Chapter 73 How Do You Know What Your Father Said Is True?

Although Sheng Weiqiao thought that she should not reveal Sheng Shuihe’s history without Sheng Lanci’s permission, she had already made a slip of the tongue. It was impossible to continue to keep it secret because she knew Mrs. Feng was good at fishing for information.

Especially in her eye, Mrs. Feng was as dependable as her own parents. So, after Mrs. Feng cleared the room, she told Mrs. Feng the whole story hesitantly at last. Then she said nervously, “Auntie, even my grandmother doesn’t know. Please do not tell others! Otherwise, dad said something serious would happen!”

“If it’s true, then it must not be spread!” Mrs. Feng meditated for a moment, and looked up at her, “But how do you know what your father said is true?”

Sheng Weiqiao was stunned and asked, “Why would dad lie to me?”

“Do you remember that you were so repulsed by your brother when you brought him to Xuanyu Family for the first time?” Mrs. Feng was disappointed and exasperated, rolling her eyes at Sheng Weiqiao. She also became increasingly determined not to let her son marry her niece, who was so easy to be cajoled. If Sheng Weiqiao became the first madam of Xuanyu Family, she would be a drag on Xuanyu She, not to mention a good wife!

Mrs. Feng leaned back and sneered, “Even if he helped you beat Xuanyu Che, who made critical remarks about you, you were not so grateful, right? Otherwise, the woman from Tianxiang Lou wouldn’t have come to Sheng Family and have made trouble on the birthday of Senior Master Sheng!”

Mrs. Feng glanced at Sheng Weiqiao, who was stunned and now began to think, and she said gently, “If my guess is right, after your father told you the secret, you changed your attitude towards your brother, right?”

“But dad didn’t care much about him; otherwise, he would have asked dad for help when he received the false information that Sea Master Gongsun was injured. Instead, he had to leave with his companions when coming to Orange Osmanthus Courtyard to congratulate Eldest Cousin.” Sheng Weiqiao’s heart sank, but she was reluctant to believe that her father would lie to her. She couldn’t help biting her lips, and barely thought of a reason to refute, and she said hurriedly, “It could be seen that in dad’s eye, he was not so important, so why did dad tell a lie for him?”

Mrs. Feng said, “Let me ask you one question. How did you go to the sea?”

“It was because of my brother’s servant!” Sheng Weiqiao replied without thinking. Mrs. Feng sneered immediately, “The person who bought off the woman from Tianxiang Lou to make trouble at the birthday banquet of Senior Master Sheng could only be the servant of Sheng family!”

It was done by Sheng Weiwu, but in the end, it was announced publicly that the culprits were all servants. What Mrs. Feng wanted to say was clear. She suspected that Sheng Shuihe’s servants were made scapegoats for this!

Sheng Weiqiao froze and hesitated for a while, and then she whispered, “Even if it was my brother who ordered his servants to do it, I guess it was because he was too worried about his foster brother Sea Master Gongsun, right?”

Mrs. Feng said calmly, “Sweetie, you’re always so naive that your elders have to worry a lot for you.”

She sneered, “You only suspect your brother? Apparently, he is a wise man. How could he do such a stupid thing? You are protected by the three major families in Nanfeng County. You are the apple of our eye. If he dared to take you to the sea without permission, even if he solved the plight of Daimao Island, as long as you came back, the three families would take revenge on him. He and Daimao Island behind him couldn’t even withstand!”

Sheng Weiqiao was confused by her aunt and murmured, “Not my brother, nor his servants, who then? Sea Master Gongsun?”

“Sea Master Gongsun was anxious to beg us at the time. He would not burn his boat!” Mrs. Feng narrowed her eyes, “Weiqiao, sweetie, haven’t you ever doubted your father?”

“My dad?! How is it possible!” Sheng Weiqiao stared at her with surprise and said in a low voice, “When my parents knew that I was taken to the sea, they were all terrified! When dad saw me on Daimao Island, he almost burst into tears in front of the crowd! How could he allow others to take me to the sea without permission?!”

Mrs. Feng stared at her niece with resignation and pity, “Why was Gongsun Family polite to you, and why did they even let you settle in the yard of the Sea Master’s daughter? It was because you were the daughter of Sheng Lanci. If your father didn’t agree, Gongsun Family dared not take you to the sea. Do you really think your father is just a gentle scholar? How can an ordinary scholar make Old Sea Master Gongsun, a cold-blooded devil, treat him differently?!”

Sheng Weiqiao was chilled and couldn’t help standing up, “It’s just your guess! You have no evidence at all, don’t you?”

She suddenly recalled something and said hurriedly, “Besides, why did dad want me to go to the sea?”

“There are too many reasons! Perhaps it would be helpful to persuade Sheng Family to support Gongsun Family. After all, your grandfather always despised Daimao Island. Perhaps it would be a good chance for you to get along with your brother. Or it would be helpful for your mother to accept him. I heard that he saved you at that time?” Being calm and composed, Mrs. Feng touched her hair, “See? I can immediately think of lots of reasons. Think about it. Do these reasons make sense?”

Sheng Weiqiao bit her lips and didn’t say anything. Mrs. Feng said, “Well, let’s not talk about who ordered servants to take you to the sea. Let’s talk about the story that your father told you!”

Mrs. Feng sneered slightly, “Although Sheng Family enjoyed the same status with Xuanyu Family and Feng Family in recent years, the ancestors were not poor. Even when your grandfather was young, compared with ordinary people, he still lived in clover, right?”

Sheng Weiqiao was extremely perplexed, and she snarled, “Yes. But what does it have to do with the story that dad told me?”

“Even your grandfather lived in clover and had many servants when he was young, not to mention your father!” Mrs. Feng took a sip of warm tea and continued, “So, when he went away on business in those days, would he not have servants with him? Even if he wanted to travel with little luggage and few attendants, he would bring a young manservant to take care of him, right?”

“Besides, the official invited him to the banquet, not to jail. The young manservant would definitely follow him.”

“At the banquet, your father wasn’t familiar with the local drinking games, and he had to show courtesy to the host, so he was completely drunk. But did the young manservant also eat and drink, which was improper, and become drunk?!”

There was no need to continue to say. Sheng Lanci was astute, so the person whom he attached importance to was definitely not a mediocrity, not to mention his personal young manservant. Although the manservant was young, he was sensible and smart for sure.

A servant couldn’t sit down and eat and drink with the master at the banquet. Even if the young manservant managed to find time to go to the place where the servants had meals and ate some food, he wouldn’t get drunk.

So, he was sober. Even if Sheng Lanci was drunk and had to overnight there, the person who served and took care of him at night must be the young manservant.

In this case, the official could hide what he did from Sheng Lanci, but couldn’t hide from the young manservant!

Of course, the official could buy off the young manservant. But Sheng Lanci was always particular about choosing his own servant. Besides, even if the young manservant were willing to betray his master, no one would trust a servant who he saw for the first time to keep such an important secret.

There was also a possibility that what the young manservant ate was drugged so that he also fell into a deep sleep like Sheng Lanci.

But Sheng Weiqiao knew that it was not possible because people from a wealthy family would take guards with them when they went out, and they were also trained to protect themselves. Even when they met gangsters, they could seek help from the local authority. That was to say, they were not afraid of troubles above board when they went out, but they were afraid of underhand behaviors.

For example, if they were stranded in an uninhabited area and fainted because of knockout drops, they were at the mercy of others. Even if they were killed, no one would know. Their families also didn’t know who they were going to take revenge on.

So, as a servant of a wealthy family, especially a personal servant who would accompany the master to travel far, he must be able to identify drugs, traps, and tricks!

Sheng Lanci was such a wise man, so he wouldn’t neglect his safety in a foreign place and wouldn’t venture to go out.

So, as the young manservant of Sheng Lanci, he would probably not be drugged. Sheng Weiqiao’s mood darkened, and she finally turned pale, “Maybe the young manservant was too tired? After all, dad traveled far to deal with obviously critical business affairs. Dad definitely didn’t take a good rest on the road, and his young manservant would be exhausted! After arriving, he had to deal with things without rest, and then he was invited to the banquet. Dad was so busy that even if the young manservant was loyal, he might have felled into sleep after the banquet was over and couldn’t take care of dad!”

Mrs. Feng sighed, “Sweetie, it’s hard for you to think of this reason for your dad! But let me tell you why I say it’s a lie as soon as I hear it.”

Sheng Weiqiao instinctively didn’t feel right and became paler. But it didn’t prevent Mrs. Feng from showing her the cruel reality, “Just think about the age of your brother. When his mother was pregnant, your father was absolutely in Nanfeng County and never left! “

Mrs. Feng said coldly, “I can guarantee that what I said is true, because, at that time, Sheng Family proposed marriage and the whole Feng Family, including me who had married and came to Xuanyu Family, deliberated whether to agree all the day!”

She said, “Besides, because of my unfortunate marriage, the whole Feng Family, including me, investigated Sheng Family’s history thoroughly. We even sent people to Chang’an to inquire about your father’s behaviors when he was in Chang’an!”

“During that time, we cared about your father’s movements more than Senior Master Sheng!”

“Of course, we couldn’t send people to keep a close watch on him every day to prevent your father from getting tired and prevent your mother from involving in trouble after marriage.”

“But we were absolutely sure that he didn’t leave Nanfeng County during that time!”

Mrs. Feng said coldly, “So, what your father said to you was just a story that he made up to arouse your sympathy for your brother so that you would not reject him anymore!”

Sheng Weiqiao’s legs felt like jelly!

Fortunately, the seat was just behind her. She flopped down into the chair and shuddered for a long while. Mrs. Feng gazed at her with severity and mercy, and she said hurriedly, “Is it possible that he… he was not dad’s son, but for some reason, dad brought him back to Sheng Family?”

Mrs. Feng knew that she asked this question because she would rather accept that Sheng Shuihe was not the son of her father than accept that Sheng Lanci lied to her. But Mrs. Feng was not Madam Feng. She always believed that doting on children was killing them. So, although she looked at Sheng Weiqiao with pity and love, she still shook her head without hesitation, “I can’t think of a reason for your father to recognize a person who was neither kith nor kin as his own son.”

“Life is all about fame, fortune, and conscience.”

“Your father had both fame and fortune.”

“As for conscience… I know your father. Even if he owed someone a favor, he would never repay at the cost of half of his family!”

“So, unless he suddenly lost his head and got involved in some trouble that he should not become entangled in, otherwise Sheng Shuihe would probably be your half-brother!”

There was a silence in the room for a while. Mrs. Feng saw her niece freeze there. She sighed and reminded, “If so, you’d better choose a suitable wife for your brother at the Lotus Feast, and make sure he gets married as soon as possible!”

Sheng Weiqiao was out of her mind and asked, “Why?”