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“Sir, we are not lying. If you don’t believe us, you can ask the villagers about it. The year our daughter disappeared was when Fourth Lady was seriously ill. I-If my daughter had not been taken away, why would we have said that she disappeared? She replaced the Fourth Lady, who died of disease, and became your daughter.”

The middle-aged woman, Li, cried loudly as she knelt on the ground.

“Greetings, Father!” Qu Moying walked in and bowed to Qu Zhizhen.

“Father, what happened? W-Who are they?” Qu Qiuyan also bowed. Then, she looked up at the couple kneeling on the ground in shock. Her face was full of surprise.

Compared to Qu Moying, Qu Zhizhen favored Qu Qiuyan more, so the latter was a little casual when she spoke to him.

Qu Zhizhen waved his hand and gestured for his two daughters to get up. “Take your seat!”

The two of them obediently sat down on both of his sides.

“Dear… M-My dear daughter…” Upon seeing Qu Moying, Li immediately teared up and locked her gaze on Qu Moying. Li seemed to want to approach Qu Moying, but she did not dare. She could only kneel on the ground, sobbing and saying nothing. It was a pitiful sight.

“Do you mean that Granny Gu stole your daughter to replace my daughter, who died back then?” Qu Zhizhen asked impatiently, his eyes sharp.

Although he did not like Qu Moying, it did not mean that he wanted such a thing to happen.

Someone swapped his legitimate daughter, and he had raised a fake daughter. This kind of matter was simply humiliating and bizarre. He was the dignified Mr. Vice Minister who had a reputation in the imperial court. How could something so ridiculous happen in his mansion?

“Yes, Sir. Please return my daughter. We are going back to our hometown. If we don’t take our daughter with us, we will have to part with her forever. We don’t mind living a hard-knocked life as long as we can stay together as one family. Please grant us our wish.” Li kowtowed to Qu Zhizhen again, wiping away her tears as she spoke.

“W-When did you know that she is your daughter?” Qu Zhizhen asked with a gloomy face.

“We only found out about it recently. We wouldn’t have known about it had it not been for Granny Gu who spilled the secret while we were chatting. Then, we came to see our daughter privately, but she didn’t want to accept us and asked us to leave. She only gave us some clothes and… and some pastries that were newly sent to us…”

As Li spoke, she opened up a paper bag in front of her, revealing a few pieces of pastries inside. Although the pastries had shattered into pieces, one could still vaguely tell that they were pastries.

“Oh? Aren’t these the newly made pastries in the mansion? I think the chef made it yesterday,” Qu Qiuyan gushed in surprise.

After she finished speaking, she seemed to realize that she had spoken too much, so she hurriedly turned her head and gently wiped the corner of her lips with a handkerchief to cover up her slip of the tongue.

Qu Qiuyan didn’t talk loudly, but because the atmosphere in the study suddenly became quiet, Qu Zhizhen could hear her clearly despite her light volume. He massaged the throbbing veins on his forehead and glanced at the young servant who was standing at the side.

This young servant was in charge of his pastries and tidying up the study room.

The young servant took two steps forward, carefully examined the pastries, and then nodded silently at Qu Zhizhen, indicating that Qu Qiuyan was right. It was indeed the newly made pastries in the mansion that had just been introduced recently.

It was impossible that a couple from the village would obtain the newly made pastries from the mansion. Because the pastries were new products, they were made in limited quantities and were sent to the Masters. Even the servants did not have the chance to eat them. Judging from the pastries inside the paper bag, the servant could tell that someone in the mansion sent the pastries to them.

Qu Zhizhen looked at Qu Moying with a trace of doubt in his eyes.

“Father, did you call me here because of them?” Qu Moying raised her eyes at Qu Zhizhen and asked calmly.

“They claimed to be your parents, and they said that Granny Gu took you away from them when you were young. They only found out about this recently. Now, they wanted to go back to their hometown and want to take you with them,” Qu Zhizhen tried to calm down and patiently disclosed the matter.

After that, he stared at Qu Moying’s reaction intensely as if his eyes were burning.

“Dear, y-you gave us pastries, clothes, and even some money, and you wanted us to leave the capital, but we are your parents. We can’t bear to let you stay here. Dear, don’t worry, we will treat you nicely after you come back with us. We will not treat you shabbily. Although it will not be as lavish as your life here in the Vice Minister’s Mansion, we’ll definitely make you happy.”

Li turned to Qu Moying and whimpered.

They could differentiate the two young ladies who came in together easily. The one wearing the eye veil was the Fourth Lady, which was their target.

“Dear, you are our daughter, and it isn’t right for you to falsely keep your title as Fourth Lady Qu.” Liu Shan, the middle-aged man, wiped his tears and asserted.

Both of them looked honest and humble, and their hands were full of calluses from hard work. At first glance, one could tell that the couple was ordinary villagers.

“You said that I am your daughter. How can you prove it?” Qu Moying asked indifferently.

“Dear, you have recognized us. Why do you deny it now? G-Granny Gu had a slip of the tongue that day, so we immediately came to the capital to look for you. After seeing you, you knew that we were your parents, but you didn’t want to leave with us. Dear, although you can enjoy fame and wealth here, nothing is more important than being together as a family.”

Li wailed as she cried her lungs out. Her devastated emotions and voice seemed to prove that this was all true.

Qu Moying sneered in disdain. The couple that Yu had found had a solid background. They looked honest, and the most important thing was that their identities were real, so it was not hard to prove it. This was the Dabei Temple incident all over again. At that time, the man was real, and the proofs were easy to verify. All of these elements made the whole story believable.

Judging from Qu Zhizhen’s indignant expression and the cold aura emitting from his body, Qu Moying knew that he believed most of the couple’s story.

Although she didn’t like Qu Zhizhen and didn’t treat him as her father, she wouldn’t let others frame her up casually.

She had never wanted to give up the position of Fourth Lady Qu.

“You said that I am your daughter. How can you prove it?” Qu Moying repeated, looking calm and composed.

“We have proofs. These are the clothes and money you asked the maid to send us. And the pastries you just sent us. You asked us to taste them.” Li fiddled with the objects in front of her and pointed them out to Qu Moying. There was quite a lot of money, which were a bunch of silvers. From the looks of it, she vaguely calculated that they were at least ten taels.

Qu Moying’s monthly allowance was only five taels, and she only obtained them after she returned to the mansion. Previously, when she was in the village, she got only a little money from the family.

“Dear, here are all the proofs, and this. Granny Gu made this…” Seeing that Qu Moying did not believe them, Liu Shan hurriedly took out a sachet from the pile of things. Sure enough, it was made by Granny Gu before Qu Moying came to the capital this time. “Granny Gu felt guilty and sorry after kidnapping our girl, so she often went to the temple to pray and ask for forgiveness for her selfish behavior.”

“This is the sachet she got from the temple. I heard that there is an amulet or something in it. There is also proof of your identity.”

The sachet was sealed with the thread still intact at the opening.

Qu Zhizhen’s face became grey as he looked at the middle-aged couple kneeling on the floor. The corners of his mouth were tightly pursed. He did not say a word as if he was anticipating the development of the situation.

“Oh… That is indeed the sachet that Moying wore when she entered the mansion.” Qu Qiuyan was not in the mood to watch the show. After recognizing the sachet, she exclaimed with a face full of surprise and glanced at Qu Moying. Qu Qiuyan seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she hesitated and fell silent.

“Where did you get this sachet? How about you open it and take a look?” Qu Moying asked.

“Did you forget that you asked Yu Dong to give us this sachet? Why don’t you admit it now? But since you want to see it, o-okay then. We’ll open it now,” Liu Shan said and passed the sachet to the young servant. “Sir, please verify it.”

Qu Zhizhen nodded. The young servant took the sachet, went to the side to find a pair of scissors, cut open the sachet, and took out two things from it.

One was a very small and ordinary amulet. Obviously, it was taken from the temple for protection and blessing. As for the other item, it was a very small piece of folded paper.

Qu Zhizhen took the note from the young servant. When he opened it, he saw the words written on the note, saying, “Father, Liu Shan. Mother, Li.”

Qu Zhizhen looked at Qu Moying with a malicious gaze and did not say anything.

“This is the evidence you mentioned. Did you also hear it from Granny Gu?” Qu Moying did not go forward to check the evidence. Instead, she turned to the couple.

“Y-Yes. We wouldn’t have known the truth had Granny Gu not had a slip of tongue. Dear, go back with us. A family reunion is more important than anything. Nothing matters as long as all of us are fine and happy,” Li, the middle-aged woman, wailed again.

“Do you know what’s inside?” Qu Moying ignored her crying and asked.

“Uh… Granny Gu said that it is the evidence that proves you are our daughter, and she put it in… I-I don’t know what it is, but it must be the evidence.” Liu Shan’s heart skipped a beat. However, he managed to regain his composure and explained smoothly. As he spoke, he wiped away his tears pitifully.

“What if there isn’t one here?” Qu Moying suddenly asked with a sneer.

She was saying this because she was certain that the couple was illiterate.

“I-Impossible!” The couple was taken aback. Li was the first to come to her senses and cried while shaking her head. “This was what Granny Gu told us. She wouldn’t lie to us!”

“What if it isn’t true? It is a crime to falsely claim the daughter of an imperial official as yours, and you’ll be sent to the court for further investigation.” Qu Moying’s expression became calmer and calmer.

Qu Qiuyan similarly had calm expression, but it was just on the surface. She hid her hands in her sleeves and wrung the handkerchief tightly, indicating that she was anxious now. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the panic expression on the couple’s face.

She had a premonition!