"How could this be? Is he really so wicked that he could even be so cruel as to harm his own flesh and blood?" Lanxiang was stunned and murmured to herself.
Just then, a woman's voice suddenly rang in everyone's ears: "No, the family of that great philanthropist back then was not wiped out. Heaven had mercy and spared one member of that family."
The woman's voice was strong and clear, and everyone's eyes fell on Yan Hong, who had spoken those words. Only then did they see that Yan Hong's fair face was already covered in tears.
"Crimson!" Lanxiang murmured in surprise upon hearing this, a sudden thought rising in her mind, and she hurriedly searched and compared it in her memory.
At this moment, Yan Hong took a deep breath, as if gathering her courage, and continued in a resounding voice, "Back then, the only daughter of that wealthy and virtuous family in the south of the city was naive and inexperienced, marrying the wrong person and letting a wolf into her home. This led to her father being tragically murdered by a villain, and even their ancestral home, where they had lived for generations, was lost overnight. All of this was indeed planned from the beginning by that treacherous, ungrateful son-in-law, that big liar. To win my mother's heart, he painstakingly arranged a tragic..." A scheme involving flesh. Yet, by a stroke of divine mercy, on that dark and helpless rainy night, as if the entire sky had collapsed, the poor, soon-to-be-give-up young lady, though dumped on the street by the new owner of the mansion, did not succumb to the torrential rain. Not only that, she was taken in by a kind person and gave birth to a daughter. She endured countless hardships to raise her to adulthood, hoping that one day, the daughter could find that heartless beast in her place and personally avenge the patricide and the massacre of her family.
As soon as she finished speaking, Lanxiang seemed to remember everything Yanhong had told her. She stared at her in disbelief, slowly walked to her side, took her hand, and said, "Yanhong, so... so we really are sisters. 'It seems like we've met before, but blood is thicker than water.' No wonder when I first saw you in Wanjiao Pavilion, I couldn't help but want to be close to you and protect you."
At this point, everyone else present was stunned by this ironic turn of events.
Lanxiang reached out and pulled out an exquisitely pale green silk handkerchief to gently wipe the tears from Yanhong's face. Her own eyes were brimming with tears as she looked at Yanhong with deep affection and heartache, saying, "Yanhong, like me, your mother is no longer in this world. But now, I wonder if you can still forgive my mother? Just as Grandma said, if my mother had been a little more ruthless and exposed that beast's true colors in front of your mother, perhaps your family... wouldn't have suffered this calamity. And you could have lived a life of luxury, a peaceful and dignified lady, instead of ending up like me, fallen into the mortal world, utterly filthy."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Yan Hong became extremely agitated and said apologetically, "No, Sister Xiang'er, don't say that. It's Yan Hong and her mother who should apologize and ask for forgiveness. Actually… my mother once told me. She said that your mother came alone that day and lingered at our door for a long time. My mother happened to be passing through the corridor with her maid and saw your mother looking very anxious. Thinking that perhaps a woman had encountered some difficulties and needed the help of a kind family, she sent her maid to inquire. Later, the maid told my mother everything your mother had asked about. My mother immediately became suspicious and then told her maid to follow your mother to find out what was going on, and she learned everything. When my mother heard this, she was very upset." She panicked, both angry and anxious, but dared not tell her grandfather. After all, this marriage was her own insistence, so even if it was a dead end, she had no choice but to accept her fate and didn't want her grandfather to worry about her. She wanted to confront that man herself, but feared he might abandon her in a fit of anger, since his background was unknown and who knew what he might do. Besides, my mother was nearing childbirth at that time, and she indulged her own selfish desires, leaving you and your mother without support. Moreover, in Wanjiao Pavilion, it was precisely because of Xiang'er's protection that Yan Hong was able to retain her virginity. Therefore, it is we, mother and daughter, who should be saying sorry and asking for forgiveness. What wrong have you done, Xiang'er? Xiang'er, Yan Hong's mother is sorry to you, Yan Hong is sorry to you..."
Before Yan Hong could finish speaking, her whole body trembled slightly, and she quietly and unknowingly slipped from Lan Xiang's hands. Then, her knees fell heavily at Lan Xiang's feet, and she began to kowtow repeatedly.
As soon as Lanxiang came to her senses, she quickly squatted down and knelt on the ground. The tears that had been welling up in her eyes instantly rolled down her cheeks like beads from a broken string. She pulled Yanhong and said, "Sister, don't cry, get up quickly. From now on, we are real sisters. No one owes anyone anything, and no one has ever wronged anyone. We will never say 'sorry' again, okay..."
Two women, born into completely different families, who were both unfortunately drawn into the mortal world by fate, gazed into each other's eyes, smiled knowingly, and then embraced tightly.
"What a tragedy, what a tragedy!" Looking at everything that had happened before her, the old woman sighed sadly, pounding the table beside her and weeping. What else could she say at this moment?
Suddenly, a thunderclap rang out outside the quiet window, followed by a dazzling flash of lightning that shattered the tranquil night sky.
Immediately afterwards, a fierce wind raged outside, and a torrential downpour seemed to have conspired with the wind, arriving just in time and falling from the sky in an instant.
The half-open window was relentlessly battered by the wind, swaying incessantly in the wind and rain, making a jarring clanging sound.
At this moment, Yu Niang, who had been standing silently by the window with tears in her eyes, suddenly came to her senses.
Faced with these two unfortunate sisters, two families with seemingly different circumstances yet sharing the same tragedy, how could she possibly bear to blame Lanxiang for anything more?
Startled by the sound of thunder and the growing wind and rain, she quickly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, turned around, and walked over to close the window.
"Your Highness Prince Qin?" Suddenly, Yu Niang saw Cheng Liang carrying Prince Qin, Xuan Yuanhan, hurriedly entering the hall of Ruyi Residence from the window outside. She was stunned and murmured to herself.
"His Highness the Prince of Qin is back? Then... Miss Yi is back too..." Upon hearing this, Lanxiang and Yanhong, who were crying tears of joy and tightly embracing each other, had not yet had time to wipe away their tears when they quickly let go of each other's arms, got up and followed closely behind Yu Niang, like three free and beautiful butterflies, fluttering their beautiful wings and flying out of the house.
Yan Hong happily took Lan Xiang's hand, then hurriedly turned around and told the old woman, who was sitting to the side with mixed feelings of sadness and joy, "Grandma, please keep an eye on Lian'er. We'll be right back."
Before he could finish speaking, Lanxiang had already pulled him away and they were nowhere to be seen.
"Grandma, she called me grandma, she actually called me grandma..." The old woman was stunned by these words, her expression beyond words, and she muttered to herself.
At this moment, they also heard hurried footsteps coming from outside the door. Xuan Yuan Yue and Xuan Yuan Hao, who lived next door to Xuan Yuan Han, also hurriedly opened the door and came out.
So much had happened in the past few days that even though it was so late, the two of them still couldn't fall asleep.
However, upon opening the door, they saw that Xuan Yuanhan was in a deep coma, clinging tightly to Cheng Liang's back. They also saw the trembling Qin Prince's imperial physician following closely behind. The two of them couldn't help but widen their eyes and exclaim in unison, "Uncle Qin!"
Before the words were even finished, the two of them burst out from the crack in the door and followed into Xuan Yuanhan's room.
Cheng Liang quickly changed Xuan Yuanhan into a clean, pure white undergarment.
At this moment, that once sharply defined, handsome face, with its deep-set eyes,
The usually calm, reserved, and resourceful Xuan Yuanhan lay unconscious on the bed, his face deathly pale.
"How is Uncle Qin?" Upon seeing Xuan Yuanhan's pale appearance, Xuan Yuanhao, who had been sitting pacing anxiously like an ant on a hot pan, finally couldn't help but ask anxiously.
Beside him, Xuan Yuan Yue quickly spoke up to stop him, saying, "Hao'er, don't disturb the imperial physician's treatment."
However, her heart was churning with turmoil, anxiety, and a multitude of questions, no less than that of Xuan Yuanhao.
The room was silent.
After a long while, the imperial physician was seen taking the pulse, shaking his head and sighing repeatedly.
Then she saw that Cheng Liang beside her seemed unusually anxious and uneasy, looking utterly disheveled.
When the imperial physicians had a brief respite, Xuan Yuan Yue finally couldn't help but ask, "Uncle Qin... how is he?"
"Your Highness, His Highness Prince Qin... His Highness's condition is very bad. The superficial wounds on his body are not fatal. However, for some reason, after investigating for a long time, I found that His Highness's heart pulse is inexplicably weak, and I have not been able to find the cause for a long time... It seems that we must return to the Prince's residence immediately to carefully examine and care for him." The imperial physician said hesitantly, with a troubled expression.
"Back to the Prince of Qin's residence immediately? What about Miss Yi?" Upon hearing this, Yu Niang and the others, who had been anxiously waiting, entered Xuan Yuanhan's room without permission and asked in unison.
"By the way, where is Yun'er? Why didn't she come back with you? Didn't you say you would definitely bring her back safely this time?" At this moment, Xuan Yuan Yue finally came to her senses and realized that Yi Shang Yun had not returned to Ruyi Residence with Xuan Yuan Han and Cheng Liang, so she asked with a puzzled look.
Suddenly, everyone's eyes fell on Cheng Liang.
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