The word “illegitimate child” stimulated Old Madam’s nerves greatly. She had always paid attention to family lineage. When she knew that Qin Yunuan was the daughter of a concubine, Old Madam strongly opposed the marriage. However, Leng Changxi had a tough attitude, and later Qin Yunuan showed outstanding ability, so she let it go. But what if she wasn’t the Qin family’s blood? Old Madam grabbed the round handrail tightly.
Concubine Tang poured oil on fire, “No wonder Third Young Madam doesn’t look like Grand Commandant Qin.”
“You’d better talk less of these unfounded words, Lady Tang.” Qin Yunuan said coldly. Comparing to Second Madam’s fussing, Concubine Tang had a mouth that could stir up troubles.
Prince Ning frowned and said, “This maid died strangely. I don’t know if the suicide note is real or not. Moreover, it has been such a long time. You can’t make a random judgment based on one vague sentence.” After Prince Ning finished speaking, he looked at Old Madam, waiting for her opinion.
Old Madam didn’t speak for a while. Her eyes focused on Qin Yunuan. She had just handed her the biggest secret of the Leng Family yesterday, but now…
“In short, the blood of Prince Ning’s Mansion must be pure.” Old Madam closed her eyes. Her attitude was very clear.
The servant girl outside went in and reported that an aged nanny came. She claimed to be the midwife of Third Young Madam’s birth and also a good friend of nurse Liao. The nanny came to collect the body of her.
“Oh, what a coincidence.” Concubine Tang quipped. “We can now let her in and find out. Don’t you agree, Third Young Madam?”
Qin Yunuan was unperturbed, “Why wouldn’t I agree on an opportunity that might prove my innocence?”
After a short while, an old woman in her sixties stumbled into the room. She was wearing a pair of torn straw sandals, and her limbs were blue from the icy cold. As she stepped into the warm hall, her complexion turned red like fire.
The old woman seemed to be from the country. When she saw the richly decorated inner hall, her eyes were about to fall out. Her greetings to the old lady and King Ning were even more exaggerated, kneeling on her knees and shouting auspicious words constantly.
“Old lady, stand up and talk.” Prince Ning ordered someone to bring a chair for the old woman, and the countrywoman immediately became equal to the wives and Young Madams in these houses.
The nanny didn’t speak very clearly regarding her age. It took a long conversation for them to learned that the woman’s surname is Xu. She and nurse Liao had the same hometown. They also had a pair of auspicious locks that looked the same and would be passed on when they became in-laws. Sixteen years ago, it was because of this relationship with nurse Liao that nanny Xu had the opportunity to enter the Qin family and deliver the baby for Lady Yang.
“Did you find anything strange during your delivery, old lady?”
Qin Yunuan looked indifferent as Concubine Tang probed with excitement.
This lady Xu considered seriously. After a while, she answered assuredly, “I remembered that at that time three pennies were enough for my delivery fee, but Lady Yang was especially lavish that day and gave me three taels of silver. I knew Concubine Yang was not in a good financial situation. It was strange that she was so generous all of a sudden. Later, sister Liao told me and asked me to tell the outsiders that this daughter was born prematurely, not full-term.”
“Yunuan was born prematurely?”
“That’s right.” Qin Yunuan answered honestly, “Mother was not feeling well when she was pregnant. She was too tired sewing my father a coat, and I was born early.”
“No, no,” Nanny Xu shook her head sanctimoniously, “I remembered it clearly that the girl was of a full-term pregnancy. Her crying was so loud. But that Lady asked me to say that she was of premature delivery, and I took her money. So she had a premature delivery. I know nothing about the secrets of this noble family.”
Qin Yunuan snorted coldly, “I was born early. The entire Qin Mansion knew that, and the nanny who came to serve me later also knew that my thin body was caused by premature birth.”
“Yes,” said Prince Ning, thinking the matter over, “It happened so many years ago, old lady, did you remember it wrong?”
“I didn’t.” Nanny Xu shook her head repeatedly, “I still remember that there was a butterfly-shaped birthmark on that daughter’s back. If she was really Third Young Madam, you could check it.”
“This is not true,” Qin Yunuan said while looking at Xu with her cold and sharp eyes, “When Consort Cao wronged me for having an affair with the young servant, she used the servant girl in my yard that eavesdropped on the mark on my body. An open secret cannot testify.”
Prince Ning also nodded, “Old lady, what other evidence do you have?”
“Yes,” said Nanny Xu as she took out a copper Yuanyang button from her purse. It was of primitive simplicity and cheap, “Sister Liao asked me to deal with it then. It was a filthy thing, she said. It shouldn’t be left in Qin’s house. Otherwise, people would talk. The button was wrapped in a small kerchief, and I didn’t know what it was. I just wondered if there was anything shameful about this Concubine Yang. After opening it, I realized that this button is from a pair of buttons, one for the man and one for the woman. Each pair was different. But the workmanship is too rough to the love token of Master Qin and Concubine Yang. I thought this lady must have done something that violates the moral bottom line of a woman. I was about to take it to the pawnshop the next morning when I happened to see a man carrying another button to pawn. He looked familiar. Oh, isn’t that the butler of the Qin Family? Alas, too many indecent things in a big noble family. We shouldn’t talk too much as inferiors.”
“Shut up!” Calm as Qin Yunuan was, she couldn’t constrain herself in face of the constant wild talk of nanny Xu, “How dare you discredit my mother? Being knowledgeable, reasonable, gentle, and loyal, she raised me and Baochuan up by herself. She was the best woman in the world. Leng Shuang, tear this woman’s mouth for me.”
Leng Shuang paused, and then stepped forward, Yuanyang immediately blocked in front, but she was still slightly inferior to Leng Shuang. When the old lady was about to stop Qin Yunuan, suddenly a powerful hand caught Leng Shuang’s raising arm.
It’s Leng Wu.
“Yo, these servants have grown bold enough to break in.” Second Madam screeched.
Leng Wu glanced at her, and then at the terrified, shivering nanny Xu. He saluted and only said to Old Madam and Prince Ning, “Old Madam, Master Prince, Sir Shangguan is here.”
It became evident that this was not a casual visit. Shangguan Yi, the leading authority in the literature field of Qi, was no exception.
“Please lead him to the lobby to rest first. I will go right away.”
“There’s no need.” An old but powerful voice sounded from outside the door. In his white garment, Shangguan Yi suddenly appeared at the door, looking even more lofty and unyielding in the cold wind. Beside him stood no other men. It was Leng Changxi, wearing an icy mask. His eyes looking at Qin Yunuan, on the contrary, were very hot. For the first time, he saw such clear anger on Qin Yunuan’s face. His little hedgehog has always been good at concealing her emotions in front of everyone, but today she was irritated for real.
Prince Ning stood up to welcome him immediately, “It is my fault to have been so rude in not preparing for your sudden visit.”
Shangguan Yi was a sage-like elder, and no one dared to underestimate his talent. Even the chatty Concubine Tang and Second Madam became cautious and humble. Old Madam and Shangguan Yi were of the same generation, but she also spoke to him very politely.
“I have no idea what drove you here in person, Sir Shangguan…” Old Madam smiled and ordered servants to place a mahogany Zen chair for Shangguan Yi to sit beside her.
“I came for nothing else,” Shangguan Yi spoke in a calm manner, and took another look at Qin Yunuan, “but only to find my relatives.”
“Oh?”
Shangguan Yi’s eyes at Qin Yunuan were even more compassionate. He had long wanted to make Qin Baochuan and Qin Yunuan’s identities public. Now that Baochuan’s grades and hard work in the Imperial College are obvious to all, there was no need to worry about rumors. It was just that Qin Yunuan had always been low-key and unwilling to publicize, so he didn’t force it. Hearing that Qin Yunuan was falsely accused of being the wild species of the Qin family, he rushed over from the Imperial College as soon as Leng Changxi told him the news.
Shangguan Yi held back his excitement, “I only received the news yesterday. My long-lost little daughter floundered in the Royal City and became an embroiderer for a living. Later, she got married into the Qin family and became a concubine. My dearest, youngest daughter, Shangguan Yu, was the biological mother of Third Young Madam of your mansion. In other words, Qin Yunuan and Qin Baochuan are my granddaughter and grandson.”
It struck everyone’s heart like thunder.
Second Madam and Concubine Tang couldn’t believe it.
“Is Sir Shangguan for sure?” Prince Ning reconfirmed.
Leng Changxi answered leisurely before Shangguan Yi could talk, “Absolutely. The tokens, time, and birthmark are all consistent.”
Second Madam was anxious, “However, it’s been so long. No one had seen how the Shangguan girl wandered all the way to the capital, became an embroiderer, and then entered the Qin Mansion. How could I believe it all?”
Qin Yunuan snorted coldly, “Then no one had seen with their own eyes that my mother broke her moral creeds and hooked up with men. No one had seen that she gave birth to a daughter who was obviously full-term but said to be premature. Second Madam, how could you believe it to be true?”
Second Madam was silent. Shangguan Yi raised his tone in a timely manner, “What? Someone wanted to slander Yu’s innocence?”
Second Madam shrank her neck, and Concubine Tang didn’t dare to say anything. The nanny Xu only glanced at Shangguan Yi before she was immediately scared to the ground by his stern eyes. She took her cue from other people’s respect of Shangguan Yi. Knowing that he was a big role, she started kowtowing immediately.
“I need to confess my mistake. I need to confess. Forgive me. I remembered it wrong. I remembered that the daughter of the concubine was born prematurely. The newborn was like a kitten, so pitiful. I also made up the story of those Yuanyang buckles.”
