The three of us looked at each other and then at Lu Yan.
Lu Yan was very calm. “I think I’m the missing daughter of the Gu family.”
Mai Qi asked, “What’s your evidence?”
Lu Yan sat down in her seat, looking like she would have a long talk with us.
“I think both the Gu Family and I have been played by Ye Qian. When Ye Qian went to check the adoption papers, she knew that the Gu Family had arrived. It just so happened that Ye Qian had all the physical features of the missing girl, or did she convince the maid, and they faked it together?”
We looked at Lu Yan in surprise.
Lu Yan continued, “Did any of you realize what happened to the maid who fetched Ye Qian?” Lu Yan paused, “Half a year after Ye Qian went to the Gu Family, the maid tripped and fell into the lotus pond at night. Everyone assumed it was an accident. However, don’t you think this is too much of a coincidence?
“Ye Qian and I lived together at the orphanage for a long time. She knows where I have a mole or a scar on my body. It won’t be hard for her to fake them.”
The three of us looked at each other again. There was nothing we could say.
“What do you plan to do?” I asked her.
Lu Yan had given this some thought. She said plainly, “I’ll try to approach Master Gu Er or my father.”
Jing Ni frowned. “Why not approach your mother? Wouldn’t that be easier?”
Lu Yan smiled wryly. “Firstly, she is taken to be insane. Even if I can get her to trust me, the others at the Gu Family wouldn’t. Secondly, Ye Qian is extremely cautious. She would never let me get close to her.”
That made sense.
“But Ye Qian would be similarly cautious when you tried to approach Master Gu Er,” I reminded her.
She looked at me. “Nanxing, this is why I need your help.”
We were shocked.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Lu Yan, you might not know this, but we don’t have a good relationship with those people. If we recommend you to them, it would only make things worse for you. It would seem like we have ulterior motives.”
Lu Yan nodded. “I understand, but I only need to appear with you at the same location as them.”
That was not that hard.
Mai Qi couldn’t help but ask, “Lu Yan, I’m still curious about how you intend to approach Master Gu Er. The man and the people around him are all very clever. They will not buy such a crazy story. Plus, as far as I know, the Gu Family has already given up looking for the missing daughter. The problem has been solved with Ye Qian’s appearance. Why stir up troubles again?”
Lu Yan smiled sadly. “Honestly, I’m already very satisfied with my current life. My brothers and I are lucky to have met you all. I want to settle into peaceful life, but Ye Qian does not share the same idea.”
We were puzzled. Lu Yan pulled up her sleeve. There was a long and deep scar on her arm.
“I was robbed on my way home last month. If not for my younger brother, who was coming home from work, I would have died. After that, our house was almost set on fire. Our neighbor auntie was passing by and alerted us, or we would have perished in a sea of fire.
“My brothers also encountered many strange and fatal incidents. We are lucky that we have managed to survive. However, we are not stupid. No one will be so unlucky. There’s only one explanation. These ‘accidents’ are man-made.”
She put down her sleeve. “So who is so eager for us to die? Who would benefit the most from our death?”
Her tone was serene.
But the story was terrifying.
A chill ran down our spines.