Lu Mingqian's expression changed drastically, his eyes filled with disbelief. He almost blurted out, "Second brother, do you mean you already knew that the old lady wasn't our mother?"

A complex look flashed in Lu Minghuai's eyes. He nodded slowly, his voice steady and heavy: "Yes, elder brother."

Lu Mingqian frowned, his tone full of doubt and confusion: "Then why have you never revealed a single thing to me?"

At this moment, Lu Mingxu sighed softly and explained with a wry smile, "At that time, you were all anxious and worried about finding An'an. After much consideration, we felt that adding the burden of your mother's identity under such circumstances would be a double blow to you, so we kept it a secret."

Upon hearing this, Lu Mingqian's heart was stirred. At that time, his family had indeed been frantically searching for An'an, and it was also his fault for not noticing the old lady's unusual behavior.

He asked again in a hoarse voice, "When was the old lady replaced?"

Lu Minghuai's tone was somewhat solemn as he slowly said, "According to my observation and that of my third brother, the old lady was already Mom's twin sister on the day Lu Rongyu brought her here."

Lu Mingqian frowned. "When did you find out that the old lady was Mom's twin sister?"

Lu Minghuai took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "After my third brother and I observed the old lady for a while, we found that her behavior was somewhat different from before. Not to mention that she suddenly seemed to have forgotten An'an and frantically wanted you to acknowledge Lu Rongyu, we didn't even know when, but her attitude towards you and my third brother became worse and worse, while she became better and better to me."

He paused, then continued, "Big brother, as you know, Mom never treated the three of us brothers differently. So, my third brother and I finally realized that something was wrong with the old lady, and we found an opportunity to do a paternity test with her. And just like this document, we discovered that she is actually Mom's twin sister."

Lu Mingqian stood there stunned, his words seemingly stuck in his throat. After a long while, he continued to ask, "Is this also the reason why you've been traveling around all these years and rarely come home?"

Lu Minghuai nodded slightly, a hint of sorrow flashing in his eyes. "Yes, all these years, my third brother and I have been searching for Mom's whereabouts, but we have never had any definite news."

Lu An'an felt as if the words in her ear were a thunderclap, shaking her to her core and filling her eyes with disbelief.

[The novel does seem to describe a scene where the second uncle, upon discovering that the old lady was becoming increasingly kind to him while treating my father and third uncle worse and worse, even starting to discriminate against them, had a major argument with her. From then on, except for necessary family gatherings and unavoidable reasons, the second uncle never set foot in the old house again. Unexpectedly, the reason was that he already knew about the old lady's affair.]

So the truth my second uncle knew was that the old lady wasn't his biological mother? That's too unbelievable.

Lu Yanli also found it fantastical. He suddenly thought of his grandfather and asked, "What about Grandpa? Second Uncle, have you asked Grandpa about him?"

Lu Minghuai slowly said, "We haven't been in contact since Father left the old house all these years."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yanli asked, "Second Uncle, don't you find it strange? Why have you forgotten to contact Grandpa all these years?"

Lu Mingxu shook his head bitterly, "Actually, it's not that we don't contact Dad, but that Dad won't let us find him. In the second week after Dad said he was going abroad, I called him, but his phone number was already disconnected. I was shocked and immediately took your aunt to look for him abroad, but there was no sign of Dad there. Dad had disappeared."

An indescribable sadness quietly spread through Lu Mingqian's heart. As the eldest brother in the family, he had unknowingly caused his younger brothers to suffer so much.

Seeing his elder brother looking dejected and guilty, Lu Minghuai quickly comforted him, "Brother, this isn't entirely your fault. We're family, we're all one family, we should stand together through thick and thin. Besides, An'an was only three years old at the time, finding her was definitely the most important thing."

Lu Mingxu echoed, "Yes, brother, you don't need to blame yourself. We're family!"

Lu Mingqian felt a warmth in his heart. Yes, they are family, why bother with so much?

Lu An'an was also moved by the brotherhood between her father and her second and third uncles, but when she thought of the original story, she couldn't help but secretly peek at Lu Minghuai.

So, is Second Uncle actually Lu Yanhua's son?

Lu Mingqian also thought of his daughter's thoughts before she entered the door, so he carefully considered his words and asked, "Second brother, have you found out why the old lady is so good to you?"

Lu Minghuai remained silent for a long time before saying somewhat awkwardly, "I think she probably thinks I'm her son."

"What?!"

This was an answer that even Lu Mingxu hadn't expected: "Second Brother, why have you never told me about this before?"

Lu Minghuai waved his hand gently, "This matter is too complicated, I really don't know how to bring it up."

Lu Mingqian's tone was full of confusion and urgency. He asked in a deep voice, "What exactly happened?"

Lu Minghuai lowered his gaze slightly before slowly speaking: "Ever since I found out she was our aunt, her attitude towards me has aroused my suspicion. One day, I pretended to be on the phone with the hospital in my room and told her the false news that I was not our parents' biological son. The old lady believed it. Then one day, she came to me and told me that I was actually her son, and that her eldest brother and third brother were switched at birth in the hospital."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!