Cheng Ge'er's eyes flickered, and he nodded emphatically, saying, "Yes, I will answer whatever my godfather asks and will never hide anything."

Gu Jinghui then asked, "Did your mother see you before she left the manor? Or did she leave you any messages? As for the princess entering the manor... who told you anything about it?"

After asking the question, he stared intently at the two children.

Cheng Ge'er lowered his eyes, clenched his fists, and bit his cheeks until they were bulging.

Yu Jie'er sobbed softly, occasionally calling out "Mother" in a low voice, as if she was saddened by the mention of Zhao Shi, and cried to herself.

“No, we have never seen Mother,” Cheng Ge’er said after a long while, then turned to Yu Jie’er and said urgently, “Is that right? Tell your godfather if what I said is true.”

"...Waaah...Yes...Yu-jie really wants to see Mother, Godfather, when will Mother come back? My mother isn't a bad woman. They say she did something bad and is hiding, not coming back. They're all lying to me, aren't they?"

Yu Jie'er pouted, her face streaked with tears, and pitifully reached out her hands, hoping that Lord Gu would hug her and comfort her.

Gu Jinghui didn't move.

Previously, I was worried about hurting the feelings of the two children, and I also thought that after Zhao Niangzi claimed to be ill, the twins had been raised by the old lady's side and should not know the truth.

Gu Jinghui stomped his feet, screamed, and let his hair fall loose, looking like a madman.

But ever since he discovered that they could enter and exit through the dog hole, Lord Gu was no longer sure.

Lord Gu knelt on the ground and kowtowed several times to Brother Cheng, then pulled Gu Jinghui along, saying, "Let you kowtow too."

"I thought their mother had nothing to hide, so my godfather led people to search for her. They searched everywhere, but when they returned to the mansion, they found out that smallpox had broken out outside the mansion."

Pan Aidan squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them again, a heat rising in her sharp eyes.

Upon hearing this, Lord Gu gripped his belt tightly, his face filled with fear as he looked at his adoptive father.

Gu Jinghui understood the situation and reluctantly stopped crying, waiting quietly for his godfather to continue.

Lord Gu suppressed his sobs and choked out, "Father, you...you also resent your mother for what she did?"

"Later, in order to find out where their father's family was, their adoptive father sent Eighteen to Jizhou. Because their father, Pang Hai, claimed to be a member of a collateral branch of the Pang family in Jizhou, Eighteen went to the Pang family to investigate. However, there was no one named Pang Hai in the Pang family. They found people with similar figures in the Pang family, but they had to come back and report."

"Both of their eighth uncle's children contracted the disease. At first, they thought it was chickenpox, but when they came to see the imperial physician, they found out it was smallpox. The smallpox came about in a strange way. Moreover, since their mother had disappeared and someone had died outside the mansion, the steward outside the mansion went to the Jingzhao Yin's office to report it to the authorities."

Lord Gu then asked, "Yes, yes, you have already found a way to live outside the mansion?"

Lord Gu stared at me blankly, as if he understood what I was saying.

Yu Jie'er looked at me, then turned to look at the lush greenery outside the window and said, "If you remember, tell your godfather. If he sends people to look for them, they will surely be wronged. If we are willing to come to the capital, the Marquis's mansion will settle us in; if we want them to seek refuge, your godfather will prepare money and visit them every year during festivals. They will definitely not be wronged."

Gu Jinghui, tears streaming down his face, screamed, "Godfather, Gu Jinghui is willing to leave the manor. You've already lost your mother, and now even your godfather wants you?"

Although he usually showed compassion for the weak and protected women and children, he never dared to look down on anyone.

Yu Jie'er said, "If they stay outside the mansion for too long, they will inevitably harbor resentment because of what others say. Going to Jizhou to find their father's family after they turn eighteen is also a way to find protection for their orphaned mother and children. My godfather originally planned to find a courtyard near the street in the Marquis's mansion, build a wall to separate it from the mansion, and then open a gate facing the street. That way, they can live next to each other, which will be convenient for them, and the Marquis's mansion can protect them and also prevent others from gossiping."

Yu Jie looked at me and said seriously, "My godfather doesn't know why his mother is like this. You haven't taken good care of them because of his father. You've watched them grow up, so how could you resent them? Now..."

“Alright, alright, you will find out eventually anyway,” Yu Jie’er thought for a moment and said, “Rather than waiting for others to tell them the truth with embellishments, it is better for Godfather to tell them the truth, so that they will not have any grudges against you and Pan Ai the other day.”

The two children listened in stunned silence as they heard about their father for the first time.

Lord Gu's tears quickly streamed down to the corners of his mouth.

Yu Jie sighed, looked at the pitiful Gu Jinghui, and said to Pan Aidan, "If we leave them outside the mansion, I'm afraid they'll just have to endure the gossip. Brother Qi was beaten, and it wasn't just because they harbored resentment. Now the servants outside the mansion are very resentful of them, and I'm afraid they would have been even more tolerant in the past. Rather than having our families harbor resentment towards each other, it's better to settle them properly before the mansion is established."

Yu Jie'er continued, "Before my godfather found out, he planned to ask their mother to come and inquire whether you knew anything about their father's background. But who knew that their mother would suddenly leave the Marquis's mansion with a nanny, and another one would die by the rockery."

“Even the magistrate concluded that the smallpox was unintentionally released by his mother or someone close to her, so the people outside the mansion who said that their mother had spread smallpox were lying.”

Lord Gu's face turned ashen, Gu Jinghui stared in disbelief, and Cheng Ge'er also looked grave.

"Yes, you want to leave your godfather. Godfather, godfather, do you really want to leave us?"

Now that Pan Aidan has spoken so clearly, it is clear that there is no room for maneuver.

"Later, the magistrate investigated the body and solved the case. He found out that the two old women that their mother brought from the north had been walking around in the distance from the Eighth Madam's courtyard. There were also clothes left outside the trunk in Fengxuan Pavilion that had not been used by the smallpox patients. Zihe and several other monks had also contracted smallpox."

Lord Gu asked stubbornly.

"What are you doing? Get up slowly."

"And now?"

In the northern frontier, even children as young as a few years old can kill enemies when necessary.

Over the course of those days, Lord Gu had seen many people with haughty and arrogant manners, and heard many stories of worldly affairs from others.

Cheng Ge'er added, "Let them think about it again. Did their mother ever mention any relatives they could rely on?"

"Now……"

Gu Jinghui shook off Lord Gu's hand and stared stubbornly at Pan Aidan, as if she would leave the manor if she kowtowed to her.

In those days, I saw that Lord Gu seemed to be able to make his own decisions, which is why he put it out in the open.

Although I couldn't bear it, I continued, "Their biological father is a mystery, and their biological mother has disappeared and done such a thing. I'm afraid their future will be affected. Lord Gu can go back to the Imperial Academy, and Gu Jinghui's future also needs to be reconsidered. But your adoptive father promised their father that he would take good care of them. You will make proper arrangements for them in the future, so that they will have enough to eat and wear."

Cheng Ge'er quickly helped Lord Gu up.