Fu Chengyan sighed involuntarily and pinched her nose. He remarked in a snarky tone, “You, little mistress, are too smart!” Shi Nuan grabbed his index finger and chided, “What did you call me? You are the mistress!”
Fu Chengyan glanced at her and shook his head. “You are my mistress!” he remarked and kissed her finger.
“Whatever. I am your mistress because I can’t possibly be your wife, can I?” Shi Nuan attempted to twist Fu Chengyan’s ear but was intercepted by him. He then used his palms to clasp hers tightly while he whispered, “You silly goose. I only have one wife, and that’s you.”
She huffed and said, “Don’t try to change the subject again!”
He sighed and wrapped his arms around her. “Let’s go up first. It has been such a long day and I miss you.”
Shi Nuan grinned and hugged his neck, signaling for him to bend down. After planting a big kiss on his forehead, she said, “You won’t feel tired anymore!”
Fu Chengyan gazed at her gently. “You are right. I’m no longer tired when I see your beautiful face,” he commented.
After Fu Chengyan finished bathing, Shi Nuan patted the empty seat next to her and uttered, “I’ll help you dry your hair.”
He sat down but didn’t let her dry his hair. “Zhou Zheng said that you went to Xinhuang today. Did something happen?” he inquired.
“What a big mouth he has!” Shi Nuan remarked. “Nothing much happened. I already knew she was going to react like that so I didn’t take it to heart. I just felt a bit sad that she treats me and Shen Qianan so poorly. If she didn’t like us, why did she give birth to us?” Shi Nuan was perplexed. She was being stubborn because she wanted to figure out the truth.
Fu Chengyan reached out and gripped her hand tightly. He questioned, “Do you want to know the reason for that?”
After seeing her nod, he warned, “However, the truth hurts. You still want to know?”
She continued nodding her head despite noticing that Fu Chengyan’s face was clouded over.
“You have a decent life now, even though you haven’t figured out the whole truth. So there is no need for you to know the truth, May.” he reasoned.
“I know that!” Shi Nuan sighed. “You must be wondering why I want to know. I’m not insistent, but since I have the chance to find out the truth, I want to take up that opportunity. Yan, I know you are worried that I will be hurt. But I’m a grown woman and I know what I am doing, so stop worrying about me!” she lamented. She walked towards Fu Chengyan and sat behind him. Massaging his shoulders, she continued, “I will have to face the truth one day. Although my life won’t be affected even if I don’t know the truth, have you thought about my mental state?”
“Alright, fine!” Fu Chengyan said. He patted her hands and said, “She went to visit Grandpa today.”
“She? Do you mean Shu Qing?” Shi Nuan was astonished and gasped, “Is that why Grandpa wanted you to see him?”
Fu Chengyan nodded and elaborated, “She wasn’t the only one to visit him. She went there with someone else.”
“Who was it?” Shi Nuan asked. She suddenly felt a flash of fear, and an image instantly appeared in her mind.
It was the man she met at Xinhuang this morning. She asked, “Is it Su Huaibei?”
Fu Chengyan was stunned by her answer. “How did you know that?”
She bit her lips and replied, “I’m not sure.” In fact, she had made a wild guess that turned out to be true.
She also wondered why the first thought in her head was Su Huaibei. “Su Huaibei and Shu Qing went to Xinhuang today. Shu Qing seems to have a complicated relationship with Su Huaibei; I’m just not sure of the details. However, it turns out that Su Huaibei is Su Shaoqing’s uncle! Why is it that Su Shaoqing never mentioned him before?” she pondered.
Fu Chengyan’s eyes flashed upon hearing that and replied, “Indeed, Su Huaibei is Shaoqing’s uncle. This is a rather complicated secret that the Su family has. If you want to know, I will tell you as soon as I get the chance!”
“I’m not interested to find out. I have only met this Mr. Su twice and I have a good impression of him. Can you tell me why Su Huaibei went there? He… What type of relationship does he have with Shu Qing?” she asked.
“Shu Qing has another name. Her real name is Jiang Yuan!” Fu Chengyan revealed.
Shi Nuan had a jolt. Although she was prepared to hear this, she still felt shocked as an indescribable feeling arose within her.
Her lips trembled and she muttered, “Jiang Yuan. That means, she…”
“She is your birth mother and your grandpa’s biological daughter. I guess your grandpa did not tell you this.”
She shook her head and replied, “No, Grandpa never told me any of this. I always thought that Jiang Yu was my Grandpa’s only daughter.”
“After Grandpa adopted Jiang Yu, Grandma gave birth to Jiang Yuan. Hence, your Grandpa has two daughters,” Fu Chengyan elaborated.
Shi Nuan then asked, “Was I adopted by Jiang Yu?”
“I don’t know what happened to your birth mother, but I can tell you about your birth father.”
“You know about this?” she queried. Shi Nuan gripped his hand tightly and continued, “They gave birth to me, yet they abandoned me. Who is my real father? Is it Shen Qianan’s father? The man called Shen Feng?”
That was the only person she could think of, since she herself looked similar to Shen Qianan and Shen Qianan also looked like Jiang Yuan. “Is it true?” she repeated.
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