Chapter 147

Chapter 147 The Unworthy and Affectionless Kinship

“Moying, let me take a look!” Qu Qiuyan could not help but speak again.

It was hard for Qu Qiuyan to hide the excitement in her eyes. As long as she could prove that Qu Moying was not Father’s daughter, everything next would go smoothly, and Mother could be proved innocent from Qu Moying’s “accusation”.

In this case, Qu Qiuyan could blame everything that happened at Crown Princess’ funeral on Qu Moying, claiming that everything was plotted by Qu Moying and that Qu Moying framed her and Mother up. Qu Moying did this because she found out that Mother suspected her of not being Father’s biological daughter, so she set up such a trap and then claimed that Mother was to blame.

With this story, Mother and herself would be off the hook.

“Take a look? Why? Do you think that I, a dignified lady in Vice Minister’s Mansion, should reveal my body for you to check based on some hearsay?”

Qu Moying sneered, and her snow-white little face showed a little fierceness.

“Dear, w-why do you not accept us? Just let us take a look. I-If you don’t like it, y-you can show it to this young lady. We are your parents! H-How can you ditch us for wealth and glory!”

Li let out a heart-wrenching cry and shouted.

“Dear, we are your parents. Y-You have already accepted us as your parents in private, but why do you go back on your words now? Y-You have our blood. We will definitely let you live a good life in the future. Even if we are not rich and famous, we will make you happy.”

Liu Shan also howled sadly.

“Moying, just let me see, and then I’ll vouch for you.” Qu Qiuyan’s face was serious, as if she was on Qu Moying’s side.

“What do you want to see?” a cold voice suddenly came from the door. Everyone turned around and saw Old Lady standing at the door.

Qu Zhizhen hurriedly stood up from behind the desk and walked over to bow at Old Lady. After Old Lady glared at him coldly, her gaze fell on the couple kneeling in front of the desk. “Tell me, what mark is on your daughter?”

“There’s a mark on her right leg!” Seeing the imposing Old Lady, Li and Liu Shan were taken aback in fright, but Li still hurriedly answered.

“What kind of mark?” Old Lady asked sternly.

Qu Moying stood up and walked to Old Lady’s side to support her.

“It has been too long, and I couldn’t remember it clearly after I fell sick. I only remember that there must be a mark on her right leg,” Li explained.

“Since you can’t remember clearly, why are you so sure that there is something on her ‘right’ foot?” Old Lady sneered and stared at Li with burning eyes.

“Well, I remember it subconsciously just like I remember that our daughter disappeared. Other than this, we… we have forgotten many things…” Li started crying again, sounding plausible.

“Alright. I will check on my granddaughter myself. But if there isn’t any mark as you claimed, I’ll send you directly to the court!” Old Lady snapped indignantly and walked in. There was an inner room behind Qu Zhizhen’s study.

Qu Moying helped her walk in.

Qu Qiuyan stood up as well. “Grandmother, I’ll come with you.”

As Qu Qiuyan spoke, she wanted to follow. Although she was almost certain that there was a mark on Qu Moying’s right leg, she felt that it was better to verify it with her own eyes.

“Wait here. Don’t let these scoundrels escape.” Old Lady turned to look at her coldly.

After saying that, she ignored Qu Qiuyan and held Qu Moying’s hand as they walked inside.

Looking at Qu Moying, who was silently and obediently following by Old Lady’s side, Qu Qiuyan’s expression changed slightly. She suddenly felt a chill down her spine, and a bad feeling rose in her heart.

Sensing a gaze falling on her, Qu Qiuyan hurriedly raised her head and met with Qu Zhizhen’s eyes. She hastily pouted in grievance, called him “Father” gently, and returned to her seat. She no longer dared to show off, and she silently wrung the handkerchief in her hands.

She was a little flustered at this moment.

The couple kneeling on the ground was even more flustered. Li and Liu Shan exchanged cautious looks and saw the panic in each other’s eyes. They originally thought that as long as they insisted that Fourth Lady Qu was their daughter, everything would be fine. No matter what, their daughter’s disappearance and Granny Gu’s matter were both true. They even stuffed the note secretly into the sachet when Granny Gu sewed the opening. They were illiterate, so they didn’t know what was written on the note, but they did so because someone asked them to.

It was the same now. They would get a daughter and a lot of money out of the blue from this incident, and then they could leave the capital. Even if their scheme was exposed, no one would be able to find them.

That person even told them that they could fetch a good price for this daughter they got for free, and that they could get a large sum of retirement money. After that, they could buy a land and house when they returned to their hometown. For them, it was a perfect deal.

However, things seemed to develop in a different direction than what they had expected. Just now, they were intimidated by Old Lady Qu’s last sentence.

The study room quieted down, and only the heavy breathing of the couple could be heard. After a while, their foreheads began to sweat. Their expressions were no longer calm. The two looked at each other, and their hearts beat wildly. Time now seemed to be moving extremely slowly.

All kinds of emotions were escalating rapidly.

“Second Master, Old Lady invites you in.” Suddenly, a maid hurried out of the inner room and bowed to Qu Zhizhen.

With a nod, Qu Zhizhen stood up, turned around, and walked inside. The door of the inner room was ajar. Old Lady was sitting on the ottoman, while Qu Moying was standing beside the ottoman with her head lowered. Right now, Qu Moying had removed her eye veil. When she heard the voice, she looked up at Qu Zhizhen, who stopped abruptly when he met with her eyes.

The girl in front of him made his eyes light up. He had always been proud of Qu Qiuyan’s beauty. Lord Jing was so deeply mesmerized by her that he didn’t mind her misbehavior at Crown Princess’ funeral the other day.

But one glance at Qu Moying in front of him made him realize that Qu Qiuyan was inferior to her. Her bright and sparkly eyes were like water, but there seemed to be a layer of faint mist hovering under them. Her long eyelashes fluttered twice, making her look even more beautiful. Her skin was as fair as snow, and her beauty was indescribable.

Qu Moying had a pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes, which was somewhat similar to Yue, who also had a pair of almond-shaped eyes. There was a hint of red at the corners of her eyes, adding a bit of charm to her beautiful appearance. The combination of enticing charm and pure beauty made her appearance even more outstanding.

Although he had never seen her look before, there was a faint sense of familiarity.

With just a glance, Qu Zhizhen was sure that she was the daughter of Yue and him, although Yue almost no longer existed in his memory.

It was absolutely impossible that Qu Moying was the daughter of the couple outside!

He had thought that Qu Moying was at most delicate and pretty, but Qu Zhizhen never thought that Qu Moying was much more outstanding than Qu Qiuyan. Having such a perfect daughter, he couldn’t casually marry her off to a nobody. So what if she had an eye problem? Judging from her swift movement, he could tell that her eye problem wasn’t serious, not to mention that it wasn’t physically obvious either.

In an instant, Qu Zhizhen made new adjustments to Qu Moying’s position in the family.

“Father!” Qu Moying stepped forward and bowed, and then retreated to Old Lady’s side.

“I have already checked. There is nothing on Ying’s right leg. Ying specifically asked her maid to say something about her leg, and unexpectedly, that unscrupulous couple took the bait and lied about the mark on her foot!” Old Lady said coldly. “I know best if Ying is your daughter or not, that’s why I asked her to remove her eye veil. When she was born, there was a faint red at the corner of her eyes. It was like someone dyed the ends of her eyes with lipsticks, and it was not too obvious. I have never seen other girls have this.”

After hearing what Old Lady said, Qu Zhizhen also remembered that Old Lady had mentioned this when the baby was carried to him. She praised the baby for looking smart and adorable, and said that the baby opened her eyes not long after birth, and that her facial features were exquisite.

However, he did not care about Qu Moying at that time because for him, she was just a daughter. Moreover, in his opinion, Qu Moying was very ugly at that time because she wasn’t fair or chubby. There was nothing special about her except the faint red at the corner of her eyes.

As expected, she was his daughter. He actually felt relieved.

He looked at Qu Moying gently and affirmed, “Now that we know the truth, I know what to do, and I’ll take care of it. Help your grandmother to go back and rest.”

Qu Zhizhen spoke in such a mild and gentle tone that Qu Moying almost felt that he had changed into someone else. This was the first time he had spoken so amiably to her.

“Father, since the matter is faux, why do they dare to come here to claim me as their daughter? They are from the village. Previously, they came to me because they couldn’t find a job. Since they were from the village, I took pity on them and told Yu Dong to give them some old clothes and money. As for the pastries, I didn’t give them. It wasn’t me. The only place I brought the new pastries to was Second Madam’s room when I went to visit her.”

Qu Moying’s words reminded Qu Zhizhen. He was the one who kicked over the food basket, and he saw the pastries inside. A trace of anger flashed in his eyes.

No matter how he judged this matter, it was a provocation to him because they falsely claimed his daughter as theirs.

“I also heard about Granny Gu. Yes, the old maid at the back door did see Yu Dong and the couple, but she only saw them talking and did not hear their conversation. Granny Gu was Ying’s wet nurse. She is now in the village. I will send someone to investigate it. If Granny Gu does not know anything about this, this must all be a scam. Who is plotting against Ying?” Old Lady added without hesitation.

When Old Lady came over just now, she saw the young servant coming with the old maid who guarded the back door. Old Lady had asked a few questions on her way here. Now, the old maid was still waiting in the corridor.

There must be someone behind this matter. It was not difficult to guess who it was. Yu… It was Yu again! A touch of rage rose in Qu Zhizhen’s heart. The previous incidents had happened one after another. At first, Qu Zhizhen wanted the matters to die down so that no one would talk about it anymore, but now, Yu made another incident…