"Dad, look, is this yours?"
After meeting Mu Lige, Feng Lingyan was very pleased with him and took his hand to sit beside her. However, Mu Lige pulled out a round ball wrapped in a brocade handkerchief from his bosom and handed it to Feng Lingyan.
After taking the ball, although Feng Lingyan was slightly surprised, she still opened the ball layer by layer as Mu Lige said, and finally revealed a milky white jade pendant inside.
"This is……"
Feng Lingyan's hand holding the jade pendant trembled slightly, and her bright eyes looked at Mu Lige in disbelief.
This is a jade pendant made of top-grade mutton-fat jade, with a pure texture and a bright color, a milky white with a hint of yellow. It also has a tight structure, and the jade particles are fine and uniform, making it absolutely priceless.
The oval-shaped jade pendant is meticulously carved and exquisitely crafted. One side is engraved with a figure depicting a goddess holding a peach, while the other side also features the character "Ling." A red agate is placed between the brown hanging cord and the pendant. The brown tassel beneath the pendant is also made of fine ice silk, creating a beautiful drape.
It was the jade pendant of love that the emperor gave him when he entered the palace that year, and it had the word "Ling" of his name, Feng Lingyan, engraved on it.
"It is indeed mine. How come it is in your hands?" Feng Lingyan had never seen this jade pendant since her daughter was kidnapped.
Not only Feng Lingyan, but also Hua Qingcheng and her other husbands looked at Mu Lige with curiosity.
"This jade pendant was given to me by my father, Ye Maochun, the husband of Hua Xiucai, on the eve of my wedding to Qingcheng." Mu Lige glanced at Hua Qingcheng leisurely and continued, "Before my brothers gave me the dowry, my father gave me this jade pendant and told me that he had picked it up."
"Brother Li, why have I never heard you mention this?" Hua Qingcheng looked at Mu Lige with confusion.
Mu Lige's brows knitted slightly as she looked at Hua Qingcheng seriously. "Because, my father said, 'Only those who are extremely poor and miserable, and who can't make a living, would be so cruel as to abandon a child on someone else's doorstep. But the exquisite swaddling clothes this child is wearing, and this precious jade pendant, all indicate that she wasn't abandoned because of poverty.'"
"He also said, 'Whether it's because of enemies, because she was ostracized because of her wealthy family, or because she was simply abandoned because she was unwanted... it's not a good thing anyway. I just hope Qingcheng can live a peaceful and happy life.'"
"Qingqing, Dad didn't let you know this because he wanted to protect you. When he first found you, besides the yellow swaddling clothes you were wrapped in, this jade pendant was the only token of your life. Dad was worried that if your mother and father hadn't abandoned you, and if one day your biological mother and father came looking for you, and he... was gone, he'd have someone to tell you the truth. That's why he gave this jade pendant to me for safekeeping, and told me not to tell you the truth if it threatened your safety."
"Dad..."
Hua Qingcheng's eyes turned red when she heard this. This old man Hua really treated her with all his heart, even though he knew that she was not his daughter.
"Qingcheng, your adoptive father... is indeed a good man who understands the big picture! You must be filial to him in the future. When I meet Brother Ye one day, I will definitely pay my respects to him in person and express my gratitude!" Feng Lingyan was extremely grateful at this moment. She was grateful that her poor daughter had met a good family and was brought up so well.
"By the way, Li Ge, did Brother Ye ever tell you how he found Qingcheng?"
Feng Lingyan's heart ached at the thought of her daughter being snatched away at birth and then abandoned. But why hadn't she been killed when her daughter was abducted by the masked men in black? Instead, they brought her all the way from the capital to the remote countryside of Huaqiao Village. Why?
"Um."
Mu Lige nodded slightly, and then told him what Hua's father had told him.
"Sixteen years ago in the winter, my father gave birth to a daughter. Unfortunately, the child was unlucky and died just a few days after birth. On a very cold night, after the baby took her last sip of milk, her body began to slowly grow cold..."
"When my father was heartbroken, he suddenly heard the faint cry of a baby outside the door. My mother supported him and went to the door to check. Only to find a newborn baby in a wooden basin placed at the Hua family's gate."
"That baby was you, Qingqing! It was extremely cold, and you were only wrapped in a thin yellow swaddling cloth. Your face was red from the cold, so Mom and Dad took you home. To prevent the villagers from gossiping, they quietly buried the unfortunate child who died young. So everyone thought you were Mom and Dad's biological child."
"Mom and Dad and the others..." Hua Qingcheng choked slightly.
"They have always known that you are not their biological daughter, but they have always treated you as their own."
Hearing Mu Lige's words, Hua Qingcheng's eyes were filled with tears. Now she was the Hua Qingcheng of Laifeng Country. Her father and mother had saved the original owner's life, which was equivalent to saving her. Such a kindness higher than the mountains and deeper than the sea, how could she not be moved?
"Dad, do you still remember what happened when you gave birth?" Although it was a bit cruel, Mu Lige still asked the question in his heart.
"Sixteen years ago in the winter, when I was about to give birth after ten months of pregnancy, the Emperor personally led an expedition to the southwest to quell a rebellion. She entrusted me to the care of Ouyang Yuming, also known as Huang Guijun, who was closest to me. Unexpectedly, not long after the army set out, I felt a stomachache. The baby, who was supposed to be born in the early twelfth month, was born over twenty days early."
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