The wedding feast was proceeding, but the lotus pond across a courtyard nearby was so silent. There seemed to be an isolated space that excluded the superficial noises and the wishes against people’s will.
The tranquil sound of Guzheng came from a stilted building. The tranquil melody was like Lingmaoxiang burning around people, which was so relaxing and comfortable.
“Sir Shangguan Yi, follow me.” A maidservant who was dressed as an imperial maidservant guided the gray-hair Shangguan Yi to the void lotus pond, “Sir Shangguan Yi, please be cautious of the steps.”
“Wait,” Though Shangguan Yi was anile, he did not feel exhausted after a long walking but was uneasy in his heart. He saw the jade pendant with the word “Jade” on it, worn by this little imperial maidservant who was pouring wine for him and exposed the jade pendant deliberately to him. And then he got the heartbeat faster. He asked, “Where is the owner of the jade pendant?”
Having seen there were no other people around, the little imperial maidservant pointed at the tall foot building, “Sir Shangguan Yi, listen please.”
With the psychological effect or the gradually louder sound, the impatient heart of Shangguan Yi was suddenly full of the melody like the fresh sound of mountain streams. He turned quiet gradually by the sound of Guzheng. The change of tones seemed to express a hoary and beautiful story.
Suddenly, Shangguan Yi opened his eyes. He figured out that the song was recomposed by a ballad in the regions south of the River. He sang this ballad every day when he accompanied his youngest daughter to sleep.
The tall foot building was only two-storied. Shangguan Yi went upstairs quickly and saw the back of a woman with a light-purple dress. The feeble and delicate back showed her tenacity and high power. With the up and down of his fingers, she played the Guzhang, which was giving out a similar melody.
“Yuer?” Shangguan Yi asked tentatively.
At this moment, the lady with purple clothes stopped playing and turned back slowly. The tranquil face was like his youngest daughter playing Guzheng on the loft very much. But unfortunately, they are a little bit different.
“Who are you?” Shangguan Yi frowned. He wanted to know who the girl in front of him was. Her face was similar to Yuer, and she could play the ballad in the regions south of the River.
“I am Qin Yunuan. Nice to meet you, Sir Shangguan Yi.” Qin Yunuan gave him a salute and raised her head. Her serene and determined eyes made Shangguan Yi doubted again that this girl was the reincarnation of his youngest daughter.
“Are you from Qin Family?” Shangguan Yi was a little bit unhappy when he heard about Qin Family. He had been living in seclusion in the regions south of the River and had no connection with his son, Shangguan Yuan, in the Royal City, who was born of the legal wife, because the death of his grandson Shangguan Rang made this over 70-year-old man sad for a long time. Shangguan Yi had a bad impression on Family Qin after he heard that the death of Shangguan Rang had something to do with Qin Family.
“My husband is from Leng Family.” Qin Yunuan added.
The surname was Leng, and the girl could appear in the imperial palace. So the girl’s husband was definitely from Prince Ning’s Mansion.
“You are from Prince Ning’s Mansion. So what? Shangguan Family will have no any connection with Qin Family.” Shangguan Yi said indignantly. And then he waved his sleeves and was about to leave.
“The surname of my mother is Yang, and her real name is Shangguan Yu.” Qin Yunuan raised her voice suddenly.
Shangguan Yi felt stunned and turned back to look at Qin Yunuan with suspected eyes.
“And the jade pendant,” Qin Yunuan said, and then the little imperial maidservant took out the jade pendant hidden in her sleeve, passing it to Qin Yunuan. There was the word Jade on the jade pendant, “OK, Zhuer, you quit. Don’t let others find you.” Qin Yunuan ordered Zhuer to leave, and then she put the jade pendant on her hand, and showed to Shangguan Yi, “This is the hangover of my dead mother.”
“Your mother is dead?” Shangguan Yi expressed his sorrow and then got serious, “Why should I believe you?” For many years, he hasn’t found his youngest daughter after his hard searching. It was so coincident that he met with his granddaughter in a wedding feast.
Though the daughter of Shangguan Yi was born of the concubine, her mother was a gentle and talented lady who got much love from him. But due to the ignorance of looking after his wife and daughter, the extremely jealous son born of his legal wife, Shangguan Yuan, kicked out the two women from the mansion when he was in his study tour outside. That was why he kept living in the distant regions south of the River and was not willing to live with Shangguan Yuan in the Royal City. He still felt angry about that and missed his sensible concubine and daughter.
His daughter would be over 30 years if she were still alive. Shangguan Yi did not believe that his daughter had been dead, and she wanted to believe she was alive.
Qin Yunuan understood the suspect of Shangguan Yi. The hardest part was to make Shangguan Yi believe her identity. Actually, Qin Yunuan knew that Qin Zhi had hidden other evidence. A simple jade pendant could not explain much. Qin Zhi had destroyed the key part in case that Qin Yunuan met with his grandfather by her identity. But Qin Zhi left something out.
“This is the manuscript of embroidering left by my mother. There is her handwriting on the manuscript. Sir Shangguan Yi, you can have a check, and you will know what I said was real.” Qin Yunuan picked up the half-old yellowed manuscript on the table. Yes, Qin Zhi forgot this. He did not know Lady Yang had already taught all her knowledge and experience to her daughter. And Shangguan Yi taught the handwriting of each word to Lady Yang. That was the most competitive evidence.
Shangguan Yi held the thin book doubtfully. He browed only two pages, and then his eyes got tears. It was not fake. He remembered all.
“Yuer, my yuer.” A 70-year-old man now was as weak as a child, “my girl, come here.” Shangguan Yi reached his hands and summoned Qin Yunuan to his side. He found the face of Qin Yunuan was very similar to Shangguan Yu and felt more touched, “Honey, you suffered a lot. Tell me, how was your mother dead?”
Qin Yunuan finally arrived at the moment. She gritted her teeth, “She was hurt to death.”
“Really?” Shangguan Yi felt astonished. He thought the kick-out of his daughter was her most miserable time. This girl from Qin Family was his granddaughter, and his daughter became a menial concubine of Qin Family. He felt so sorry for his daughter. But now he heard that his daughter was killed by others…
“Really,” Qin Yunuan said slowly, “The person who killed my mother was the legal wife of Qin Family, Dou Qing’e who suicided in Psycho Tower.”
Shangguan Yi sighed, “All are due to my ignorance. Or. She would not….” Yes. His youngest daughter was killed, but the murderer was dead too. There was no person to hold responsibility. What else could Shangguan Yi do except sighing?
“But Sir Shangguan Yi. If there had been no permission of my father, Dou Qing’e would have had no chance to kill a person and get exempted.” Qin Yunuan clenched his fists tightly. After Qin Yunuan broke up with Qin Zhi radically, she investigated all early things about Qin Zhi. Qin Zhi betrayed many women except He Lian. From the imperial competitive examination, Qin Zhi got a higher position, almost relying on women. And as for Qin Yunuan’s mother, Lady Yang, or Shangguan Yu, she was just a failing tool that Qin Zhi had once utilized.
“You mean?” Though Shangguan Yi always focused on the academy, he also knew much about plots as an older man. It was totally wrong to bully a Confucian.
“My father tried to utilize the real identity of my mother to make the acquaintance of Shangguan Family, but my mother refused his plot. My father believed that she was useless if she could not be utilized.” Qin Yunuan said with slightly cold eyes. Now in her words, her father was like a cold-blooded animal instead of her close relative.
“What you said just now was your own father, your close blood father.” Shangguan Yi felt surprised by her straight words.
“Yes, what I said just now was my own father,” Qin Yunuan raised her head with determined and obstinate eyes, “He was the father who stopped his son’s official career secretly and plotted to destroy the future of his son.”
Leng Changxi had paved the developing path for Qin Baochuan, and Qin Baochuan was waiting to attend the selection campaign of the Imperial College in autumn. But now things got trouble. Although those officials who were responsible for the selection examination promised to Leng Changxi seemingly, there was less than one month for the selection examination, and those officials started to break their promises. They seemed to refuse to surrender even if Leng Changxi put the dagger on their necks. Finally, Qin Yunuan knew that those officials were the followers of Qin Zhi.
Qin Yunuan refused the more severe solutions of Leng Changxi. She wanted Baochuan to enter the college aboveboard and let all people know that Baochuan was qualified and intelligent.
Qin Yunuan told all the doings of Qin ZHI TO Shangguan Yi. When he heard how Qin Zhi deserted Qin Yunuan and Qin Baochuan and threw them into the back room indifferently, this old but strong man felt extremely outrageous.
“Bastard! Qin Zhi was a bastard!” Shangguan Yi was the founder of Confucianism in Qi. He was qualified to denounce Qin Zhi.
“Grandpa,” Qin Yunuan said in a soft voice, “My father has never regarded my brother and me as his children. You are the only relative of Baochuan and me in this world.”
Qin Yunuan called Shangguan Yi grandpa, which softened the heart of Shangguan Yi. He looked at Qin Yunuan and seemed to give all the love he once put on his daughter to his granddaughter, “Where is Baochuan? Could I see him?”
