irrefutable evidence
"...Ladies and gentlemen! Let us give the warmest applause to welcome Master Ah Xiu, the founder of 'Zhi Xiu Fang' and the pioneer of a new fashion trend in Shanghai!"
Inside the Lyceum Theatre, beneath the dazzling crystal chandeliers, the host's voice was filled with enthusiasm.
Thunderous applause rang out.
A spotlight hit the entrance of the stage.
Ling Xiuqing slowly walked out from behind the scenes.
She remained dressed in plain clothes, yet she seemed to radiate a radiant aura. Her steps were steady, her eyes resolute, and her face betrayed no trace of the backstage turmoil. She quietly walked to the center of the stage and bowed deeply to the audience.
Below the stage, in the most prominent position in the first row, sat Ling Xiong and several elders of the Ling family.
Ling Xiong stared intently at the familiar yet unfamiliar face on the stage, his cloudy old eyes filled with struggle, pain, and anger. The elders around him looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy, ready to strike at any moment.
They came to "clean up the house" and put an end to this family scandal.
In another corner, Murong Bai was directing all the reporters to point their cameras at the stage, and also to focus some of their cameras on the seats for the Ling family.
He knew that what was going to happen here today was more than just a fashion show.
"Thank you all for taking the time to attend the launch of the new 'Qing Qing Zi Jin' school uniform at 'Zhi Xiu Fang'." Ling Xiuqing's voice, clearly carried throughout the theater through the microphone, "Before we showcase our work, I'd like to take a moment of your time to tell you a story about myself."
The moment these words came out, the whole audience was in an uproar. The reporters' nerves were instantly tense!
Ling Xiong, who was in the audience, turned pale! He had never imagined that this "evil girl" would actually dare to bring up the past in front of all the people of Shanghai!
"The protagonist of this story is a girl who once lived a life of luxury," Ling Xiuqing said calmly, as if recounting someone else's past. "She possessed exquisite skills and a gentle and refined husband whom she deeply loved. She thought she had the whole world."
"It wasn't until her wedding night that she discovered it was all a scam. She was framed by her most trusted husband and closest maidservant, accused of 'infidelity.' And her beloved family, for the sake of their so-called 'reputation,' gave her no chance to defend herself and drowned her... in the heart of the icy river."
When she said this, her voice trembled slightly.
The audience was completely silent. Everyone was captivated by this tragic story.
Ling Xiong's body began to tremble uncontrollably. The past, like the sharpest knife, sliced at his heart again and again.
"In that piercing river, the once innocent, cowardly 'Ling Xiuqing' died completely." Tears shone in Ling Xiuqing's eyes, but her voice gradually became firm and powerful. "But perhaps it was God's mercy, or perhaps the resentment she felt was too strong, a brand new 'A Xiu' climbed out of that abyss of despair."
"She had nothing but the hands that hadn't been taken away from her, and the memories etched in her bones, as she struggled to survive in the mire. Step by step, she reached today, stepping onto this stage."
She slowly raised her head, her eyes as sharp as torches, shooting straight at Ling Xiong in the first row.
"And today, the murderer who killed her, that beast who distorted right and wrong, in order to survive, actually forged a so-called 'suicide note', using the filthiest words to defame the girl's long-deceased mother, who lived a pure life!"
Her voice suddenly rose, filled with accusations of blood and tears!
"He said that the girl's mother had an affair and gave birth to an illegitimate child! How absurd! How ridiculous!"
"My mother, Ling Chenwan, came from a family of scholars and lived a quiet and virtuous life. She and my father, Ling Xiong, were deeply in love! How could she possibly do such a shameful thing?!"
"He said that I, Ling Xiuqing, am not of the Ling family's bloodline?"
She sneered, and her laughter was filled with endless sadness and irony.
"Then today, I will let everyone in Shanghai see whether I am the daughter of the Ling family!"
After saying that, she waved her hand violently!
The stage lights change instantly!
The music starts and the press conference officially begins!
But the models walking on the catwalk were not student models in school uniforms.
Instead, they are models wearing gorgeous Chinese-style dresses!
First, the model wore a dress with the theme of "Pine and Crane Longevity". The pine needles embroidered on the dress were made using the Ling family's long-lost and secret unique needlework - "three-fold random needle embroidery"!
The second piece, the brocade cheongsam worn by the model, is embroidered with a picture of "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix". The color and luster of the phoenix's wings are the "seven-color cloud dye" that the Ling family dyeing workshop has never revealed to others!
The third one, the fourth one...
Every piece of work on stage perfectly reproduces a top-notch secret technique that has long been believed to be lost and belongs only to the heyday of "Ling Family Embroidery Shop"!
These skills, let alone outsiders, even the Ling family’s own embroiderers have long been unable to master them!
Ling Xiong and several elders in the audience were completely dumbfounded!
They stood up from their seats suddenly as if they had seen a ghost, pointing at the work on the stage, their lips trembling, unable to utter a word!
This... How is this possible? !
These needlework techniques, these dyeing techniques... can only be mastered by the most talented direct descendants who have received the true teachings of the Ling family's patriarch and the core embroiderer!
Apart from Ling Xiuqing back then, there couldn't be anyone else who could do that!
The evidence is irrefutable!
No words are needed, no blood relationship identification is needed!
The works on the stage, shining with the Ling family's highest craftsmanship, are the most irrefutable and shocking proof of identity!
Amidst everyone's exclamations, Ling Xiuqing walked to the center of the stage again.
She looked at Ling Xiong, whose face had already turned pale, and said clearly, word by word:
"Father. Now, do you still think that I am not your daughter?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
