At this moment, inside the Phoenix Palace.
Liu Chengfeng's eyes were red, his face looked slightly haggard, and his voice was slightly hoarse: "Shushu, we will have no mother from now on."
Liu Shushu's face was moved, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears. She choked out, "Mother really..."
Liu Chengfeng nodded. "I originally planned to wait until my mother was escorted to the border before setting a trap to make her fake her death and secretly sending someone to rescue her. But I didn't expect that she would be killed by villains as soon as she left the city."
"Who could be so cruel? My mother has already suffered so much, and now she has died so tragically." She sobbed and wiped away her tears.
Liu Chengfeng empathized with her and embraced her, gently comforting her: "Don't worry, I will plead with the Emperor to bring your mother's remains back for a proper burial."
"No, you can't!" Liu Shushu quickly stopped her.
"What's wrong?"
“Mother has committed a serious crime. In order to make amends to the Ye family, the Emperor has already forced Father to remove Mother from the Liu family ancestral hall. If we bring this matter to the Emperor’s attention now, we may incur His Majesty’s wrath.”
"But are we just going to leave our mother's body to rot in the wilderness? Wouldn't that be the greatest act of filial impiety!"
Liu Shushu thought for a moment and said, "Mother suffered a lot in her life, and she should be properly taken care of after her death. Although we children cannot help her return to the Liu family ancestral tomb at present, we can quietly bury her properly first. When we have a chance to turn our lives around in the future, it will not be too late to put Mother's memorial tablet back in the family ancestral hall."
"You mean... we're going to secretly take the body away without the Emperor's knowledge?"
Liu Shushu nodded. "This matter must not be known to the Emperor and Liu Qingying."
Mentioning Liu Qingying, Liu Chengfeng gritted his teeth in hatred, "That ungrateful wretch! The Liu family has raised her for so many years, and my mother has treated her like her own daughter. Not only is she ungrateful, but she also competes with you at every turn. She even attacked the Liu family without regard for the kindness of raising her. I was truly blind and never saw her true character."
Liu Shushu was secretly pleased to see him target Liu Qingying, but on the surface she defended her, saying, "After all, Ye is her birth mother, so it's understandable that she did this."
"Heh~ If it weren't for Ye Ning, your mother wouldn't have lost you and caused you to suffer so much outside. Your mother is right, children born from mistresses are always inferior."
At this moment, he truly felt that all the kindness he had shown to Liu Qingying over the years was not worth it!
Unbeknownst to them, these words were overheard by Qingying outside the door.
After learning of Pan's unexpected death and hearing that Liu Chengfeng had entered the palace, Qingying thought that since they had been siblings for so many years and he had treated her sincerely, they might as well discuss the matter of Pan's burial together. She could also soften her stance and ask Wei Huaixu for leniency out of gratitude for the kindness they had shown each other over the years.
But she overheard these words outside the palace.
Qingying turned to leave, but as soon as she stepped down the stairs, she stopped and looked around. She noticed that although there were palace maids around, none of them came to question her or stop her, allowing her to come and go as she pleased. Clearly, it was all pre-arranged. She then made up her mind.
It seems that Liu Shushu deliberately let her hear it.
Even though she knew it was a setup, she couldn't help feeling sad, after all, those words really came from Liu Chengfeng's mouth.
She genuinely considered him like an older brother.
She still remembered her childhood. When she first arrived at the Liu family, Liu Chengfeng treated her coldly and warned her not to try to take the position of the legitimate daughter, adding that he only had one younger sister.
Qingying, who was only three years old at the time, had never been treated like this before. Dragging her sickly body, she was so shocked by his words that she almost coughed up blood.
Later, she learned that Liu Chengfeng was the eldest son of the Liu family and Liu Yu's only heir. Only by pleasing him could she gain a foothold in the Liu family in the future.
So, ignoring Liu Chengfeng's cold words, she would always go to him. If she ate something delicious, she would prepare an extra portion and send it to him. If she saw something fun, she would bring it to share with him. If she learned something new, she would deliberately show it off in front of him.
At first, he resisted and would often kick her out. But she was shameless enough that no matter how grumpy he was or how harsh his words were, she would still come to him. Over time, he gradually got used to having this little shadow following him around, but at that time he hadn't yet shown her any affection.
The turning point came when she was five years old. Her grandmother felt that she had reached the age to begin her formal education, so she suggested that she go to a private school with Liu Chengfeng, where there was a separate class for girls.
However, her status as an illegitimate daughter meant she was not well-regarded there. It wouldn't have mattered if they had simply ignored her, but the girls deliberately played pranks on her, mocking her as a lowly child born to a concubine.
She endured all of this without exception.
One day, she was deliberately tripped and fell into the water. It wasn't a deep pool, just a shallow puddle after the rain; when she stood up, the water only reached her knees.
But the puddle was filthy. After she fell in, she lay there like a disheveled drowned dog, mud and water staining her clothes, hair, and face. Some of it even got into her mouth, filling her with a disgusting taste.
Hearing the laughter of those around her, she shed tears for the first time because of this humiliation.
At this moment, Liu Chengfeng rushed out from behind the crowd. Without hesitation, he stepped into the puddle and took off his outer robe to drape it over her.
He glared fiercely at them, his voice cold and menacing: "Liu Qingying is my sister. If you dare to bully her again, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Back then, Liu Chengfeng was a little tyrant. He had been learning martial arts from Liu Yu since he was a child, and his punches were so powerful that all the children in the private school were afraid of him.
At first, they bullied Qingying behind his back. At that time, they only dared to do some harmless little things. Gradually, they found that he never cared, so they assumed that he also hated this mistress. That's why they became bolder and more outrageous.
That day, he asked his teacher for leave and personally escorted Qingying home.
He asked Qingying, "Why didn't you ask me for help when you were bullied?"
Qingying shrank back, lowered her head, and whispered, "I know my brother hates me, so I don't want to trouble you."
Liu Chengfeng felt a pang of heartache for a moment. Looking at her cautious demeanor, he sighed helplessly, "I don't dislike you."
Qingying's eyes lit up instantly. "Brother doesn't dislike me? That means he likes me?"
Liu Chengfeng awkwardly turned his face away and whispered, "I don't like it."
"I know you're just saying one thing but meaning another. Whether you like me or not, I genuinely love you and want to be good to you. I'm so happy that you acknowledged me as your sister today."
Liu Chengfeng helped her tighten her outer robe, saying, "You're so glib. Wrap yourself up tighter. You're weak; don't catch a cold."
"Yes." She smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling like stars.
From then on, Liu Chengfeng treated her better and better, and gradually began to treat her like a younger sister.
Although she initially approached Liu Chengfeng with a purpose, she never intended to do anything harmful to him.
All she wanted was to live a good life.
But now, she's actually hearing the person she's always considered an older brother call her a bastard...
He was just like everyone else...
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