Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 526 Flesh and Blood
Xie Yizhi sat for a while, but felt annoyed, so she went out of the house and walked into the yard, where she saw Xie Wenjing leading Chunxi this way.

“Father,” Xie Wenjing bowed respectfully, looking very obedient, “I heard from Mother that you didn’t eat much tonight, so I made some snacks and brought them over.”

Xie Yizhi nodded: "You're very thoughtful."

Xie Wenjing smiled, clearly delighted.

Xie Yizhi did not return to the study, but went straight to the garden, with Xie Wenjing immediately following beside her.

The father and daughter sat down in the pavilion.

Xie Yizhi said with concern, "Now that the weather is warmer, you can go out and about. Don't always keep yourself locked up in the house."

Xie Wenjing's mind raced. Recently, she had indeed rarely gone out. Neither the Prince of Qin's residence nor the palace had invited her over.

"I made a few purses for the Princess Consort, and I will send them to the Prince of Qin's residence tomorrow."

Xie Yizhi nodded with satisfaction. In his eyes, Xie Wenjing was gentle and virtuous, no different from a lady of high birth. The only difference was that she hadn't grown up in Bianjing and lacked worldly experience. He had thought that with two years until her wedding, he could slowly teach her, and that nothing would go wrong once she went to the Prince's mansion. But now…

Xie Yizhi frowned subconsciously.

“Father,” Xie Wenjing asked with concern, “are you still worried about matters of the court?”

Chunxi stood not far away, carefully observing the surroundings. She would immediately know if anyone approached.

Xie Yizhi sighed: "It's not just this, there's also..."

"And then there's the Xie family."

Xie Wenjing was taken aback.

Xie Yizhi said, "Have you noticed something as well?"

Xie Wenjing pursed her lips: "When Father returned from Baode Temple last time, he was very worried. Was it because of her?"

Xie Yizhi did not deny it.

Xie Wenjing clenched her handkerchief. Xie Yizhi rarely talked to her about these things, so now that they were being discussed, the most likely explanation was...

Xie Wenjing lowered her voice: "Is it related to my daughter?"

Xie Yizhi remained silent.

Madam Zhou and Zhao Mama would sometimes mention Madam Xie in private. Xie Wenjing had vaguely heard some of it, something about how Madam Xie's appearance resembled someone else.

At that moment, her heart skipped a beat, and now that Xie Yizhi is like this, she is even more quick to connect it to herself.

Xie Wenjing said, "If Father has any difficulties, he might as well tell his daughter. Even if his daughter can't help, it will be good to be prepared."

Xie Yizhi then said, "I didn't want to implicate you, but now it seems she's after us. I thought she was dead, but I never expected that she would return to Bianjing alive a few months later."

Xie Wenjing had a vague idea, but she forced herself to calm down: "What Father means is that she...is..."

Xie Yizhi nodded.

Xie Wenjing's expression changed immediately, and it took her a while to recover: "How could this be? Is someone secretly helping her? If she tells anyone, won't Father be punished by the court? Otherwise, I should find an excuse to leave Bianjing, and after a few days, Father can say that I have a sudden illness... and passed away."

Xie Yizhi looked at Xie Wenjing's anxious appearance and said, "If she came prepared, she won't let it go even if you leave." Xie Wenjing's eyes immediately reddened. "It's all my fault. If Father hadn't wanted to bring me back, this situation wouldn't have happened."

"What does this have to do with you?" Xie Yizhi's eyes flashed with resentment. "In the end, the root of the problem lies with your grandfather. If it weren't for your grandfather's strong opposition back then, would your mother and you have been left to wander outside?"

A tear fell onto Xie Wenjing's hand. She sobbed softly, as if thinking of those days of wandering and displacement. Her fair fingers were also bluish from being bound by the handkerchief.

Through Xie Wenjing, Xie Yizhi vaguely saw her mother.

“Originally, I was thinking that once things settled down, I would secretly bring your mother back as well. Even if I couldn’t give her a formal title, I could at least let her stay by my side in peace.”

"I owe my success today to her help over the years."

"But to my surprise, things still didn't go as planned."

After Xie Yizhi finished speaking, she comforted Xie Wenjing: "Don't worry, Dad will protect you."

Xie Wenjing's sobs grew louder. She bit her lip tightly and finally managed to calm down: "I am already content to receive such love from Father. As long as Father is well, I am willing to do anything."

"But my daughter just doesn't understand... She's been back in Bianjing for so long, if she wanted to expose us, why hasn't she come to our door?"

This is also what Xie Yizhi found suspicious.

“I’ve looked at the case files of Daming Prefecture,” Xie Yizhi said. “She was injured and unconscious for a long time. When she regained consciousness, she didn’t remember anything from before.”

After meeting Xie Yuyan, Xie Yizhi sent someone to Daming Prefecture to bring back all the information related to Xie Yuyan.

"Such a thing is true?" Xie Wenjing couldn't believe it.

Xie Yizhi said, "I asked several doctors, and they have also heard of this disease."

“If this is true,” Xie Wenjing said, “as long as she can’t remember, we can pretend nothing happened.”

Xie Yizhi shook her head. Her daughter was kind-hearted after all. In comparison, that Xie family member was ruthless and vicious, like a demon from hell. From Daming Prefecture to Bianjing, how many troubles did she cause in just a few months?

“The Xie family has already set their sights on us,” Xie Yizhi said. “I don’t know if she remembered something or tracked down some clues, but she must have become suspicious.”

This is not the worst-case scenario.

The most terrifying thing is that Xie's claim of "not remembering the past" was a complete lie. She did not rush back to the Xie family, firstly because she did not have enough evidence to prove her identity, and secondly because she wanted to take revenge and find an opportunity to put him to death.

“My only worry now is that she will find out about your and your mother’s identities,” Xie Yizhi said, “and that incident in Shaozhou more than ten years ago will be brought up again…”

Upon hearing this, Xie Wenjing immediately asked, "What exactly happened in Shaozhou back then? I heard my mother say that our family almost died in Shaozhou, but she wouldn't reveal the details."

“It’s all in the past,” Xie Yizhi said. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry.”

Xie Wenjing could tell that Xie Yizhi didn't want to reveal too much, so she had to stop the topic.

"In this family, the only one who understands my thoughts is your mother. It's a pity that her health is poor, and she has been unable to conceive again after giving birth to you," Xie Yizhi said. "I originally thought that while Chenghan is still young, I should bring your mother back as soon as possible so that he can get closer to her. In the future, when he inherits the Xie family business, he will definitely be able to take good care of your mother..."

Xie Wenjing finally understood why her father favored her third brother.

“Father has put a lot of thought into this,” Xie Wenjing said. “If Mother knew, she would be overjoyed.”

Xie Yizhi reached out and patted Xie Wenjing's head: "Once this matter is all arranged, we won't have anything to fear. Don't worry, I won't disrupt my plans over the years because of the Xie family."