Chapter 856: Not Biological, Yet Better Than Biological

"If she wanted to tell you, there would be plenty of opportunities, but she didn't say anything. If you rashly call her now, you'll put her in a difficult position."

Qi Heng is not Lady Qi's biological child; if she had wanted to say so, she would have long ago. Since she hasn't let a single word slip for so many years, it means she doesn't want to talk about it.

She figured it out and put down her phone: "Hmm, then I won't make this call."

The call wasn't made, but her curiosity couldn't be suppressed. She wanted to know how Qi Heng, who was perfectly fine, suddenly became an illegitimate child?

So many years have passed, and there hasn't been a single whisper of it.

Moreover, Lady Qi truly managed to treat him as her own. Back then, for the sake of Qi Heng, she didn't hesitate to risk her own life to protect her son.

A mother and son who were so loving and filial suddenly turned out not to be biological mother and son. This news is too explosive; it's so explosive that it always makes people feel like it's a rumor.

Sheng Hanyu told her that according to gossip coming out of L Country, Qi Heng's biological mother was Lady Qi's former personal maid.

The two grew up together; their relationship was master and servant in name, but in reality, it was much like that of biological sisters.

Lady Qi married Qi Xiansheng, and the maid followed her to the Qi Family as well.

The two had been married for many years without children. Once, Qi Xiansheng went out for a social engagement and hadn't returned late at night, and Lady Qi's mother suddenly felt unwell. She was anxious to go back to see her mother, but also worried that there would be no one to take care of her husband when he returned.

So she let the maid stay at home, and she went back to her maiden home herself.

Early the next morning.

When Lady Qi returned from her maiden home, she discovered that something was wrong with the two of them. She couldn't get anything out of them when she asked at the time, but more than a month later, she discovered that the maid was always losing her appetite and even vomiting in secret.

She found a doctor to examine the maid, and it was indeed as she had guessed—she was pregnant!

Seeing that the matter couldn't be hidden, the maid told the truth.

More than a month ago, on the night she returned to her maiden home, Qi Xiansheng came back drunk.

When she went to take care of Qi Xiansheng, he mistook her for Lady Qi, hugged her, kissed her frantically, and murmured that he wanted a child...

The maid cried and said she was sorry to her, and that she would secretly abort the child.

Lady Qi did not allow it; she gave her a sum of money and found another place to hide her, providing her with good food and drink.

And she herself feigned the appearance of being pregnant, pretending that she was the one who was pregnant.

It just so happened that at that time, her husband was sent abroad for a year of official business, so no one knew about this secret, and it was kept hidden.

Twelve years passed. All these years, Lady Qi truly treated Qi Heng as her own biological son, regarding him as such, and believed that this matter would remain a secret forever.

But the secret was eventually brought to light one day.

The maid had been very guilty at the time; when Lady Qi asked her to give birth to the child and give him to her, she agreed.

After giving birth to the child, she received a sum of money and went home.

Originally, this money was intended to be a dowry so that she would have a say in her husband's family after getting married.

However, her family was too greedy; they withheld the money to use for her younger brother's wedding and hurriedly found a man to marry her off.

Not only was there no dowry, but they also demanded a large sum of money as a bride price.

Her husband was a drunkard who often got drunk, and when he was drunk, he would beat her—beat her to death!

After beating her, he would lie on the bed and sleep soundly, while she would be alone, cleaning her wounds and shedding tears. Every time this happened, she would think of that night in the past.

That was her first time.

Qi Xiansheng was also drunk, but he was very gentle and not rough at all.

She would also think of that child she had only seen once. Although she had only seen him once, the child's face had always been imprinted in her mind and could not be erased at all.

It was a face almost exactly the same as Qi Xiansheng's. He was Qi Xiansheng's son, and when he grew up, he would be just as outstanding as Qi Xiansheng.

Looking again at the two children by her side, they looked just like their father, and their temperaments were the same too.

The little people had huge tempers; if anything didn't go their way, they would pick up whatever was nearby and throw it at her, and before they could even speak clearly, they would call her "useless."

She dragged her scarred body to burn incense and worship Buddha, repenting before the Buddha, but her husband overheard her and, after discovering her secret, beat her even more severely.

Qi Xiansheng became Vice President, and her husband developed improper intentions, forcing her to go to the Vice President's Mansion to ask for money, threatening that if they didn't give it, he would spill the secrets of the past.

She would rather be beaten to death than go, so her husband decided to go himself. But the Vice President's Mansion wasn't a place one could enter just because one wanted to; the drunkard didn't get the money and was beaten up instead.

He got dead drunk once again.

After getting drunk, he shouted and hollered on the street, saying that the Vice President's son was not the wife's biological child, that it was a case of a civet cat being swapped for a crown prince, and that it was born by his woman..."

He was arrested. Qi Vice President didn't believe it at all and thought it was just rumors. To clear his wife's name, he took Qi Heng for a paternity test.

The matter could no longer be hidden, and the truth came to light.

Now the Vice President and his wife are already separated; it is unknown whether they will divorce.

Before this big piece of gossip was finished, something happened in the Qi Family again—Qi Heng had gone missing!

The child couldn't accept such a reality and couldn't face his mother, relatives, classmates, and friends, so he ran away from home!

The Vice President's son being lost is a major event; L Country searched everywhere, but they couldn't find him.

Lady Qi's health was already poor, and now that she had suddenly suffered such a heavy blow, she fell ill.

She didn't even rest while ill.

The huge billboards were all filled with Lady Qi's tearful notices looking for her son. She begged her son to come back, promising to agree to any request as long as he could return.

Even if he requested that she divorce her husband and let his biological mother come back to take care of him, it would all be acceptable.

It has already been a week.

There is still no news of Qi Heng.

No one knows where he went.

Lady Qi was driven mad with anxiety; she even called Jiangzhou to look for the child, requesting Sheng Hanyu to help find her son.

She knew that Shi Youxuan had many ideas, so she asked her to help come up with some.

Now she can't care about anything else; whether things are a good match in social status in the future is not important. What is important is that finding her son as soon as possible is better than anything else.

She told Shi Youxuan everything. Family scandals shouldn't be made public, but mainly, she was anxious.

Now she is burning with anxiety and can't care about anything.

Shi Youxuan: "Could A Heng have gone to a classmate's house?"

"No, all of his classmates' homes have been searched, he's nowhere to be found. Where could a little child go? It's too unsafe outside. I have to go look for him, I must bring A Heng back..."

Lady Qi's nerves were stretched too tight; she was on the verge of a breakdown at any moment.

"It won't happen, it won't happen. Meiqi, don't be anxious. A Heng just can't accept it for the moment; he will come back once he thinks it through."

Shi Ran went to her mother and indicated she had something to say.

"Meiqi, I'll call you in a while, I have something to do right now."

After hanging up the phone, Shi Ran said: "I know where Qi Heng is!"

"Where is he? Tell me quickly."

Shi Ran tilted her head and thought for a moment, then refused: "No, I can't say. You adults just need to know that he is safe and in no danger right now. He won't do anything foolish. You tell Auntie, and let her not worry."

Shi Youxuan:...

That was easy to say.

How could she not worry?

If they couldn't find Qi Heng soon, Lady Qi would go insane!