Chapter 333: Come Prepared

"Hmm, there's a household in Tianshui Town; they used to come every now and then for blood kinship testing, and they look a lot like my daughter. But the blood test failed three times. In this world, there are plenty of look‑alikes; if you can't tell, everyone just says they're their own daughter, right?"

"The Princess Consort said, 'How about we do a blood test?'"

"Looks like they came prepared."

Qiao Mai smiled sweetly at them, and that gaze made the two feel as if they were being roasted over a fire.

"Then let's do the blood test!"

Yu Shi took a bowl from her bosom and said, "Princess Consort, for fairness we brought our own bowl; may we borrow water from your family's well?"

"Sure, take this lady to the well to draw water, and remember to wash the bowl several times; that way it's fair to everyone."

"Yes, Princess Consort!"

When the Master gave the order, the servant immediately understood what it meant.

He led the lady to the well, and she looked around and said, "There's no well here?"

The Princess Consort looked at her, placed the bowl on the table, and said, "You two, husband and wife, drop some blood first; I'll watch. Don't fiddle with the bowl. I believe you have no blood relation, so the blood shouldn't mix."

The lady hesitated, while the servant stared at her, "Are you going to wash it or not? Such dithering—does this bowl hide something?"

Ling'er didn't understand, but she never spoke out of turn.

"Mother still wants to check; once we know Mother is your birth mother, you can be at ease, right?"

Qiao Mai's eyes were also red, and she gently patted her back.

Is she at odds with the royal family? Several sons of the Old Emperor have already fallen into her hands, and now another has surfaced.

Then they cut their own hands and Ling'er's hand; each dropped a drop of blood into the bowl, and the two drops quickly merged.

Qiao Mai waved her hand, signaling the servants to step back.

"It's fine; Mother cast an illusion on them, so they won't remember what just happened."

Kneeling, they bowed deeply to Qiao Mai and her daughter; seeming fine, they stood to leave, but suddenly their bodies went limp and they collapsed to the ground.

"Hehe, but Mother, why didn't you tell your daughter before?"

"Mother, are they okay?"

"You've given up, right?"

Qiao Mai took Ling'er's hand and said, "Soon Mother will stitch you; it won't hurt."

The servant pressed the well a few times and water spurted out, "Hurry, wash the bowl clean, no cheating, wash it many times, don't force me to do it myself."

Ling'er pursed her little mouth and asked tentatively, "Mother, do you know my lineage?"

"No, no, they almost caused Mother and daughter to die; I won't acknowledge them, but… at that time Mother also did a blood test with me, right?"

At sunrise, Qiao Mai had already changed into sleepwear, collapsed onto the kang and slept soundly.

"But, Mother, why did you do that?"

"Do you want to know?"

She held Ling'er's hand, looked into her eyes, and said, "Don't you think Mother and you look a lot alike in some place?"

"It's best for you!"

"Who is it, so wicked?"

Today, she didn't intend to move that so‑called Jiu Huang Sun.

She watched Mother walk over, pressed something on their heads for a while, then by some unknown method the two woke up as if soulless, hand in hand, and left Jixiang Yuan.

"Aiy, aiy!"

Ling'er, seeing that, immediately hugged Qiao Mai and began to cry. "Mother, you are my birth mother, that's wonderful; I've always wanted to be your biological daughter, and now it really is, wonderful, wonderful."

The old master and the others slept soundly, and the household spirits all found a comfortable spot to snooze; supposedly this weather isn't suitable for that sort of thing.

"Hmph, our well is a pressure well; who uses a deep well to draw water? Wait a moment!"

"Yes, yes, we husband and wife are at fault for disturbing the Princess Consort."

Ling'er felt no affection for the couple before her; she stood beside Qiao Mai, watching everything coolly.

"I kind of want to know, but the daughter won't be like Fengyun; I just simply want to know whether I was abandoned or something else."

"What do you think?"

The husband and wife anxiously stared at the bowl; even after two quarters of an hour, the blood hadn't merged.

"Because Mother doesn't want to give the Tian Family a chance, and you don't want Mother to be constantly troubled later, right?"

"Don't do a full blood test today and another tomorrow to bother her; why not be straightforward?"

Late at night, rain fell again, windless, the outside was muggy and hot, yet the scenery in Jixiang Yuan changed once more.

Having come this far, the two can only grit their teeth and see it through.

But who is she? Qiao Mai, dressed in black, floated through the air into Li Wang's house.

"This matter must not be told to anyone?"

The lady took a needle rod from her bosom, removed a needle, pricked herself, then pricked the man; after their blood dripped into the bowl, Qiao Mai then led Ling'er over.

Yu Shi had no choice but to grit her teeth, wash the bowl, then fetch a bowl of water and carry it to the living room.

Mother watched her daughter's happy expression, smiled and shook her head, but upon thinking of the person behind, her smile immediately faded.

"Hehe, the daughter is already of marriageable age, she should have understood all this long ago."

"What about that couple just now?"

Ling'er widened her eyes, "Mother, do you mean Ling'er is your biological daughter?"

Qiao Mai smiled, flicked her hand, and a bowl of clear water appeared on the table.

Ling'er swallowed, "So Tian Sanzhuang is really me?"

Goal: the Wangfu's fortune, Li Wang's left leg, and Li Wang's consort's right leg; only then would it be fitting, a true family.

"Someone wants to disgust Mother, to trick you away, using some low‑level dirty tricks."

"Yes, mother!"

"No, no."

"But you are also very kind to the three older brothers,"

"You are naturally my Qiao Mai's daughter, otherwise how could I dote on you so much?"

"Yes, such a family, such a father, do you plan to acknowledge them?"

Ling'er walked away happily; now she knows her biological parents, and has no more worries.

"Why?"

"Oh, then this matter is known to mother and daughter!"

"Back then you were still young, unable to discern right from wrong; the Tian Family, in order to acknowledge you, coaxed you back, tried to control mother, and would say any flowery words to you. That time was not suitable to speak of this matter."

"Mother also wanted to have the best of both worlds, so for all these years we have lived quietly; back then mother also told you, whether biological or not, as long as you live happily in this home, that's all that matters."

"At first mother was a beast of burden for the Tian Family; even when her belly was big she wasn't spared, and they even framed mother for having an affair outside; mother was kicked in the belly by the Tian clan, forced to give birth to you after seven months,"

"At that time you were as feeble as a kitten; mother was also very weak then; to prevent the Tian Family from causing trouble for mother, she pretended to bury you,"

"In fact she quietly placed you in a hidden spot; after securing a place to stay, she secretly took you back, kept you by her side in secret, raising you until you were six months old, then found an opportunity to let you live openly beside mother."

"Want revenge? Then come on, we'll see who cries then!"

"A few people lowered their heads to look at the blood in the bowl; after a while it still hadn't mixed, so Qiao Mai, in front of them, lightly and quickly tapped Ling'er's finger with her fingertip; a drop of blood emerged from the finger and fell into the bowl."

"Hehe, that's right."

"Good girl, go about your business; mother is going back to Meditation to practice internal skills."

"It seems this period is not suitable for Seclusion; she likes to go with the flow, and if something comes knocking when she wants to Seclude, it shows that even Heaven does not wish her to Seclude."

"Li Wang's Wangfu was robbed clean; Li Wang and the queen consort each had a leg broken—one the left, the other the right—and this matter was known to the emperor at the Morning Court."

"Another case like this; who should be sent? Even if the emperor is in a hurry, it won't help."

"After the court was dismissed, they sent people to Li Wang's residence and forced Li Wang to be carried into the palace."

(End of chapter)