509 The Truth and the Past
Could this little girl not tease her the moment she saw her? Although they were both women, and it was fine to let her tease her a little, her little lunatic was a person who refused to even let a female mosquito in. If her body was tainted by the fragrance of other women, she would not be able to take it when she returned.
“Ahem.” Yu Wan imperceptibly removed Dong Xian’er’s hand and changed the topic. “Long time no see. How is Miss Dong?”
“Take your dirty hand away and don’t touch me!” Dong Xian’er glared at Yu Wan.
Uh… Who was the one who started it? Dong Xian’er smiled at Yu Wan. The eyes above her veil curved into beautiful crescents. A sentence inexplicably flashed across Yu Wan’s mind—her ex liked to see scumbags suffer a blow.
“Speaking of which, why did Miss Dong come to the Gu Temple?” Yu Wan collected her thoughts and returned to the topic.
Dong Xian’er snorted. “You can come, but I can’t?”
“Of course you can.” Yu Wan stroked her fur.
Dong Xian’er had probably lost her temper from her teasing. She waved the palm-leaf fan in her hand and said, “I’m here to look for someone in the Gu Temple, but in order to help you out, I missed the appointed time with them. Tell me, how are you going to compensate me?”
“Ah, this…” Yu Wan looked helpless.
Dong Xian’er held her stomach and laughed. Yu Wan looked at her blankly. Was this very funny? What number one courtesan? Wasn’t the joke too low? Dong Xian’er laughed until tears came out. She raised her hand to wipe them away and barely stopped laughing. “Silly!”
So be it. As long as you’re happy. Essentially, Yu Wan was not someone who likes to quarrel. Moreover, the other party did not have any ill intentions towards her, at least from the few times they had interacted.
Yu Wan did not know if she had really arranged to meet someone, but it was a fact that she had helped her out. Therefore, if she wanted to mock her, so be it. She did not lose out.
Dong Xian’er smiled at Yu Wan and said, “I always anger you. Do you hate me very much?”
Yu Wan, who had long had a strong heart from a certain lunatic’s anger, said calmly, “I’m afraid you have some misunderstanding about angering people.” Your cultivation is not enough in comparison to an infuriating ancestor.
Dong Xian’er was amused by Yu Wan’s serious expression again. She laughed so hard that she couldn’t stop holding onto the bamboo. Yu Wan suspected that this courtesan had never laughed in her lifetime. It was unknown how long she had been laughing, Yu Wan did not count the time.
Finally, she was done laughing. She straightened her body and said to Yu Wan, “It’s my turn to ask you. Why are you here again?”
“I…”
Before Yu Wan could finish speaking, Dong Xian’er’s smile faded. “I advise you not to lie to me. The State Preceptor hasn’t left the Gu Temple yet. I can hand you over at any time.”
Yu Wan looked at her resentfully. This was not cute.
“Speak.” Dong Xian’er crossed her arms.
Yu Wan sighed and said half-truthfully, “I’m here to investigate a case. The Helian family had an unsolved case back then. When I heard about this, I was quite curious, so I wanted to investigate.”
Dong Xian’er sized her up. “What’s your relationship with the Helian family?”
Yu Wan cupped her hands with her folding fan. “About that, forgive me for not telling you.”
Dong Xian’er waved her hand. “Forget it. If you don’t want to say it, I won’t force you. Are you talking about the Helian family’s young master being expelled from the family?”
“Miss Dong has also heard of this?” Yu Wan was stunned.
Dong Xian’er laughed self-deprecatingly. “This matter has caused a stir in the city. Who doesn’t know about it in the Capital? They’re saying that the young master of the Helian family killed a commoner and didn’t repent after that. He threatened to destroy that person’s entire family. The East Manor couldn’t take it anymore and expelled this unfilial son from the family.”
Yu Wan looked at Dong Xian’er thoughtfully. “From Miss Dong’s tone, you don’t seem to believe this.”
“Of course I don’t believe it. Do you believe it?”
“If I believed it, I wouldn’t have come here to investigate.”
Dong Xian’er looked in the direction of the nunnery. “Are you going to ask the person who lives there?”
Yu Wan saw her disapproving expression and said, “Why? I can’t ask?”
Dong Xian’er said, “It’s not that you can’t, but it’s best not to.”
Yu Wan said, “What do you mean?”
Dong Xian’er pointed at the nunnery on the hill with her fan. “Do you think she’s the only one living in the nunnery? If I were you, I wouldn’t go there and alert the enemy.”
In that case, Madam Tan had been monitored for so many years? Yu Wan felt that what happened back then was not simple.
Dong Xian’er smiled. “Actually, I know about this. Why don’t you ask me? On account that you’re quite pleasing to the eye, I’ll tell you everything.”
Yu Wan did not ask her how she knew. Dong Xian’er had her own ability. She was not a simple courtesan to begin with, so Yu Wan asked, “Is Helian Sheng… Divine General Beiming’s biological child?”
“Yes,” Dong Xian’er said. “Back then, Madam Tan was framed. An unfamiliar man came to her door and claimed that Madam Tan was the woman he had secretly promised to marry. He even insisted that he had sex with Madam Tan the night before her wedding. Helian Sheng is Madam Tan and his son.”
Yu Wan paused. “Forgive me for being blunt, but even if he really had sex with Madam Tan, she married into the Helian family in a few days. She and General Helian have also become a real couple. How can a man be sure that Helian Sheng is definitely his child and not Helian Beiming’s?”
“That’s the problem.” Dong Xian’er looked at Yu Wan and said, “Madam Tan personally admitted that she would drink a bowl of child prevention soup after sex with Helian Beiming, so the child can’t be Helian Beiming’s.”
Yu Wan asked in confusion, “Madam Tan didn’t say why she did it?”
Dong Xian’er looked at the nunnery and said, “She said that she had never admired Helian Beiming. She originally fell in love with that man and was forced by the Helian family with their power. Her parents could not afford to offend them, so they married her over. Originally, she was already prepared to elope, but who knew that her family would capture her? The person she hated the most in her life was Helian Beiming, and the elder she hated the most was Old Madam. Every day she was in the Helian family was torture, and she was forcing a smile at every moment. When the matter was exposed, she felt that she could finally be free.”
“…I don’t believe it,” Yu Wan said.
Dong Xian’er was stunned for a moment before returning to her normal expression. “That’s right. If you believed it, you wouldn’t have come to investigate.”
“Do you believe it?” Yu Wan asked her.
“Does it matter if I believe it or not?” Dong Xian’er lowered her eyes and said.
Yu Wan did not know if it was an illusion, but she felt a trace of loneliness from her. But wasn’t this strange? She wasn’t related to the Helian family, so why would she worry about the Helian family?
Yu Wan said solemnly, “Thank you for telling me this, Miss Dong.”
Dong Xian’er tilted her head and looked at her. “Aren’t you afraid that I’m lying to you?”
Yu Wan was stunned. “Ah, will you?”
“Hahahaha…” Dong Xian’er was amused by Yu Wan’s confused look again. She was always easily amused by this little husband. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but with this joy, the dark clouds in her heart seemed to have dispersed.
“I won’t,” she said, keeping her smile. “At least not in this case.”
Yu Wan raised her eyebrows. “So there’s something else?”
Dong Xian’er approached her with a smile. “Why don’t you marry me? Then I won’t have any secrets from you.”
Yu Wan rubbed her nose and said, “You should keep some secrets from me.”
Dong Xian’er’s face darkened and she snorted. “Idiot!”
Dong Xian’er left angrily. Yu Wan thought about it. She had taken advantage of her for nothing today. Not only had she helped her resolve the State Preceptor’s siege, but she had also avoided the risk of being exposed in the nunnery. The key was that she had found all the information that she needed to find. She should have thanked her properly, but she had angered her and left.
Yu Wan patted her forehead with her folding fan. “Sigh, a sin.”
Yu Wan did not believe everyone’s words, but her intuition told her that Dong Xian’er was not lying in the forest just now. Madam Tan was being monitored in the nunnery. It seemed that the “betrayal” back then was out of her control. Madam Tan had her own difficulties. Perhaps because they were both mothers, Yu Wan was more willing to believe that everything Madam Tan did was not for herself.
“Is it for Helian Sheng?”
A mother would do anything to protect her son. Expelling Helian Sheng from the Helian family must be because the Helian family was no longer safe enough for him.
Yu Wan thought of the sinister Old Master of the West Manor. Did he threaten Madam Tan? That old man was so vicious. He might have been the one who secretly planned for Helian Beiyu’s fall at the cliff back then.
He had killed Helian Beiming’s biological brother and came to harm Helian Beiming’s son. When the eldest branch no longer had a suitable heir, the West Manor could naturally inherit the entire Helian family.
His wishful thinking was really good, but he did not expect his son to die in Yan Jiuchao’s hands, nor did he expect himself to collapse in Yan Jiuchao’s hands, right?
This was called karma. It was not that retribution did not come, but the time was not ripe yet!
The carriage arrived at the Helian Manor.
Yu Wan returned to Old Madam’s courtyard. Halfway there, Yu Gang hurried over with an indescribable expression. “The General is awake. He wants to see you.”