Chapter 247 Child

After the portrait was retrieved, Madam Zong unfolded it in front of the guests and said, "Qiu'er seldom left her room and passed away early, so many people may not remember what she looked like."

"This is the portrait I asked Mr. Shi to paint for her before she got married. Look, is it a portrait of my Qiu'er and Madam Feng, or a portrait of this woman and Madam Feng?"

Shi Lao was a famous painter in Daxi, who was particularly good at painting people and had a unique style. He passed away many years ago.

Among the guests there were many close friends of Mr. Shi who could tell the authenticity of his paintings at a glance.

"It is indeed the original work of Master Shi."

They nodded.

The woman in the painting is lifelike and looks like the same person as Mrs. Feng who is standing next to the painting.

It’s just that their expressions are different.

The woman who came to recognize her relatives clutched the hem of her skirt, in disbelief: "How could this be? This is clearly my daughter..."

The man said stubbornly, "We country folk don't know anybody named Shi Lao. Don't think you can trick our Daya away with just a painting. Daya is our daughter!"

As soon as he finished speaking, two yamen runners walked into the banquet.

"Someone has filed a complaint, accusing you two of pretending to be parents and abducting decent women. Come back to the yamen with us."

The couple's faces changed.

"We just came to recognize our relatives, how can it be considered kidnapping a decent girl? How can your government not distinguish between the two..."

Before he could finish his words, the yamen runners put shackles on him and took him out of the banquet hall.

The guests came to their senses and offered their congratulations.

"Congratulations to the old lady on her birthday and Mrs. Feng on returning to her roots. Double happiness!"

"Mrs. Feng's expression and demeanor clearly embody the bloodline of the Zong family. It's a joy to see the family reunited today."

Madam Zong nodded: "Thank you everyone."

She pulled Feng Qingsui back to the banquet table.

The sounds of flutes and pipes rang out, and the dishes were served one after another. There was laughter and joy at the table, and the atmosphere was peaceful.

In Xiji Mansion, He and Ji Hongde's faces were filled with gloom.

They sent people to keep an eye on the clan's residence and were the first to learn that the couple had failed to find their relatives and had been sent to the government office.

He then inquired about the reasons for the failure from the guests who were leaving the banquet.

"That evil star of the Feng family is actually a descendant of the Zong family!"

He gritted her teeth.

She searched for a long time and finally found a woman who looked somewhat similar to Feng and who had given birth to a daughter of about the same age as Feng.

The woman and her husband sold their daughter to someone else in exchange for food during the famine, which gave them an opportunity to make up a story and say that Feng was their daughter who was lost during the famine.

Who knew——

Ji Hongde looked surprised and asked, "Haven't you met Zong? How come you didn't recognize Feng as her daughter?"

He said bitterly, "I've only met Zong twice, both times at banquets. It was just a fleeting glimpse. It's been more than ten or twenty years now, how can I remember what she looked like?"

Zong's appearance is a combination of her parents', and she looks more like General Zong than Madam Zong. She has never even seen General Zong.

Ji Hongde sighed and asked, "Will those two people implicate us?"

"Don't worry."

He replied.

"I asked He San to do it. I only had them sign the deed. They didn't report the deed tax to the government, so the government couldn't trace us back."

He San was her companion, who usually took care of her dowry farm and had never been seen on Chang'an Street.

Even if Ji Changfeng and Feng Shi got He San's appearance from the couple, they would not know who He San belonged to and would have no idea where to start looking.

The facts were as she expected.

After being interrogated by the government, the couple confessed that someone had approached them and asked them to pretend to be Mrs. Feng's biological parents and to sign a contract to sell themselves.

They didn't know the man and could only describe his general appearance.

After Zhuying drew a simulated image of the man's appearance, he gave it to Feng Qingsui. Feng Qingsui could not recognize the man, and neither could Ji Changqing.

but--

"Just rule it out."

Feng Qingsui said.

"Let's start by checking the families who live closest to us and have a history of hostility with us."

Zhuying was puzzled: "Why do we have to start from the one who lives closest?"

Feng Qingsui: "If you don't check the nearest one, are you going to look for the one far away?"

There are more than just one or two families that have grudges against them.

Zhuying: “…”

That makes sense.

So, He San was pulled out.

"How should I respond?"

Feng Qingsui's starry eyes flickered.

He didn't know that her actions had been exposed and her long-planned plan was easily defeated. She was so upset that she couldn't sleep for half the night.

I was sleeping soundly in the morning when I was woken up by the servants.

"Something's wrong, old lady!"

She suddenly pulled open the bed curtains and shouted angrily, "You're the one who's wrong! Are you trying to kill yourself by disturbing my sleep so early in the morning?"

The servant trembled and said, "Madam, a man came to our house and said he was your and the old master's son who was away from home."

He was stunned.

"Can you say that again?"

The servant repeated it.

He: “?!”

How come someone suddenly came to her to claim kinship?

Could it be...

Did Ji Changfeng and Feng find out that she was the one who ordered that couple?

How is this possible!

"Madam, you'd better go out and take a look," the servant advised. "The man is shouting so loudly at the door that the whole street can hear him."

"How can this be possible!"

He was furious.

"Are you all just eating for free? You won't kick him out!"

The servant looked embarrassed: "Madam, he brought a large group of people with him. We...can't defeat him."

He: “!!!”

She wanted to take a good look and see who was so reckless as to dare to bully the Ji family!

After getting up and changing her clothes, she went to the mansion gate.

Ji Hongde, who was resting in the study, was also awakened by the servants and walked to the door just after her.

"Dad! Mom! I finally found you two!"

Outside the gate, a young man with bare chest and abdomen, looking scoundrelly, shouted loudly.

He was about to curse when she suddenly saw the young man's face clearly.

The curse word suddenly got stuck in his throat like a fishbone.

This... isn't this the gangster that Ji Changqing threw onto her and Ji Hongde's bed?

Ji Hongde also recognized him, his face as dark as ink.

He immediately called out to the butler, "Call the servants and beat them to death!"

The Ji family used to employ dozens of servants, but since the Ji family withdrew from the ranks of aristocratic families, in order to cut expenses, they had already reduced the number of servants to only a dozen or so.

These dozen people usually live a life of luxury and cherish their lives, so they are no match for the thugs who fight all day long.

In the blink of an eye, they were all pinned to the ground.

Lu Wude was stunned: "Dad, Mom, I finally found my parents, why did you kill me?"

Ji Hongde's forehead was throbbing with veins: "Are you going to leave or not?"

Lu Wude took out a piece of rag from his arms.

"Dad, this child is truly born of you and mom. Look at this, it's the swaddling clothes you wrapped me with your own hands. It even has the word 'Ji' embroidered on it by mom."

He said "Pooh".

"The footcloths used by the servants in our Ji Mansion are better than this rag of yours, and you actually call it a swaddling cloth? Get out of here right now!"

Lu Wude retracted his hand, covered his face with a rag, and said with a feeling of grievance, "I still remember sleeping between you and my father. How come you don't recognize me?"