Pin Shanhe

Since her birth, Xiao Yao'er has become the darling of the entire Underworld Palace.

After the elders retired, they were even more happy to have some free time. They wished they could stay by Xiao Yao'er's side all day long, and they would feel heartbroken if he cried even a little.

They even argued endlessly about who should take care of them, and the argument escalated into a major battle.

This scene plays out almost daily, and the people of the Underworld are used to it.

Fearing that they might actually fight, Shen Fu decided to go back to her parents' home for a while to escape the chaos.

Rong Yan naturally supported all her decisions and immediately took his wife and children back to Yongdu.

Little did they know that after they left, the elders fought even more fiercely!

They were all blaming each other for not knowing how to restrain themselves, for upsetting the Empress, and for preventing them from seeing the young master.

Upon returning to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, the couple and their young child naturally received a warm welcome from the entire Shen family.

Shen Ting'an held Xiao Yao'er tightly, his eyes filled with unspeakable tenderness.

Of the five sons of the Shen family, three have already married and had children.

Although he loved his other grandchildren as much as he did when they were born, none of them made him as excited as he was when he saw Xiao Yao'er.

The Shen family was immersed in a joyful atmosphere and prepared a sumptuous banquet to welcome the eldest daughter and son-in-law.

After lunch, Shen Ting'an called Shen Fu into his study, clearly wanting to speak with her privately.

When I entered the study, I saw my father sitting at the desk, fiddling with a bamboo dragonfly, and next to him was a hand-woven cricket cage.

Her eyes instantly welled up with tears; these were all her favorite things from childhood!

At that time, her father was busy with official duties, leaving early and returning late every day, but he would try his best to satisfy her as long as she liked something, and even do it himself.

She spent the entire night weaving a cricket cage, placed it by her bedside, and then hurried off to the morning court session.

When she woke up in the morning and saw the gift, she was overjoyed and immediately took the cage out to show it off.

The brothers all had expressions of envy and jealousy on their faces, but not a single one of them showed any hatred!

Because they also doted on this little sister in every way possible, wishing they could give her the best of everything.

Shen Fu was pampered like this as she grew up, which led to her being naive and believing that everything in the world was beautiful.

Although she later met Jun Qiyuan and experienced the wicked side of human nature, she still believes that all good things deserve to be treated with kindness.

Shen Ting'an was clearly also lost in memories.

"Eighteen years ago, when I first saw you, your tiny, soft body was wrapped in swaddling clothes. It seemed as if a gust of wind could blow you away. You were as light as a feather when I held you in my arms, unlike your five older brothers who were so strong and robust when they were born."

"At that time, I deeply felt the difference between my daughter and my son, and I thought to myself that I must take good care of you and help you grow up healthily. When your mother was critically ill, you were the one she was most worried about."

"I never imagined that the little girl we worried about every day would grow up so much and get married and have children."

Listening to her father reminisce about the past, Shen Fu was deeply moved.

My father rarely mentioned what happened back then, and he would never bring up my mother in front of them.

Whenever he missed his mother, he would either gaze at her portrait in his study or speak to her memorial tablet in the ancestral hall in the backyard.

What's wrong with me today? Why am I saying so much?

Finally, Shen Ting'an sighed.

"I, as your father, owe you so much."

On the day Murong Xiao joined forces with the Western Regions Empress to force the emperor to abdicate, Jun Qiyuan barged in in a madman and said something in front of everyone.

Dreams, past lives, family feuds, and so on.

At the time, everyone thought he was talking nonsense while in a state of confusion, and in the end, he died at Meng Wan's hands.

But after hearing those words, he couldn't calm down for a long time after returning home.

According to Jun Qiyuan, he successfully ascended the throne in that "dream" and also wiped out the entire Zhenguo Duke's family.

It sounded like nonsense, but he had a premonition that those things really had happened.

What first made him realize something was wrong was the incident after Shen Fu's wedding, when she got into the wrong bridal sedan chair.

Since then, she has undergone a significant transformation.

She had been so infatuated with Jun Qiyuan before, saying she would marry him no matter what, but suddenly, as if enlightened, she distanced herself from him, preferring to marry the rumored ugly and ruthless Xuan King rather than accept the marriage.

She thought she had hidden it well, but how could parents not understand their own children?

Since she doesn't want to talk about it, he won't force her and will respect all her choices!

Jun Qiyuan's words, however, led him to the reason for Shen Fu's change.

Perhaps it wasn't just a dream at all, but something that actually happened in another parallel universe.

His first thought wasn't about the tragic massacre of the Duke of Zhenguo's family, but rather how desperate and terrified Shen Fu, a delicate woman, must have felt, experiencing all that alone under those circumstances!

Therefore, after she remembered her "past life," she was determined to change her fate and protect her family in her own way.

Shen Ting'an couldn't help but feel regretful. Why couldn't she, in that timeline, help her avoid the risks and prevent her from encountering those terrible things?

A father who fails to protect his daughter is an incompetent father!

Seeing her happy now, I feel gratified but also a little guilty.

Shen Fu understood her father's meaning and quickly said, "The greatest fortune of my life is being born as your daughter."

Shen Ting'an shook his head: "What merit or ability does the Shen family have to welcome such a precious daughter into the family? It is truly a blessing from our ancestors!"

Shen Fu was utterly astonished, "Father, you..."

"I already know."

On that day, Shen Fu learned that her true identity was not that of the Shen family's daughter, but that of the real Princess Dongyue.

She was extremely shocked by this and, after thinking it over, gave up the idea of ​​acknowledging her relatives.

In her heart, she had lived in the Shen family for eighteen years, and the kindness of being raised by them was greater than heaven.

Moreover, my father and brothers knew nothing about this matter, and if I were to speak of it rashly, it would surely cause them distress.

She decided to keep it a secret and live her life as a daughter of the Shen family.

Chu Lingyu respected her wishes and did not make a fuss. On the surface, he made Yun Dai the princess of Dongyue and married Jingyan, the current ruler of Yongchao, thus establishing a marriage alliance between the two countries.

She thought she could keep this a secret for the rest of her life, but her father suddenly brought it up.

Only a handful of people know about this.

First, she believed that Jun Jingyan and Yun Dai would keep the secret.

Secondly, she also believed that if Chu Lingyu wanted to go back on his word, he wouldn't have agreed to Yun Dai's request to take her place in the first place.

In the end, she was even more convinced that Rong Yan would not go against her wishes.

So, how did the father find out this secret?

Shen Ting'an sighed softly: "Actually, we knew from the beginning that you are not our biological daughter."