Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 158 Canglan Ferry (28)

Madam Feng was also in the hall. Suddenly called upon, she stood up, her eyes gleaming: "Miss Jiang is skilled in beauty techniques. She said that herself; I'm just relaying it..."

Upon hearing this, the people in the hall began to stir.

"Is there really such a wondrous skill in the world that can change a person's appearance and make them look exactly like another person?"

"The world is full of wonders, what if?"

"That's terrifying. If he's a fake prince, where is the real prince?"

Amidst the commotion, Pei Yuanhong spoke up: "Quiet down—"

The hall suddenly became quiet.

Pei Yuanhong asked Yan Zhen, "Jiang Shi, what Yan Shi said makes sense. Do you have anything to say?"

Yan Zhen looked at him strangely: "What do I need to say? Yan Jinhe's words were just her personal speculation, without any evidence. There's a saying that whoever makes the claim must prove it. Pei Lang is a living person standing right here. I don't need to prove that he's real. On the contrary, Yan Jinhe, what evidence do you have to prove that Pei Lang is fake?"

Yan Zhen was taken aback by her tricky argument.

She had only known that Yan Zhen was difficult to deal with before, but now that she was truly facing her, she realized just how cunning she was.

"If I dare to say this, then I must have evidence."

Yan Jinhe cleared her throat, exchanged a quick glance with Yan Jinqing, and began to list the various unusual behaviors of "Pei Wangzhou" after his return home.

She described in great detail how her tastes and preferences had changed, and how her temperament and personality were different from before.

After listing them, she added, "If it were just these abnormalities, it would be understandable, after all, people's tastes and temperaments are not always the same. But the young master used to be afraid of cats, and if he accidentally touched a cat, he would get rashes all over his body. Everyone in the manor knows this."

But a few days ago I saw him catch a cat with his bare hands to save Jiang, and afterwards he acted as if nothing had happened. He wasn't afraid of cats and didn't even get a rash. I became suspicious and had my brother test him several times. They found that he was even more abnormal at the Ministry of Justice.

Yan Jinqing continued, "That's right. I am Brother Pei's colleague, working in the Ministry of Justice. At first, I thought my sister was overthinking things, but after testing her, this so-called prince had no recollection of many cases he handled before his disappearance. He knew nothing when asked. If it weren't for someone else, I really wouldn't know how to explain Brother Pei's reaction."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuanhong, Madam Xu, and even the old matriarch all changed their expressions.

Pei Yuanhong had verified what Yan Jinqing had said.

Before calling Jiang over, he asked Pei Wangzhou a lot of questions, but Pei either stammered or couldn't answer them at all.

"Wangzhou," Pei Yuanhong said, "how do you intend to refute what Young Master Yan said?"

Pei Ji remained silent for a while, seemingly unsure how to answer, and simply lowered his head—he remembered Yan Zhen's words: when fishing, you must leave bait; if you take all the hooks at once, the fish will be unable to continue chasing and biting.

Upon seeing this, Madam Xu stood up, her eyes red as she stared intently at Pei Ji, whether out of disbelief or unwillingness to believe it: "You...you're not from Wangzhou?"

Pei Ji then raised his head, his eyes showing no panic, but rather full of helplessness: "Mother, even you believe what they say?"

When Xu was called out like that, she looked at Pei Ji and then at Yan Jinhe, and suddenly became uncertain: "This... what should we do?"

She secretly believed that the person in front of her was her son, because if he was a fake, then her real son might have already met a tragic end.

She subconsciously resisted accepting this outcome.

Yan Jinhe pressed on while the iron was hot: "If you want to know whether he is the real prince or the fake prince, just bring a cat over and try it. If he touches the cat's fur and doesn't get a rash, then he is an imposter."

As soon as she finished speaking, Yan Zhen laughed.

"why are you laughing?"

"I'm laughing at your stupidity," Yan Zhen said. "If you touch a cat's fur and get a rash, it's called an allergic reaction in medicine. There are two types of allergic reactions: one is congenital, commonly known as a genetic defect, and the other is due to insufficient immunity, which is acquired and can be cured."

I have an old yellow dog at my Biyue Residence that runs around freely every day. When I rescued Pei Lang, he broke out in a rash all over his body from the dog's fur. It took me quite a bit of effort to cure his allergy with medication. Now you're using that to frame him for being a fraud, Yan Jinhe. Do you really wish he were dead?

"You..." Yan Jinhe couldn't understand her string of technical jargon and didn't know where to begin refuting her. She could only angrily say, "Words are no proof, I don't believe you!"

"You don't believe me? Fine, you can come back to Biyue Residence with me now. I can not only call out that old yellow dog, but also show you the medical books in our sect that record allergic reactions!"

She spoke with such conviction that, judging from the reactions of those around her, Yan Jinhe already believed her to a great extent.

Realizing that continuing to argue about the "allergy" point would be detrimental to him, Yan Jinhe had to find another way: "But he doesn't remember many things. How are you going to explain that?"

Yan Zhen raised his chin: "You'll have to ask him that."

If we don't leave a loophole for the Yan siblings, we won't be able to use them to clear Pei Ji of suspicion as the "fake heir."

All eyes in the hall turned to Pei Ji.

Pei Ji looked troubled, hesitated to speak, and finally chose to remain silent.

He was unwilling to speak, and the Yan siblings couldn't produce any more compelling evidence, so the situation reached a stalemate.

At this moment, the old lady spoke. Although her voice was hoarse and old, it was very clear: "I remember, Zhou'er had a birthmark on his buttocks."

Reminded by her words, Madam Xu quickly replied, "Yes, yes, it is a circular birthmark."

Pei Yuanhong looked at Pei Ji: "Would you be willing to go behind the screen and let the steward inspect it?"

Pei Ji nodded: "Okay."

So Pei Ji and the steward went behind the screen to take off their clothes and check.

A moment later, the two came out, and the butler bowed and said, "Master, Madam, Old Madam, the young master does indeed have a round birthmark on his body."

Yan Jinhe retorted, "If he's an imposter, he must have disguised himself before coming back, otherwise he wouldn't be so calm today. The calmer he is, the more it shows that he has something to hide."

Yan Zhen scoffed: "According to your logic, when questioned, should Pei Lang act furtively and look guilty, or should he fly into a rage and argue vehemently to prove his innocence?"

"You don't need to use your sweet talk here! A lie is a lie! I've been married to the Crown Prince for two years, and I would never mistake him!" Yan Jinhe's chest heaved violently. She gritted her teeth and pulled out her last trump card, "If he has a clear conscience, does he dare to have his bones dripped to acknowledge his kinship with his grandfather?"

Here it comes!

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhen and Pei Ji's expressions both changed.

Before Pei Ji could even speak, Pei Yuanhong exploded in anger: "Yan Shi, you're utterly ridiculous!"

The practice of "blood dripping to verify kinship" involves opening the coffin of the deceased and dripping the blood of the person verifying kinship onto the remains of the deceased.

If the blood can blend into the bones, it proves that the two people are related by blood; if it cannot blend, then the opposite is true.

The deceased are believed to be laid to rest in peace, and opening the coffin is considered a great disrespect.

Pei Yuanhong could never do something so rebellious as to disturb the peace of his ancestors.

Yan Jinhe observed Yan Zhen and Pei Ji's reactions and concluded that they were feeling guilty and afraid. She became even more insistent: "Father, if there were any other way, I would not have done this. Your son, my husband, may have been murdered and impersonated by these two. Don't you want to give him justice and the truth?"