Chapter 52 Stop Pretending
In the original series, the slap landed on Xie Yushu's face.
In the chaos, Xie Yushu heard the person behind her who was holding Xie Jianing's arm say something in a foreign language. She couldn't understand it, but the voice was familiar, and her heart skipped a beat. She immediately turned around and saw a pair of eyes and eyebrows hidden under a bamboo hat.
Small knife!
She hadn't expected Xiao Dao to come back with Xie Jianing. Overjoyed, she instinctively wanted to speak to him, but then stopped. Was he disguised as an attendant and wearing a mask to avoid being recognized? Song Jie was right next to her; if he recognized Xiao Dao, it might cause some trouble.
She didn't speak, but Xiao Dao had already shaken off Xie Jianing's hand, lowered his eyes to meet her gaze, his eyes softened for a moment, and he secretly tugged at her sleeve, as if to tell her: it was him.
Xie Yushu's heart beat faster as he heard the system report: "Host, you have gained a little bit of 'charm' value, from Xiaodao."
Was he happy that she recognized him at first glance?
In what capacity did he return? Was he a prince?
Xie Yushu had so many questions for him, but now was clearly not the right time.
After being pushed away, Xie Jianing's emotions reached their breaking point, and she almost choked out, "You...you're all protecting her?"
She looked at Meng Min again, who was still holding Xie Yushu's hand. Tears welled up in her eyes: "Mother, I am your daughter..."
“Jia Ning…” Meng Min’s heart broke when she saw her tears, and she wanted to pull her aside and explain something to her.
Xie Zhi'an seized the opportunity to scold, "I think you've really lost your mind! Jia Ning is your daughter, my legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an! You treat this disobedient and unfilial illegitimate daughter like a treasure! Jia Ning has finally returned, do you have to make such a scene and hurt her feelings?"
Meng Min's heart softened immediately. Yes, it had been so difficult for Jia Ning to come back. She had prayed to Buddha that she would give up everything as long as Jia Ning returned safely. Couldn't she just bear this moment of anger? Did she really have to make her face a falling out with her parents as soon as she got back?
She wavered and let go of Xie Yushu's hand, tears streaming down her face as she tried to hug Jia Ning. For Jia Ning's sake, she could endure...
“Yes, Sister Jia Ning has finally returned, but Father insists on choosing this day, your wife’s birthday banquet, to embarrass her.” Xie Yushu said without hesitation. He could not back down, nor could he tolerate it. He had to endure it for now. After the guests left, Xie Zhian and the Xie family would definitely try to make a big deal out of it and force Meng Min to accept Ye Xizhu and swallow this spit.
Meng Min could tolerate it, but she couldn't. She was determined to seize this opportunity and let Xie Zhi'an reap what he sowed.
"When did it become your turn to speak!" Xie Zhian glared fiercely at Xie Yushu, as if terrified that she would instigate Meng Min, and directly ordered, "Guards, take her away!"
Xie Zhi'an's attendants then stepped forward to take Xie Yushu.
Qiao Bao'er immediately shielded Xie Yushu.
Cang Shu directly blocked the attendants with his arm, looking as if he was about to make a move.
Xie Zhi'an, furious, coldly said to Song Jie, "This is a family matter of my Marquis's residence..."
Before she could finish speaking, Meng Jing said in a deep voice, "The Yong'an Marquis's residence has such good rules, that a servant can just lay a hand on the young lady." She looked at Xie Zhi'an, her gaze pressing down on him like a thousand pounds: "It's Minmin's birthday banquet, with so many guests present, what are you, the dignified Yong'an Marquis, doing, shouting and yelling?"
Xie Zhian was speechless.
In the courtyard, Zhenniang and Meng Jing's nanny had brought in the "unconscious" Ye Xizhu. Ye Xizhu's nanny was crying and shouting, "Quickly, call a doctor! Our lady is about to give birth!"
Xie Zhian's brow twitched as he listened, anxious and worried about the baby in Ye Xizhu's womb, yet he dared not go forward to check on it.
Meng Jing was not easily fooled. She first had the maids carry the unconscious Ye Xizhu to the inner room, and then asked the old physician Meng to treat Ye Xizhu. She only left the old maid that Ye Xizhu had brought with her to ask questions.
She made no attempt to avoid the guests, directly asking the old nanny kneeling at her feet, "Which family does your mistress belong to? Does she have an invitation?"
The old nanny didn't answer her at all. She just knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Xie Zhi'an and Meng Min, shouting, "It's all my fault for disturbing you, my lord and my lady. Please save my lady and the child in her womb! She is about to give birth and has been affected by the heat, which has caused miscarriage. My lady is kind and hopes that my lady can rest for a while. I kowtow to you!"
They neither revealed whose wife Ye Xizhu was, nor did they intend to stay at the Marquis's residence.
Meng Min was about to explode with anger when Meng Jing pulled her back.
Meng Jing merely raised her chin, and her trusted maidservant stepped forward, grabbed the old nanny by the collar, and slapped the nanny's mouth twice with a resounding "slap slap".
"What an unruly old hag!" Meng Jing's maid scolded, "When our princess asked you about your origins, you deliberately refused to answer, and then you made a scene in the Marquis's mansion. What were you up to? I think you and that woman came to the Marquis's mansion on purpose to extort money!"
The old woman's mouth was bleeding from the beating. She frantically waved her hands, saying they weren't there to extort money, and looked to Xie Zhi'an for help.
Meng Jing didn't give Xie Zhi'an a chance to speak at all, and said to the old nanny, "If you still can't answer which family you and that woman belong to, I will have no choice but to take you to the government office and let the government investigate your background and why you are making a fuss outside the Marquis's mansion."
The old nanny was so frightened that she immediately said, "Your Highness, please calm down. Our lady's surname is Ye. We...we've come to find someone..."
"Who are you looking for?" Meng Jing interrupted her and asked again.
The old nanny looked at Xie Zhi'an again.
Xie Zhian's face darkened, and he glared fiercely at the old woman, signaling her to shut her mouth. So many guests were staring at him, and Jia Ning was also watching him. He had just put on the act of a good father, and if he were to openly admit that Ye Xizhu was the woman he was keeping outside, wouldn't he be contradicting himself?
The old nanny naturally understood Xie Zhian's fierce gaze, but she and Ye Xizhu, being outside the mansion, were unaware of what had happened inside.
He knew nothing about Meng Min's pregnancy, nor did he recognize Xie Jianing, the newly returned legitimate daughter of the Marquis's mansion.
She and Ye Xizhu only knew that the Marquis had promised to bring them into the Marquis's mansion today, so they couldn't wait to come to the gate of the mansion to wait for the Marquis to summon them in. But no matter how long they waited, no one from the Marquis came out to invite them.
Ye Xizhu was not far from giving birth, and she was not sure if she was having a son. She was afraid that if she missed this opportunity, the Marquis would waver in his determination to bring her into the manor. She did not want to end up like Qiao Bao'er, raised outside the manor without any status, and her child would also be disrespected. That's why she discussed with the nanny the risk of pretending to have a miscarriage and making a scene, hoping to force the Marquis to give her a hard time...
However, the current situation is completely different from what was expected.
The old nanny's heart sank when she was glared at. Did the Marquis not intend to bring his wife into the manor?
She didn't dare to answer rashly for a moment.
Xie Yushu looked up and saw that Yinya, whom she had just sent out, had returned so quickly, carrying a little girl in her arms and peeking at her.
She met Yinya's gaze and nodded at her.
Yinya put the little girl down and pointed towards the long hall.
The little girl followed the direction Yin Ya pointed and walked in. Squeezing among the guests, she saw Xie Zhi'an and immediately called out in a clear voice, "Daddy!"
Xie Zhian shuddered. A little girl, about three or four years old, was running towards him excitedly with a piece of pastry in her hand. She pounced on his leg like a little bird and looked up, calling out, "Daddy, have you seen Mommy?"
Xie Zhian's face turned deathly pale.
Xie Jianing, standing beside him, was also stunned, staring at the little girl in disbelief. She then looked up at Xie Zhi'an in a daze and asked in a trembling voice, "Dad... what did she call you?"
Xie Zhian looked up at his daughter, unable to speak as if he had swallowed a needle.
The little girl clinging to his leg looked at Xie Jianing with a bright gaze and said sweetly, "Daddy, is this pretty older sister my big sister? Mommy said Daddy has another daughter, and when I see her, I have to call her 'big sister' obediently..."
"Shut up! Who's your sister! I don't have a sister!" Xie Jianing choked back tears, trembling all over, staring at Xie Zhi'an and asking, "Whose daughter is she? Father, didn't you swear that you would only love me and Mother in this life? Didn't you say that having me as your daughter was enough for you? Who is she?"
The little girl pouted and started to cry after being yelled at.
Xie Jianing saw Xie Zhian frantically stroking the little girl's head and heard the old nanny say, "Miss Jiayan, don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."
Jia Yan?
Xie Jianing felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave. Her father had not only betrayed her mother and her, but also named this illegitimate daughter Jia Yan.
Her world seemed to have completely collapsed.
Had her father been lying to her and her mother for over a decade? And what about the woman who fainted just now? Was she really her father's... lover?
"Jianing." Meng Min held back her tears and grasped Xie Jianing's trembling hand, "Don't be sad..." and hugged her into her arms.
Xie Jianing looked at her, but her mother seemed so unfamiliar. A terrible resentment welled up inside her. Even though she knew her mother was also a victim, hurt by her father, why... why did her mother have to reveal all this in front of so many people today, knowing she would be upset? And why today of all days? She had just returned, and now she had to face her father's infidelity and his illegitimate daughter...
Does her mother know how much she has suffered all these years away from home? How much she longs to go home? And now this family is torn apart.
"Jianing... I'm so sorry, I didn't want to tell you this today." Xie Zhi'an looked at Xie Jianing and suddenly burst into tears: "I didn't want to hurt you..."
"So Father brought Ye Xizhu and her daughter here today not to force Mother to agree to take her into the family?" Xie Yushu said in surprise. "It seems I misunderstood Father. I thought Father deliberately chose today to put pressure on Mother while the elders of the Xie family were here."
Don't dress her up too much.
At this moment, Meng Jing spoke up again: "Xie Zhi'an, I'm too lazy to settle your past philandering with you. Today, I'll make things clear in front of the Xie family. My sister has just become pregnant with your child, Xie Zhi'an. If you disregard her health and force her to take a concubine, our Meng family will never forgive you!"
Her words were so harsh and severe that even the Xie family knew there was no chance of bringing Ye Xizhu into the mansion today. They all wanted to advise Xie Zhi'an to prioritize Meng Min's pregnancy, saying that no matter what sons other women gave birth to, they couldn't compare to those born to Meng Min.
Whether it was from being too excited about her daughter's return or from genuine anger, Meng Min suddenly experienced severe abdominal cramps after crying, her forehead was covered in large beads of sweat, and she frantically reached out to grab her sister and Yu Shu beside her...
Xie Yushu immediately grasped her hand, his palms were covered in sweat: "Quickly help her inside and call Physician Meng!"
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Author's note: Here we are!
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