novelraw Chapter 391: Mingjing, She is Your Mother! 2
Chapter 391: Mingjing, She is Your Mother! 2
It turned out that in the year Jiang Rong was with Bai Danfeng, Bai Danfeng had just given birth. At that time, Bai Danfeng gave birth to a son, but she didn’t have enough breast milk and needed a wet nurse to feed the newborn. Therefore, Old Madam Bai hired two wet nurses: one to care for the daughter born to Bai Chuanfeng, and the other to care for the son born to Bai Danfeng.
Jiang Rong was originally the wet nurse Old Madam Bai hired for Bai Chuanfeng’s daughter; she was in better physical condition than the other wet nurse. Old Madam Bai favored girls over boys and naturally wanted to keep the better wet nurse for her granddaughter. However, Bai Chuanfeng felt sorry for her sister’s lack of breast milk and gave Jiang Rong to Bai Danfeng.
This courteous act by Bai Chuanfeng won the admiration of everyone in the family. They all felt she valued family bonds and cared for her sister, deeming her a qualified heir. Bai Chuanfeng was also good to her sister’s son. She didn’t favor girls over boys at all. Everyone praised Bai Chuanfeng, saying she treated her nephew even better than her own daughter, which showed the great love in her heart.
Fengjue reported the interrogation results to Mo Yinhe.
"Your Excellency, Jiang Rong had an illegitimate daughter named Jiang Weihong before she married. This fact was unknown to anyone except Bai Chuanfeng. All of Jiang Weihong’s educational and living expenses for over a decade were covered by Bai Chuanfeng. After graduating, Bai Chuanfeng arranged for Jiang Weihong to work at the Bai Group with excellent benefits, receiving a year-end bonus ten times her salary. This time, Jiang Rong received a call from her daughter. In the call, Jiang Weihong threatened her mother that if she didn’t tamper with the car, she would kill herself, forcing her mother to choose between her daughter and her employer. As for why Jiang Weihong forced her mother to do this..."
Fengjue paused.
With his wisdom, Mo Yinhe didn’t need Fengjue to spell out who the mastermind was that had instigated Jiang Weihong to threaten her own mother.
Fengjue continued, "Your Excellency, it’s highly probable that Madam Bai Danfeng is the Crown Princess Consort’s mother! It must be your handling of the Huo Hailou matter that made Madam Bai Chuanfeng realize the child-switching incident could no longer be concealed, which is why she took such drastic action against Madam Bai Danfeng. Should this information be shared with the Crown Princess Consort?"
Mo Yinhe was reluctant. He didn’t want Mingjing to go to Mu Continent; telling her would give her an irrefutable reason to do so. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to deceive Mingjing. He knew if he concealed this from her today and she later discovered his deception, she would lose all trust in him. Between a husband and wife, the collapse of trust was the most feared outcome. Once shattered, trust could never be mended.
Weighing the pros and cons, Mo Yinhe nodded. "Tell her."
Even if he couldn’t prevent her from going to Mu Continent, he absolutely could not deceive her. It could become the fuse for the breakdown of their relationship, which he valued immensely. He would not allow himself to make such a rudimentary mistake.
In the South Garden of the palace, Si Mingjing was having dinner. At the table were Ye Baixiu and his wife, Song Chuanqi and his wife, Ye Junqing and his wife, Ye Shen and Song Tangtang, Ye Siyuan, and the four Little Dragon cubs.
The previous night, Xiaobai had excitedly told Ye Shen, "Jingjing said she’s *my* mom! Jingjing said so herself, oh!"
The Ye Family had been overjoyed since last night. Because Si Mingjing had to treat Bai Danfeng, they hadn’t been able to speak with her, only now finding the chance to confirm something.
Ye Shen was the most excited. "Sister Mingjing! Sister Mingjing! Have you recovered your memory? Do you remember that you’re my sister-in-law?"
While eating, Si Mingjing explained, "I haven’t recovered my memory, but I realize I’m most likely Bai Jiusi."
"Really?"
Ye Siyuan was also very excited. "Mingjing, are you sure?"
Si Mingjing nodded with a smile. "Yes."
Tears immediately welled in Ye Siyuan’s eyes and streamed down her face. "We were all so afraid you’d think you were just Bai Jiusi’s substitute that we didn’t dare mention it. We all know who you are."
"Thank you all."
She had indeed gone through a period of fearing she was merely a substitute, and she was grateful that no one had pressured her, instead giving her the time and space to find the truth on her own.
Ye Siyuan continued, "Especially Big Brother. He put away all the photos, videos, and trinkets related to Bai Jiusi because he was afraid you’d get the wrong idea or be troubled if you saw them. Those are his treasures, things he normally wouldn’t let anyone touch. But because he was worried you’d overthink, he stored them all away. After dinner, I’ll take you to see them."
Si Mingjing shook her head. "I don’t really want to. I can’t face that face anymore. I always feel it belongs to *her*—the impostor."
Even though Si Mingjing knew she was Bai Jiusi, an impostor was now wearing that face. She had become so conditioned by this that the face now seemed to belong solely to the impostor. The thought of seeing old photos and videos again made her feel physically ill.
Ye Siyuan empathized completely. "Mingjing, I can’t bear to look at that face either! Now, just thinking about it makes me want to vomit! Tomorrow, I’ll tell Big Brother to destroy everything connected to that face! If he can’t bring himself to do it, I’ll secretly do it for him!"
Si Mingjing couldn’t help but smile, nodding in pleased agreement.
Ye Xinguang sighed. She hadn’t seen the woman who’d had plastic surgery, so the face in her mind was still that of the daughter-in-law she had watched grow up. Now that her own daughter and her daughter-in-law both wanted to obliterate that face, Ye Xinguang felt a pang of regret, but she wouldn’t oppose Mingjing. As long as the younger generation was happy, that was all that mattered.
Ye Xinguang placed some food on her daughter-in-law’s plate. "Mingjing, eat a little more. How is your aunt doing now?"
"She’s stabilized."
Ye Xinguang remarked with feeling, "Your aunt has always cherished you. She kept in regular contact with us too; she’s a decent woman. During the five years you were gone, she never stopped trying to find you, and she treated Xiaobai very well. She genuinely loves you like her own niece. Unlike your mother... well, never mind, let’s not talk about it."
It was not a mother-in-law’s place to speak ill of her son’s in-laws, even if Ye Xinguang genuinely disliked them.
At this moment, Xiaobai said, his cheeks puffed indignantly, "Grandma Ye, that uncle said that the ’grandma’ we know isn’t Jingjing’s *real* mother! He said Aunt Bai Danfeng is actually Jingjing’s real mother, which makes *her* my real grandma!"
"What on earth are you saying?" Ye Xinguang asked, puzzled.
"It means they were switched! Whoa! Aunt Bai Danfeng is Jingjing’s real mother!" Xiaobai exclaimed.
Ye Xinguang was dumbstruck. "Mingjing, is it true?"
"I don’t know," Si Mingjing replied. "It’s just a suspicion. I’m still investigating."
"How could something like this happen?" Even Old Madam Ye was stunned. "This needs to be thoroughly confirmed. It’s not a joking matter; you can’t rely on mere speculation."
Just then, Mo Yinhe returned, happening to overhear the family discussing the matter around the dining table.
He walked in and stated, "It’s true. The investigation is almost complete. Mingjing, there’s a very high probability that your aunt, Bai Danfeng, is your biological mother."
He moved with a commanding presence, pulled out the empty chair beside Si Mingjing, and sat down gracefully. Then, he laid bare the full story of Jiang Rong.
He gripped Si Mingjing’s hand firmly. "Last night, you saved the woman who carried you for ten months and gave birth to you. This must be Heaven’s way of bringing you two together, to compensate you with a mother’s love."