La luna brilla intensamente sobre las montañas desiertas y las flores llenan el cielo

Capítulo 67

"She went to her second uncle's courtyard." Bao'er's words immediately caused a stir among the room's expressions. Qiao Li glared fiercely at Feng Ning, while Feng Zhuojun looked embarrassed and cautiously glanced at the Long brothers.

Long San beckoned and called out, "Bao'er, come to Daddy."

Bao'er obediently toddled over with her short legs, snuggled into Long San's arms, and whispered the good news: "Daddy, Bao'er got the gold ingot! Second Uncle was shy and wouldn't give it to Bao'er, so he put it in the house for Bao'er to get it herself. He also left a note for Bao'er."

Although Bao'er's voice was soft, Long Er still heard it. He choked and coughed several times. Was he shy? He left a gold ingot for Bao'er to retrieve? And left a letter? He glared fiercely at Feng Ning, but Feng Ning's gaze drifted to the other side, completely oblivious to him.

Long San almost laughed. His wife was a real go-getter. While he was still trying to figure out a solution, she had already taken care of it. It was a pity that Bao'er, that little idiot, had given herself away. Bao'er even whispered to him, "Daddy, I can't tell Second Uncle about this. I'm only telling you."

Long Er suddenly leaned over and said clearly to Bao'er, "Bao'er, I heard you."

Bao'er's little body trembled, and she stared blankly for a while, her little mouth opening and closing, not knowing what to say. She couldn't understand why her second uncle said he knew when she had only told her maternal grandfather and father. She thought and thought, her little face scrunched up, and she almost cried.

Feng Ning came over and hugged Bao'er to comfort her, then glared at Long Er. Long Er raised an eyebrow and sat up straight as if nothing had happened. Qiao Li, who had been watching coldly for a long time, suddenly said, "Feng Feng, your parents came here this time for two reasons. First, we wanted to celebrate Bao'er's birthday. Second, you've been bothering the Long family for a long time. Since you're a divorced woman, you shouldn't bother them for too long. Your mother has come to take you home."

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned. Qiao Li sat expressionless, seemingly waiting for the Long family to respond. But Feng Ning was the first to act. She walked to the door, beckoned to a maid, and handed Bao'er to her, saying, "Take Miss Bao to play for a while." She then said to Bao'er, "Father, Mother, and Grandpa and Grandma have something to discuss. Be good, Bao'er, come play with your sister for a while." Bao'er didn't want to leave, but she was intimidated by Feng Ning's serious expression, so she obediently followed the maid.

Feng Ning turned back and asked Qiao Li directly, "Mother, you went to great lengths to make me a wife of the Long family. Now that the Long family has accepted me, why are you saying such things? What is your intention?"

Qiao Li's face hardened: "You can ask the Long family about that. They were unwilling to give you the slightest kindness back then, but now that you have a daughter with you, they've gone to great lengths to bring you back. What are they trying to achieve?"

Long San frowned, while Long Er smiled. Just as the two were about to speak, Feng Ning waved her hand at them, saying, "Husband, if I didn't believe your sincerity, I would never have come back with you. So I will speak for you. Second Uncle, your smile is so fake; you probably don't have anything good to say, so it's better if you don't say anything."

Long Er and Long San simultaneously raised their eyebrows, their similar facial expressions remarkably identical. Long Da remained silent, reaching for his teacup and taking a sip, yet the imposing aura of a military general already emanated from him. Feng Ning swallowed hard, sensing that Long Da's expression conveyed a sense of "You can talk all you want, but if you can't reach an agreement, I'll settle things with a single, swift strike." She composed herself and turned to Qiao Li, saying, "Mother, let's not talk about others. Tell me your plans clearly. Our Long and Feng families have such a long history, and Long San and I have weathered many storms to reach where we are today. Why don't we lay everything out in the open and treat each other with sincerity? Only then is a solution possible."

Qiao Li slammed her hand on the table beside her and said angrily, "Are you siding with outsiders? Don't forget who your biological parents and elders are."

Feng Ning gestured with her arms a couple of times and replied, "Mother, you're mistaken. You see, an arm is meant to be flexible; an arm that can't bend inwards or outwards is useless. If Mother feels some things are difficult to say, perhaps we could discuss them privately? Let's talk about it?"

"Hmph, you think you have a powerful backer just because you've snagged a man? Silly girl, you're carrying a child whose father you don't even know. No man would accept you anymore; they must have ulterior motives. Talk of feelings and sincerity is all a lie. Only your parents truly care about you." "If that's the case, why didn't you stop Long San when he came looking for me? Why didn't you come looking for me after I returned to the Long family? In all this time, those scheming members of the Long family, whom you call treacherous, could have killed me a thousand times over, could have held Bao'er hostage and forced me to do anything I didn't want to do. If you come now, you'll only find our corpses, or a horribly mutilated state. And only then do you say you care about me? What good will that do?" Feng Zhuojun became anxious upon hearing this: "Fengfeng, are they really not good to you?"

"Father, you actually know in your hearts that they care about me. That's why you're using this tactic of retreating to advance, saying you'll take me away, waiting for the Long family to get anxious and upset, and then you can negotiate terms, right?"

"Fengfeng..." Feng Zhuojun hesitated, while Qiao Li, standing to the side, flew into a rage: "Feng Ning, what kind of bewitching potion has the Long family given you? How dare you speak ill of your parents like this? We've given birth to you and raised you for nothing!"

"Mother, it's precisely because you are my parents that I hope you can resolve your feud with the Long family. If it were any other family, I wouldn't waste my breath like this." If it were an outsider, she would have kicked them out the door long ago after seeing this endless, roundabout arguing. Feng Ning was extremely annoyed; she simply couldn't understand the point of keeping things bottled up.

Qiao Li sneered: "You know you're wasting your breath, but you're always speaking up for the Long family."

“I’m speaking up for my parents,” Feng Ning said. “Although I’ve lost my memory, I’m not stupid. There are no real fools in this world. Everyone understands what’s going on, but what matters to them is different, and that understanding comes from different places. Actually, you and the Long family all know what has happened these past few years, but you’ve all pretended to be okay and managed to get through this. It’s obvious you’re all the same kind of people. Since you’re all on the same path, it should be easier for you to talk things out.”

Feng Ning paused, glanced back at Long San, then turned back to Feng Zhuojun and Qiao Li and said, "I am a wife of the Long family and a daughter of the Feng family. This is a fact that no one can change. Since I have this identity, I will speak the truth today. I am tired of watching you two being hypocritical. You have wasted all these years, not even speaking clearly. You are secretly investigating and fighting each other. You are clearly unhappy, yet you insist on marrying off your daughters and taking in your wives as in-laws, thinking that the other side is stupid. In fact, you are the stupid ones."

Feng Ning's words offended both families, leaving everyone stunned and at a loss for words. There was only one person in the entire room who seemed to have a brain injury, yet this person was calling everyone else fools. But upon reflection, those people realized that they were indeed quite foolish.

Feng Ning looked left and right, and then said, "Look, I've said what's on my mind. How refreshing is that?"

The usually taciturn Feng Zhuojun suddenly said, "Treating someone with sincerity depends on the person. Feng Feng, what you said is not wrong, but it is also wrong. Many things are not that simple."

"Since it's already complicated, why make it even more complicated? Father, everyone says to settle scores quickly and speak out if you have grudges. I am your daughter, and I will never stand by and watch the Long family bully you."

While Feng Zhuojun was still hesitating, Qiao Li finally couldn't help but say to Feng Ning, "The Long family killed my father-in-law back then, who was your grandfather. They drove our Feng family to a remote and impoverished area, intending to wipe us out without making a sound. Your father and I suffered a lot to keep the Feng family afloat. The Long family is not only vicious but also extremely hypocritical. They refuse to say a word about what happened back then and pretend they don't know anything."

The three Long brothers exchanged glances, all thinking to themselves that this was indeed the matter. Long Da asked, "You say the Long family harmed the Feng family, what evidence do you have?"

“Your family heirloom map is the evidence.”

Author's Note: That's all for today. My eyes are about to close, I need to go to sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow. Goodnight everyone.

49. The truth about Long San and his wife awaits investigation...

"How can that map be considered evidence?" This was the first thing Long Da said after meeting the Feng couple.

Qiao Li and Feng Zhuojun exchanged a glance. Feng Zhuojun said, "Back then, my father and your grandfather traveled the world together, joined the army, and made great contributions to the country. I'm sure you all know this. They not only went through life and death together, but also discovered an amazing treasure. They buried the treasure together, agreed that it would be a secret between the two of them, and drew a map on it. They even engraved the most important part of the map into two seals, one for each of them."

The three Long brothers remained expressionless, but they all realized that the mysterious rumors circulating among the elders in the capital were probably something the Feng family also thought. Sure enough, Feng Zhuojun continued, "This treasure should have been shared by the two brothers, but unfortunately, one of them became greedy and devised a vicious scheme to frame the other."

He paused here, as if suppressing his anger, and then continued, "After that incident, my father barely escaped with his life and fled to the countryside with my mother and me in a sorry state, without taking anything with him. Our lives were extremely hard. My father, such a tough man, was worn down by grief and injustice and lost his life. But no matter how my mother and I asked him, he refused to say what had happened."

Feng Ning couldn't help but ask, "Since Grandpa didn't explain the reason, why is Father so sure that he was killed by the Long family?"

Feng Zhuojun said, "At the time, I really didn't understand what was going on. Before my father died, he called me to his bedside and told me not to hold any hatred in my heart. But our Feng family has fallen to such a state for no reason, and my father lost his life because of it. How could I not hate him? So I asked him seriously again, why is all this happening? I will always remember that when he was on his last breath, he handed me the seal and told me: It was all for that rare treasure. The answer is there."

The room was quiet. Feng Ning understood somewhat: "So that's why my parents made me marry into the Long family, hoping to find out the truth of this matter? Or find the map of that treasure and find out the facts?"

Qiao Li nodded: "Our Feng family cannot be wronged like this without any explanation, and my parents-in-law cannot die with this guilt. Your father and I secretly investigated for several years, and after much deliberation, we finally understood that this was all because someone was greedy and ungrateful. It was all caused by greed. We tested the Long family, and sure enough, they became unusually wary when they heard about the Feng family..."

Upon hearing this, Long Er replied in a stern voice, "Madam Feng, you are mistaken. Our Long family has suffered a lot of schemes in those years. Everyone pretended to be kind and benevolent but secretly stabbed us in the back. It's just that the three of us Long brothers were lucky enough to survive. Madam Feng is now saying that we are unusually vigilant. Why don't you say that you yourselves came with ill intentions from the very beginning and we noticed it?"

"Honest intentions?" Qiao Li sneered: "Our Feng family has suffered so much to get to where we are today. We don't have the good fortune of the three Long brothers."

Feng Ning crossed her arms, frowning impatiently: "Is this a competition to see who's more pitiful? Is the more pitiful family right? Is the next thing we're going to talk about who was forced into marriage, who was neglected, and who was wronged? Can we get back to the point? You all seem pretty energetic. Isn't pretending to be pitiful a bit too boring?"

Feng Ning's words drew glares from both Long Er and Qiao Li. Feng Ning seemed oblivious, and said to Feng Zhuojun, "Father, you deemed the Long family suspicious, so you sent me here, but I'm useless; I found nothing in the end. So what are you planning to do here now?"

Feng Zhuojun glanced at Qiao Li, opened her mouth, but didn't speak. Seeing this, Feng Ning realized that Qiao Li was actually in charge of things in the family, so she turned to Qiao Li and said, "Mother, things have come to this point, why don't we talk about our plans and discuss them together to find a solution?"

"Discuss?" Qiao Li said, "Why don't you ask the Long family if they are willing to discuss it? It's very simple now. We've made our point clear: as long as the Long family hands over the map and seal, we can obtain the treasure. Only then can this matter be resolved. At the very least, we need to understand why our Feng family was harmed."