Chapter 1028 – Everyone’s Calculations (Part 4)
The Old Woman saw Nie Xun’s displeasure and quickly realized she had misspoken, so she hurried to remedy the situation.
“I still remember—there’s one thing I remember!” she said anxiously. “Second Young Master has a red mole on the inner thigh of his right leg.”
As soon as the Old Woman said this, Nie Xun’s expression shifted slightly.
His features were known only to his servants and his wife, let alone such a hidden spot like the inner thigh.
Nie Xun had a premonition that perhaps he could finally uncover the long-buried mystery from the Old Woman.
The Old Woman continued to weep, “Second Young Master, I swear I’m not deceiving you; every word is absolutely true—”
Nie Xun suppressed his emotions. “What else?”
The Old Woman choked on her words, thinking she had misspoken again, trembling as she said, “Besides that… you look very much like Lady Gu Zhen. When I saw you just now, I thought I was looking at the newly married Lady Gu Zhen. Such a beautiful person, it’s a pity… beauty and misfortune—”
Nie Xun didn’t know what expression to wear.
He was aware he was incredibly handsome; just a bit of makeup could outshine many, but he didn’t like others discussing his appearance.
His looks weren’t as ethereal as Wei Ci’s; rather, they were strikingly beautiful in a way that could be overpowering.
Due to his stunning looks, Nie Xun had often been teased as a girl by Nie Clan boys when he was younger.
He still recalled the humiliation of being cornered against a wall as a child, forced to pull down his pants to prove he was a boy.
“Do you really mean that?”
The Old Woman said, “Of course, it’s true. Lady Gu Zhen is incredibly beautiful; forgetting her is impossible.”
“You mentioned she faced early demise—was she already gone?”
Nie Xun hesitated to ask for specifics, feeling anxious, only daring to inquire about minor details.
The Old Woman shook her head like a rattle drum. “Lady Gu Zhen is very much alive.”
Hearing this, Nie Xun’s mood soured a bit.
With his birth parents in decent circumstances, why had they abandoned him?
Nie Xun took a deep breath. “Speak of everything you know.”
The Old Woman nodded repeatedly, but hesitated before speaking.
“Second Young Master, if I speak, could you reward me with some grain? My family is struggling…”
If not for her poverty, the Old Woman wouldn’t be here taking chances; she wasn’t sure if Nie Xun was that baby from back then.
After all—after all, she had personally buried that baby back then; who would have guessed he was still alive!
When she mentioned the mole on his thigh, his expression changed dramatically; it seemed it really was the same person.
Nie Xun furrowed his brow, waving his hand to signal a servant to deliver a plate of silver to the Old Woman, a total of twenty ingots!
The Old Woman trembled as she stroked the silver, overjoyed, and became quite chatty.
“Second Young Master, whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you everything I can.”
Suppressing her excitement, the wrinkles on her face merged into a smile.
Nie Xun asked, “Who are my parents? Why did they abandon me?”
The Old Woman was taken aback and sighed, “Second Young Master, you were not abandoned.”
Nie Xun froze.
Not abandoned?
The Old Woman rambled, “I was a maidservant accompanying Lady Gu Zhen when she married in, but later I married a young servant in the house. Lady Gu Zhen couldn’t rekindle the lord’s affections after giving birth to the First Young Master and was instead overshadowed by the favored concubine. Eventually, both Lady Gu Zhen and the concubine became pregnant at the same time. Even then, the lord hardly looked at Lady Gu Zhen. She endured the risks of childbirth for a day and a night to give birth to you, while that concubine also had a son. The lord favored the concubine and, unwilling to have the concubine’s son labeled as a bastard, simply swapped the two of you.”
Nie Xun felt as though he was listening to a celestial tale.
He laughed in anger, “What kind of family education is this? Confusing legitimate and illegitimate children, letting a bastard masquerade as the legitimate one?”
Upon hearing the truth, Nie Xun began to doubt his hearing. How could such absurdity exist?
The Old Woman noticed Nie Xun’s anger and quickly added, “This is absolutely true. However—there are rumors that Lady Gu Zhen was not content at home and secretly had an affair with a servant. That’s what outsiders say, but I dare to curse; Lady Gu Zhen is pure as snow and has never done anything wrong to the lord. It must be the concubine concocting lies to slander Lady Gu Zhen’s name—”
Nie Xun soon calmed down, his expression unchanging.
“I have a question—”
The Old Woman, unaware of the danger, smiled ingratiatingly. “Please, Second Young Master, ask away.”
Nie Xun stated coldly, “You must be close to the concubine, right?”
The Old Woman turned pale, her legs trembling. “Th-this—”
Nie Xun’s expression was icy as he said, “With something as significant as confusing legitimate and illegitimate, only a few would know. You not only know this matter but even claim to be my wet nurse, meaning you must have taken care of me, so you know about the mole on my leg. Now, I have another question. How did I leave the estate and get sold off?”
The Old Woman’s eyes widened in shock, and she began to retreat on her knees, not even daring to glance at the pile of silver.
“I—I, Old Woman—Second Young Master, I—”
Nie Xun stood up from his seat, drew his sword, and pressed the tip against the Old Woman’s throat.
“Speak the truth.”
The Old Woman cried, “Every word I say is true! The concubine was afraid you resembled Lady Gu Zhen too much and that you would arouse her suspicions in the estate, so she had me send you out. She even ordered me to bury you—”
Upon hearing “bury,” Nie Xun was almost certain the Old Woman was telling the truth.
Following the clues, he found himself in Dongqing and asked many people.
The initial person to discover Nie Xun was a farmer’s wife, who stumbled upon cries from the ground and dug him out, nearly lifeless. She didn’t raise him but sold him to a vendor because of his looks; he fetched a higher price than the ordinary male infant.
After several turns of fate, Nie Xun ended up in Zhong Zhao, mistakenly taken in as an adopted son by a branch of the Nie Clan.
Nie Xun asked the Old Woman in a low voice.
“Who exactly are my birth parents?”
Although he came searching for his family, he felt little affection for his birth parents; he merely sought the root of his existence.
If his birth parents had no choice but to part with him, Nie Xun might consider helping them.
If they had abandoned him on purpose, he would make them regret it!
Forget about any maternal or paternal love, Nie Xun didn’t recognize such sentiments.
To him, the essence of birth was nothing more than a simple statement—when the passions of man and woman intertwine, life is conceived.
There’s a debt of gratitude from the mother who carries for ten months; the father was simply a release of one night’s enjoyment.
They had the right to bring him into this world but no right to arbitrarily take his life.
The Old Woman looked at Nie Xun’s gloomy expression and shivered uncontrollably, stammering, “Second Young Master’s father is the head of the Cangzhou Meng Clan, surnamed Meng, with the single name Zhan. His mother is a side branch daughter of the Langya Gu Clan, named Gu Zhen, and she has since remarried to the second son of the Hejian Liu Clan, Liu Zhi—I’ve heard he’s quite famous now—Second Young Master—everything I’m saying is true—”
Nie Xun: “…”
“Say it again; I didn’t hear clearly just now.”
The Old Woman closed her eyes, looking as if she’d rather face death, and repeated the information in fits and starts.
Nie Xun staggered back, dropping his sword to the ground.
How—how could he be the son of that old scoundrel Meng Zhan?
