this moment, Song Yihuan couldn't help but marvel at how ingenious the excuse Song Nanxin had come up with was.
A woman being forced to lose her virginity was completely different from doing it voluntarily. The former happened without her knowledge, making her a victim, innocent and pitiful, which could easily arouse others' sympathy.
Although her elder sister had made many wrong moves to hide the fact that she had lost her virginity later, there was still room for forgiveness in terms of reason.
If she didn't have the evidence of her elder sister's affair and catch the two of them red - handed, she would surely expose her elder sister on the spot.
But it didn't matter. Now that she had no more weaknesses, she could wait. She would surely wait until the day when she could catch her elder sister and her lover red - handed.
The Princess of Ning heaved a deep sigh. She never expected that Song Nanxin would encounter such a "calamity". "When you were insulted by the villain, did you see his face or hear his voice?"
Song Nanxin shook her head. "That day, I passed by a peach grove. Seeing the blooming peach blossoms were so beautiful, I thought about picking some petals to make peach blossom pastries for you, Mother Princess. That man covered my mouth and nose from behind and knocked me unconscious before he did those indecent things. When I woke up, it was almost dark. That's when I knew what had happened. By then, the man had already fled."
The Princess of Ning glanced at Ji Lingchuan beside her, feeling that fate was really playing tricks on them.
"So, this is the reason why you asked Yihuan to take your place to receive the prince's favor? You planned all this?"
Song Nanxin didn't deny it. She nodded. "I was defiled in March. It wasn't until May that I found out I was pregnant. I didn't dare to say anything. I just thought that if I got rid of the baby, everything would be fine. So I asked someone to get an abortifacient. But who would have known that after I took it, although the baby was gone, I bled heavily from below, and I've had a hard time conceiving ever since."
"In June, the prince arrived in the capital. He was bound to consummate the marriage with me. Since I couldn't serve the prince, I... I came up with this stupid idea to hide the matter."
Hearing this, the Princess of Ning couldn't help but be surprised by the audacious actions of the two sisters. They had exchanged identities and slept with Ji Lingchuan many times, yet they didn't show the slightest flaw.
She raised her head. Her tear - stained face and sorrowful eyes were really pitiful.
"Mother Princess, I planned all this. It has nothing to do with Yihuan. If you want to punish someone, punish me."
The Princess of Ning didn't completely believe Song Nanxin. She looked at Song Yihuan, who had been silent all this time.
"Song Yihuan, is what your elder sister said true?"
Song Yihuan got up and knelt beside Song Nanxin. She said in a low voice,
"I didn't know that my elder sister had encountered these calamities. When my elder sister mentioned it to me at that time, she only said that she accidentally fell into the water during her menstruation and injured her body, so she couldn't conceive. I didn't know anything else."
The Princess of Ning frowned. "Since you knew about it, so, it was all your own will to take your elder sister's place to serve the prince?"
Ji Lingchuan looked at the Princess of Ning. "Mother."
The Princess of Ning met his eyes and said indifferently, "Can't I ask? I even want to ask you. The two of them are clearly different. Why didn't you notice the problem all this time? Or did you know all along and just go along with it?"
Song Yihuan unconsciously grabbed her sleeve and looked at Ji Lingchuan.
Ji Lingchuan didn't deny it. He said, "I had already noticed something in Xingzhou. The reason I didn't say anything was that I wanted to see how long the two sisters were going to hide and deceive me."
During the days when they were stranded in the mountains, Song Yihuan had been quietly leaving him clues. His noticing was also the result she wanted.
Song Yihuan said in a low voice, "I was unaware of it the first time. That day when the prince returned to the capital, I drank some wine at the banquet. After that, I didn't know anything. It wasn't until I woke up the next day that I found that the deed was already done."
Thinking of the blood - stained handkerchief, the Princess of Ning felt dizzy.
"Later, I found out that all this was designed by my elder sister. She told me that she couldn't conceive. In order to repay my elder sister for taking care of me in the marquis's mansion in the past, I agreed to help her hide this matter. Every time after that, I served the prince voluntarily."
Lady Meng quickly said to the Princess of Ning, "Princess, Xin'er and Huan'er were indeed wrong to design this. But Xin'er was also forced into this. She didn't want to encounter such a tragic thing either."
After saying that, she covered her face and cried again.
The Marquis of Ding'an also reacted at this time. Following Lady Meng's words, he said, "The marquis's mansion is in the wrong. Whatever the princess wants to do, the marquis's mansion has no complaints."
The Princess of Ning sighed and raised her hand to rub her throbbing temples.
The fact that the younger sister consummated the marriage for the elder sister did sound extremely absurd. But after getting to the root of the matter, it was impossible to completely blame Song Nanxin, the initiator.
If she had encountered such a thing, for her own interests, she might have made the same choice as Song Nanxin. With her means, she might even have been more ruthless than Song Nanxin.
The Princess of Ning made a decision. Opening her eyes, she said, "According to the mistakes the princess consort has made, losing her virginity after marriage and being unable to bear children are both reasons for divorce according to the Seven Reasons for Divorce. She should be divorced."
"However, since there are reasons behind this, we can't deal with it in the usual way. It's not easy for women to survive in this world. Considering that the princess consort was an innocent victim, I can stop pursuing this matter and won't mention it to the Empress Dowager."
"As for Song Yihuan." The Princess of Ning looked at Song Yihuan. Her tone was no longer as kind as before.
"I won't let the descendants of the Prince of Ning's Mansion be left outside. Since Chuan'er and you have consummated the marriage, from now on, your relationship will be officially recognized to avoid others accusing the Prince of Ning's Mansion of bullying a young maiden."
"However, with your background, you can't be a side consort. You can only be a concubine. The children you give birth to will also have to be sent to your elder sister to be raised. I think you should understand these principles, right?"
The corner of Song Nanxin's lips curled up imperceptibly, as if she had everything under control.
So what if this matter was exposed?
No matter how smart that little bitch Song Yihuan was, wasn't she still destined to be a concubine?
Song Yihuan wasn't surprised by this result at all. In fact, she had been prepared for it the moment she decided to expose this matter.
She was about to speak when she heard Ji Lingchuan say,
"Mother, I won't take her as a concubine."