Chapter 558 - He Yufens Confession (1/2)

Ever since He Yufen came to the capital, she was always thinking about this man, and all she wanted was to live a peaceful life with him. Perhaps she desired his handsome appearance, perhaps she craved his wealth and rank, or perhaps she just wanted to enter his heart and become the one he was willing to protect. But now, there was only despair and sadness in her eyes.

Tears dropped unconsciously. Her hands clenched the dry firewood on the ground. Actually, there was already someone in his heart where no one else was able to replace. However, she had still thought highly of herself that she could take the place of Mo Xuetong by Consort Zhao’s power and her own beauty.

It turned out that everything was a fond dream!

She clenched her hands tightly and the thorns on the firewood pierced into her palms. She almost screamed in pain, and tears rolled down her cheeks, but she still smiled. It was the He family that had given her the wishful thinking. Since she entered the He family, she had been instilled the thought that she and the other girls were bound to marry into the royal family and bring good fortune to the He family.

“My Lady, do you think it’s very strange? Why do He Yufen, Consort Zhao, Consort Xian and I share likeness? But why do the people who don’t have a blood relations.h.i.+p look like natural family members?” He Yufen raised her tearful eyes and looked at Mo Xuetong with dirty streaks of tear on her face.

Mo Xuetong asked indifferently, “Then why?” The answer was already obvious.

“Since Consort Xian entered the palace and was favored by the Emperor, the He family has been looking for girls who look like Consort Xian and keeping them in the family. That is the way Consort Zhao was selected. She was the one who took after Consort Xian most, and then was sent into the palace. Later, something happened to the He family, and the family was driven out of the capital. But even in a small city, the He family has never given up looking for the beautiful girls similar to Consort Xian.”

He Yufen’s eyes fell on the dirty window and a trace of pain flashed in her eyes. She wiped her tears with her sleeve and continued to say, “He Yuxiu and I were picked out in this way and given the status of the first miss and the second miss by the He family respectively. And we were cultivated in the same way as Consort Xian and Consort Zhao.”

The He family found He Yufen and He Yuxiu out of the underage prost.i.tutes from a brothel. At that time, He Yufen was only eight years old, while He Yuxiu was seven. They were given the best education, from etiquette to lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and were required to master them all. Therefore, He Yufen and He Yuxiu always knew that two of them were going to enter the prince’s manor to serve the Eighth Prince, Feng Yuran. In their hearts, they had already regarded themselves as the ones who belonged to Feng Yuran.

The He family had been waiting for an opportunity to go to the capital, but the opportunity did not come till King Xuan got married, and the He family received an invitation and then had the chance to enter the capital.

Mo Xuetong frowned and asked doubtfully, “How many years have you been staying in the He family?”

“Almost nine years.” He Yufen could not help but shed tears again. During these nine years, what they heard most were the things about the Eighth Prince. Although the Eighth Prince was later sent out of the palace, the He family did not give up.

It had been nine years, during which Consort Xian had just pa.s.sed away, Consort Zhao had been constrained in the Mingyue Palace, and Feng Yuran had been narrowly sent out of the palace. How did the He family predict that Feng Yuran could return to the palace safe and sound after years? And what made the He family so stubborn to spare so much time cultivating two women who looked like Consort Xian so much and sending them to Feng Yuran?

“In the past nine years, you and He Yuxiu just stayed indoors all the time?”

“Yes, He Yuxiu and I have been learning all kinds of etiquette. We usually remained within doors and never showed up in any He family’s social activities. So the outsiders did not know what He Yuxiu and I looked like, but just said that the two misses of the He family were virtuous and refined, and were the real ladies of a big family.”

He Yufen lowered her head and wiped the tear stains at the corner of her eyes. At that time, she and He Yuxiu were extremely dismissive of the young ladies of the He family, thinking that they neither were as beautiful as them nor behaved elegantly, but who would have thought that He Yufen was almost sent back to the brothel after all the twists and turns?

Mo Xuetong suddenly thought of something and asked again, “Has this never been interrupted during the nine years?”

“No, it has never been interrupted for nine years. A specially-appointed nanny came to cultivate us every day.” He Yufen turned around and knelt down at Mo Xuetong again. She lifted her tearful and dirty face and kowtowed to Mo Xuetong. “My Lady, as for what had happened that day, it was manipulated by the He family, but I don’t know who carried it out exactly. In fact, the He brothers were on guard against me, so I had to sound out some things from other people.”

“Speak something about Consort Zhao!” Mo Xuetong blinked her bright eyes, with her long lashes fluttering. She totally ignored He Yufen’s words and went straight to the point. In fact, Mo Xuetong had long suspected about the He family and felt that it would be the most possible explanation. Otherwise, since Consort Xian was not the biological daughter of the He family, how could she look so similar to He Yufen, He Yuxiu, and Consort Zhao?

If it was not because of the blood relation, then it meant that the He family found them on purpose.

He Yufen answered in a timid way, “The things about Consort Zhao, I… I know little about it. The He family’s two brothers… sometimes avoid us when they talk.”

“Since you don’t know about it, why did you bother sending someone to me?” Mo Xuetong stood up suddenly, threw a cold glance at He Yufen, and turned to leave.

He Yufen had a bad intuition. Looking at Mo Xuetong’s stern figure, she had a feeling that if she missed this chance, she might really have no chance. Every time she thought of King Xuan’s ruthless and cold eyes that day, she would feel appalled.

“My Lady, My Lady, I’ll… I’ll tell you everything I know…” At this time, she could not care about anything else. Thinking of the helplessness she felt after being dragged out that day and the despair she felt after being locked up here for a few days, she only felt that if she continued to stay here, she would go crazy. She would definitely go crazy.