The eldest daughter's scheming, the crown prince's exclusive favor to the venomous concubi

After saying that, Jian Yue placed her finger on the small, exquisite wolf eye, paused for a moment, and then continued, "So, his goal is the same as the Qiu family's?"

Shangguan Linglong nodded, while Jian Yue frowned slightly and shook her head, saying, "But this doesn't make sense. Back then, it was rumored that Qiu Zhennan, the illegitimate son of the Qiu family, was actually the son of Old Master Qiu. How could he be?"

At this point, Jian Yue suddenly looked up at Shangguan Linglong and asked, "You mean an adopted son?"

"That's right. He's not a child of the Qiu family. He's just the child of a widow whom Old Master Qiu took a fancy to at the border. The widow became Old Master Qiu's concubine, so the child naturally became a child of the Qiu family. However, because of the need to save face, no one knows about this adopted son."

"Then how did you know?"

Jian Yue asked, and Shangguan Linglong's eyes flickered slightly. She smiled bitterly and said, "Naturally, I discovered it."

Back then, Shangguan Linglong and Qiu Zhennan, the illegitimate son of the Qiu family, were indeed in love and had long planned to be together forever. However, the Qiu family patriarch suddenly intervened and forced Qiu Zhennan to give Shangguan Linglong to his eldest legitimate brother, Qiu Zhenzhou.

Qiu Zhennan came with a purpose, so how could he agree? Thus, Qiu Zhenzhou forcibly intervened.

Qiu Zhenzhou's thinking was simple. He was handsome and on par with Qiu Zhennan, and as the eldest son, he was much better than Qiu Zhennan. He never expected that Shangguan Linglong would reject him directly.

Therefore, after Shangguan Linglong rejected him, he harbored malicious intentions and drugged her.

At that time, Shangguan Linglong didn't remember much. The medicine was too strong, and she was powerless to do anything but watch Qiu Zhenzhou do whatever he wanted. She just didn't expect Qiu Zhennan to suddenly appear, and Qiu Zhenzhou was unable to take the final step.

"So, while that time was still there, he and you..."

Shangguan Linglong nodded, without shyness or timidity, and said calmly, "I thought he did it for me, but I never thought he did it for himself."

Qiu Zhennan knocked out Qiu Zhenzhou. Taking advantage of the effects of Shangguan Linglong's drug, something happened. Afterwards, Qiu Zhennan did not admit it. Instead, he put the unconscious Shangguan Linglong and Qiu Zhenzhou together and took the opportunity to leave.

Shangguan Linglong wasn't actually asleep; she was just feeling weak all over because the effects of the medicine hadn't worn off, and she didn't even have the strength to open her eyes. But she never expected that her beloved would do such a thing.

The daughter of a military general could never be a hothouse flower. Although her eyes were closed, she still had her five senses. She sensed that the man who had slept with her had placed her in a bed with another man, and then quietly left.

What did Shangguan Linglong feel at that time? Did she cry? Probably because her tears had already dried up.

When Qiu Zhenzhou woke up, he found himself lying next to Shangguan Linglong. He had drunk the drugged tea that day in order to gain Shangguan Linglong's trust, so he had no idea whether he had actually done anything to her. However, he had satisfied his desires, so he figured he had succeeded.

So he tried to reason with her and appeal to her emotions, wanting Shangguan Linglong to marry him. But to his surprise, Shangguan Linglong stubbornly refused. Qiu Zhenzhou became anxious and, in his youthful impetuosity, said some things he shouldn't have.

"Is it about the Shangguan family and the late emperor?"

Jian Yue asked.

"That's right, what he said was nothing more than his purpose in wanting to marry me. Now that I know their purpose, how could I let this continue? So, I pretended to agree to marry him, but on the condition that he let me go back."

Qiu Zhenzhou naturally agreed, but unfortunately, just as things were about to proceed smoothly, Old Master Qiu found out.

Shangguan Linglong closed her eyes, seemingly unwilling to think about what happened back then.

How could Old Master Qiu be compared to Qiu Zhenzhou in his youth? He naturally knew Shangguan Linglong's purpose, so he took it upon himself to imprison her.

Shangguan Linglong was extremely anxious and tried to escape several times, but the Qiu family somehow obtained a drug that could make people lose all their martial arts skills and forced it into Shangguan Linglong's mouth every day.

And so, Shangguan Linglong remained imprisoned until she learned she was pregnant.

Since Shangguan Linglong was pregnant, she naturally received special care. Old Master Qiu decided to use the child to threaten Shangguan Linglong into revealing the secret about the blood-red coral.

So, until she gave birth, she was no longer subjected to inhumane treatment, except that she was too weak to even abort the child.

No one knows the despair Shangguan Linglong felt at that time. When a person reaches the abyss and feels deep fear, a little care becomes a lifeline.

At this moment, Qiu Zhennan reappeared.

Shangguan Linglong hated Qiu Zhennan. If Qiu Zhennan had taken her away back then, perhaps none of the fairy-like incidents would have happened.

When Qiu Zhennan came to her and said he would take her away from here, she naturally didn't believe him. At that time, Shangguan Linglong was very naive. She naturally brought up what had happened before, but when Qiu Zhennan explained his difficulties, she softened.

Being an illegitimate son, not even one's own flesh and blood, inevitably leads to a difficult life.

Now, for the sake of his lover and children, he is standing up against the tide. How can this not be moving?

Shangguan Linglong believed Qiu Zhennan, and even when she was unable to move around easily while following Qiu Zhennan, she believed that Qiu Zhennan had sought help from the Shangguan family. However, after they had been on the run for two days, everything changed.

Shangguan Linglong suddenly went into premature labor and gave birth to a daughter. She almost died. When she was on her deathbed, she wanted to leave a will asking Qiu Zhennan to take good care of her daughter. However, before she could speak, she learned of Qiu Zhennan's conspiracy.

“I will take good care of our daughter, but Linglong, tell me, what is the secret of the Crimson Coral, and where is the divine weapon in the hands of the Shangguan family?”

Shangguan Linglong was startled, her eyes wide with anger as she asked, "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean? Linglong, what time is it now? If the Shangguan family doesn't send out their divine weapons, they simply can't defeat the Qiu family. Do you know who the people above the Qiu family are? How terrifying they are?"

Do you know? These past few days, I've been trying to contact the Shangguan family, but the Qiu family has discovered me. I almost died. I have no way of finding anyone who can save us. So, tell me how to activate that divine weapon, and I'll go get reinforcements. Then we'll be saved.

Shangguan Linglong remained silent, staring at Qiu Zhennan. Qiu Zhennan immediately became anxious, his face filled with sorrow as he said, "Linglong, I don't want you to die. Look, our daughter has just been born. You can't just watch her be killed by the Qiu family. Please stop being so stubborn."

Shangguan Linglong looked at the child in his arms. The child was still crying, which added a little bit of life to the silence, but this little bit of life could not overcome Qiu Zhennan's heartlessness.

"I'm just a girl, how could I possibly know such important things? Qiu Zhennan, do you really love me?"

“I love you, but I can’t die. If I die, my daughter won’t live. So, I’m sorry, Linglong.”

When the Qiu family arrived, Qiu Zhennan ran away, taking her newborn daughter with him.

When the Qiu family arrived at the dilapidated temple, Shangguan Linglong was still relieved that he hadn't run away on his own, but had taken his daughter with him.

"So how did you get this ring?"

Jian Yue fiddled with the ring, her tone indifferent and devoid of any emotion.

Shangguan Linglong looked at her palm and said calmly, "I took it from his hand when he wasn't looking. And that silver note, it's all his."

"So, he came to the Qiu family with a mission, right? What about his mother?"

It seems the Qiu family has never heard of that widow, and they don't even know if it's true or not.

"do not know."

Shangguan Linglong smiled and said, "Who knows? Maybe she wasn't Qiu Zhennan's biological mother at all. It was just a scheme she set up to infiltrate the Qiu family. But it was exposed by someone, so she took a risk and took the opportunity to get rid of me."

At this point, Jian Yue understood that perhaps Qiu Zhennan's identity had been discovered by Old Master Qiu back then, but before he could be dealt with, Qiu Zhennan had managed to escape.

Thinking of this, Jian Yue suddenly smiled. She looked at Shangguan Linglong and asked, "Do you still love him? Do you hate him?"

Shangguan Linglong paused, shook her head, and looked blank: "I don't know. I feel hatred, but I don't hate anymore. As for love, it has long been ground to dust. What else is there to act out?"

"Yueyue, the reason I'm saying all this is just to tell you that you have an older sister. As for him, I don't care if you acknowledge him or not; I just don't want to see him again."

"I see."

Recognizing a father figure? Is that even possible?

Jian Yue shook his head. He had never cared who his father was, nor had he cared about Qiu Zhenzhou or Qiu Zhennan. They were all just strangers in the dust.

Especially since neither of her fathers were good people, what was she going to do here? Was she just waiting for him to sell her off again?

Shangguan Linglong fell asleep, seemingly relieved after revealing something she had kept hidden in her heart for fifteen years. She simply leaned against the pillow and fell asleep, her feet resting on Jian Yue's legs. Jian Yue didn't move, just sat there, watching Shangguan Linglong's sleeping face.

As night fell, Bai Jianan knocked on the door and came in. By this time, Shangguan Linglong had already woken up. After a nap, she looked much better. When she saw Bai Jianan, she didn't show any other expression, but simply nodded in acknowledgment.

Bai Jianan didn't care about his mother-in-law's indifference and said with a smile, "Dinner is ready, let's eat quickly, Yueyue has to go back later."

Shangguan Linglong nodded, and Bai Jianan then instructed the servants outside to bring the items in.

The three ate in silence, none of them speaking, and they finished quickly, putting down their bowls and chopsticks in no time.

"Mother, I'm leaving now. I'll come see you again tomorrow."