Listening to her daughter's heartfelt words, the pregnant Lady Hou went on a killing spree.

The smile on Prime Minister Ye's face vanished, replaced by a serious expression as he looked at his daughter.

"Miaomiao, did you hear something outside?"

"Father, if I said I was Consort De's biological daughter, and Princess Qixia in the palace was my mother's biological daughter, would you believe me?"

"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

There were many palace maids and midwives present during the delivery; with so many eyes watching, how could they possibly have given the wrong baby?

"What if Mother herself switched us?"

"Your mother has no reason to do this."

"How could she not have a reason? Father, have you forgotten what kind of life I had when I was a child, when Grandmother was still alive?"

As his daughter spoke, Prime Minister Ye recalled that when his daughter was a child, he had seen his mother beating her several times when he returned to the mansion.

He said it many times, but he was bound by filial piety. What else could he do but say it? He could only separate the two of them.

Since they all lived in the same household, who could stop a mother from seeing her daughter if she wanted to?

Miao Miao suffered a lot as a child because of her mother's preference for sons over daughters, which is why she cherishes her only legitimate daughter so much.

As she reminisced about the past, some of the lady's eccentricities also came to mind.

Even when he was still in confinement after giving birth, his wife would ask about Princess Qixia from time to time. At that time, he jokingly asked his wife why she paid so much attention to Princess Qixia.

The lady simply smiled and said that Princess Qixia gave birth on the same day as her daughter, so she paid extra attention to it.

However, Prime Minister Ye knew that his wife only cared about their daughter on the surface, and that she didn't really care about her daughter deep down.

This is evident from the fact that they've been married for decades.

He used to not understand why his mother disliked her only daughter, even though his wife didn't have the same preference for sons.

Now, after hearing her daughter's words, all her doubts were resolved; it turned out that Miaomiao was not her biological daughter.

Prime Minister Ye was momentarily unable to accept it; the daughter he had doted on since childhood was not his biological daughter.

"Miaomiao, are you sure?"

"Now I'm pretty sure I'm not your biological daughter."

That's not the most important thing. The most important thing is to save the lives of the entire Ye family.

Prime Minister Ye immediately became dejected.

Yes, switching the princess is a capital offense punishable by the execution of the entire family.

For a moment, Prime Minister Ye felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn't know what to say or how to ask Miao Miao to plead for the Ye family in front of the Emperor.

"Father, I'm not talking about Mother switching me out."

I overheard Zhao Kuo's private conversation with Princess Qixia.

Whether Ye Cheng believed her or not was no longer her concern; she simply couldn't find a better reason.

"Mother has already secretly recognized Princess Qixia."

"How dare she? Wait, how did Zhao Kuo get involved?"

Prime Minister Ye truly lives up to his title; he grasped the crux of the matter with just a few words.

"Father, please listen to me first. You know Princess Qixia's personality. She's used to being arrogant and domineering. How could she be willing to have her background exposed?"

So she hooked up with Zhao Kuo. Didn't Zhao Kuo come to the Prime Minister's residence to seek your advice a while ago?

"I've been here several times."

"Father, take a look at this letter first. I found it in the bottom of a secret compartment in your study."

Prime Minister Ye took the letter and opened it. When he saw the contents, his hands trembled slightly, and his face was full of disbelief.

"What are they trying to do!"

"To take the lives of the Ye family, as long as the entire Ye family is executed, no one will know whether she is a real or fake princess."

Without my family's support, you can imagine what my life will be like in the Marquis of Chengen's mansion, Father. So we must save ourselves now.

Prime Minister Ye found it hard to believe that his own daughter would want to kill the entire Ye family in order to protect her status as a princess.

How cruel must one be?

But the evidence before him forced him to believe it.

He knew Miao Miao's personality best; if she really wanted to rejoin the royal family, she wouldn't need to use such a reason to deceive him.

"Father, you should destroy this letter first. In ten days, the Imperial Guards will come to the Ye residence to search it. I don't know if they have any other letters suspected of being treasonous in other parts of the Ye residence, so we can't gamble."

"Father, the only thing we can do now is to get Mother to prove my identity and exchange me for Princess Qixia. This is something you must do, Father."

She knew she couldn't persuade the Prime Minister's wife; only her father could.

She didn't have much affection for Wang Shi to begin with, and this incident has only made things worse. Now, she doesn't even want to call her "mother" in private anymore.

She had never realized that her mother always kept a distance from her, but now she finally understood.

As expected of a prime minister, Prime Minister Ye made a decision quickly.

"I'll send someone to the Marquis of Chengen's residence to tell you that your mother is unwell and that you should rest at home tonight. We'll go to the palace together tomorrow."

"Go back to the courtyard and rest first. I'll send someone to the academy to call your younger brother and older brother back together."

Ye Simiao didn't say anything, and left the study to return to his courtyard in the Prime Minister's residence.

"Someone come here."

The attendant stepped forward.

"master."

"Send people to summon back all the Ye family members, including the second and third masters who are away, the eldest young master who is on duty at the yamen, and the second young master who is studying at the Imperial Academy. Just say that the madam is seriously ill."

The servant was shocked, realizing that something serious had happened; the lady was perfectly fine, yet the master had said such a thing.

But he dared not say anything more, bowed and agreed, and hurriedly sent people to various parts of the capital to call for help.

The Ye family's roots in the capital are not deep. Prime Minister Ye's father was a third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination and settled down in the capital. He then raised his son step by step, and only two generations have passed since then.

There were three sons in the Ye family. Besides Ye himself, who became an official, his two younger brothers were not particularly talented in their studies and preferred to do business.

Fortunately, neither of them had traveled far during this time, so finding them wasn't difficult.

This is a matter of life and death for the Ye family, and Prime Minister Ye plans to have everyone present before discussing it further.

Princess Qixia was twenty years old but had not married or found a husband; the official explanation was that she had not yet found a suitable one.

Unlike ordinary young ladies, royal princesses are not subject to criticism no matter when they get married. The only exceptions are the Emperor and Consort De saying a few words to her. Princess Qixia is used to this.

Outside the palace, Princess Qixia had her own residence, where she was enjoying tea with Zhao Kuo in the garden.

Looking at Princess Qixia, Zhao Kuo's eyes were filled with love.

Zhao Kuo was good-looking and had a pair of captivating eyes that made him look at everyone with deep affection.

Otherwise, Ye Simiao wouldn't have turned to him after missing out on marrying Marquis Anshun. After all, even if the Prime Minister's eldest daughter married a prince as his principal wife, it would have been fine. Why would she marry a second master of the Cheng'en Marquis's mansion who couldn't inherit the title?

Princess Qixia's personal maid stepped forward, breaking the tension between the two.

"Princess, a scout just reported that Ye Simiao has returned to the Ye residence."

Half an hour later, Prime Minister Ye returned to his residence. His family members are currently being summoned back one by one, the reason being that his wife is seriously ill.