Je vends des vêtements et j'achète du vin à boire avec toi

Chapitre 77

"That won't do." Feng Ning pouted. "I didn't bother with this before, but that guy who pushed me into the river and then came to our house to steal our treasures, and who even tried to kidnap Bao'er last time—we still haven't figured that out. That square-faced, triangular-eyed guy died mysteriously, and you still haven't given me an answer as to why he wanted to kill me. Now another group of people have come, still targeting me. Long San, this isn't just bad luck or some kind of cursed fate; there's clearly more to this than meets the eye. If we don't find them out and get to the bottom of this, how am I supposed to live? Getting injured is a small matter, but being poisoned and unable to eat all the time would be truly miserable. And what about Bao'er? If Bao'er gets caught up in this because of me, how can that be allowed?"

Long San was speechless, a cold sweat breaking out on his back. He knew the truth would eventually come out. Feng Ning wasn't a fool; she was just a bit mischievous and lazy. So when he offered to take care of things, she trusted him completely. And because she usually had to look after Bao'er, her attention was entirely on Bao'er, naturally neglecting the assassin and the theft. But now the matter had fallen on her shoulders again, and she happened to have both resentment and free time…

Long San sighed inwardly. There was no way he could be honest and tell the truth, but the matter was getting bigger and bigger. Could he keep it a secret forever?

Feng Ning, unaware of Long San's thoughts, continued, "I've thought about it. The person who tried to snatch Bao'er had a very clear objective: the Long family's treasures. His attempt to kill me was probably also related to silencing me and seizing the treasures. This person must have known me before. The time he tried to snatch Bao'er, it would be plausible if he used the child as leverage to exchange for the treasures. But the people who attacked and poisoned me this time weren't after the treasures. They didn't snatch the baggage, nor did they target my father. It seems they were only after me. I think this is a different group from the one who tried to snatch Bao'er before."

Long San said, "We failed to catch up with that group of people and still don't know their details."

"Long San, do you think I might have had any grudges with anyone from Xia Kingdom before?"

Long San smiled and said, "You don't even remember yourself, so how would I know?"

"Long San." Feng Ning suddenly sat up straight and looked at him seriously: "Have you found out something but are you hiding it from me?"

Long San said, "If I had found out, why would I hide it from you?"

"Maybe you found out something that would upset me, and you're keeping it from me."

"Don't overthink it, there's nothing sad about it."

"For example, for example..." Feng Ning gritted her teeth and finally said, "For example, have you found out who Bao'er's biological father is? Is he the one who wants to kill me?"

Long San didn't respond, so Feng Ning continued, "I told you, please don't be angry. My heart is now entirely with you, and I have no memory of him whatsoever. You can't bring up the past to upset me again."

"I won't." Long San held her hand, feeling a little nervous.

Feng Ning said, "I think Bao'er's biological father is the key to everything. If I had feelings for him in the past, then now that I'm with you, he'll definitely feel betrayed, and it's normal for him to want to kill me to vent his anger. If I didn't have feelings for him in the past, and was bullied and blackmailed by him, then now that I have the Long family as my backer, I'm a big threat to him, and it's reasonable for him to want to kill me to silence me."

Long San nodded: "What you said is indeed possible."

Feng Ning added, "There's another possibility, which is that square-faced, triangular-eyed guy. Didn't he say I was meddling and wanted to kill me? Although he's dead, perhaps he still has accomplices. They discovered I was still alive, so in order to eliminate any future threats, they had no choice but to kill me again."

Long San opened his mouth as if to speak, but ultimately shut up and only hummed in response.

"However, they haven't shown their faces for so long. We concealed our tracks and set off, but they came instead. This is a bit suspicious. I think the man in black who tried to snatch Bao'er is more suspicious. Since he knows Bao'er's identity, it means he is quite familiar with the situation in the Long Mansion. Wasn't Xia'er his inside man? Although you later conducted a strict search of the mansion, there may still be some servants who have been bribed. They may not dare to do bad things, but they can always pass on information. So it seems more reasonable to say that he was the one who carried out this ambush."

Long San lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then finally said, "But that person was always after the treasure, so why would he target you now?"

Feng Ning said, "He was planning to kill me and steal the treasure, but he failed in both. He disappeared for a while, and you investigated him for a long time without any luck. Perhaps he went into hiding. Later, when things calmed down and we were focused on Bao'er, we neglected everything else, and he saw an opportunity and made his move again." Feng Ning bit her lip, "Long San, actually, I'm hiding something from you."

Long San's heart skipped a beat: "What are you hiding from me?"

“I, I, actually…” Feng Ning stammered, and Long San’s heart sank. Feng Ning finally said, “I actually had a feeling that day when Bao’er was almost kidnapped, but I didn’t dare to tell you. I kept it from you, and it might have caused us trouble.”

"How does it feel? What are you hiding from me?"

"I... I'm wondering, could that person be Bao'er's biological father?"

Long San was surprised. Feng Ning said, "I've been bored these past two days, so I lay in bed and thought about everything that happened after I woke up with amnesia. I remember the first time I woke up, it was on the riverbank. The man in black didn't want to kill me at the time. He was just anxiously asking me where the things were. He searched my clothes but couldn't find them. Then the people from the Long family arrived, and he hurriedly ran away. If he wanted to kill me, he could have easily given me a slap before running away. It's clear that at that time, his goal was the treasure, not my life."

Feng Ning paused, then continued, "But during our second meeting, he used Xia'er to lure me out of the manor, and then pushed me into the Liang River. At that time, he genuinely wanted me dead. Long San, I wondered if I was an accomplice to him when I had memories, or if I was possibly controlled and blackmailed by him. On the day of the treasure robbery, he came to the Liang River to meet me, but I was knocked into the river by an old grudge, disrupting his plan. Because I was Long San's wife, I would still be useful to him if I returned to the manor, so he didn't take me with him. But later he discovered that I had lost my memories and could no longer be manipulated by him. In this way, his treasure-stealing scheme would definitely be affected. He was afraid that I would remember something and expose him, so he changed his mind and wanted to take my life."

As she said this, she nudged Long San and said, "I'm thirsty."

Long San poured her a glass of water, and Feng Ning said, "Add some honey, my mouth tastes bitter from taking medicine these past few days." Long San pinched her cheek, but actually turned around and went to the kitchen to add honey for her.

Feng Ning happily drank the honey water, licked her lips, and looked at Long San with her eyes crinkled. Long San smiled and asked, "Want some more?"

Feng Ning shook her head and said, "Let me finish what I have to say first. I was lazy and didn't think before, but now that I've thought it through, I need to get to it quickly."

"Okay, go ahead, I'm listening."

Feng Ning nodded in satisfaction and said, "The silk ropes I found in the room earlier were braided into a bracelet and worn on a man's wrist. This means that I must have been... uh... having an affair with that man..." Her voice trailed off, and shame appeared on her face. She quickly added, "But I don't have any now, and I never will again. I only love you." Long San didn't speak, but simply held her in his arms.

Feng Ning snuggled against Long San's chest and continued, "That man attacked you, and you were injured. Things must have been chaotic at home, so I took advantage of the chaos to steal things. I've thought about it. My parents made me marry into this family for this treasure, but instead of giving it to them, I had to hand it over to this man. This must be either out of love or because I was coerced. And then there's Bao'er. I secretly went back to my parents' home to give birth to Bao'er. On one hand, I certainly didn't want you to know, and on the other hand, I probably didn't dare let that man know. Judging from these events, I boldly guess that perhaps this man bullied me and then used my weakness to blackmail me into stealing the treasure for him. At that time, I was helpless and had no choice but to secretly give birth to Bao'er. But deep down, I must still have had hopes and dreams for life. Perhaps he deceived me with sweet words, and I thought I could get something from him, so while hesitating and struggling, I still helped him do bad things..."

Feng Ning paused here, frowning and saying, "But how could I be deceived by a man? If I were bullied, even if I couldn't beat him, I would fight to the death, even if it meant mutual destruction, so that person wouldn't get away with it. How could I be so cowardly?" Long San was terrified by Feng Ning's self-talk. Fortunately, Feng Ning continued, "It's hard to say. I don't know what happened back then either. I need to think about it some more. I didn't even get angry when I was getting married to a pig. I guess I was a bit timid back then."

Feng Ning tugged at Long San's sleeve and suddenly said urgently, "Long San, when we left, we told Second Uncle to take good care of Bao'er and make sure nothing happens to her. He will take good care of her, right?"

"Don't worry, Second Brother is reliable."

"Is that so?" Feng Ning's tone was raised high. In fact, she knew in her heart that Long Er must be a man with some skills. Otherwise, with such a large family business and troubles in both the officialdom and the underworld, how could he not be capable of cleaning up the mess for his brothers?

"Don't be naughty. I'll think about everything you've said, and we'll find out everything. Just focus on recovering from your injuries; don't worry about anything else." Actually, Long San had considered these things himself. He had already made arrangements; perhaps the answers would await him once they found the treasure and returned to the Long Manor. Feng Ning's speculations were all reasonable, but in his mind, the list of suspects who wanted to kill her had grown by one more person. With this one added, things would change.

What troubled Long San the most was not how to uncover the truth, but how to cover up his mistakes and make Feng Ning accept the truth. Otherwise, he had to find a way to ensure that Feng Ning would not leave him even if she knew everything.

Long San was troubled, but Feng Ning said, "Long San, I used my brain and even confessed that Bao'er's biological father is a suspect. I've done something, haven't I?"

"Huh?" So what if you've done something good?

Feng Ning smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Then give me the snacks, don't wait any longer."

"Where did you get these snacks?" Long San decided to wait until she felt better before letting her eat.

"There's a snack in the kitchen." Feng Ning looked up and smiled sweetly. "Otherwise, how would you have honey water? There's flour dust on your sleeve, you must have secretly made me a snack. Just let me have a little bit, just a small piece. Otherwise... otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?"

"Otherwise..." Feng Ning became anxious, her eyes widening, "If you don't give me even a small piece, I'll eat all those pastries. I won't stop until I'm stuffed, I'll drive you crazy!"

Author's Note: I actually caught an 8 PM drama today! I'm so happy and excited, hahaha...