life experience
Chapter Twenty-Four
Pressed relentlessly, I asked Lan Feiyu why she wanted to know about my biological father. Lan Feiyu first shook her head, then gave a vague answer.
I had a vague feeling that something was wrong. If she had just casually asked the question from the beginning, I might not have suspected anything. However, she seemed unsure of how to respond before stammering out the reason that she was "just asking".
The food in my stomach had just been offered, and the bonfire in the stove was burning brightly. I lay on my side, watching Lan Feiyu take the earthenware pot off the shelf, sit cross-legged opposite me, and occasionally add firewood to the fire. The firelight made her face flicker.
With food and warmth plentiful, and overwhelming drowsiness, I didn't want to sleep. If I let this topic go now, when I woke up, Lan Feiyu would definitely deny ever mentioning my father. My thoughts were a jumbled mess, and I couldn't understand how I could possibly have found out about my father in Bozhou: "What do you know? Lan Feiyu, I heard from my older brother that you think as long as you get me—you can dominate Bozhou and Baili. This sounds incredible at first glance, and I even think you've all gone mad... But, but, this matter, is related to my father?"
When I clearly voiced my doubts, I felt as if I had been hit over the head, both stunned and bewildered. But this unexpected blow also helped to clear up a lot of my confusion.
The rumor about me that my older brother mentioned, though spread by someone with ulterior motives, was not entirely baseless. The two princes, including Lan Feiyu, were not fools who blindly followed rumors; they had their own reasons for believing it. This was something my older brother had intentionally or unintentionally kept from me.
The only possibility is my father, whose lineage is unknown, from my father's side of the family!
But... however, something still doesn't make sense. What does that have to do with Bozhou, or even the entire southwestern border region? Could it be that my father was a man from Bozhou?!
The feeling of Prince Amuyue's soft flesh in my mouth returned instantly, and my chest tightened. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, but I still vomited up all the soup I had just swallowed with a "whoosh".
Seeing this, Lan Feiyu quickly got up, came to my side, took out a handkerchief from her body, wiped my mouth, and whispered, "If you feel like throwing up, just throw it up. Don't hold it in."
My vomiting also affected my eyes and nose, making me tear up and snot, and I felt extremely embarrassed: "No, I'm fine now, I was just feeling a little nauseous..."
"Is it chest tightness?" Lan Feiyu looked at me with concern. "Did you hurt your head? Lie back down and rest. We can talk about other things after you've recovered."
"I'm fine," I shook my head, trying to grab her hand again, but it was covered in the filth I had spilled. I had no choice but to awkwardly pull my hand back, sighed, and said somewhat dejectedly, "Even after all this, you still can't be completely honest with me?"
Lan Feiyu glanced at me, then lowered her gaze and began wiping my hands with a handkerchief, first my palms and then my fingers. Before I knew it, my fingers were intertwined with hers. I glanced at Lan Feiyu in my dizziness, but she was still looking down, not at me. We remained silent for a moment. I couldn't stand the strange atmosphere and tried to pull my hand away, but Lan Feiyu held it tightly.
At this moment, she spoke up: "How could you and I possibly do that? You are from Eastern Chu, you would not betray your king, your emperor, and you still have your mother waiting for you in the capital. I am just an orphan girl from a barbarian tribe, and my stance is opposite to yours. In order to gain support from others, I even planned to betray you..."
I was startled. What did the "help from the sidelines" refer to?
But Lan Feiyu stopped talking at the right moment. Her brows were furrowed and her gaze remained fixed on the ground, as if she was struggling to think about something.
"Xi'er, according to your customs, how should one avenge the murder of one's father?" When she finally looked up at me, she asked a question that I could hardly imagine.
I thought for a moment and replied, "I've never met my father, but if someone killed my mother, I would definitely do everything I could to make that person suffer for the rest of their life. If the law can't punish them, then I'll kill my enemy with my own hands!"
"What if the person who killed your mother was the emperor of Eastern Chu?" Lan Feiyu said, staring intently into my eyes. I felt as if I were frozen in place, unable to look away.
I opened my mouth, intending to say something impossible, but her stern expression and tone intimidated me, and I couldn't answer at all.
After a long while, I stuck out my tongue, which felt like it was chewing on sand, and licked my already dry lips. I said softly, "I... I don't know. But I will listen to my uncle and my mother. I will do whatever they want me to do."
As soon as I said that, I suddenly felt relieved. Yes, if the emperor were a ruler who indiscriminately killed innocent people and couldn't distinguish between loyal and treacherous officials, how could my uncle have served him for so many years, and my mother and Aunt Xian certainly wouldn't have settled in the capital with me?
Could my father be a traitorous villain?
I immediately thought of this, and my vest broke out in another cold sweat.
If it's true, it would explain why my mother and the others have always been vague and deliberately concealed the identity of my biological father; they didn't want me to grieve in vain over my background.
However, the bond between parents and children is a natural instinct, and even I am no exception. I couldn't help but reach out and grab Lan Feiyu's shoulder, pleading, "Do you know who my father is? Is he still alive? Is he... is he related to what I've been through? Tell me, and I'll help you—seize the throne!"
As for how long the territory of Bozhou, this vassal state, will remain, and how many generations the throne will be passed down, that's really beyond my imagination, and even my older brother might not be able to say anything about it.
"You?" Lan Feiyu suddenly laughed. "You'll help me? What can you do?"
Only a fool wouldn't miss the sarcasm in her words, and I replied somewhat defiantly, "Whatever you need, I'll give you!"
“Okay,” Lan Feiyu smiled, “I need money, lots and lots of money. I need money to buy food and soldiers, can you give me that?”
"...Why buy grain and soldiers..." I asked, though I already knew the answer, but a glimmer of hope still lingered in my heart.
Lan Feiyu remained silent for a long time. Suddenly, she looked up, stared at me, and asked again, "Xi'er, do you swear you really don't know who your father is?"
I was getting a little anxious. Why was she going around in circles? She still didn't believe I was really that ignorant: "I really don't know! If I knew... if I knew, I would have married your Prince Asahi!"
I spoke very seriously, but Lan Feiyu laughed after her initial surprise: "Alright, alright, this oath is quite harsh... Xi'er, do you know that you shouldn't have the surname Zhao, you should have the surname Xie. Your biological father was Xie Lian, the patriarch of one of the most prominent families in Dong Chu many years ago. Now, the crown prince of Dong Chu is his grandson."
She finished speaking in one breath, looked at my dumbfounded expression, sighed, shook her head and smiled bitterly, "It seems you really don't know. But I've always thought you were pretending to be stupid."
I was speechless for a moment, staring blankly at Lan Feiyu, feeling her smile growing increasingly blurry. Turning to look at the other objects in the cabin, they were all indistinct. I tried to get up, but the slightest movement made me feel dizzy—
It turns out my father was truly a traitorous villain!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
