Chapter 48: I’m The Child’s Father!
“Princess!” Lan Qin rushed in and knelt beside him, crying as she steadied him: “This is our Young Heir Apparent, this is him!”
No matter how ruthless Yan Bei was, he would never be so deranged as to slash his own biological son with a knife to impersonate A Li.
Moreover, this child had been personally cared for by her and Yan Bei since birth, and she knew every birthmark and every mole on his body like the back of her hand.
Yue Tang could no longer hear any other sounds or see anyone else!
All her attention was focused on feeling the vitality of this tiny body.
This was her child, her flesh and blood lost and now found again!
Having survived by sheer luck from the encirclement of a hundred assassins, revenge was her top priority.
In that massacre, the victims were not only her, but also A Li, Father King, and so many loyal followers by her side.
Lan Qin’s elder sister with whom she had shared life and death, Huo Yun’s parents, Wei Zhang’s fiancée—all had died in that accident.
She had the responsibility to uncover all the conspiracies, for herself, for the Prince’s Mansion, and to seek justice for all the wrongful deaths.
Therefore, for these three years, she had focused on nothing else.
When she realized that the person closest to her was actually the enemy’s backer, she did feel a moment of panic.
But she understood even more clearly that being in the Du Family, one wrong step would mean total failure again.
Besides quickly analyzing the situation, assessing her current predicament, and speculating on all possible scenarios behind it, how could she spare any thought to reminisce about past affections?
And who would have thought that the child she had seen with her own eyes three years ago, enduring such torment from the assassin—a three-month-old infant she was certain could not possibly survive in the enemy’s hands—would actually live on to become Prince Jingyang’s child, so closely tied to the Du Family?
Even if for a fleeting moment she had entertained that one-in-ten-thousand delusion, how could she convince herself to believe that a deceiver who sat at the table drinking and chatting amiably with her enemy would treat her flesh and blood kindly?
Fortunately, her suspicion of Yan Bei had driven her to come back and see A Li.
This was what it meant to have one’s heart and entrails torn apart.
The two beside her had already turned away to wipe their tears.
Yan Bei took out a handkerchief and wanted to reach over to wipe Yue Tang’s tears, but A Li at that moment stretched out his little hand, gently patting her back first, then clumsily wiping her tears.
Since he could remember, A Li had rarely left the Prince’s Mansion. It was only after seeing his little friends all having their Mother comb their hair, cook for them, mend their little dolls, and sleep with them that he realized everyone had a Mother, but he did not.
He asked Father King and Grandpa Gao, and they said A Li also had a Mother, but she had fallen into the water and could not come back.
A Li still hoped to have his own Mother.
Little Duck could swim, so he raised a little duck and had Chief Clerk Grandpa Jin weave a grass duck for him that would never drown. He hoped that one day, they could bring Mother back to him.
Little Duck had finally done it.
Mother had come back.
As soon as he saw her, A Li wanted to go forward and hug her.
He loved the scent on Mother’s body; it seemed like he had smelled it somewhere before.
A Li was so happy. But Mother seemed very sad, so A Li became sad too.
With tears in his eyes, he stroked Mother’s back again and again, just like how Father King had always comforted him whenever he cried in the past.
Lan Qin felt even more heartbroken and steadied her emotions to advise Yue Tang: “Princess, your body is still weak; you must avoid extreme sorrow or joy.”
Upon hearing this, Yan Bei suddenly remembered that she had barely escaped death back then and must have suffered severe injuries, so he also stepped forward: “There will be plenty of time in the future; no need to rush at this moment, ah.”
Yue Tang held A Li and shed tears for a long time before stopping. She let him go and pulled him back to look him over again.
The child had damaged his vitality and was very thin, but it had to be said that Yan Bei had raised him extremely well. Clean, pure, not yet four years old, yet already with a jade-like demeanor.
She held him on her lap and said warmly: “How is your appetite usually? What do you like to eat?”
Yan Bei quickly answered: “His appetite is poor; he doesn’t like to eat. Only occasionally when his appetite is better does he like to eat some braised goose, sauced liver, fermented chicken feet, and such.”
Yue Tang gave him a glare.
She held A Li a little tighter and pressed her palm to the Middle Epigastrium point on his upper abdomen, gently rubbing: “Braised goose is tasty, but since A Li has a weak spleen and stomach, he cannot eat it often.”
Yan Bei added: “We also often steam yam and jujube paste for him to eat.”
Yue Tang replied indifferently: “I didn’t tell you to speak.”
Yan Bei shut his mouth and, taking a deep breath, looked toward Gao An beside him.
Gao An’s eyes were shining with something unknown at that moment. Only when he looked over did Gao An clear his throat, bow, and step forward: “Princess, please don’t overexert yourself. How about this old servant takes A Li out to play for a while, so you and the Prince can talk properly.”
Yue Tang knew she should take care of her body, and she happened to have things to say to Yan Bei, so she looked toward Lan Qin upon hearing this.
Lan Qin understandingly squatted down and took A Li’s little hand: “This servant is Mother’s close attendant. Young Heir Apparent, would you let this servant take you out and tell you how much Mother has missed her little treasure all these years?”
A Li was attached to the familiar scent on Mother, but he also really wanted to know if he was truly Mother’s treasure. Seeing that the auntie in front of him had the same kind and loving face as Mother, he hesitated for a moment but finally came down.
Yue Tang’s gaze followed them until they went out and she could no longer see A Li’s figure before stopping.
Yan Bei seized the opportunity, picked up the tea he hadn’t touched, and handed it to her: “You’ve been tiring yourself out for half the day; quickly drink some water.”
Yue Tang turned her head to look at him, took the tea, and then said: “No matter what, raising a son for a thousand days—Prince Jingyang, you’ve worked hard.”
Yan Bei’s tears almost burst out, but since she still addressed him as “Prince Jingyang,” how could he dare to accept such praise?
He puffed out his chest: “I am the father, he is my son; this is what I should do.”
Yue Tang slightly raised the corners of her lips and nodded. “Since Prince Jingyang truly treated my child well, I can listen to the rest of your explanation. You always say you have no collusion with the Du Family, so why were you also at Fei Yun Temple on the night Zhang Shaode died?”
Yan Bei paused. “You saw me?”
Yue Tang only cast her gaze onto his face and said nothing.
Her calm demeanor couldn’t help but leave Yan Bei entranced.
Just a moment ago, she had collapsed because of A Li’s appearance, her grief and joy intertwined in a way that was no different from how any loving mother in the world should react—in fact, even more so.
But in the blink of an eye, she had become so composed, sharply seizing upon the suspicious point about himself with a single sentence.
This ability to freely control her emotions was something Yan Bei was seeing for the first time in a woman.
The two had met in their youthful days, and in Yan Bei’s impression, she was indeed clever, bold in her actions, single-minded in achieving her goals without being bogged down by trivialities—these qualities had deeply attracted him.
But because both had intentionally hidden themselves, these impressions, though present, only skimmed the surface of daily life; in truth, there were no particularly striking events that highlighted these traits of hers.
Ever since learning that she was Yong Jia of Prince Duan’s Mansion, who had personally slain He Jianzhong and also killed Zhang Shaode, Yan Bei’s understanding of her had naturally deepened, but knowing she had been taught by renowned masters since childhood, it was only reasonable that she possessed such extraordinary abilities.
Only now, seeing her as she was today, did those impressions from the past finally come into clear focus; the same person in different circumstances gave him a completely refreshed sense.
It was evident that his previous understanding of her had only scratched the surface.
As a princess, she had her own sense of the big picture in her heart.
And with the enemy right before her, she knew even more clearly that indulging in the past was unwise and that she should quickly sort things out to figure out the next steps.
Yan Bei felt a growing respect in his heart and said truthfully, “That day, I suspected the Du Family had a conspiracy at the temple, so I went to investigate.”
