Chapter 310 You...are really my daughter
Xie Zhen saw Xiyan holding the silver spoon and not eating much of the food on the plate, so he scooped another spoonful of rock sugar and snow pear soup:
"Try this. Their mother used to love making desserts stewed with snow fungus from Nanzhao."
Xiyan's fingertips trembled, and the silver spoon made a slight sound as it scratched the edge of the celadon bowl.
This was the first time Xie Zhen mentioned Queen Jiang Jingyue since they met.
Xiyan carefully discovered that when the emperor talked about his queen, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes were filled with tenderness.
She had heard that Emperor Nan Zhao and Empress Jiang Jingyue were deeply in love, and even though the Empress had been in a coma for fifteen years, he had not taken a concubine.
Seeing the slight frost on his temples at this moment, the alienation in her heart turned into a sour warmth.
She didn't know why, but from the first moment she saw Xie Zhen, she felt very friendly and warm. This feeling was exactly the same as when she saw Xie Lan and Xie Zhan, as if they were really family.
She felt more and more anxious, and was even a little impatient to know the results of the blood test.
Xie Lan, however, saw Xi Yan's dazed look and knew what she was thinking, so he stood up and saluted:
"Father, I have traveled thousands of miles to bring Xiyan back from Tianqi, hoping she would come and recognize her as my relative."
When he finished speaking, Xie Zhen was putting a petal of orange blossom into Xiyan's sweet soup. He paused and the ripples in the bowl shattered the light.
"No rush, let's have lunch first and discuss it later."
Xie Lan smiled:
"That makes me seem a little impatient. I have just ordered Eunuch Sun to go to the Zongzheng Temple to get the jade disc."
"You are so anxious, kid."
Xie Zhen said this, but from the first moment he saw Xiyan, he was certain that she must be his long-lost daughter. Otherwise, how could there be someone in this world who looked so much like his Jingyue?
Xiyan slowly stood up, her moon-white dress fluttering like butterfly wings, and the silver-threaded Xiyan pattern on the hem swept across the gold bricks:
"Your Majesty, there is no need to blame His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Actually... I just want to know the result quickly. For fifteen years, Xiyan never knew who her biological parents were. I beg Your Majesty for mercy."
Xie Zhen's fingers holding the jade spoon suddenly tightened, and pain radiated from the pale joints.
When she said "I didn't know who my parents were for fifteen years", the wind outside the hall happened to lift the curtains and blew her hair into a mess - it was so similar to the way he looked back at her under the bright moon and hibiscus flowers.
But the wrinkles on the girl's brow are the marks of fifteen years of no one protecting her.
"Zhan'er told me," the emperor's voice suddenly became hoarse.
"Before you were seven, you lived with farmers. Life was hard..."
Before he could finish his words, his throat was already choked with bitterness.
He thought of the files Xie Lan had submitted after his extensive investigation:
On the day when the Li couple died suddenly of illness, the seven-year-old girl knelt in front of the Zong clan ancestral hall at the entrance of the village and asked the clan leader to help bury her adoptive parents.
As a young girl, she had no one to take care of her and was almost kidnapped by human traffickers. She had no choice but to beg on the streets of a foreign land. Fortunately, she was rescued by Xiao Nanyan, the Regent of Tianqi, and brought back to the palace.
But what awaited her was another eight years of life as a death warrior.
If she was really his daughter, she should have been a favored child of heaven, a jewel in the palm of their hands, a royal baby, and should have been playing with the Nine Rings of Emerald in the warm room of the Nanzhao Palace. But how did she survive the days of learning to be a death warrior and licking blood on the blade in the secret canal?
Moreover, she... was even bullied by that damned Regent of Apocalypse, and was pregnant before they even got married...
The more he thought about it, the more guilty and distressed he felt, and the more he wanted to confirm it.
At this moment, Eunuch Sun came in from outside holding a vermilion lacquer tray.
In the white jade dish on the plate, there was half a bowl of clear water, so clear that it could reflect the flickering light and shadow of the candlelight. Three silver needles and two white handkerchiefs were placed side by side next to it.
"Your Majesty, Your Highnesses, the items have been retrieved."
Eunuch Sun's shrill voice echoed in the hall.
"Put it on the table." Xie Zhen's voice was low and restrained.
When the tray landed, he had already stood up and walked to the table: "I'll go first."
He casually picked up a silver needle, placed it between his fingertips, and applied a little force. A drop of bright red blood instantly oozed out and dripped into the jade dish, creating fine ripples on the water's surface.
"It's your turn."
Manluo gently pushed Xiyan.
The girl's knuckles turned white as she gripped the hem of her skirt, and her wrist couldn't help but tremble as she picked up the silver needle.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The moment the needle pierced her fingertips, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and two drops of blood fell into the water, slowly rotating about an inch away from Xie Zhen's drop of blood.
The hall was completely silent, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the jade disc. Even Eunuch Sun couldn't help but lean forward.
I saw two drops of blood swaying slightly on the water surface at first, and then they slowly merged like magnets attracted to each other, turning into a deep red and sinking to the bottom of the water.
"It's done!"
Xie Zhan jumped up excitedly and patted Xie Lan's shoulder heavily:
"Brother Emperor, just say Xiyan is our sister!"
Xie Lan, who was usually calm, also had ripples in his eyes and the corners of his lips couldn't help but rise.
In fact, he believed it from the first time he saw Xiyan, simply because she looked so much like the queen mother in his memory.
Xie Zhen froze in place, his eyes instantly red. He looked at Xi Yan, who was also standing there in shock, and reached out to touch her pale cheek, his voice choked with sobs:
"You...are truly my daughter..."
Xiyan's legs softened, and she fell to her knees with a thud, tears streaming down her face.
"Father...Father!"
Before he could finish his words, Xie Zhen grabbed him and pulled him up.
He gently stroked Xiyan's head, and the longing and guilt he had felt for her for more than a decade turned into hot tears:
"It is Father who has wronged you... and made you suffer."
Manluo looked at the father and daughter hugging and crying, wiped the corners of her eyes quietly, and felt a sour feeling in her nose.
She thought of her deceased mother and her father who cruelly sold her and was killed by her own hands, and bitterness rose in her throat.
But soon, she smiled again——
At least her good sister Xiyan found the warmth that belonged to her, and she was really happy for Xiyan.
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