283: Chapter 63 Mu Wanqing: Are you my father?

Manda Mountain Villa.

Li Qingluo finished breakfast and was taking a walk in the garden to aid digestion.

Suddenly, a robust female servant hurried over.

"What is it?" Seeing the other's hurried pace, Li Qingluo immediately knew she had something to report and asked casually.

The servant bowed and replied, "The Young Miss took a boat to Canhe Village alone. Shortly after she left the shore, I saw a large ship coming from the direction of the Suzhou city area. It also seemed to be heading toward Canhe Village. Four men and one woman were standing at the bow. That woman looked familiar to me; she seemed to be the one who tried to assassinate you last time."

Li Qingluo was taken aback.

The one who tried to assassinate her last time?

Only two people had tried to assassinate her recently: Mu Wanqing and Qin Hongmian.

She knew about Mu Wanqing, who had stayed at Canhe Village because of the oath. From the look of things, she would sooner or later be taken in by that young man.

She couldn't change this, so she had to relax her mindset and instead was happy to see it happen.

Meng Li had already come to propose marriage long ago; Wang Yuyan was undoubtedly the primary wife.

Therefore, Mu Wanqing could only be a concubine.

Both Li Qingluo and Qin Hongmian had a past relationship with Duan Zhengchun. They were love rivals, yet neither had a good ending, making it a tie.

If Wang Yuyan could stay one step ahead of Mu Wanqing, it would count as a win for her as a mother.

Since Mu Wanqing was at Canhe Village, it was naturally impossible for her to come from the direction of the city, so that person must be Qin Hongmian.

However, four men and one woman heading to Canhe Village—what was the situation?

Li Qingluo was puzzled and intended to see for herself, so she quickly ordered, "Prepare a boat; I'm going to Canhe Village."

"Yes."

...

On the other side, Wang Yuyan couldn't hide anything from Meng Li. As soon as she reached Canhe Village, after being affectionate for a while, she told him about meeting Qin Hongmian and Duan Yu.

Meng Li frowned after hearing it.

Duan Yu and Qin Hongmian?

Although these two were somewhat related, the possibility of them mixing together was extremely low, unless...

"Were there any other people on that boat?"

Thinking of a certain possibility, Meng Li asked Wang Yuyan.

"There were." Wang Yuyan nodded and then gave a simple description of the appearances of Duan Zhengchun, Zhu Danchen, and Chu Wanli.

After hearing it and making a brief comparison, Meng Li understood that one of them was Duan Zhengchun and thought to himself, "As expected."

Before he could guess the purpose of this group's visit, A Bi came over to report, "Young Master, Town South King Duan Zhengchun of Dali and Heir Apparent Duan Yu have arrived."

Meng Li nodded to show he knew, then gave Wang Yuyan a word before heading to the drawing room to meet them.

Upon arriving at the drawing room, he took a look and found that the visitors were quite a group: Duan Zhengchun, Duan Yu, Qin Hongmian, and Duan Zhengchun's two guards.

After brief greetings and formal introductions, Meng Li got straight to the point: "I wonder what brings Duke Duan and the Heir Apparent to my Canhe Village so suddenly?"

Hearing this, Duan Zhengchun didn't speak but glanced at Qin Hongmian.

Qin Hongmian stood up and said, "Young Master Murong, to tell you the truth, Brother Chun and I have come this time for our daughter, Mu Wanqing."

Meng Li was stunned, then showed surprise: "Wan'er is the daughter of you and Duke Duan?"

He already knew this in his heart, but on the surface, he was unaware.

A Zhu and A Bi, who were attending nearby, were completely unaware. Hearing this major gossip, they truly showed looks of shock.

Once they regained their composure, both of their expressions were a bit strange.

Because they remembered that when chatting with Mu Wanqing some time ago, she had cursed the Dali Duan Clan as useless and even threatened to poke holes and cut gashes in Duan Zhengchun.

Now that Mu Wanqing was actually Duan Zhengchun's daughter, this...

Duan Zhengchun had anticipated the consequences of revealing the truth. Noticing their expressions, he didn't care much.

He nodded with certainty and then said, "It's a long story, but Wanqing is indeed the daughter of Hongmian and me. I'd like to ask Young Master Murong to call her out for a meeting. I wish to take her back to Dali to recognize her ancestors and return to the clan."

Meng Li was a bit surprised.

Taking Mu Wanqing back to Dali to recognize her ancestors?

Was Duan Zhengchun really this brave?

One must know that although people like Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing were his daughters, they were only considered illegitimate daughters.

Because their mothers had no official status.

In other words, if Duan Zhengchun let Zhong Ling and Mu Wanqing recognize their ancestors, to some extent, it was equivalent to acknowledging the status of Gan Baobao and Qin Hongmian.

Could Dao Baifeng allow this?

If she could, why hadn't she done it sooner?

Zhong Ling might be treated specially because of Duan Yu, but Mu Wanqing currently had no intersection with Duan Yu.

Furthermore, she and Qin Hongmian wanted to kill Dao Baifeng.

What Meng Li didn't know was that Dao Baifeng originally wouldn't have opened this door, but the incident where Zhong Ling and Duan Yu almost caused an incestuous scandal had made her a bit afraid. Thinking that Duan Zhengchun's romantic debts outside were so numerous that even he couldn't remember them all, she worried that such a situation of pitting his own son would happen again.

In addition, she had accidentally seen Duan Yanqing during the Wanjian Valley incident.

For a time, dead memories attacked her fiercely, making her feel a bit of guilt. Combined with her previous worries, she finally opened the door.

However, this opening was only limited to Duan Zhengchun's daughters.

They could be titled Commandery Princesses, but it was absolutely impossible for Gan Baobao, Qin Hongmian, and the others to get official status.

Regarding this, Duan Zhengchun only knew part of the story, yet he was very happy.

Because once this door was opened, he would have ample reasons to go out and have fun, as well as to relive old dreams with his former lovers.

Trysting with Gan Baobao and coming to Suzhou with Qin Hongmian was just such a case.

"Alright."

Although he didn't know the specific reason, Meng Li didn't refuse. He gave an answer and turned his head to tell A Zhu to call for her.

Not long after, Mu Wanqing arrived.

Duan Yu was closest to her. Seeing her, he looked her over briefly, thought to himself that she wasn't as good as the Fairy Sister, and then looked away.

His intention in coming to see Mu Wanqing was not about her at all. After learning that the Fairy Sister Wang Yuyan, who made his heart flutter, might be his sister, his head had been buzzing. He had fallen into a state of anxiety over gain and loss. He hadn't said a word since the initial greeting and couldn't lift his spirits now either.

Mu Wanqing didn't look at him much either; instead, she immediately noticed Qin Hongmian.

"Mother, why are you here?" she asked in surprise.

When A Zhu called her, she hadn't mentioned the matter of her identity, only saying that Meng Li had called her over to meet some guests.

Qin Hongmian didn't respond but turned her head to look at Duan Zhengchun.

Duan Zhengchun coughed twice and said with a stiff upper lip, "Well, Wan'er, I am your father."

Mu Wanqing: "???"

Who are you?

I don't even know you, and you come right out and say you're my father?

Taking advantage of me?

As the thought emerged, Mu Wanqing raised her hand and struck out at Duan Zhengchun with a palm strike, but she was blocked by Qin Hongmian, who had anticipated it.

Then, Qin Hongmian said, "Wan'er, his name is Duan Zhengchun. He is the Town South King of Dali and truly is your father."

Mu Wanqing only felt a boom, and her head buzzed.

Before coming to Manda Mountain Villa, she had always thought she was orphaned and only had a Master.

After coming here, her Master became her biological mother. There was also news of her biological father.

But when she asked, Qin Hongmian said her father had died long ago.

Given Qin Hongmian's previous behavior, Mu Wanqing was suspicious but didn't ask more, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. At the same time, she had long been used to being an orphan; having a father or not felt the same. Instead of asking about something so inconsequential, it was better to fulfill the matter of the oath.

As a result, the matter of the oath was settled. After spending some time together, she gradually accepted that Meng Li had more than just her by his side.

At this time, a father suddenly popped up.

And the other party was Duan Zhengchun, the incompetent waste she had been talking about some time ago.

Mu Wanqing felt unable to accept it for a moment, and her body couldn't help but sway.

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