Lily of the Valley was so frightened that she trembled like a leaf and could not utter a single word in response.
Bai Lingzhi took the magazine from her hand, saw Ruan Mulan's photo, and as if she had thought of something, put the magazine in front of Bai Tingtao.
"Dad, don't you think she looks a lot like my great-aunt?"
Bai Tingtao stared at the photo, completely dumbfounded.
He exclaimed excitedly, "So alike! So incredibly alike! The eyes are just like hers! Exactly the same as Auntie's back then!"
Actually, judging from their facial features alone, the two only share a 30-40% resemblance. Because of the differences in their clothing and hairstyles, it's easy to overlook this slight similarity.
Even in terms of temperament, the two are not the same. Bai Li in her youth, because she lived under someone else's roof, was more reserved and indifferent.
Like a pearl, it tries its best to hide its brilliance inside the shell, making itself seem ordinary, plain and inconspicuous.
But Bai Tingtao liked his aunt. As a child, he always looked up at his aunt and could glimpse her beauty and radiance from the girl's always lowered posture.
Moreover, when my aunt, who had been training outside for many years, returned and carved a bloody path through the enemy with her sword, she was dazzling to the extreme.
At that time, she no longer concealed her brilliance; she was resolute, gentle, and strong.
That pearl, polished by time, finally shone with its own brilliance.
Just like Ruan Mulan in the magazine, she is the kind of person who has become resilient and vibrant only after experiencing the trials and tribulations of life and getting back up time and time again.
The striking resemblance between the mother and daughter is only apparent when they share the same look in their eyes.
"Who is she? How old is she? Where does she live?" Bai Tingtao asked hurriedly. "By the way, what is her relationship with Ruan Mingzhuo?"
With mixed feelings, Chu Yuqi replied, "She is Ruan Mulan, Ruan Mingzhuo's biological mother."
She happened to know all the questions Bai Tingtao asked, because she had told the fortunes of several people back then in order to prove that the Ruan family had bad fates and heavy karma.
She didn't hide anything and told him everything. Bai Tingtao became even more excited, "The age matches!"
Bai Lingzhi thought of something, took her phone to make a call, and came back in a little while later.
"Dad, I've found out about Lu Yao. He took Ruan Mingzhuo to the cemetery to pay respects to Aunt! Dad—"
Bai Lingzhi's expression changed drastically as she stepped forward to support Bai Tingtao, "Dad, are you alright?"
Bai Tingtao swayed slightly, then calmed himself down. "I'm fine, perfectly fine! Let's hurry to Teacher Ruan's house. Oh, and bring a generous gift!"
He felt as if he had been hit by a huge surprise, and his eyes and brows were filled with joy.
——
After finishing his phone call with Xiao Lu, Mingzhuo stopped paying attention to the matter.
Ruan Mulan went to work early in the morning. Now that she had found Bai Li's grave, she could visit it anytime she wanted.
She had already planned it all out: to expand the company's business to Yuru City, so that she could open a branch there and visit Yuru City from time to time.
Then, whenever I had time, I would go to the cemetery to talk to Bai Li.
Mingzhuo didn't have time to deal with Old Bai's affairs because she had to deal with another old man.
Xu Zhongkai has been actively working on his son and daughter-in-law's wedding recently.
Unfortunately, Xu Shanglou was too busy to get away, and Ruan Mingying was not used to being with her husband's family, so she went to her studio to write songs, leaving Xu Zhongkai with no one to talk to.
Mingzhuo, who failed to escape in time, was cornered by Xu Zhongkai, who asked her to examine the bride's various belongings and make a decision.
Not offering opinions is not an option. Xu Zhongkai said that when the Xu family gets married, the status of the bride cannot be lower than that of a certain family in Xiangshi, right?
By the way, your family should also have requests. Feel free to make them; the Xu family guarantees they'll cover for you!
Following Ruan Mingying's previous extravagant spending style, Mingzhuo chose only the most expensive items, thinking that this way he could never go wrong.
After all, items like jewelry, clothes, and bags are really only expensive, so they have no other problems.
The Xu family is wealthy, so even the issue of being expensive doesn't exist for them.
The two worked together smoothly and finalized a lot of things in just one morning.
Xu Zhongkai also wanted to invite Mingzhuo to a private restaurant for dinner. He had discovered a hidden gem of a restaurant, and he was not going to share it with his eldest son, that rebellious son!
"Their vegetarian food is delicious, fresh and healthy, and you can even taste the meat!" Xu Zhongkai said with great interest.
Mingzhao: "..."
I don't really want to eat vegetarian food; I just want to eat meat in large quantities.
Although she was a practitioner, she never refrained from eating certain foods, and somehow this gave Xu Zhongkai the wrong impression.
Mingzhuo's phone suddenly rang. She glanced at the message notification and saw that it was from Su Changqing. She wondered what gossip he wanted to share with her this time.
She had just picked it up, and before she could even open it to read the contents, the other end couldn't wait and made a phone call.
"Teacher Ruan, Yuan Qingwan is dead!"
——
Yuan Qingwan was found dead when the guards brought her lunch.
The Xuanmen sect was shocked by this incident.
There has never been a death while the prisoners were being held at headquarters, since the place of confinement was protected by magic arrays, and not just anyone could easily enter.
The magic array didn't give any warning, but people are dead. This is a serious matter.
"It looks like she strangled herself; the death was particularly gruesome. The key issue is that her soul has dissipated, and we can't even perform a soul-summoning ritual," said Su Changqing, who was in charge of guarding her.
He truly didn't expect that such a huge blunder would occur so soon after he took on the task of guarding the prisoners.
He should have used his ancestral peach wood divination blocks to do a proper divination! It was definitely a very bad omen!
But actually, he has been very cautious.
“Yesterday, Elder Bai interrogated Yuan Qingwan all day, and she became somewhat delirious. Moreover, you said not to let our guard down, so I checked her several times before going home to rest.”
Su Changqing sighed, "I shouldn't have removed the guards last night. If they had kept watch on us 24 hours a day, maybe nothing would have happened."
He thought that Yuan Qingwan was a vicious and dangerous person, and that she was involved with divine punishment, so he didn't dare to have anyone guard her.
Mingzhuo: "Really? I think it's a good thing you removed the guards, otherwise that little girl would have been killed."
Su Changqing was taken aback: "So you mean, this was murder?"
Ming Zhuo nodded slightly: "Yuan Qingwan would not commit suicide. Given the chance, she would not be willing to die."
Strangle yourself? That would require an immense will to die; most people couldn't do that.
On the other side, Shen Boyuan and his men had finished surveying the scene and came out.
Seeing Ming Zhuo and Su Changqing standing on the perimeter, his expression shifted slightly, and he walked over. "Teacher Ruan, do you also believe it was murder?"
Mingzhuo did not deny it; it was simply a fact.
Shen Boyuan: "Since Yuan Qingwan was detained, Teacher Su has not allowed anyone to go in to guard her. The only person who has contact with her is Teacher Su."
"Before Mr. Su interrogated her, she would occasionally bang on the door, which was a normal reaction; yesterday, when Mr. Su interrogated her, she became somewhat crazy and abnormal, and later she completely stopped responding."
"The breakfast wasn't touched today, so the person must have died last night. We'll probably have to ask Old Bai to come and explain the situation."
Everyone present trembled upon hearing Shen Boyuan's words.
They're really bold to try and pull a tiger's whiskers.
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