After rebirth, she became the favorite of the powerful minister.

"What?" Yuan Ge looked back.

I saw the skinny boy leaning on the edge of the table, his whole body leaning forward. He was shaking with such great force, and his empty linen clothes were swaying in the wind.

Those protruding eyes stared at Yuan Ge, as if trying to see through her completely.

He did not bother to answer Yuan Ge. Instead, he kept nodding his head and then muttering in denial, "Similar, too similar... especially when we were sitting here just now... but it's not right, the age is not right... You, you... you are not..."

He was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly ran towards Yuan Ge, but he was stopped by Xu Chengjin after only two steps. Xu Chengjin raised his hand to stop him, but the other party ran too fast and he almost couldn't stop him, and almost fell to the ground. However, he didn't care anymore, and he grabbed the fan in front of him and approached Yuan Ge, exclaiming, "You, you are his illegitimate daughter, so you want to bring bad luck to him?!" There was no blood on his thin and bony face - if that was true, when they reconciled, the first one to suffer would be himself, the "traitor". He was not afraid of death, he had a life anyway, and there was no difference between living and dying, but his sister...

He really wanted to protect his sister, and he felt even more guilty for having used her in the past.

That's why I'm even more anxious at this moment.

Yuan Ge didn't understand, and frowned and scolded impatiently, "Why are you talking nonsense? You have worked for him for many years, and you don't even know that he doesn't even have a wife and is still single. How can you have a daughter?" And an illegitimate daughter... He is really imaginative and dares to do so.

"You really aren't?" Goudan calmed down a little, slowly loosened the folding fan he had been holding tightly, and smiled at Xu Chengjin a little embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, I soiled your fan, I thought... I, I just saw that your sister looked a bit like the painting he hid, that's why, that's why I was anxious."

"Squeak..."

The shabby wooden door gave off echoes of the years, and bright white sunlight shone in from outside, drawing a clear dividing line in the dust on the floor of the house. Yuan Ge stood in the light and shadow, turned around and looked at Goudan, who subconsciously closed his eyes because of the sudden brightness, and asked him in an almost trembling voice, "What... did you say?" His voice was slow, as if he was afraid to disturb the truth that was within reach behind the veil.

Xu Chengjin looked at Yuan Ge's obvious loss of composure, and suddenly trembled as if he sensed something. The folding fan in his hand fell to the ground. Goudan, who had his eyes closed, seemed to be awakened. He shivered and opened his eyes to look over. After a while, he recalled, "Once when I went there, he was not there, and neither were his servants. At that time, I had been doing errands for him for half a year, all small jobs. He paid me a lot, so I couldn't help but feel closer to him. Naturally, I lost some respect for him, so I went into his room and waited for him. However, I waited and waited but no one showed up, so I wandered around a little bored... Just like that, I pushed open the secret room in his room."

"The secret room was not big. There was a portrait hanging on the door. It was of a woman who looked a lot like you. She was sitting under a peach tree and looking back. She looked quiet and like a fairy descending from the earth... But there were two red candles lit in the secret room. Those were the red candles we use for weddings here. It was very creepy, so I quickly ran away."

He spoke only a few words slowly, recalling what he was saying, and his voice was a little halting. But in these few short sentences, Yuan Ge felt... as if he was falling into an ice cellar.

The sunlight coming from behind was completely devoid of warmth; it was pale and blinding.

The portrait of the mother, the red candles used only for weddings... If what Goudan said was true, then the things that Yuan Ge found incomprehensible before could be well explained - the game of chess that had been played many years ago was for the mother, the obsession and resentment hidden behind all the pure and simple appearances were because of the mother, and the solitude over the years was even more for the mother... Even the hairpin that was carved by himself was for the person who was destined to never be given to him.

Zhan Yanfeng actually had such thoughts!

No wonder Yuan Ge always felt that although Zhan Yanfeng treated everyone equally and was serious and rigid, he was particularly disliked and unpleasant to her. Presumably, in Zhan Yanfeng's eyes, she was a disgrace to her mother because of her carefree and unruly behavior...

Xu Chengjin silently bent down to pick up the fan on the ground and patted it casually, then waved his hand to let Goudan, who seemed a little confused as to whether he had said something wrong, leave.

Goudan was reluctant to leave. After years of hard work, he no longer believed in human nature or verbal promises. Even though the other party repeatedly said that he would protect his sister, he still felt a little uneasy. But when he saw the girl's expression, he opened his mouth but didn't dare to ask. He left in a huff. When he got outside the door and looked at the strange and deserted alley, he bowed in a huff before running away...

Xu Chengjin walked forward, lowered his eyes and called softly, "Yuan Ge..."

"I have thought of many possibilities." Yuan Ge lowered her eyes, slightly drooping her lips as she looked at the messy footprints on the ground, and sighed for a long time, "I thought he was blinded by power and confused by wealth... but I never thought about the truth, Nan Yin, I am a little sad." If it was for power and wealth, she would naturally handle it impartially without hesitation, but the other party's problem was caused by his mother, so she felt a little...

"You can't bear it, right?" Xu Chengjin understood what she hadn't said. He rubbed her head and smiled carefreely but with some helplessness. "You look smart, but you're actually as stupid as a pig!"

"I……"

Xu Chengjin rubbed her hair vigorously again. Seeing her messy appearance, he felt very good about it and said with a smile, "What are you talking about! He failed to hire a killer for your mother, he used Goudan's sister to threaten Goudan to do his bidding, it was not for your mother, he made those Wang Erjies desperate, it was not for your mother... If he really loved your mother, he would have just committed suicide to live with her, maybe he could even ask for a fate of being husband and wife in the next life. Now he has done all these evil things that hurt the world, and he said lightly, it's because of love... I'm afraid your mother would not be willing to accept such a love, why are you sighing with her?"

Yuan Ge was stunned.

The other party had already waved the dusty folding fan in his hand and said disdainfully, "It's dirty. I got this treasure with great difficulty, but I died before I could accomplish my mission. It's all for you, so you have to pay. I tell you, I don't like ordinary fans. I want one with paintings and inscriptions by famous artists. It's better to get one made of animal bones. At the very least, it should be made of white jade. You can't be perfunctory, understand?"

Miss Yuan was shocked by this shameless statement.