Chapter 1043

Yang Lingqi, Vesa, and the others only returned to the Minister's residence after Qiqi had left; hearing that Hu Xiaotian had come back, they finally relaxed, but then they learned that Madame Hu's illness was terminal, her life hanging by a thread, and none of them bothered to rest—they all stood guard outside the courtyard where Xu Fengyi lived.

At noon, Zhou Mo rushed over upon hearing the news; seeing Hu Xiaotian, he noticed his eyes were red and swollen, obviously he had just been crying—this brother of his was always optimistic and strong, so it seemed Madame Hu's condition was dire; Zhou Mo didn't know how to comfort him for a moment, then patted his shoulder and said, 'Third Brother, good people are blessed by heaven; you needn't worry too much.'

Hu Xiaotian nodded; just then Huo Shengnan rushed out from the room, but it was Xu Fengyi who had awakened again, repeatedly calling to see Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian hurried back to the room, came to his mother's side, and said anxiously, 'Mother! I haven't left; I'll stay by your side.'

Xu Fengyi was extremely anxious: 'Why won't you go? Hurry up and leave—they all want to harm you, they all want to harm you… Son, hurry and go!' She reached out to push Hu Xiaotian's chest, but her long illness left her too weak to do so.

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Mother, don't worry; once you recover, I'll take you away with me.' He picked up the medicine bowl beside him and said, 'Mother, may I feed you the medicine?'

Xu Fengyi shook her head and said, 'Mother… to see you one more time is already enough to die without regret; if you still heed my words, hurry and leave Kangdu, never see your father again, never see anyone from the Xu family… they… they will all harm you…' By the end she could not stop sobbing.

Hu Xiaotian was filled with confusion, and in a low voice asked, 'Mother, why do my father and my maternal grandmother want to harm me?' He didn't believe it, thinking his mother was probably eighty percent delirious.

Xu Fengyi said, 'You must never believe them… they… they are all not good people…'

Hu Xiaotian was certain his mother was hiding some secret; he leaned close to her ear and said, 'Mother, what exactly happened? Please tell me.'

'You needn't ask. In short… just remember Mother's words and leave quickly…' Xu Fengyi's consciousness appeared still lucid; she revealed no information to Hu Xiaotian, merely urging him to leave. No matter how Hu Xiaotian advised her, Xu Fengyi insisted on refusing medicine, her life hanging by a thread. Even if she were willing to take it, her condition was now beyond help; her body was already in a state of exhausted oil and waning wick, and no medicine could revive her.

Hu Xiaotian was already desperate, knowing his mother had no further attachment to the world, fearing time was short; he went outside, where everyone gathered around him with concern, and he waved them off. At that moment he had no mood to answer anyone's questions, nor did he need any comfort; he walked alone to the end of the corridor, stared blankly ahead, his thoughts in turmoil. What had happened during his time away from Kangdu that could cause his parents to turn against each other, driving his mother to despair and extinguish her will to live? Exactly what occurred, perhaps only the parties involved truly knew. His father had gone to Luo Song, and there had been no word since. His mother clearly concealed the truth, unwilling to tell him the secret.

Behind him came the sound of light footsteps; Hu Xiaotian turned around to see Vesa approaching, holding an outer garment. Seeing Hu Xiaotian suddenly turn his head, Vesa was startled and stopped, her pretty face showing panic and anxiety—she noticed Hu Xiaotian was dressed lightly and worried he would catch a chill, but seeing his grim expression she also grew fearful, thinking he blamed her for disturbing him.

Looking at Vesa's uneasy expression, Hu Xiaotian felt a twinge of guilt; his gaze fell upon her sea‑like deep‑blue eyes, and a sudden inspiration struck him—Vesa had trained in soul‑capturing arts, perhaps she could help him ask his mother what had happened.

Hu Xiaotian realized this idea was born of desperation; his mother's life was ebbing, and if he did not ask now he might never learn what had happened—he could not allow his mother to die without knowing why.

Hu Xiaotian beckoned Vesa over, lowered his voice to tell her his plan; Vesa's face showed embarrassment—using soul‑capturing on a dying old woman felt wrong to him, yet Vesa did not wish to defy Hu Xiaotian's wish, and she whispered, 'Master, are you really sure you want me to do this?'

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, 'If I don't find out what happened, I will never be at peace in this lifetime.'

Vesa bit her lip, finally made up her mind, nodded and said, 'Master, if you have decided, I will certainly help you.'

Hu Xiaotian brought Vesa to his mother's bedside, had everyone else withdraw, and Xu Fengyi gazed at the exotic beauty before her, weakly asking, 'Who is she? Is she your wife?'

Vesa's pretty face flushed crimson, and she whispered, 'Madam, I am Vesa, the young master's female slave.'

Xu Fengyi stared at Vesa, sighed, and said, 'What a lovely girl… after I die, please look after Xiaotian all the more…'

Hu Xiaotian felt heartbroken, couldn't help turning his head aside, and hot tears welled in his tiger eyes.

Vesa fixed her gaze on Xu Fengyi's eyes; Xu Fengyi was drawn to Vesa's icy‑blue eyes, the longer she looked the more she wanted to keep looking, feeling as if her sight had fallen into an endless abyss from which she could not escape, and Vesa whispered softly, 'Madam, can you hear my voice?'

Xu Fengyi stared blankly at Vesa and murmured, 'I can hear you…'

Hu Xiaotian turned back and, using mental transmission, said to her, 'Ask my mother what exactly happened between her and my father, and what he did before he left.'

Following Hu Xiaotian's words, Vesa asked, 'Madam, what exactly did Sir Hu do to you before he departed?'

Xu Fengyi was already frail in body and weak in will, which is why Vesa's soul‑capturing could easily control her; she drew a breath and said, 'He is a beast; this time he went out to sea and will not return—this Luo Song expedition was fundamentally a conspiracy between him and the Xu family…'

'Why would he do that?'

Xu Fengyi said, 'He has long been colluding with the Xu family, cooperating inside and out… targeting Dakang…' After a few coughs she continued, 'He has never abandoned the idea of seizing Dakang's throne; he originally planned to work with Li Tianheng, inside and out, but it so happened that Long Yelin's plot to usurp the throne was exposed, and their scheme fell apart.'

Hu Xiaotian secretly sighed, his father was indeed no ordinary man; Li Tianheng had not deceived him, and in Hu Xiaotian's view, seizing Dakang's throne was nothing extraordinary—his father being a traitor or an ambitious man was acceptable to him, but this did not justify his mother's suicide.

He had Vesa continue asking, 'Why are they keeping this from you? Why does the Xu family help Sir Hu while ignoring their own daughter and granddaughter?' This was a question Hu Xiaotian could not fathom; the Xu clan of Jinling was his mother's maiden family, and by rights they should cherish their own daughter, yet they favored this son‑in‑law, keeping so many secrets from her, even though they knew Hu Buwei might not return from this sea voyage—a matter that could bring disaster upon his mother and himself—why would they still aid Hu Buwei? This defies ordinary reasoning.

Xu Fengyi said, 'They have been concealing this from me all along… all along… Hu Buwei is the most hypocritical person in this world, and Old Lady Xu is the most vicious…'

Hu Xiaotian grew ever more bewildered—cursing her husband was bad enough, but why was she also cursing her own birth mother? Moreover, her words were choked with tears, showing she hated her natal family and her husband to the extreme.

'Why? What exactly did they do to make you so anguished?'

Xu Fengyi shook her head vigorously; her subconscious desperately resisted the question, while Vesa fixed her gaze on Xu Fengyi's eyes, preventing her from breaking free of that stare. Seeing his mother in this state pained Hu Xiaotian, yet he was also intensely curious—if he did not uncover the truth, he feared he would never find peace in this lifetime.

Vesa spoke gently, 'Would you be willing to tell me what's happening, so I can share the burden?' Her voice carried an irresistible charm.

After struggling for a while, Xu Fengyi finally yielded again, her withered hands covering her ears: 'Because… because Hu Buwei is her biological son…'

Hearing this struck Hu Xiaotian like a thunderbolt, leaving him stunned and speechless. 'What? My father is actually Old Lady Xu's biological son—no wonder she dotes on him even more than her own daughter and granddaughter. Wait! If my father is her son, then who is my mother?'

Vesa was clearly shocked by Xu Fengyi's words as well, dazed for a moment, then she heard Hu Xiaotian transmit mentally: 'Ask my mother—who is she? What exactly is her relationship to Old Lady Xu?'

Xu Fengyi replied, 'She is not my mother.'

Upon hearing that, Hu Xiaotian finally felt relief from the depths of his heart; thank goodness it wasn't so, for even if Old Lady Xu were utterly addled she could never have countenanced allowing her daughter to marry her own son.

Xu Fengyi said, 'If no one had told me this secret, I would still have been kept in the dark… I was taken into the Xu household as a child, and I always believed I was her biological daughter.'

Hu Xiaotian nodded, but another question occurred to him: if his father truly was Old Lady Xu's biological son, then he would become her legitimate grandson—yet surely, even if she were ruthless enough to ignore her daughter‑in‑law, she could not stand idly by while her own biological grandson faced death? What is going on here?

Having said all this, Xu Fengyi gasped for breath, rested a moment, then continued, 'My father left home forty years ago for a woman… but he never intended to abandon his wife and children. After Old Lady Xu discovered this, she kept silent, and while my father was away on business she lured that poor woman in and had her killed—at the time the woman was already pregnant.'

Second Update posted—please vote for the Monthly Ticket! We're only one ticket away from a hundred; once we reach a hundred, we'll release another update tonight! (To be continued~^~)