Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 38 The Truth
Su Qingwan didn't want to be probed by Lu Jing at the banquet, so she said coldly, "It's time to end this Hongmen Banquet. I haven't seen my father and mother for a long time. I'll take them to Meilan Garden to talk first."

When she said this, her eyes met Lu Jing's directly, with a hint of provocation in her calmness. Xie Huai and his wife recognized her identity, and Lu Jing could do nothing to her.

Lu Jing saw through her provocation with a deep look in his eyes. It was he who arranged the Hongmen Banquet, and Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was aimed at Pei Gong, but the result went against his will, and his eldest sister-in-law survived the disaster safely.

Could it be that he was really overthinking it?
Lu Jing remained silent. Lu Shaoqing looked embarrassed and stood up to apologize to Xie Huai. Xie Huai was extremely cold and used the excuse that he wanted to talk to his daughter. Su Qingwan took them back to Meilan Garden.

As soon as they left, Li Xueying angrily said, "The Xie family is really blind. They couldn't even recognize their own daughter. They are old and their eyes are blurry. They were deceived!"

Lu Jing looked away from Su Qingwan's back. "The Xie family's favorite daughter is well known in Jiangnan. In order to satisfy the sister-in-law's wish, she has done many things that cost a lot of money in the past ten years. If she is not the sister-in-law, Xie Huai and his wife will definitely recognize her. Aunt, if someone with a similar appearance pretends to be the fourth sister, will you not recognize her?"

Lin blurted out, "How is it possible! I can recognize my daughter, whom I raised as a precious pearl, even if she turned into ashes."

Lu Jing looked at Li Xueying coldly, "So, why do you insist that she is not my sister-in-law? Could it be that, as my sister-in-law said, you killed someone and destroyed the body, so you are so sure?"

Li Xueyinghua's face turned pale, her heart pounding, "I don't have any, I don't have any real evidence, don't slander me."

Lu Jing’s pressure was too great. Li Xueying was frightened and panicked. She was afraid that someone would find out what was going on, so she hid beside Lu Feng in fear.

Lu Feng protected her distressedly, frowned and scolded, "Zi Yu, your sister-in-law is still pregnant, don't scare her."

Lu Jing sneered, showing no mercy at all, and said indifferently, "I insisted on asking my family to come to the capital because I had doubts to answer, and I didn't want to be your knife to kill people. Brother, take care of your people and do what you want!"

He stood up and apologized to Lu Shaoqing before leaving. Zhang was displeased. "I really don't know what you are thinking. Zhaolan earned the iron certificate to protect future generations for the family. This is such an honor. Why are you so hard on her? You have all gone crazy and can't tell the difference between good and bad!"

Zhang also stood up and left the table. Lu Shaoqing was so angry that he smashed the teacup and glared at him, "Look at what you have done. It's embarrassing!"

Lu Feng felt frustrated and aggrieved after being scolded, and couldn't help but wonder, did Li Xueying really kill Zhao Lan?

Perhaps, Zhaolan really escaped when he fell off the cliff, and Xueying lied on purpose in order to marry into the Lu family and monopolize his love.

In Meilan Garden, Nanny Li sent all the maids out to do their work and guarded the gate to prevent anyone from approaching. Su Qingwan brought Xie Huai and his wife into the room. After Luzhu closed the door, she turned around, knelt down, and kowtowed to them.

"Thank you, uncle and aunt, for being so kind and covering up for me!" Su Qingwan kowtowed heavily. The look in Madam Xie's eyes, which was filled with pain and sadness, made Su Qingwan understand.

It's not that they don't recognize their daughter, they are just covering her up.

"Miss, you can't do this, get up quickly!" Xie Huai helped Su Qingwan to get up. Mrs. Xie covered her mouth and cried bitterly, but she was afraid that the wall could hear her, so her cries choked in her throat, which was heartbreaking to hear.

"You and Zhaolan... look alike!" Mrs. Xie burst into tears. The moment she saw Su Qingwan, she couldn't help but tear up. Xie Huai was saddened and shed tears too. They had lost their daughter, and looking at Su Qingwan who looked like Zhaolan reminded him of sad memories.

Mrs. Xie suddenly felt a glimmer of hope and held her hand tightly. "Zhao Lan is still alive, right? Are you afraid that she will be bullied, so... you hid her, right?"

Su Qingwan couldn't bear to hurt their hearts. The Xie family treated her sister as their own daughter for more than ten years, just like the Princess of Southwest had protected her as her own daughter for more than ten years.

The bond between mother and daughter is not just about blood being thicker than water.

Su Qingwan said, "On the day I went to the capital, I happened to see my sister's carriage falling off a cliff. Before my sister died, we met briefly, and I... saw her with my own eyes..."

Mrs. Xie lost her last glimmer of hope. Her heart was as dead as a pool of water and she cried so hard that she couldn’t catch her breath.

Xie Huai was also secretly wiping away tears.

After a long time, the two calmed down a little. Xie Huai said, "The Jinyiwei took us to the capital and said that Zhaolan was still alive. I was so worried about Zhaolan that I went to the capital with my wife overnight. The Jinyiwei guarded us too strictly, so I was confused. Why did they guard us so strictly just to see my daughter? After we went to the capital, Xie Min came to visit us and talked about your rectification of the business and the scene you made at Lu Feng and Li Xueying's wedding. My wife and I felt that... it was not Zhaolan's behavior. She was patient and soft-hearted, and she would not do such a strong thing. We thought at the time... maybe Zhaolan's sister."

The Xie family inherited the King of Huainan and was loyal to him, from grandfather to father to him and to his sons. Loyalty to the King of Huainan was the first rule of the Xie family's ancestral precepts and a golden rule.

When the Huainan Palace was destroyed, the princess was sent to the Xie family for upbringing. Her grandfather felt it was a great honor. They raised her carefully and loved her as their own daughter.

Xie Huai also knew that Zhaolan had a younger sister. Zhaolan kept her mouth shut and never said where her younger sister was. She only said that her younger sister was safe. Her personality was completely different from hers. The twins had been exchanging letters, and the Xie family kept it a secret. They usually wouldn't talk about her younger sister with Xie Zhaolan. Occasionally, Xie Zhaolan would mention something her younger sister had done, and her words were full of nostalgia and sadness, saying that her younger sister was like her elder brother, the prince of Huainan.

Madam Xie said, "Lu Jing asked us to keep silent at the table and not to greet you. I was afraid that you would not recognize me and give away my identity, so I deliberately wore gold and jade. Fortunately, you were smart and didn't leave any handle."

Su Qingwan felt warm in her heart, and she said that Madam Xie's appearance and demeanor were inconsistent with her dress. It turned out that she was afraid that she would not recognize her, so she deliberately dressed up as a wealthy merchant's wife.

"But... why do you want to take over Zhao Lan's identity?" Xie Huai asked anxiously.

Su Qingwan was not sure whether she should tell the Xie couple the truth, but they were in the same boat, and they would prosper together and suffer together. They had treated her sister as their own daughter for more than ten years, so they should know the truth.

She no longer hesitated and told them the truth.

Xie Huai and Madam Xie were furious when they heard this. They were heartbroken and blamed themselves for agreeing to Lu Feng's marriage proposal. Madam Xie Huai cried bitterly, "When she married Lu Feng, I was afraid that the Lu family would dislike us because we were from a merchant family, so we prepared half of our family wealth as a dowry for her, hoping that she would stand up straight in her husband's family. After a few years of marriage, Zhaolan also praised her mother-in-law for being kind and Lu Feng for being motivated in her letters. I thought she had married well, the Lu family would rise step by step, and Zhaolan would have no worries in her life. Who would have thought... that she would be treated harshly. This silly child only reported good news and not bad news. When we went to Beijing to deal with Zhaolan's funeral, Lu Feng was so sad that he fainted several times. I thought he had deep feelings for Zhaolan... What a beast, he hurt our daughter. He wanted to get close to the Li family and gave Zhaolan a letter of divorce. We took Zhaolan back to Jiangnan and would never delay his future. How could he kill my daughter!"

(End of this chapter)