Chapter 239: Cruel Truth!

It made Ye Qingran feel a pang of heartache again.

But she was also helpless. Many things do not shift with human will. He is not her biological child; that is an unchangeable fact.

How should she explain it to Xiao Chen?

Seeing Ye Qingran's dilemma, Fu Qianchen wiped his tears with his sleeve, then feigned strength and said, "Mother, I'm fine; don't worry about me!"

Perhaps fearing Ye Qingran wouldn't believe him, he forced a smile.

How obedient and sensible!

Ye Qingran's heart melted like water, and she tightened her grip on Fu Qianchen's hand.

The full moon hung in the sky, its light like water.

In Ye Qingran's mind, memories from five years ago involuntarily resurfaced. She had clearly found her child, yet for some reason she did not feel the expected sense of relief.

It seemed as if she had forgotten something important. This feeling grew stronger whenever she was alone with Xiao Chen.

"Looks like it's time to go talk to Ye Huanhuan!"

A faint glint flickered in Ye Qingran's eyes.

The next day, what happened at the Mid‑Autumn Palace banquet spread quickly throughout Xiliang City.

Zhao Yan, together with Ye Huanhuan, plotted to frame Meng Yao but failed; Ye Qingran rescued Meng Yao twice; the Crown Prince voluntarily petitioned His Majesty to strip Ye Huanhuan of her Crown Princess title; and Ye Qingran refused the Crown Prince—these uproarious events became known throughout the city.

At Mudan Yuan, Ye Huanhuan looked at the person before her, her face no longer wearing the usual false mask.

Ting Yu Xuan

When they learned that Ye Qingran intended to seek out Ye Huanhuan on her own, Han Xing and Leng Yue both expressed confusion.

Ye Qingran explained, "She was provoked yesterday, and her emotions are at their most unstable. If I tell her now that I've found the child, the chance she'll reveal the secret hidden in her heart is greater." Her intuition told her that Ye Huanhuan harbored an unknown secret, hidden in the blind spot between them.

"Ye Qingran, what are you doing here? Watching my joke?"

Seeing Ye Qingran in the courtyard, Ye Huanhuan's expression turned extremely sour.

Yesterday's humiliation surged to the surface.

"The Crown Prince stripped me of my Crown Princess title, then turned to you and confessed; you, so lofty, rejected him! What, now you come to flaunt your power before me?" Ye Huanhuan clenched her fists, a ferocious scowl on her face.

Ye Qingran sat down on the stone bench in the courtyard, "Don't be so agitated; I came today to tell you something."

Ye Qingran's tone was calm, but Ye Huanhuan keenly sensed the chill around her.

She squinted, a hint of suspicion flashing in her eyes. She didn't think Ye Qingran would tell her anything good.

After a moment of contemplation, she sat opposite Ye Qingran and asked, "What is it?"

"I've found my child," Ye Qingran said after gazing at Ye Huanhuan for a while.

At those words, Ye Huanhuan's pupils constricted sharply.

Immediately, a manic grin spread, "Impossible—your child is already dead! Who are you trying to fool? You chose to fool me! I personally dug the child out with my own eyes!"

Ye Qingran's hand under the table clenched hard, her tone still calm as she said, "Of the two children you saw, one is actually mine, the other belongs to the National Master."

Ye Huanhuan clearly didn't know this fact and was shocked.

"You mean the two children in the courtyard aren't both the National Master's?"

"Then why would he…"

Ye Qingran lifted the corner of her mouth, "He claims both children are his? Isn't that obvious? He has feelings for me and doesn't want me to be humiliated."

"I see! So the National Master truly cares for you!" Ye Huanhuan said through clenched teeth, a trace of jealousy flashing in her eyes.

That day on Xuanwu Platform, the crowd mocked Ye Qingran for being pregnant before marriage and bearing two illegitimate children; the National Master stepped forward, claimed the children as his, and salvaged Ye Qingran's reputation.

"Ye Qingran, that Mo Xiaohu is your child, right?"

That Mo Xiaohu was handsome and cute, with a fine temperament, not inferior to the National Master's son; could the Wild Man of Ye Qingran be some great figure?

That perception made Ye Huanhuan very uncomfortable.

Ye Qingran, such a despicable wretch, only deserves the lowest of men!

Ye Qingran nodded, "Exactly!" Fu Qianchen and the National Master were cut from the same mold; there was no doubt about their relationship.

However, Ye Huanhuan suddenly thought of something else, her gaze deepening.

Ye Huanhuan suddenly curved her lips in a smile, no longer as agitated as before, eerily calm, "Ye Qingran, you came today to tell me this, right?"

Ye Qingran lifted her eyelid to look at her, "So what if it is?"

"Hahaha~"

Ye Huanhuan suddenly threw her head back and laughed loudly.

Ye Qingran's brows furrowed slightly, a foreboding feeling growing in her heart.

"Ye Qingran, are you mistaken?"

Ye Qingran's eyes flashed sharply.

"What do you mean?"

Ye Huanhuan's laugh was like a demon's, her hair trembling, "So you truly didn't know!"

Ye Qingran's breathing suddenly quickened.

Could it be…

At that moment, Ye Huanhuan was immensely delighted, even laughing tears.

It turned out Ye Qingran had never known she had two children! She had always assumed Ye Qingran knew!

She looked at Ye Qingran with sympathy, "Ye Qingran, after Lin Xueyan and I ripped open your belly back then, guess what we saw? Two children! Two children! Not one! Hahaha! You fool! You've always thought there was only one child, right? You found one, thought you were liberated, thought you were lucky, that you'd never have to endure the pain of losing a child again, right? I tell you, impossible! You found one, so what? But what about the other child? It might have been torn apart by the beasts of Jiu Fu Lin! Ye Qingran, you still have the nerve to brag to me? Let me tell you, the rest of your life will be lived in guilt and suffering!"

Ye Huanhuan grew more excited as she spoke, nearly dancing with her hands.

The grievance she endured yesterday in Yuhua Yuan was now vented completely!

Upon hearing "two children," Ye Qingran seemed to lose her hearing; only sharp ringing filled her ears, drowning out everything else.

Ye Huanhuan said she was pregnant with two children at the time!

She slowly stood up, covering her chest, where it felt as if a blade were cutting her inch by inch!

Her blood boiled, and her breath carried flame.

She doesn't have only Mo Xiaohu as a child!

There is another, whom she has never met!

No wonder, after finding Xiao Hu, she not only didn't feel relieved, but still felt something missing, and the more she was kind to Xiao Hu, the deeper the guilt grew in her heart.

It turned out that there was another child, lost outside, whose life or death was unknown!

Ye Qingran was completely stunned, swaying as if about to fall.

Ye Huanhuan had never seen Ye Qingran so disheveled.

At least when she returned to Xiliang City five years later, she had always been so calm and composed.

Now, the more disheveled she is, the happier she becomes!

"Hahaha, Ye Qingran, never thought you'd be so foolish, not even knowing how many children you're carrying! Your other child, before even opening its eyes, was torn apart by beasts!"

"Oh, or perhaps it's still alive, merely suffering terribly somewhere, being abused by people, but you'll never find it!"

……

Ye Huanhuan, beside her, mocked and humiliated to the extreme, trying to vent all the resentment in her heart.

"Ah!!!"

The pain suppressed in her heart for five years erupted at once, and a powerful surge of Qi burst from Ye Qingran's body, flinging the hem of her black‑haired robe into the air.

When she lifted her eyes again, a bloody hue filled her gaze; she seemed as if she had become demonic!