Jiao Ling showed a look of guilt and said, "Back then, I had an awakening mark, but your father did not. However, you must believe my mother; she would never abandon your dad. It was just that the elders were unfeeling and forcibly took her and away. My mother was weak after childbirth and powerless to resist, and because she broke the clan rules, she has been locked up in the clan, not allowed to go out."
Bai Ruozhu felt uncomfortable listening to this. She was not sad for Jiao Yunyun’s separation from her flesh and blood, but felt bad for her father, who was the one abandoned.
Why did such a good person like her father have such a hard fate?
"My mother felt guilty her entire life. When I beca an adult and was allowed to venture outside, she told everything from back then and asked to find your father. But how could I find him in such a vast world? I searched for two years, and the clan urged to get married. At that ti, I returned and married soone from the clan, Wei Yu, whom I ntioned to you before, and then..."
Jiao Ling couldn’t hold back anymore and started crying, "My daughter was raised with poison by him, and I was devastated. If it wasn’t for Fen Jiu taking constant care of and encouraging , I might not have recovered to this day. Once I was better, I asked Fen Jiu to go with to find your father. It took us two years until we ran into you, but the first ti we t, I didn’t know you were my niece."
Bai Ruozhu nodded. At that ti, she could only be polite to her but didn’t feel close. It wasn’t until she said she was looking for soone who had wronged her, and then suddenly appeared, that things changed.
"Did you find Bai Guanghe, and he told you he found my father?" Bai Ruozhu asked.
"Hmph, he even tried to use this news to reconnect with ; is that possible? How could we Jiuli people ever regard his broken household with esteem!" Jiao Ling said, her eyes reddened with anger. "If it weren’t for him at the ti, my mother wouldn’t have broken clan rules. Otherwise, even if Jiuli people’s children with outsiders didn’t have an awakening mark, Jiuli people could still choose to stay with them and watch them grow up."
Bai Ruozhu wasn’t fond of the Jiuli Clan; their rules exhibited an air of superiority. But when she thought about it, if Jiuli people were truly different from ordinary people, a child without an awakening mark might just be ordinary. Bringing them back to the clan would make them an outcast, which might not be good for their growth.
Ultimately, all of this was because Jiao Yunyun loved the wrong person.
"So your mother still can’t leave Jiuli now?" Bai Ruozhu guessed that her father must want to et his biological mother. She felt that Jiao Ling’s words didn’t seem false; Jiao Yunyun truly loved her son and wouldn’t despise or forget him just because he didn’t have an awakening mark.
"The clan no longer restricts her, but she is old and in very poor health. She can’t travel far anymore." Jiao Ling’s voice choked up, "It’s my unfilial act that made her suffer another blow."
Yes, the one she loved deeply disappointed her, and after giving birth to two children, she was separated from her son since childhood, only able to search with a guilty heart. Yet she didn’t find her son, her daughter was hard by a pervert, her granddaughter was raised with poison, and her daughter had a ntal breakdown.
For Jiao Yunyun to have endured until now, she has been very strong.
Bai Ruozhu felt a bit of sympathy and helplessness for her grandmother, wondering why she favored Bai Guanghe so much back then.
But who can say for sure about love? When you love soone, you love them. Who anticipated being let down by the one they loved?
After Bai Ruozhu left the inn, she still hadn’t quite regained her composure. Because of her low spirits, Lin Ping’er asked her worriedly when she got ho, thinking she missed Jiang Yichun.
She could only make a brief explanation and then took Dengdeng back to the yard to rest.
Neither she nor Jiao Ling ntioned what to do next, but she knew that Jiao Ling hoped her father could go to Jiuli to see his mother.
The next day, Jiao Ling ca in person to teach Bai Ruozhu chanical techniques. She paid respects to Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong, and even gave Bai Yihong an extra glance, but Bai Yihong didn’t even look at her, making her inevitably a bit disappointed.
Lin Ping’er happened to see this scene, feeling puzzled. After Bai Ruozhu took Jiao Ling to her yard, Lin Ping’er quietly asked, "Don’t you think Madam Jiao keeps secretly looking at you?"
Bai Yihong blushed and glared at Lin Ping’er, "What nonsense are you talking about at your age! I think you’ve been imagining things ever since you got pregnant."
"I’m not imagining things! I really saw it!" Lin Ping’er shouted in frustration.
"That’s impossible. What advantage do you see in your husband? What about Mr. Fen by her side, with his looks and martial arts prowess even better than Yichun? Why would she look at ?" Bai Yihong couldn’t help but laugh.
Lin Ping’er wasn’t happy either, "Where’s the lack of advantage? Aren’t you good-looking? Otherwise, how could our children all be so handso?"
Bai Yihong blushed once more. Though they had been married for over twenty years, Lin Ping’er had never complinted his looks so directly.
"Grandma, Grandpa, where’s my mom?" Little Dengdeng ca in with Nanny Zhang, toddling in front of them.
"Your mom’s teacher is here, and they’ve gone back to the yard to learn chanical techniques. Why don’t you go and take a look?" Lin Ping’er knew Little Dengdeng liked chanical skills, so she teased him.
But Little Dengdeng wasn’t in a hurry to go; he blinked his big black eyes and said, "Master is not my mom’s teacher; she’s her aunt."
"What aunt?" Lin Ping’er was shocked, and Bai Yihong’s eyes widened too.
"They said it yesterday, that she’s Grandpa’s twin sister, just like the twins in my mom’s belly," Little Dengdeng hoped for twins in his mom’s belly, so he was particularly sensitive to this term. Bai Ruozhu and Jiao Ling hadn’t kept this matter from him yesterday, not expecting such a small child to rember it.
Bai Yihong couldn’t remain seated any longer, "Did you really hear that?"
"Yes, and they also said that Grandpa’s mom made a mistake and was locked up in a place called Jiuli or sothing." Little Dengdeng tilted his head, being a child, he didn’t listen too carefully.
But Bai Yihong didn’t need to hear any more. He rushed out of the main hall directly toward Bai Ruozhu’s yard.
Lin Ping’er hurriedly followed. She had just been saying that Madam Jiao was secretly looking at her husband, only to find out there was more to it!
Nanny Zhang figured that Little Dengdeng had caused trouble, so she quickly pulled him along. Despite Little Dengdeng’s short legs, he ran fast enough not to be left too far behind by Bai Yihong and the others.
Bai Yihong rushed into Bai Ruozhu’s yard without stopping, not even bothering to inform the maid, and stord into Bai Ruozhu’s room.
The door was slamd open, and he imdiately saw Madam Jiao sitting inside. Madam Jiao looked at him in surprise, and the two of them stared at each other without speaking for a long ti.
It was Lin Ping’er who caught up, pulled Bai Yihong, and said, "Calm down, what if you bump into Ruozhu?"
Bai Yihong finally ca back to himself, turned to Bai Ruozhu, and asked, "Ruozhu, Little Dengdeng said he heard your conversation yesterday. He said, Madam Jiao is your aunt, and I’m her twin? Is it true?"
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