Lin Qingge’s mouth twitched, and he struggled to voice an unacceptable yet obvious fact:
“Grandma, is my sister-in-law actually a man?”
“Yes, didn’t you know?”
Lin Qingge honestly shook his head.
“Tsk, as expected, no man is any good. He even kept his own sister in the dark! However, even though your brother is gone, at least I met you, his twin sister. So I’m returning this to you; it’s like returning it to its rightful owner.”
With that, Leng Lanxi directly shoved the piece of sheepskin into Lin Qingge’s hand.
But Lin Qingge felt the light piece of sheepskin weigh as much as a thousand pounds. After all, his cheap brother and male sister-in-law clearly knew that death awaited them, and they had even refused Leng Lanxi’s help. Then why did they tell Leng Lanxi they would meet again if fate allowed? This was clearly contradictory. Could it be that his male sister-in-law had intended to return it to him from the very beginning, as he bore the same appearance as his cheap brother?
Feeling as if he were caught in an invisible net, Lin Qingge shook his head vigorously before asking again, “Grandma, do you know my sister-in-law’s name?”
“I don’t know her full name, but I know that Old Qiao called him ‘Ah Zi’. After all, Old Qiao and I only adventured together in the martial world for a while in our youth, and we rarely interacted after that, mostly communicating through letters.”
“Letters?”
Lin Qingge, who was busy spreading news and throwing embroidered balls, looked at Leng Ningyue beside him and raised an eyebrow slightly, signaling for her to provide a reasonable explanation.
Meanwhile, Leng Lanxi continued on her own: “When Old Qiao and I roamed the world with our swords, we bought several houses. Whenever we passed by, we would leave a letter in the courtyard, talking about the people or things we had recently encountered. This habit has been maintained ever since.”
Lin Qingge, who never expected his grandmother to be so fashionable and have pen pals, silently gave a thumbs-up. At the same time, he felt twelve points of sympathy for Leng Ningyue’s grandfather.
“According to Old Qiao, he picked up this disciple, ‘Ah Zi,’ from the roadside. He had a peculiar personality and was a bit strange, but Old Qiao, with his limited knowledge, couldn’t describe exactly how strange he was. However, despite that, ‘Ah Zi’ was a promising martial arts talent, one could even say a prodigy. But the most frustrating thing was that after learning most of Old Qiao’s skills, ‘Ah Zi’ disappeared without a trace. Thus, Old Qiao, who had lived most of his life and finally had a disciple, felt rejected and went into secluded cultivation in a fit of anger, and has not emerged since. I don’t know if Old Qiao has already died in there. If he has, where will I find such interesting stories to read in the future…”
Lin Qingge, feeling that the last sentence was the other party’s true feelings, twitched his mouth and subtly changed the subject: “By the way, Grandma, why were you with the Qin family? And why did you help her to appeal to the imperial court in the capital?”
“Oh, when I was young, I was injured and passed by the Qin family’s village. I was saved by the couple next door to the Qin family, who were Li Bei’s parents. Because I was grateful for their life-saving kindness, every time I passed by, I would pay my respects at their graves. The Li Bei family was close to the Li Derui family, so I knew Qin Shi. Coincidentally, I passed by there a while ago and saw Qin Shi with a worried expression. After inquiring, I learned that her son, Li Derui, might be in trouble. When I returned to the Jade Maiden Sect earlier, I saw Leng Shuang’s message saying she had found Shu Ying’s daughter, and that Shu Ying’s daughter had even given birth to a cute son. Therefore, after learning of Qin Shi’s predicament, I persuaded her to go to the capital to appeal to the imperial court. In any case, that scoundrel Shangguan Hong absolutely cannot be spared. If he were to accept Qin Shi’s case, he might live a few more days. If he refused, I would have his head severed on the spot, with blood splashing three feet!”
“Unfortunately, Qin Shi’s health was not good, and she was delayed too much on the road. By the time I reached the capital, Shangguan Hong had already resigned from his position as Prime Minister and returned to his hometown! Fortunately, that young man named Feng Qingchen was quite sensible and accepted Qin Shi’s petition.”
“I see.” Lin Qingge nodded in agreement, and saw a carriage speeding towards them on the distant official road. Strangely, the carriage did not head towards Jingzhou City but drove directly towards them. Soon, the carriage stopped not far from Lin Qingge and the other two. Then, the curtain was lifted from inside, and a handsome old man with white hair and a vigorous spirit got out of the carriage.
“Xi’er.”
Hearing that affectionate, overly sweet voice, Lin Qingge’s skin crawled. But upon seeing the newcomer, Leng Lanxi’s originally amiable expression turned cold: “What are you doing here?”
“Xi’er, I, I just want to see you.” After saying that, the old man lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong.
Guessing the newcomer’s identity, Lin Qingge’s eyes darted around. Then, he pulled Leng Ningyue to the old man’s side and respectfully bowed: “Your grandson-in-law Lin Jingxing, along with his wife Leng Ningyue, greets Grandfather.”
Upon hearing the word “Grandfather,” the old man, who had been hanging his head, suddenly looked up, his face filled with surprise as he looked at Leng Ningyue, “Are you Shu Ying’s daughter?”
Leng Ningyue nodded, as if in reply.
“You look so much like your mother, so much…” The old man stared intently at Leng Ningyue, as if seeing someone else through her. After a long time, his eyes reddened, and he murmured, “Shu Ying, I’m sorry. If your father hadn’t brought you back to the capital back then, you wouldn’t have met Shangguan Hong, and your father wouldn’t have had to send his child to her grave…”
“Hmph, if you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?”
“Xi’er, I know I was wrong. Xi’er, at this point, I don’t ask for your forgiveness, I only ask that you don’t drive me away anymore and let me stay by your side, can you?”
Leng Lanxi heard this and said impatiently, “Situ Yi, your legs are your own. You can go wherever you please! Besides, I told you decades ago not to bother me, but aren’t you still standing in front of me like a stubborn stain?”
“Uh…” Situ Yi was momentarily speechless. He rubbed his nose and changed the subject, “By the way, you said your surname is Lin, do you have any connection to Lin Family Village in Fengtian Prefecture?”
“Replying to Grandfather, your grandson-in-law’s hometown is indeed Dalin Village.”
Situ Yi, who had asked the question casually without much thought, seemed surprised to hear an affirmative answer from the other party and obviously froze for a moment.
“Then do you know Lin Wenzheng?”