Tao Gu Gu was quite surprised. "This kind of thing really happened?" She sighed and shook her head in defeat. Tao Gu Gu mumbled something to herself, but the others weren"t able to make out what she had said.
She didn"t talk for a long time, making the quartet felt anxious. "Tao Gu Gu?" Lin Jian called her name, trying to make her talk.
Tao Gu Gu looked at them and sighed. "I will let you know everything honestly, but please... you have to know... everything that had happened after the Ce Fei was gone and the decision regarding the baby... was solely done by me. Please don"t think that it had anything to do with the Ce Fei!"
Tao Gu Gu seemed like not wanting them to blame the Ce Fei for what happened to the baby, but it actually wasn"t so. Tao Gu Gu was indeed the one who made the decision because the Ce Fei was in no condition to make a decision because of her mental state. Tao Gu Gu predicted this since the baby was still inside the Ce Fei"s womb. Thus, she planned, made the preparation, and did the deed.
The quartet looked at each other, seemingly knew that there was something more happened --- especially with the baby. All of them nodded and answered at the same time, "Yes, Tao Gu Gu. We understand."
Tao Gu Gu calmed herself down and she knew that she needed to tell Lin Jian about the truth, and she had already prepared to receive the consequences. "I know that the Ce Fei wouldn"t be able to love the baby because of the **** and everything that she had gone through. The Ce Fei also wouldn"t be able to bring the baby along with her. I thought about what would happen to the baby in the prince palace... so I decided to make a big decision on my own. I didn"t care what I had to do --- even evil things, but I had to save the baby because she was innocent and she was the Ce Fei"s flesh and blood."
The quartet looked at Tao Gu Gu in surprise. Evil things? They thought to themselves. They felt the gooseb.u.mps on their whole body and they thought of the worst. What... what did Tao Gu Gu do to the baby?!
Lin Jian asked, "Tao Gu Gu... what actually happened to the baby?!" He started to feel a bad premonition when he heard Tao Gu Gu said evil things. "Did you do something to her?"
Tao Gu Gu said, "I indeed did something to save the baby. Don"t worry! I would never harm her! I even heard that she lived happily..."
The quartet sighed in relief when they knew that the baby was actually alive. They even forgot about Han Xiang for a moment, their minds were solely on the real daughter.
"So... Princess Han Xiang... is she my mother"s real daughter or not?" Lin Jian asked carefully.
Tao Gu Gu answered, "No... She isn"t..."
The quartet had pretty much guessed from the way Tao Gu Gu talked, but they couldn"t help but surprised. "So... she was an impostor from the start?" Xiao Fang asked with a gulp. Lin Jian sighed in relief when he knew that Han Xiang wasn"t his sister, after knowing her bad deeds. On the other hand, Xiao Fang felt sad and wondered who this Han Xiang was. She treated her as best friend her whole life, but she suddenly became foreign to her.
It was actually okay if she wasn"t the real daughter for her, after all, the one that she knew and became her best friend was this Han Xiang. However, she made her feel disappointed lately and her scheme... it broke her heart. She wondered... whether a family gene also affected someone"s personalities or not. Xiao Fang shook the thought away, it was better for her if she listened to the continuation of the story.
Tao Gu Gu nodded. "Yes... I exchanged the baby myself. I couldn"t do it alone, so I have my friend"s to help me."
"But how?! When?!" Yao Ying asked curiously. It was hard to exchange a baby unless it was done right after the birthing process. This way, no one would notice the difference. However, he also knew their condition --- they had no backing and resources whatsoever, so how could Tao Gu Gu successfully do it?
Tao Gu Gu smiled bitterly. "Of course, I exchanged the baby right after birth." Tao Gu Gu answered the "when" question, however, she didn"t elaborate more about the "how" question, making the quartet feel more curious.
"Then... this Princess Han Xiang... what was her background before she was switched?" Yao Ling asked curiously. For her, this question was more important than the "how" question.
Tao Gu Gu shook her head. "I had no idea because I asked from my friend"s help to find the baby. My friend is the midwife that the prince had hired in the household. We were both from the same wealthy family that gave us as tributes to the Prince manor. Fortunately, the Ce Fei specifically asked for a Shu woman to become her midwife on her own accord, so it was easier for me to make a move."
"Why didn"t you try to inquire about her background?" Yao Ling asked in confusion. "Isn"t it important?"
Tao Gu Gu shook her head. "Not really. I only made a requirement that the baby should be healthy and the same gender with the real one. Because of this, we prepared two babies ahead of time --- one boy, one girl."
The quartet was quite bewildered with Tao Gu Gu"s words. They felt that Tao Gu Gu was a bit cruel and she randomly changed the fate of the baby.
Tao Gu Gu sighed. "I know that to you, youngsters, my decision would certainly look quite cruel. I know about it myself. But for me, the most important thing was my master"s daughter"s safety."
The quartet understood the logic, but still, taking an innocent baby and throwing her into a fire pit seemed a bit... They didn"t continue their line of thought. If they didn"t have this Han Xiang, then the real daughter would be the one who received the abuse. They didn"t know the real condition at that time, so they could only murmur their agreement halfheartedly.
"Tao Gu Gu... how did you do it?" Xiao Fang was still curious about the process.
Tao Gu Gu explained that because the midwife was her friend, she was willing to help her and taking the risk after she had explained the situation to her. Probably because they came from the same kingdom, they felt more kins.h.i.+p to help each other. Of course, part of it, money could talk too. The midwife was given quite a few silver taels and she would be able to live the rest of her life without working. As long as the matter was done beautifully, she could even leave the Han Kingdom and go back to her own kingdom.
They hatched a plan together and the midwife brought her friends to help --- all of them were Shu people, so they could be trusted. When the baby was born, to avoid unnecessary trouble, the midwives and Tao Gu Gu sprinkled sleeping powder to the people inside the courtyard. It was lucky for them, the prince was called to the palace around that time. It seemed like Heaven was helping them to make the job easier.
When they knew the baby was a girl, they quickly brought Han Xiang in and exchanged them. For the boy"s fate, it would be handled by the midwives. The real daughter was handled by Tao Gu Gu because she didn"t trust the midwives enough to let her be taken care of by them. While the midwives were busy taking care of the Ce Fei and Han Xiang, she quickly went to the secluded place in their courtyard and gave the baby to her sister-in-law to handle.
Then, she went back as nothing had happened. The midwives received the baby and when Tao Gu Gu took a look at the baby --- she was quite satisfied. The baby had white skin and quite beautiful. She knew that the prince would love this baby --- of course, before her mother"s disappearance.