His Peasant Wife : Yao Ling

Xiao Fang couldn’t help but exclaim, "What a coincidence!" The other three agreed with her and nodded their head at the same time. What was the odd that this thing could happen in real life? It seemed like the real daughter was extremely lucky!

The man that would soon become the baby’s father quickly prepared a wet nurse and maidservants for the baby at the very same night. It was easy to find a wet nurse, but he needed to have an explanation about where the baby was coming from. Without the mother, where was the baby coming from?

The servants and maidservants that he had brought from his hometown were loyal. At that time, they made an excuse that it was the daughter of the man’s concubine. No one knew that he only had one wife with no concubine back at his hometown in the Capital, so it was safe to go with that excuse. Later, they could make up another excuse that the mother was dead and it was taken in as the daughter of the main wife. Sooner or later, the fact would be blurred if no one talked about this matter anymore.

The man knew that his wife was on the verge of depression after losing the baby and she would be happy when she received this lovely news. Without further delay, he quickly sent a message to his hometown and let his wife know about the new baby.After a few weeks, the wife arrived in the Capital and she fell in love at first sight to the baby! She took him as her real daughter, despite the husband’s fear that she wouldn’t accept the baby. After all, the man didn’t want this baby to become a substitute.

When the husband saw how attached his wife to the baby, he sighed in relief. At least, his wife finally had the will to live. His son was quite obedient and despite knowing the baby’s real identity, he took the baby as his own sister. He knew how heartbroken his mother was, so even though at first he was unwilling, he still accepted his parents’ arrangement.

Lin Jian sighed and said, "At least, she receives the love that she deserves! Tao Gu Gu is correct... as long as she’s happy, I won’t bother her. Have you ever inquire about the baby’s name?"

Tao Gu Gu shook her head. "No... I don’t dare to ask her name, because I’m afraid that I will be too attached to her..." She admitted. Tao Gu Gu had actually wanted to ask for a few times but she held herself back. She didn’t want the baby to be involved with her messy background, thus, she was happy by looking at the baby growing up. It was more than enough.

Lin Jian could only nod his head helplessly. "At least now... can you finally tell us the man’s identity?" Lin Jian begged Tao Gu Gu solemnly.

"Her father is quite successful now. He kept getting a promotion and he currently holds a quite high position in the Han Kingdom..." Tao Gu Gu trailed off. She would never guess that the soft-hearted man was actually a great official that was able to climb the leader easily and he held an important position in the kingdom.

Xiao Fang asked excitedly, "A minister or a general? Oh, wait! Tao Gu Gu said that he had no martial arts skills... The most suitable position should be a minister, then? He must be a scholar... If yes, it will be better. My father has a lot of friends in that field. It will be easier for me to help Lin Jian find out about her."

"Oh, really? It seems like your father is a scholar too?" Tao Gu Gu asked.

Xiao Fang nodded pridefully. "Yes! My father is the best of the best!" What she said earned a burst of laughter from the others, making Xiao Fang suddenly feel shy. The other could see how much she loved her father and how she admired him.

"Okay... okay... back to the real daughter’s current father --- he’s the Han Kingdom’s Prime Minister," Tao Gu Gu answered honestly, still in between her hearty laughter because of Xiao Fang’s cute behavior. She didn’t realize that after saying the father’s official title, the laughter had stopped.

The others’ eyes laid on Xiao Fang who put on a weird expression --- a mixture of surprise and disbelief. They seemed to guess on something but they didn’t know whether it was correct or not. However, they didn’t say anything and wait for Xiao Fang to come out of her trance. Even if they wanted to say something, they couldn’t...

Xiao Fang’s voice was slightly trembling when she asked the next question, "The Left Prime Minister or The Right Prime Minister?" Although Xiao Fang knew the answer inside her heart, she didn’t dare to believe in it. She just hoped that she had guessed wrong.

Tao Gu Gu laughed, "The answer to that is quite obvious, right? Despite their same ranks in the officialdom, but their inner courtyards are different. The Left Prime Minister is a loyal man, unlike the Right Prime Minister. Is there a need to ask me again?"

’What Tao Gu Gu said was correct,’ Xiao Fang thought to herself. She understood this more clearly than anyone else. The Left Prime Minister always had a household with a clean inner courtyard since the beginning, because he only had one wife and he had never taken any concubines before. He was loyal to his only wife and loved only her. A lot of women envied the happy couple and they were quite popular in the Han Capital.

On the other hand, the Right Prime Minister had taken quite a few concubines and had a lot of children in return. It wasn’t that he deliberately tried to find concubine. However, he was quite ambitious in the first place. He always received the women that were offered to him by his colleagues just to broaden his friendship with other people and he was also a corrupted officer. He was kept as a Right Prime Minister just to keep the balance in the court.

The Left Prime Minister had an upright personality and he always refused the women that were offered to him, making him offended a lot of people. However, the Emperor trusted him and it made his position quite stable at the moment. For the long run? Xiao Fang wasn’t quite sure anymore.

Xiao Fang could feel her heart beat faster when she heard Tao Gu Gu’s answer. How could she not? The Left Prime Minister was her father! Then... didn’t it mean that...? No... No... No... She didn’t believe it! It wasn’t true at all! She was the Left Prime Minister’s real daughter!

She had to calm herself down and let Tao Gu Gu tell her with her own mouth!

"Tao Gu Gu, please..." She hesitantly asked. The trio could see how Xiao Fang started to become paler and her expression let them see that she was actually in shock. They looked at each other and finally, Yao Ling gripped Xiao Fang’s hand tightly. Yao Ling could feel her sweaty and cold hand but she didn’t let her hand go. She wanted to give a support to Xiao Fang. She could see how much she needed this.

She asked softly, "Are you okay?" Yao Ling was feeling worried... They already checked on Xiao Fang’s background from Mi Hui and she knew her real identity quite well. Hence, when Tao Gu Gu said the father’s identity, she more or less already guessed the real daughter’s identity.

Xiao Fang nodded her head and she held Yao Ling’s hand tightly too. She took Yao Ling’s hand as the sole support and the only thing that made her feel slightly in relief. There was a possibility that she had heard it wrong... right?

"Tao Gu Gu..." Xiao Fang called her weakly once again.

Tao Gu Gu furrowed her eyebrows and she seemed to detect the abnormality on Xiao Fang’s voice. She felt quite confused because she knew that Xiao Fang was excited to know the real daughter’s identity beforehand. So what made her change? What made her become such a nervous wreck?

Something was amiss here...