Chapter 40: Never to Part Again

Wang Jinlan was nearly frantic, as if she were intent on venting nineteen years of pent-up bitterness all at once.

Liu Cuixi, taken aback by the initial blow, struggled to fight back. She shoved the much slighter Wang Jinlan to the ground with force and shrieked, "Go to hell! That little wretch was birthed by me, and no one else!"

With that, she glared fiercely at Sheng Mingyue, gnashing her teeth. "You ungrateful brat, you don't even believe your own mother, yet you trust the words of an outsider?"

Wang Jinlan stumbled when shoved, but she scrambled back to her feet immediately, diving back into the scuffle. "You shrew! How dare you curse my daughter!"

Liu Cuixi was robust; if she truly unleashed her malice, the frail Wang Jinlan was no match for her.

Sheng Mingyue rushed over, pulled the two apart, and shielded Wang Jinlan behind her, her expression composed. "I see you won't give up until you see the coffin. Since you are so confident that you are my birth mother, why not settle this with a blood test?"

Liu Cuixi’s heart skipped a beat, a flash of guilt crossing her eyes. Without a second thought, she snapped back, "Do you think I wouldn't know if you were the flesh and blood I birthed? What need is there for a blood test?"

Sheng Mingyue curled her lips into a cold sneer, her tone level. "If I had no ironclad proof, would I go to such lengths to trouble myself?"

"You pulled every trick in the book, thinking you had secured a good marriage for yourself. You never imagined that my father would be implicated and lose his livelihood because of you. You failed to become a scholar's wife, and my father refused to touch you ever again. So, you let your dead hopes revive, rekindled things with your former lover, and got pregnant with Sheng Li."

"Liu Cuixi, your heart is so venomous—are you not afraid that retribution will find you?"

Sheng Qiming swayed, tears streaming down his face and splashing onto the ground. Through nineteen years of separation from his love, the ruin of his future, and constant beatings and insults, he had never shed a single tear. Yet now, having finally found release, he could not control the tears.

Liu Cuixi let out a shrill scream, her demeanor crazed. "Shut up! Shut your mouth! You are spouting nonsense!"

Sheng Mingyue chuckled with disdain, finding immense satisfaction in the sight before her. "Can’t handle it? I told you, whatever you, Liu Cuixi, owe me, I will collect it one by one."

Sheng Mingyue took a few steps forward, locking eyes with her, and spoke softly, "I have my own backing now. You can no longer touch me, and I fear that now that Sheng Li has fallen into that person’s hands, he won't survive."

"I'll kill you... I'll kill you!"

As Sheng Mingyue’s words reached her ears, Liu Cuixi screamed incessantly, reaching out to grab Sheng Mingyue’s throat.

The next moment, a stone the size of a palm struck her wrist. Liu Cuixi cried out in pain, clutching her wrist as she wailed.

Yun Lai slowly drew back his hand and gave a cold snort. "You madwoman, I’ve been guarding against your treachery for a long time."

Sheng Mingyue turned, her face full of surprise, and locked eyes with Rong Zhao, who stood in the alleyway with his hands behind his back.

"Take her to the magistrate," Rong Zhao said, his tone flat. He looked at her as if she were a corpse. "Take Liu Juan, Pang Xiuzhen, and her former lover along with her."

Liu Cuixi’s eyes widened, and she retreated in a panic. "Your Highness, this is a family matter, you cannot..."

Rong Zhao raised his eyes, glancing at her coldly, and said in a deep voice, "I am merely having a guilty, deranged woman arrested. I have given the order—who dares to stop me?"

Liu Cuixi was stunned. Before she could plead her case any further, Yun Lai grabbed her by the wrists and shoved her toward the mouth of the alley.

As she passed Sheng Mingyue, Liu Cuixi struggled violently, hurling vicious insults. "You bitch! You and your mother are both equally low-born!"

With those words, there was no need for a blood test; Sheng Mingyue’s true parentage was already clear.

Knowing the jig was up and her days were numbered, Liu Cuixi stopped pretending. She glared viciously at the two of them, her smile twisted. "So what if you know the truth? Wang Jinlan, your daughter was bullied by me for nineteen years! Every day you spent longing for my son, your daughter was suffering my beatings and curses!"

"Wang Jinlan, Sheng Qiming, you deserve this!"

"If I can't have a good life, neither will you!"

Liu Cuixi’s laughter grew increasingly manic, chilling to the bone. Sheng Mingyue watched her quietly, and once she finished speaking, she slapped her across the face.

Liu Cuixi was stunned, forgetting even to laugh, staring blankly as she muttered, "You dare hit me..."

Sheng Mingyue remained calm, entirely unaffected by her ravings. She whispered, "You ruined me, so I will take your son’s life. We are even now; we owe each other nothing."

With that, Sheng Mingyue gave her a gentle smile, though the coldness in her eyes went unnoticed by all.

Liu Cuixi stood frozen for a moment. It was only as she was being dragged away that she snapped back to reality. "Sheng Mingyue, if you dare touch my son, you’ll die a horrible death! Sheng Mingyue, you bitch..."

As the woman’s shrill voice faded into the distance until it could no longer be heard, Sheng Mingyue slowly closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"My goodness... it’s exactly as those people guessed earlier; the little cannon fodder really was swapped at birth."

"I told you! What kind of birth mother treats her own daughter like that?"

"The prophet was right! The little cannon fodder really has some kind of magic; the more I look at her, the more I like her!"

"Those who only just started understanding her now are missing out. I was on board from the start; there’s an indescribable feeling to watching her grow!"

"Look at the second male lead! His eyes turned red the moment the little cannon fodder started crying!"

Sheng Mingyue seemed to sense something. She opened her misty, tear-filled eyes and looked toward the left, finding that Rong Zhao’s eyes were indeed rimmed with red, and he was staring at her without blinking.

Sheng Mingyue shifted her gaze in a panic, not daring to look at him again, yet her heart had already lost its rhythm.

"Mingyue..." Wang Jinlan raised her eyes, unable to move her gaze from the girl's face, as if she could never see enough. "No wonder... no wonder I felt so close to you the moment I saw you."

Sheng Mingyue lowered her head, her soft lips trembling. After much hesitation, she finally called out, "Mother..."

"Yes... Mother is here, Mother is here." Wang Jinlan was overwhelmed, her eyes widening as she wept with joy. She reached out to touch her cheek, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably. "Nineteen years of separation, and we are finally reunited. It was Mother who was foolish, kept in the dark by others."

Sheng Mingyue shook her head, burying herself in her mother’s embrace to feel the warmth that had arrived nineteen years late. She whispered, "Let’s not talk about the past. Let’s live our lives well as a family and never be separated again."

Wang Jinlan nodded repeatedly, wrapping her arms around the girl’s slim waist, sobbing until she was breathless.

Outside the courtyard, the mother and daughter hugged and wept. Inside the courtyard, Sheng Qiming remained slumped on the ground, lacking the strength to rise.

"Please rise, Uncle."

A shadow fell over him. Before Sheng Qiming could react, he was pulled up from the ground by Rong Zhao.

Seeing who it was, Sheng Qiming was deeply shocked. He quickly took several steps back and bowed deeply. "My life is lowly; how could I accept such a gesture from a Prince? I am unworthy!"

Rong Zhao’s hand, which had been helping him up, paused, and a look of helplessness instantly crossed his face.

Well, the father and daughter were exactly the same.