Chapter 536 My Poor Child

Chapter 536 My Poor Child

Jiao Shi’s mind went numb, completely at a loss for how to react.

A voice in her head grew increasingly insistent—a casual remark Daxisipo had made the day before:

—Then she isn’t your daughter.

Then she isn’t your daughter!

Then she isn’t your daughter!

The words echoed like a curse in Jiao Shi’s mind.

Panic overwhelmed Yu Mingzu, and in a rare show of genuine emotion, she trembled and asked, "Imperial Physician Liu, what do you mean? How could this birth chart not be mine? If it’s not mine, then whose is it?!"

Liu Ruhai too was puzzled. "The birth chart the Duchess provided shows boundless fortune and divine protection. But Miss Yu’s physiognomy..."

"Well, in short, it doesn’t match." Liu Ruhai gave an awkward yet polite smile, choosing not to elaborate further.

Though he was an imperial physician, he still understood social graces.

He couldn’t just come out and say her face didn’t match such an auspicious birth chart.

Yu Mingzhu felt like she’d been thrown into an icy pit, her entire body trembling.

If this birth chart wasn’t hers, then whose was it?!

Her mother Jiao Shi had told her that she was born during panic from a nightmare, when Jiao Shi had gone to a temple to pray for peace. On the way back, she suddenly went into labor.

At that time, it was chaotic, and if not for a kind stranger who helped them find a secluded wild temple to safely deliver the child, they might’ve both died.

Thus, the exact time of the child’s birth was something Jiao Shi and her attending Pozi remembered perfectly clearly.

"Maybe—maybe they misread the time back then?" In desperation, Yu Mingzhu latched onto this idea like a lifeline, gripping Jiao Shi’s arm tightly, tears welling in her eyes. "Mother, it must be this! They must have misread the time!"

But Jiao Shi grew even more agitated. "Impossible, Zhu Zhu! That small temple had an ancient sundial from the previous dynasty—it kept time more accurately than anywhere else! How could they have misread it?!"

Yu Mingzhu’s lips trembled. Suddenly, she turned to Liu Ruhai with urgency, through tears. "Could it—could it be that Imperial Physician Liu misread the chart?"

Liu Ruhai chuckled dryly but said nothing.

He was generally patient, but if it weren’t for that, given how Yu Mingzhu was questioning him, he would have walked out right then.

Even Yu Shanglian, though not as visibly upset as the devastated Jiao Shi, was in turmoil, his hands trembling as he struggled to steady himself.

He couldn’t believe that the daughter they had doted on for over a decade might not be their own flesh and blood?!

There must be some mistake!

To be honest, Liu Ruhai wasn’t interested in meddling in the Duke of Xinguo’s family affairs—whether Miss Yu was their biological daughter or not. He cleared his throat.

"...Let’s first discuss the Dowager Duchess’s condition. Given her advanced age, the longer she stayed unconscious from the shock, the greater the toll on her health."

At this, Yu Shanglian’s expression shifted slightly. Instinctively, he set aside the earth-shattering revelation that had shaken his entire family and anxiously turned to the matter of the Dowager Duchess.

"...Imperial Physician Liu, I’ll have everyone in the household gather soon. Could you examine them to see whose fortune and fate are auspicious enough to accompany my mother, dispel the ill omens around her, and help her wake sooner?"

Liu Ruhai nodded in agreement. Yu Shanglian then sent word to all the estate’s masters, instructing them to assemble in the main courtyard.

As for Feng Ran, Yu Shanglian had her bound and gagged to prevent her from committing suicide.

Not only would the Duke of Xinguo's residence hold Feng Ran accountable, but they also had to give an explanation to the Jiping Commandery Prince's household.

After all this, Yu Mingzhu's eyes were red and swollen, her face twisted in suppressed sobs, looking utterly heartbroken.

She wanted to whimper and cling as she always did, throwing herself into Jiao Shi's arms, but all she could manage was a broken whisper of "Mother." Before she could say anything else, she saw Jiao Shi staring at her in silence, tears falling in silent streams.

Jiao Shi turned her head away, unable to bear looking at Yu Mingzhu any longer.

Seeing Yu Mingzhu dressed in silks and satins, her hair adorned with glittering golden hairpins, Jiao Shi couldn't help but wonder—if Zhu Zhu wasn’t her daughter, then where was her real daughter now? Did she have silks to wear or jewels to adorn herself?

Yu Mingzhu, seeing Jiao Shi like this, was struck just as hard as by Liu Ruhai’s earlier words.

She broke down completely, sobbing wretchedly.

Her wails tore at Jiao Shi’s heart, and she could no longer hold back. She stepped forward and pulled Yu Mingzhu into her arms, sobbing, "My poor child..."

Yu Chongjie also sighed and approached. "Zhu Zhu, don’t jump to conclusions. Right now, it’s just Imperial Physician Liu’s word. There might have been some mistake somewhere."

Her face wet with tears, Yu Mingzhu looked up at Yu Chongjie from Jiao Shi’s embrace, her voice thick with tears, "Eldest Brother..."

Yu Chongjie sighed again and reached out to pat Yu Mingzhu’s head.

Yu Chongen, though in a terrible mood himself, still mustered a few comforting words for Yu Mingzhu.

Liu Ruhai glanced at them but remained silent.

Daxisipo, however, glared at Yu Chongjie and Yu Chongen in disgust, thinking to herself, *These two idiots—neither stands a chance with my Xingxing. If the Matchmaker so much as twines a red thread, I’ll snip it clean!*

Just as she was about to leave in disgust, Daxisipo’s gaze happened to sweep past Jiao Shi’s profile. That one look stopped her cold.

Jiao Shi’s nose—from the side, it looked exactly like Xingxing’s!

—Wait!

At that moment, a thought flashed through Daxisipo’s mind, leaving her thunderstruck.

She’d once foreseen that Jiao Shi and Xingxing were fated to be connected.

At the time, she assumed it might be because one of Jiao Shi’s sons would marry Xingxing, making them mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

But just now, it suddenly struck her—what if this fate was that of mother and daughter?

Daxisipo went rigid, her face draining of color.

Xingxing noticed and hurried to her side, worried.

"Grandma Da Xi, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

Daxisipo looked at Xingxing with deadly seriousness.

She would never, ever agree to Xingxing being related to this pack of fools!

Yu Mingzhu’s maid had smashed someone’s Fate-Changing Tower, and yet they hadn’t even suspected for a moment whether the maid had been instructed by someone.

Had their brains rotted from so-called family love?

And now, it turned out Yu Mingzhu was probably not even their own blood—what a farce!

It just showed how deluded this family was!

Did they actually think they deserved to call Xingxing family?

Ha! In their dreams!