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

Capítulo 102

When did he start calling her Feng'er?

Feng Ning's heart pounded. Could it be that something she didn't know had really happened?

76. The Long couple facing the truth

"I... Lan Hu and I have a daughter, and we've known each other for many years. If I persuade him properly, he'll naturally listen to me," said the woman in the room who called herself Feng Ning. "My mother feels the same way; after all, I'm her only daughter..."

Before she could finish speaking, Long San interrupted her: "Lan Hu is in my hands. His life or death is up to me. Why should I let you take him away and release him back into the mountains? You said your mother would listen to you. If that's really the case, why can't you go home?"

His words struck a nerve with the woman, and she burst into a tirade: "I can't go home, isn't that all thanks to your Long family? Yes, I married into this family with ulterior motives. You resisted in every way, but in the end you still married me—no, a pig married me! How ridiculous! Third Master Long is willing to degrade himself into a pig!" She paused, as if recalling painful memories, and then her voice became hoarse: "I was humiliated at my wedding, and my husband was nowhere to be seen on my wedding night. In this world, what new bride has suffered like me? I cried all night, but the next day no one paid any attention to me. The double happiness decorations and red silks were gone. It was as if I didn't exist in this Long mansion. There were meals provided, but no one cared for me. Apart from my dowry maid, how many people in your mansion have ever visited me? Oh, yes, some have, but they were just guards, watching my every move, afraid I would do something detrimental to the Long family..."

"Aren't you one of them?"

Long San's emotionless words finally forced tears from the woman's eyes: "I am." Her fists clenched and trembled: "I was entrusted by my family to be an inside man. But I am also a woman. Once I get married, my life will be over. How could my parents be so heartless to treat me like this? How could I not be heartbroken? I thought to myself, if I really married into this family, if my husband treated me well, if my husband's family treated me well, why would I still do these things for my family? I also hope to live a good life. I am also a woman who longs for happiness. But how did you and my parents treat me? When I saw that fat pig groom, I felt disgusted and angry. I was too naive. How could you be good to the daughter of an enemy? At that time, I thought, if my parents loved me, stood up for me, and took me away, I would definitely fight to the death to find out the truth about my grandfather's death. But they didn't. They just watched me marry a pig. At that time, who cared about my feelings?"

Feng Ning, standing outside the window, covered her mouth with one hand and clenched her fist with the other. The woman's accusations made her tremble and tears welled up in her eyes. She could even feel the woman's pain and resentment. She had imagined such an experience and such a life when she heard about it at the Long family before, and at that time she was just angry. But now, listening to her own account, she felt both sad and pained.

The woman inside was still saying, "I once held onto a sliver of hope that if I behaved myself while living in the Long family, perhaps you would change your attitude towards me one day. But it didn't. All I got was the servants' pointing fingers and your cold indifference. Even so, how can you blame me for being heartless?"

Long San was speechless. In the past, he would have said that Feng Ning brought all this upon herself. Everything has a cause and effect. If the Feng family hadn't been so shameless, so openly scheming and greedy, causing such a commotion in the Long family just to force their daughter into the family, they probably wouldn't have treated her this way. And Feng Ning, after marrying into the family, hadn't been gone long before she began plotting to steal treasures and frequently went out seeking pleasure. The Long family hadn't made things too difficult for her; at least, they treated her as nothing, without abusing or harming her.

In the past, Long San would have felt perfectly justified, but now that he had Feng'er, he knew that even in such circumstances, there were other ways to get along with others. He knew that if one treated others sincerely, they would surely be rewarded. He, however, had never intended to treat the Feng Ning of the past sincerely. He hadn't treated her well, so naturally she would have treated him badly in return. Therefore, whether it was her own fault, or whether he also bore some responsibility, he felt it was truly hard to say.

He imagined that if it had been his Feng'er who had married into the family, wouldn't everything have been different? Feng'er would have pointed her finger at him and scolded him for not being a good husband, demanded that he spend time with her, and even told her parents not to have bad intentions, so that everyone could work together to sincerely solve the problem.

Yes, if it were his Feng'er, then everything would be different.

Long San closed his eyes, feeling grateful to Feng Ning for her courage in stealing the Long family treasure. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have met Feng'er, nor would he have had the chance to be with her, fall in love, and become husband and wife.

So, all things considered, Feng Ning in front of him had made a thousand and one mistakes, and Long San also bore some responsibility for them. Faced with her responsibilities, he actually felt a little guilty.

Long San remained silent for a long time, while the woman who called herself Feng Ning couldn't hold back any longer. To put it bluntly, she was now all alone, with no one to rely on. She wasn't sure if Lan Hu would really give in and go with her, and she was even less sure if her mother would listen to her. She couldn't go back to the Long family, and she didn't want to go back to her own family, so what did she have left?

She glared at Long San, her heart filled with more and more fear and sorrow. Finally, she sobbed, "Third Master Long, I know I did wrong in the past, but Lan Hu is still Bao'er's biological father. For Bao'er's sake, please don't kill Lan Hu."

Long San remained silent, and the woman continued, "In all things considered, your Long family hasn't really lost anything. I'll talk to my parents properly. Aren't they out treasure hunting now? Whatever the treasure is, whatever clues it may hold to explain what happened back then, I'll do my best to resolve that grudge. Also, my mother knows about that fake Feng Ning you found, and I'll stop her from harming that imposter. You can live your lives in peace. Isn't that enough for me?"

“Your mother attacked Feng’er not because she wasn’t you.”

The woman was taken aback: "What?"

"If it's just a matter of discovering that Feng'er isn't the original daughter of the Feng family who married into the family, wouldn't it be better to bring the real Feng Ning back for a face-to-face confrontation? She wants to fabricate charges against the Long family; isn't this a golden opportunity?"

"I do not understand."

“My Feng’er is not you. She grew up in Xia Kingdom. She has a master and fellow disciples. She came to Xiao Kingdom alone because she had family matters to attend to. I still can’t be sure why she went to Liang River. It was just a coincidence that day. You ran away and she fell into Liang River injured.”

Feng Ning's mouth dropped open in surprise. "So you're planning to go along with this and use her to impersonate me, to fool my parents?"

“No, at that time, we didn’t know she wasn’t you. So Feng’er suffered a lot of grievances in our Long family at first. Later, we found some clues in her scattered memories, and I followed the clues to find some leads. But by then, I had already fallen in love with her, and I was worried that if the truth were exposed, she would leave me to find her real family, so I kept it a secret.”

Feng Ning was completely taken aback by this turn of events. She paused, then suddenly sneered, "Your Long family is despicable, and your Third Master Long is truly shameless. But what does this have to do with me?"

"Your mother knows that Feng'er is not you, but she doesn't dare to let you come back, and even your father can't see you, is that right?"

"Now is the crucial time for my parents to find the treasure, so it's only reasonable for them not to let me show up and cause any trouble."

Long San sneered at these words: "Why did you send Lan Hu to target Feng'er instead of causing trouble?"

Feng Ning opened her mouth, but couldn't think of a reasonable defense, so she closed it again. Long San said, "Because Lan Hu still has a greedy desire for the treasure, we can take advantage of that. Also, because our Long family knows Lan Hu and has an old grudge against him, if the truth comes out, we won't suspect your mother."

Na Zhen Fengning pursed her lips and remained silent. Long San continued, "She used Lan Hu to clear herself of any involvement in this matter, and as for you, she has her reasons for not wanting you to appear in front of your father."

What's the reasoning behind that?

“Right now, your father probably not only can’t see you, he doesn’t even know that there are two Feng Nings in this world who look exactly alike. This is a secret your mother has kept from your father for 20 years. You and Feng’er are probably twin sisters.”

Zhen Fengning exclaimed in surprise, "How is that possible?" She thought for a while and said, "Impossible. I am my parents' only daughter, and they have never told me that I have a sister. If my mother is going to keep the fact that I have had several children a secret, how could she possibly keep it from my father?"

"She's not your biological mother. She's more accurately described as your aunt, your biological mother's sister. Your father told me this himself. Years ago, your father went to the Xia Kingdom, fell in love with your mother, and they married. But later, due to some reason, they argued, and he abandoned your biological mother and returned to the Xiao Kingdom. A year later, your mother came to find your father, carrying you, saying that she was seriously ill with depression and contemplated suicide, so she entrusted the child to her, asking her to come find your father. Therefore, your father always believed he only had one child. Since your mother stayed by his side and took care of you, your father decided to marry her. However, to avoid hurting you and causing you resentment if you found out about your biological mother, he kept it a secret from you."

"I don't believe it." Zhen Fengning's voice trembled slightly. "I believe these things. You Long family members are the most treacherous and cunning. You made all this up."

“Whether it’s true or not, you can ask your father,” Long San said. “However, I can’t let you do that now. Your mother has gone to so much trouble and told so many lies; there must be something fishy going on behind her back. I’m sorry to Feng’er for keeping this from her for so long, causing me so much suffering. Now, the only thing I can do for her is to find out about her background. She came to Xiao Kingdom saying she wanted to take care of family matters, and that was probably for this very reason. I must make sure she gets what she wants. So, I can’t let you go to your father now. If we alert your mother and cause trouble, she might fabricate another lie or something, and then things will get complicated again.”

Zhen Fengning was both surprised and doubtful. She thought and thought, pondering Qiao Li's actions over the years and recalling what Qiao Li had said to her, and couldn't help but murmur, "She, she really is my sister?"

"You were born in Xia Kingdom, and Feng'er grew up in Xia Kingdom. You are the same age and look the same. Besides being twin sisters, is there any other reasonable explanation?"

Long San's words made Feng Ning slump into her chair: "If that's the case... if that's the case..." A chill ran down her spine. If things were really like that, what exactly happened back then? She didn't dare to think any further.

Long San stared at her, about to speak, when he suddenly heard sobbing outside the window. Startled, he rushed out of the house and saw Feng'er sitting on the ground, covering her mouth and crying.

How much did she hear?

Long San froze, his heart breaking as he looked at her tear-streaked face.

"Feng'er..." he called softly, slowly sitting down beside her. Seeing him arrive, Feng Ning burst into loud sobs. Long San panicked, squatting down in front of her, reaching out to stroke her tear-streaked face, and called out again, "Feng'er..."

Feng'er raised her hand and slapped his hand away forcefully, continuing to wail. Long San was at a loss, unsure what to do. Seeing her sobbing uncontrollably, he felt both heartache and guilt. Finally, he couldn't help but reach out to hug her, saying, "Feng'er, listen to me..."

Before he could finish speaking, Feng'er raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face with a sharp "smack": "You big bastard, you big liar!"

77. The Confession of Long San and His Wife

The slap startled Long San, who clearly hadn't expected her to attack him, but he quickly recovered and reached out to hug her.