To her surprise, when she arrived at Cui Rou's room, she didn't see a single person. Xu Yuehuai searched the vicinity for a long time with suspicion, only to find Bao Juan, Cui Rou's maid, who was also anxiously looking for her. When asked about Cui Rou's whereabouts, Bao Juan was also clueless.
"Your Highness, Aunt Cui was here when we had breakfast, but she disappeared after breakfast. I've searched for her several times, but I haven't found a trace of her."
Baojuan told him the truth, and Xu Yuehuai secretly analyzed it. Since she was still thinking about eating breakfast, it proved that the matter was not very urgent. And it hadn't been long since she ate breakfast. With her walking ability, she couldn't have gone too far. Either someone was waiting for her, or she went to find someone else.
Xu Yuehuai immediately thought of Xu Jingui and thought to herself, "Oh no, could Cui Rou have gone to see Xu Jingui again?"
"Go tell Madam I'm going to find her," she muttered, but her steps didn't stop as she hurried towards where Xu Jingui used to live.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the place was deserted and desolate, with thick dust on the table telling the story of how long it had been abandoned.
Xu Yuehuai inquired with nearby merchants and learned that Xu Jingui and his son had moved to a residence near the Marquis of Ningyuan, so she hurriedly went there.
After turning a few corners, they saw the house, and sure enough, there was a figure kneeling at the door. Xu Yuehuai recognized her at a glance as Cui Rou.
She strode forward, grabbed Cui Rou's sleeve, and pulled her back without saying a word. Unexpectedly, Cui Rou refused to give in, broke free of her hand, and knelt down again.
"What are you doing?" Xu Yuehuai asked, squatting down.
“Only in this way will Xu Jingui forgive me,” Cui Rou replied blankly.
"Why do you want him to forgive you?" Xu Yuehuai exploded upon hearing this. Sure enough, what she feared most had happened. She hurriedly reassured him, "I already said I would take care of you in your old age."
Cui Rou remained unmoved, ignoring Xu Yuehuai's attempts to persuade her. She coldly said, "Don't worry about me. It's all because you tried to control me that I ended up like this."
These words pierced Xu Yuehuai's heart like a thorn. She stood up abruptly and asked, "I'll ask you one last time, are you coming with me or not?"
“I’m not leaving. You don’t need to support me in my old age because you’re not our child at all; you were adopted.” Cui Rou refused decisively, and then added a piece of information about Yi Ze, which struck Xu Yuehuai like a thunderbolt, leaving him unable to move for a long time.
Xu Yuehuai originally thought that the original owner was not favored by Xu Jingui simply because she was a woman, but she never expected that she was not their child at all. Even so, Xu Jingui still climbed on her body and sucked her blood, and even now, he still did not repent.
"But you clearly told the Duke of Zhenguo that I am your biological child..." Her eyes were filled with despair as she coldly questioned, "If that's the case, then who are my biological parents? Where are they now?"
"I don't know," Cui Rou said matter-of-factly.
She had originally thought she could use Xu Yuehuai to live a good life, but now it seems that only her own son can be relied upon.
“I bought you from Aunt Sun, how would I know who your parents are?” Cui Rou reached out and shoved Xu Yuehuai. “Get out of here! Don’t get in my way.”
Xu Yuehuai was already in a daze. When Cui Rou pushed her, she fell directly to the ground. She stared blankly at the sky, wishing she could just die.
Lady Zhenguo happened to be passing by and witnessed the scene. She was heartbroken and quickly got off the carriage to help Xu Yuehuai up.
Xu Yuehuai had already given up hope, but upon seeing the Lady of Zhenguo, he could no longer hold back his tears.
“Godmother, I have no parents. I was adopted.” She cried in the arms of the Duchess of Zhenguo for a long time, her tears never stopping. “So all these years, they have been lying to me. They just wanted to get something out of me.”
She was utterly disappointed; she had thought she could feel maternal love from Cui Rou.
Her grief brought tears to the eyes of the Duchess of Zhenguo, who quickly put her arm around Yue's shoulder and said, "Don't be sad, Yue. Your godmother will definitely find out about your origins."
Xu Yuehuai in her arms remained motionless. The Duchess of Zhenguo hurriedly checked on her and found that she had fainted from excessive grief. She did not speak again, but simply held Xu Yuehuai tightly.
Xu Yuehuai fell seriously ill and remained unconscious for a day and a night before slowly waking up. However, she was still very weak, and the imperial physician advised her to rest in bed for a while longer.
Upon hearing this, the Duchess of Zhenguo sent someone to the palace to ask for a few more days of leave on Xu Yuehuai's behalf. The servant obeyed and left, but when she turned back, Xu Yuehuai on the bed had disappeared.
"Ah Yue! Ah Yue!" The Duchess of Zhenguo called out a few times, then ran out. In an instant, the mansion was in chaos as everyone searched for Xu Yuehuai's whereabouts.
Xu Yuehuai had already walked onto the street. She was in a daze, like a walking corpse, and knocked over the goods on several vendors' stalls. The vendors didn't bother to argue with her, but just sighed that she was unlucky.
Although she was in a daze, she still remembered the direction of Tianxiang Tower. Although she took some detours, she was eventually heading in that direction. However, the area around Tianxiang Tower had already been ambushed by people sent by the Empress.
"Brother, would you like this one? Or that one?"
"Neither of them. Take a good look at the portrait before you identify the person. Don't disturb my sleep!"
The man called "Big Brother" waved his hand in annoyance, then settled into a comfortable position and continued sleeping. In his dream, he was getting married, and just as it was time to lift the veil, he was woken up by his younger brother.
"Big brother, big brother, look! This can't be wrong!"
The older brother, whose erotic dream had been disturbed, was already extremely annoyed. But after seeing the person his younger brother pointed to, he was wide awake. He snatched the portrait from his brother's hand and compared it for a long time before standing up, stretching his neck, and saying, "Brothers, we've got a job!"
The group of men rushed forward with lewd grins, their target Xu Yuehuai. They reached behind her and covered her face with a black cloth, while the leader hoisted Xu Yuehuai onto his shoulder and ran into the back alley, where his henchmen quickly followed.
The physically weak Xu Yuehuai had no strength left to resist, but she recovered from her dazed state due to fright and began to shout and scream incessantly.
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