Chapter 180: The Children's Birthdates
"I truly never imagined I would fall in love with such a venomous woman."
Qin Mingheng laughed heartily.
He laughed at his own foolishness, laughed at never having truly known the woman before him.
For such a malicious woman, he had actually brought the Qin family to such a state.
It was truly not worth it.
"Yun Chu, I can tell you everything, but I have one condition." He gritted his teeth as he spoke. "Restore the Marquis Xuanwu residence. I know you have the capability."
Yun Chu also laughed. "Do you think that's possible?"
"If you don't do as I say, then I don't mind taking this secret to my grave." Qin Mingheng's gaze turned sinister. "Do you only want to know who the man was that night? Don't you want to know where exactly the two children were abandoned? Don't you want to know whether they're dead or alive?"
Yun Chu's heart tightened.
She knew she was being manipulated.
But she couldn't show even a fraction of her emotions, otherwise she would forever be controlled.
She took a quiet deep breath, revealing a cold smile on her face. "Qin Mingheng, I'll say it again. If you don't honestly reveal what you know, your Qin family line will end with your generation. Don't try to threaten me with so-called secrets, because no matter what happened to my two children, they've already passed away... while your child is still alive and well."
"Are you so certain they're dead?" A strange smile appeared on Qin Mingheng's face. "What if I told you they're still alive?"
"To save your own skin, you'll say anything." Yun Chu shook her head. "I'll give you one more incense stick's worth of time."
Qin Mingheng chuckled a few times. "That son of mine has already taken the surname Luo. He's no longer a descendant of the Qin family. Your threats don't work on me."
Yun Chu stopped speaking. She stepped forward and lit an incense stick.
Amid the swirling smoke, she watched the blue tendrils rise, taking numerous deep breaths before managing to collect herself from Qin Mingheng's previous words.
How she wished Qin Mingheng wasn't just spouting nonsense, how she wished her two children were still alive...
Though she knew how slim this hope was, she still clung to it... She would willingly trade her own life for this possibility...
The incense stick slowly burned down, yet Qin Mingheng remained silent.
Yun Chu turned to face him. "Remember, this is your own choice. Don't blame me for being ruthless."
She stepped out.
Hearing the door open, Chu Yi immediately came forward. Without needing to ask, seeing Yun Chu's ashen face told him she hadn't obtained the answers she wanted.
He spoke: "Miss Yun, if there's something you want to interrogate him about, perhaps I could do it for you."
"Thank you." Yun Chu shook her head. "I have ways to make him talk. There's no need to trouble you, Your Highness."
Chu Yi took out a token from his sleeve and handed it to her. "This is a prison access token. Next time you want to interrogate him, you can come directly."
Yun Chu pressed her lips together, but still accepted it, curtsying slightly. "Your Highness..."
"Miss Yun, you've already said thank you many times." Chu Yi gently helped her up. "Let me escort you out."
The two walked to the entrance of the Court of Judicial Review.
Yun Chu paused, looking up at the man before her. "May I ask presumptuously, when are Yu Ge'er and Changsheng's birthdates?"
This thought had crossed her mind before.
But it was too absurd, she didn't dare dwell on it.
Yet after Qin Mingheng's words just now...The sight brought two children to her mind.
If her own children were still alive, would they be... Yu Ge'er and Changsheng?
Could it be?
Could it really be?!
Chu Yi saw hope shining in Yun Chu's eyes.
He didn't understand why she wore such an expression.
He answered: "This winter, on the twenty-fourth of the twelfth month, they will celebrate their fifth birthday."
Yun Chu staggered.
The twenty-fourth of the twelfth month...
The day she gave birth was the twenty-third of the twelfth month, during heavy snowfall. Her children were born at the very end of the hai hour on the twenty-third.
If Xie Jingyu had taken the children and abandoned them at Marquis Xuanwu's residence, and Qin Mingheng then threw them out at Prince of Pacifying the West Manor, it would indeed have been the twenty-fourth by then...
"Miss Yun, are you alright?"
Chu Yi noticed her swaying violently.
Setting aside propriety between men and women, he steadied her shoulders.
The heat from his touch jolted Yun Chu back to awareness. She quickly stepped back: "Your Highness, I must take my leave."
Never before had she felt such urgency.
She boarded her carriage and instructed the coachman: "To the Luo residence."
The carriage raced down the main road, soon arriving at the third-rank official Luo family's estate.
Without a formal visiting card, Yun Chu announced herself at the gate. After the servant reported her arrival, she was escorted into the Luo residence and brought to Madam Luo's courtyard.
"Madam Luo."
Yun Chu greeted her respectfully.
She noticed Madam Luo had grown thinner and looked much more haggard, with deep shadows under her eyes.
"Madam Xie." Madam Luo managed a smile. "Knowing you were coming, I specially had good tea prepared. It should be ready soon."
Yun Chu glanced at the table - Madam Luo's usual tea was of the most ordinary variety.
She guessed that since the divorce from Marquis Xuanwu, the Luo family hadn't fully embraced their married daughter returning home.
In this world, women already faced enough difficulties - divorced women faced even greater challenges.
With her own troubles weighing heavily on her, Yun Chu had little capacity to empathize with Madam Luo's situation at the moment.
Suppressing her emotions, she began: "You must have heard about Marquis Xuanwu escaping during his exile and being recaptured?"
Madam Luo's fingers stilled, but she remained silent.
"The official interrogating Marquis Xuanwu has some connection with my father," Yun Chu continued, lowering her gaze. "He informed me that Marquis Xuanwu will be executed soon. His final wish is to see his only bloodline one last time."
Madam Luo laughed coldly: "Zhan Ge'er has been having nightmares every night lately. His last memory of his biological father is of him trying to strangle him. He cannot go see Qin Mingheng one last time. Absolutely not."
Yun Chu nodded: "...He deserves his fate. Let him die with regrets then."
At these words, Madam Luo fell silent again.
Her years of marital affection with Qin Mingheng weren't fake - such feelings couldn't be erased in just a day or two.
And paternal love couldn't be false either - all these years, she had witnessed Qin Mingheng's devotion to their child.
The child had been spoiled rotten, developing a lawless temperament precisely because of Qin Mingheng's doting...
The child was still young now, understanding nothing.
When he grew up, would he blame her for not letting him see his biological father one last time?
Madam Luo drained her teacup and turned to the maid behind her: "Bring the young master here."
Shortly after, the maid returned with Luo Zhan.Yun Chu had seen this child several times before. In the past, the boy had been full of frivolous arrogance, but now he stood quietly, appearing well-behaved.
She sighed. A child who had lost their father's protection would naturally rein in their bad temper.
Madam Luo asked him: "Zhan Ge'er, your father wishes to see you. Are you willing?"
Luo Zhan pressed his lips together and lowered his head. Only after a long while did he slowly nod.
Madam Luo patted her son's head: "Then let's go."
Yun Chu's carriage led the way.
The mother and son from the Luo family followed behind in their carriage.
Soon they arrived once again at the entrance of the Court of Judicial Review.
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