“Of course I miss you, but the feeling may not be mutual, so I had to ask,” Lu Liangwei said with a grin.
“Always so cheeky,” the Dowager Duchess scolded her jokingly, then took her hand and made the rare move of pulling her down beside her. After giving her a once-over, she nodded toward a restless Zeng Lunan and got down to business. “This is Mr. Zeng, Shuang’er’s birth father.”
The moment the words left her mouth, both Lu Liangwei and Long Yang were startled.
Lu Yunshuang’s birth father?
Long Yang accepted the news more easily. After recovering from the initial shock, he sat down in a chair, and Aunt Lan immediately served him a cup of high-quality tea.
“What on earth is going on, Grandmother?” Lu Liangwei cast the man a surprised glance before turning to the Dowager Duchess in bewilderment.
Although she had speculated before that Lu Yunshuang may not be her father’s birth daughter, she was still unable to contain her shock when she heard the news.
The Dowager Duchess sighed and said, “According to Mr. Zeng, while he was braving the martial world fifteen years ago, he came across Madam Zheng being harassed by bandits. After he rescued her, they fell in love and got married, and not long after, she gave birth to Shuang’er. Unfortunately, their happiness was short-lived. One day, a man in black broke into their home, trying to kill him and take Madam Zheng and the child away. He lost to the assailant and ended up getting stabbed. The assassin thought that Mr. Zeng had died, but he didn’t; he was just severely injured. Besides, he’d learned the Art of Breath-Holding before, so he was able to escape death.
“At that time, he heard the man in black telling Madam Zheng to lie, to say that the child was your father’s offspring and come back to drive a wedge between your parents. Madam Zheng thought that Mr. Zeng was already dead, plus the temptation of wealth and splendor was just too great, so she followed the man’s orders and returned to the imperial capital. As for the assailant, it was the Empress Dowager who sent him. She wanted Madam Zheng to return to the imperial capital to ruin your parents’ relationship.”
She was still seething with rage as she spoke. If Madam Zheng were still alive, she would beat her to death without hesitation.
Not only did she make the Lu Family raise her child for her, but she also caused a rift between Shenzhi and Lihua. Death was the only punishment she deserved.
It was because of her selfish intervention that Shenzhi and Lihua were separated for so many years.
After listening to the Dowager Duchess, everyone fell silent.
Nobody expected Lu Yunshuang to be the daughter of Madam Zheng and this Mr. Zeng. Madam Zheng had brazenly lied that the girl was Lu Hetian’s child.
Ling Lihua, in particular, was filled with mixed emotions.
The events from fourteen years ago were still vivid in her mind.
She remembered her rage and despair when Madam Zheng showed up at the Grand Duke Mansion with her daughter, presented the bloodstained pair of underwear, and told her that she had given birth to Lu Hetian’s daughter after spending a night with him.
Madam Zheng had practically dealt her a fatal blow that day.
However, she could only blame herself for being foolish. She had brought endless suffering on herself because of a kind deed she performed when she was young.
She loathed Madam Zheng, but she hated Lu Hetian even more.
As the saying went, “It takes two to tango”. Although Madam Zheng seduced Lu Hetian, how would she have the chance if he had managed to keep it in his pants?
At that time, she felt that she would never forgive Lu Hetian, ever.
All these years, she had never forgiven him either.
However, she never imagined that the rift between her and Lu Hetian was all part of the Empress Dowager’s scheme, and even Madam Zheng was just one of her pawns..