After Xiao Fubao's life was stolen, he became the favorite of everyone in the capital

Chapter 483 Torment
Qin Jing immediately stood up and said, "Mother, please allow me to go and greet Uncle Gu."

Lady Xian Guogong nodded.

When the future of a top scholar was uncertain, Lady Xian had the confidence to look down on him, but things were different now.

Qin Jing and Gu Mingda passed the imperial examination at the same time. However, Qin Jing's current importance in the emperor's heart is not as high as Gu Mingda's.

Lady Xianguogong had also heard from her father that the emperor loved to do things deliberately, and if nothing unexpected happened, it would be basically a foregone conclusion that Gu Mingda would enter the cabinet in the future.

As a result, Duke Xian's Mansion had to pay more attention to the Gu family.

At this time, Duke Xian even stood up and said to his son, "I'll go with you."

The father and son met Gu Mingda at the second gate, and after exchanging greetings, they took him into the mourning hall.

After Gu Mingda completed the worship procedures, he took Qin Jing aside to talk for a while and was about to leave.

"Master Gu."

Qin Jingshu called out cautiously.

Gu Mingda is responsible for the enlightenment of the adopted daughters in the palace and is also Qin Jingshu's teacher. However, in Gu Mingda's opinion, the most important label of the girl in front of him is Niu Niu's good friend.

Gu Mingda asked softly, "Jingshu, do you have something to tell me? Is it related to Niuniu?"

Qin Jingshu nodded first, then shook her head.

Qin Jing did not leave. After all, his sister was getting older now, and it was not good for her reputation for her to stay alone with Gu Mingda.

"Brother, you..." Qin Jingshu wanted her brother to leave.

Qin Jing frowned slightly and looked at his sister with disapproval.

"Jingshu, your elder brother is your closest relative. If you want to hide this matter from him, it may not be convenient for me to listen to it." Gu Mingda said.

Qin Jingshu had a conflicted expression on her face, but after thinking it over, she felt that she still had to tell Gu Mingda many things.

She spent a lot of time with Niu Niu and knew how responsible parents Gu Mingda and Zhang Yuniang were, so after thinking about it for a long time, she decided to tell Gu Mingda.

"My aunt told me something before she died..." Qin Jingshu said.

Gu Mingda was totally unprepared for this matter. He came to the Qin family today to express condolences, not to know his daughter's life experience!

Qin Jing's face turned pale. He didn't expect that his aunt would do such a big thing behind the family's back.

"This matter is too big, I must tell my parents." Qin Jing said.

Gu Mingda began to panic, and a fear of losing his daughter spread in his heart.

"Ajing, wait a moment. Your family is holding a funeral right now. They probably aren't ready to receive such news," said Gu Mingda.

Gu Mingda hasn't figured out how to deal with this matter yet, so he can only instinctively put it off.

Qin Jing glanced at Gu Mingda, nodded in the end, and said, "Uncle Gu, you know, I have to tell my parents about this eventually."

When Gu Mingda heard this, he couldn't help but wonder, is his panic so obvious now? So obvious that Qin Jing could see it.

Gu Mingda turned his head and looked at Qin Jingshu: "You are a good child, thank you for telling us these things. Don't tell anyone else for now, okay?" Qin Jingshu nodded obediently. She had been carrying this secret for the past few days, and she didn't feel good in her heart. Now that she finally said it out, she felt a sense of relief that everything was settled.

Gu Mingda returned to the Gu family with heavy steps.

Zhang Yunniang had not taken this condolence seriously, but when she saw her husband's dark face, she immediately became anxious: "Did something happen to him?"

Gu Mingda glanced at his wife, drank three cups of tea, and made sure that there was no one else in the bedroom before he spoke.

After hearing the whole story, Zhang Yunniang covered her chest with her hands, and her face showed the same uncomfortable expression as her husband.

"How could it be...how could it be...what Madam Li said might not be true...Niuniu might not be their child...Madam Xian Guogong..." Zhang Yuniang said incoherently.

Gu Mingda suddenly seemed to have grasped something and said, "I have always felt that something was strange. The Li family and Niuniu must have some unknown connection, but I have never been able to figure it out."

Although Gu Mingda still hadn't figured it out completely, he was somewhat certain about Mrs. Li's last words.

"The Li family seems to be particularly... wary of Niu Niu." Gu Mingda really didn't want to use this word to describe his daughter, but given the current situation, it seemed that there was no more appropriate adjective than this.

Zhang Yuniang couldn't help but shook her head: "But this doesn't prove that Niuniu is the child of the Duke of Xian's mansion..."

Gu Mingda glanced at his wife and said, "Nine out of ten times, you should have seen the wife of Duke Xian in the inner house. Are there any similarities between her and Niu Niu?"

Zhang Yunniang's face turned pale. She didn't want to admit it, but she had to admit that every time she saw the wife of Duke Xian, she felt a sense of familiarity that could not be ignored.

In the past, she couldn't explain where this feeling of familiarity came from, but now she understood.

But she wished she didn't understand.

"But I...but I don't want to return my daughter to them...Can I wait a few more years?" Zhang Yuniang was still struggling.

Gu Mingda said, "Niuniu was maliciously switched without her knowledge. She was not abandoned by the Duke of Xian's Mansion. If we didn't know, it would be fine. But now that we know, we can no longer hide it from her. She has the right to know the truth."

Zhang Yunniang was heartbroken. In the past two or three years of living together, she had long treated the child as her own flesh and blood and had become accustomed to having Niuniu by her side. Whenever she thought of the child being taken away by Duke Xianguo's Mansion, she felt extremely uncomfortable.

Niu Niu soon discovered that her mother's eyes looked as if she was drowning these past two days.

"Mom, if you have anything to say, you can just tell me directly." Niu Niu said obediently.

Zhang Yunniang opened and closed her mouth, wanting to speak but not daring to say it. After a long pause, she finally said, "Mom likes to watch Niuniu play."

Niuniu raised the corner of her mouth: "Mom, will you play with me?"

Zhang Yunniang had a lot of things to deal with, but after hearing her daughter say this, she immediately put everything aside and just wanted to spend more time with her daughter.

Zhang Yunniang was in agony, and her heart was tormented until the funeral of Duke Xianguo was over.

No matter how reluctant Gu Mingda was, his day off had arrived. He and Zhang Yuniang did not disturb other people in the family, but called Niu Niu to their side alone.

But after hearing the whole story, the little girl's reaction seemed to surprise the couple. Not only did she not cry, she obviously had no intention of returning to Duke Xianguo's Mansion.

"Mrs. Xian Guogong already has a daughter. You told me that a child belongs to whomever family he is raised in. So I am your child, and Jingshu is also the daughter of Mrs. Xian Guogong."

The little girl's face was a bit childish, but her eyes were extremely firm and full of sense of matter-of-factness.