After talking with Qin Yuru and returning to Prince Chen’s Mansion, Shao Wanru sent everyone out of her room and sat quietly alone, sorting out all the news she had heard.

Shao Jing went to the border where the army was suppressing a rebellion. Back then, her parents concealed their identity and joined the army with her, who was still a little child. When the forces were redeployed, they happened to go to Qin Huaiyong’s place. Then, they moved into the Qin’s Mansion and knew Old Madam Qin.

Their war had been going badly, so her father wanted to send her pregnant mother and her away. However, they were separated by the rebels. Her father found her, but her mother was missing.

After that, her father died for Qin Huaiyong. Before he passed away, he entrusted Qin Huaiyong with her, who would soon become an orphan. Since then, she had been Qin Huaiyong’s second daughter. After putting down the rebellion, Qin Huaiyong was sent to Jiangzhou, not far from their previous battlefield, and became Jiangzhou’s Ningyuan Army General.

Meanwhile, his comrade Qi, who suppressed the rebellion with him, became Magistrate Qi. One was in charge of the civil affairs, and the other military. The two were in charge of Jiangzhou, guarding there.

Shao Wanru didn’t know what happened to her mother after they lost touch with each other. All her servant girls were dead, and she was in a confused state of mind, probably because she had been scared. The people sent by Duke Xing’s Mansion found her and took her back. After giving birth to her younger brother Shao Yuanhao in Duke Xing’s Mansion, she also died.

Grandmother said her mother was no longer breathing when she saw her. At first glance, her grandmother fainted. When her grandmother woke up, her mother’s coffin had been tightly sealed.

Shao Jing happened to be there at that time and was very afraid that others would know that he had sneaked over. Though he got along well with Yan Xi’s father after they met, he didn’t want Yan Xi to live in the capital city, so he instigated Wang Shengxue to plot against Yan Xi. It represented Shao Jing must have done something bad with a guilty conscience.

After so many years, he still felt guilty. It could be seen how horrific the crime he committed was.

Even after so many years, Shao Jing was so terribly frightened that he plotted against Yan Xi as a matter of urgency. Then what kind of thing could drive him to do that? After turning this matter over in her mind again and again, Shao Wanru thought the most likely answer was that Shao Jing caused her father’s death.

Shao Jing was afraid that others would know about it and did all of this to get rid of all the traces of this crime. Only by preventing people of the Yan family from coming to the capital could he keep this secret well hidden.

For the same reason, Shao Jing was on guard against Yan Xi, Qin Huaiyong, and Qi Ping who was Magistrate Qi. Not just Yan Xi but Qin Huaiyong and Qi Ping had seen Shao Jing back then.

They might not have cared about seeing Shao Jing there, but after Shao Wanru’s father died, they should have vaguely noticed something wrong. But their official positions were far inferior to Shao Jing’s, so they had to stick together and maintain a close relationship.

Many problems that troubled her before were now solved. With Qin Huaiyong’s character, he should protect her well because her father died to save his life, but he had turned a blind eye to her trouble. The main reason behind his abnormal behaviors should be that, in Qin Huaiyong’s view, her father was the target, and he just happened to be there.

Even worse, Qin Huaiyong might feel that her father represented a danger to him.

With this idea in mind, adopting Shao Wanru became a show. Other soldiers had witnessed her father’s death, so Qin Huaiyong had to take care of her. But how could he sincerely accept Shao Wanru as his daughter? The adopting show shouldn’t be his true intention.

Qin Yuru ground her under foot: she wanted to make Shao Wanru the scapegoat and tarnish her reputation instead. As their father, Qin Huaiyong only looked on indifferently. If it weren’t for her grandma’s continuous help, she would end up in a miserable situation. Even then, Qin Huaiyong watched without taking any action.

After all, Qin Yuru was his biological daughter.

For the sake of her biological daughter, he could bear to sacrifice Shao Wanru, though he had raised her as his daughter for so many years.

Shao Wanru bit her cherry lips lightly, feeling hurt, but her heart ached even more. In her two lives, she genuinely regarded Qin Huaiyong as her father. Even though Madam Di and her daughter were vicious, Qin Huaiyong was good to her.

She thought he was kind to her only because he had never taken the initiative to scheme against her. However, his passive attitude helped others push her off the cliff.

Shao Wanru could imagine what had happened back then. Shao Jing was the murderer who pretended to be one of the rebels. Her father, Qin Huaiyong, and even Qi Ping were at the scene. Before her father died, he stood up to protect Qin Huaiyong, which must have touched Qin Huaiyong deeply. But after discussing the matter with Qi Ping, they found out that these people were from Duke Xing’s Mansion in the capital city.

Another possibility was that they captured one enemy alive and learned that Shao Jing was behind the murder case. So, they put the blame on her father, thinking it was him that put their lives in danger.

Shao Jing knew what they had discovered, so Qin Huaiyong and Qi Ping united to build a closer relationship when they noticed the danger. Over the years, intimacy grew between the two families since they coincidentally lived in the same place. Children of the two families grew up together, and the two families had a tacit mutual understanding of the relationship between Qi Tianyu and Qin Yuru.

However, Madam Di, who didn’t know the ins and outs, had been trying hard to marry her daughter back to cover up her scandal. If it weren’t for her, the relationship between the two families would have been stronger.

Even if the two families failed to unite by marriage, Qi Ping was willing to leave his son and daughter to Qin Huaiyong when they arrived in the capital city. Later, when Qi Tianyu intended to marry Shao Wanru, Qin Huaiyong happily agreed, regardless of the worsening relationship between the two families.

Shao Wanru didn’t know when drops of her tears had fallen, rolling down her delicate cheeks. No matter how hard she bit her lips, she couldn’t stop her tears from falling down.

Among all these things, her parents were the most innocent, but even so, no one would pity them.

Her father died, her mother went crazy, and her younger brother was still a child. No one mentioned her family background. She was just an orphan in troubled times with her family broken up. All of this was caused by Shao Jing, who was gasping for the title of nobility.

He targeted his biological elder brother only to become the Heir of Duke Xing.

“My Lady…” Yujie’s concerned voice came from outside the door. The few servant girls didn’t dare to come in without Shao Wanru’s instructions and could only stand at the door, looking very worried.

Shao Wanru wiped the sad tear stains on her face with a handkerchief, trying to calm down. Then she said, “Come in!”

The four maids entered with the greatest of care. At the sight of Shao Wanru’s face, they knew she had cried just now. For a moment, they looked at each other and began to panic.

Shao Wanru had always been their mainstay.

Shao Wanru’s eyes fell on Qing’er, who was the last to come in. She had sent Qing’er to inquire about Shao Jing’s mistress.

“What do you find out?”

“My Lady, I learned that place is an external residence that the Marquis Xing’s Mansion purchased lately. They moved there from somewhere else. Marquis Xing should have been with this mistress long ago. Besides, they have a daughter.” Qing’er observed Shao Wanru’s expression and reported.

Shao Wanru had completely sobered up and looked up slightly, her watery eyes deep and penetrating. “Is it easy to inquire about it?”

“Yes, I found it out merely by asking a few people. None of them had seen her face but only a figure viewed from behind. She seldom showed up in public. A few people spotting Marquis Xing knew his mistress lived there.”

Qing’er thought for a moment and said, “My Lady, I think it was strange. I got the information easily, but I heard the Madam of Marquis Xing failed even after putting in a great deal of effort. Besides, this mistress has just moved there. There seems to be something wrong!”

She had always been highly sensitive to unusual things.

“He did it intentionally. Madam Jiang hadn’t found the place where he hid his mistress before, but now it was very easy to locate the mistress’s house. More than that, Marquis Xing wanted others to know that his mistress is living here with their daughter. He did all of this on purpose.”

Shao Wanru sneered.

Through conspiratorial means, Shao Jing became the Heir of Duke Xing and took the title of Duke Xing. Now he had become Marquis Xing and might not even keep his noble title. Did he resort to unusual tactics?

“Does Marquis Xing want to marry E’niang into the Marquis Xing’s Mansion and let her help him deal with the internal affairs of his mansion?” Yujie said. She saw E’niang in the private room just now. “That woman is very shrewd and seems capable, but she comes from that shameful place. How can she show up in public? There is no way she can take over the power of managing the mansion from the Eldest Young Madam!”

“My Lady, over so many years, Marquis Xing had never planned to let her show up and was constantly on guard against her, so why would he disgrace himself and allow this woman to marry into his mansion at this time? If he cared about her, he would have done it long ago and wouldn’t have had to wait until now. Am I right?” Qu Le asked another question.

“I also feel something is wrong here. His Grace doesn’t seem to be a person who would do such a thing for a woman,” Qing’er said.

The servant girls uttered many more opinions and finally analyzed this matter comprehensively. Anyway, Shao Jing would never do such a thing. It would be a hard but thankless job and might ruin his reputation.

“He chose to make their relationship known to the public at this time. How much does he care about this woman?

“It’s unlikely to be true!”

Shao Wanru had been listening calmly when her several servant girls talked about the matter. The sadness on her face had faded away, leaving only coldness. She pursed her lips tight.

After they finished discussing, she slowly concluded. “It’s not for that woman!”

This was absolutely impossible for that woman called E’niang, then for whom exactly? She would watch whatever would happen next, swearing that she would get her revenge.

She would never let Shao Jing go.

Shao Jing’s branch rapidly climbed up the social ladder at the cost of her family, her parents’ lives included. Debts of blood must be paid in blood. This time, she would make them pay the price.

“Qing’er, let our people keep an eye on that house and the woman.” Shao Wanru paused and went on speaking, “You’d better find out the information about the illegitimate daughter.”

She intuited that Shao Jing’s strange behavior at the moment might have something to do with the mysterious illegitimate daughter. Although it was inconvenient for a young lady to show up in front of others, she never left the house. When they moved there, the others only saw her back and then learned she was their daughter through some efforts. The whole matter appeared excessively unreasonable!

An uncultured woman like E’niang couldn’t bring up such a well-behaved daughter who faithfully struck to disciplines set for unmarried women!