Chapter 625 - 230: Family Reunion
Chapter 625: Chapter 230: Family Reunion
Listening to the old lady’s words, Xu Suying felt as if her heart were being sliced by a knife.
While she had been running from the past and living a peaceful, comfortable life, the old lady had been enduring the agony of death by a thousand cuts.
The old lady’s heart had been crushed to pieces. She couldn’t sleep at night, terrified of dreaming about her daughter crying for help, or seeing her suffering in the underworld.
This was her mother, who had aged so drastically because of her. She felt she deserved to die a thousand deaths for this sin.
There was no room for anyone else in the room, so Xu Shiling led everyone else outside.
In the courtyard stood Xu Yanlin, alongside Xu Shiling’s older brother’s wife, Mrs. Guo, who was also Xu Yanlin’s mother.
The group headed to the parlor. After exchanging greetings, they sat down to talk.
Mrs. Guo held Yao’an’s hand as he sat by her knee. She looked at Chen Wanqing, then at De’an, her face beaming with undeniable joy.
She sighed, "Suying’s disappearance was handled by the Capital Governor."
Although Third Ms. Bai’s wet nurse’s brother had taken all the blame back then, the Xu family refused to let the matter go. The nature of the case was far too heinous, and to make matters worse, Xu Suying had never been found, dead or alive. Because of this, the Capital Governor never dared to officially close the case, leaving it pending at the government office.
After Xu Suying pretended to be a ghost and caused that uproar last night, Third Ms. Bai’s murderous acts were finally confirmed.
Early this morning, the government office that had detained Xu Suying transferred her to the Capital Governor’s office.
They didn’t bother to keep her identity a secret. As a result, before she even reached the Capital Governor’s doors, the news had already spread to everyone in the Capital City: the daughter the Xu family lost twenty years ago had returned with a vengeance, and on the very day she came back, she had exposed the true culprit who tried to murder her.
The kitchen steward of the Xu family had gone out to the streets early this morning to look for fresh produce.
Since Xu Shiling was returning to the Capital City for the New Year, he should have arrived days ago according to the schedule. For some reason, his journey had dragged on this year, and it wasn’t until yesterday that he finally reached the Capital Suburb Post Station.
Fortunately, having reached the post station, he was guaranteed to make it home for the reunion dinner this morning. How could they not prepare a feast for such an occasion?
But right in the middle of shopping, the steward heard people saying that the Xu family’s youngest daughter had fought her way back!
At that point, what wasn’t there to understand?
Xu Shiling returning to the Capital City for the New Year was just a cover; his true purpose was bringing his sister back to reunite with the family. As for the delays on the road... the young lady was precious and delicate. Making her travel through the bitter cold late at night—did they want to kill her? Or rather, did they want to kill the old lady!
The steward completely abandoned his grocery shopping. He and a young servant sprinted all the way back to the Xu family’s estate and requested an urgent meeting with Mrs. Guo.
Mrs. Guo was attending to the old lady in her room at the time. Hearing that a servant was begging for an audience regarding an urgent matter, she didn’t think much of it and let him in directly. Normally, she would have made him wait in the steward’s room, but she was busy helping the old lady with her medicine today.
The old lady had another dream last night. She dreamed that Suying was hiding in the rockery, saying, "Mother, if you find me, I’ll give you a surprise."
The old lady spent half the night searching in her dream but couldn’t find her. She woke up with severe palpitations. They called for a doctor, but it didn’t help much.
Mrs. Guo didn’t dare to leave her side, so she had the steward report the matter right there in the main courtyard.
But the steward was so agitated that he lost control of his voice and blurted out this massive piece of news!
The old lady started trembling all over and nearly collapsed on the spot.
They managed to slip a Longevity Pill into her mouth to stabilize her, but she couldn’t sit still any longer. She stood up, shivering, and ordered a carriage to be prepared so she could head to the Capital Suburb Post Station herself.
"I tried every way to stop her but failed, so I had no choice but to tag along," Mrs. Guo explained.
As soon as they reached the front gates, they saw Yanlin rushing back frantically.
He had only heard about the incident after arriving at the government office. Realizing something was wrong, he immediately rode back home.
The old lady didn’t even have the time to interrogate him about whether he had known his aunt was still alive.
He definitely knew.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been hesitating to speak these past few days, acting as though he were harboring some massive secret and constantly leaking an unnatural excitement.
She had originally thought the boy had completed a task well and was going to be heavily favored by the Emperor. She never imagined he was hiding such a monumental secret.
But she had no time to question Yanlin right then. No matter how much he tried to stop her, she ignored him, got straight into the carriage, and ordered the driver to gallop toward the suburb of the capital as fast as possible.
"Thankfully, it wasn’t a false hope, or else the old lady truly wouldn’t have survived the disappointment," Mrs. Guo added.
Mrs. Guo looked at Chen Song, then at Chen Wanqing and the others. With a sigh, she said, "When Suying disappeared and couldn’t be found anywhere, it was as if all the bones had been ripped from the old lady’s body. Her health used to be quite good, but it has deteriorated day by day over the years. The only reason she forced herself to hold on was so that if Suying ever found her way home, she would still have a mother waiting for her. Thank goodness we’re finally reunited; the old lady’s suffering over the years wasn’t for nothing. It’s truly wonderful. God has finally opened His eyes."