Read Novel Full CHAPTER 46 PART1
CHAPTER 46 PART1
“So alike!” Old Madam Yin blurted out, murmuring to herself, “Too alike… far too alike!”
Alike? Old Madam Yin was momentarily bewildered, glancing back and forth at Old Master Yin and Madam Yin’s stunned faces.
Xiao Luanfei stood frozen, completely dazed, her mind a complete blank.
It wasn’t just Xiao Luanfei—Xiao Shuo was equally shocked, his gaze fixed on Xiao Yanfei, who was still holding the veil in her hand.
If Second Sister’s face wasn’t injured, then why…
Why had she pretended to be disfigured? Why deceive the entire household?
Xiao Shuo’s eyes widened as his heartbeat quickened, a vague shadow gradually taking shape within the dense fog of his thoughts…
In that moment, it felt as though time itself had stopped.
The strong wind on the boat tossed everyone’s hair and garments, growing fiercer with every gust.
“Child… come here,” it was Old Master Yin, still in his wheelchair, who finally moved. He raised a trembling hand toward Xiao Yanfei, his voice shaking slightly.
His aged fingers trembled like dry branches in the wind.
Xiao Luanfei was on the verge of panic. She dug her nails into her palm and said hastily, “Mother, shouldn’t we be returning to the capital now? The wind is picking up—Grandfather is still recovering. Staying out here won’t be good for him…”
Xiao Yanfei glanced at her flustered sister and smiled gently, as calm and poised as ever. “The wind is a bit strong. Luckily, I brought a cloak… Zhiqiu.”
Zhiqiu appeared promptly with a black cloak in hand and a demure smile on her face.
Xiao Yanfei turned to Xiao Luanfei and reassured her, “Don’t worry, Eldest Sister. There’s still time—we’ll definitely make it back to the capital before nightfall.”
Xiao Luanfei’s mind was a tangled mess. She couldn’t find the words to respond.
Madam Yin frowned slightly, noticing that something was off with Luanfei today. She seemed unusually anxious and flustered, a far cry from her usual composed and dignified self.
What on earth had happened at the marquis’ residence during her absence these past ten days?
Xiao Yanfei took the black cloak from Zhiqiu and walked toward Old Master Yin in the wheelchair.
“….” Xiao Luanfei parted her lips as if to stop her, but no words came out. She stood stiffly in place.
Old Master Yin slowly raised his cloudy gaze, staring at Xiao Yanfei’s face for a long time, as though searching for a familiar trace in her features. His eyes glistened with moisture.
“Your name… is Yanfei?” the old man rasped, his voice thick with emotion, his chest heaving.
Xiao Yanfei nodded, then bent down to drape the cloak over his shoulders, quickly and deftly fastening the clasp.
All the while, Old Master Yin never took his eyes off her.
“Ah Wan,” Old Madam Yin said with a smile, grasping her daughter’s hand, “She looks so much like your grandmother.”
Madam Yin: “……”
Madam Yin could barely recall what her grandmother had looked like.
She had passed away when Old Matriarch Yin was just four or five years old.
All she remembered was being cradled on a warm lap, her grandmother’s kind voice calling her “my sweet girl,” saying how pretty her little darling was.
Old Madam Yin’s eyes misted as she examined Xiao Yanfei’s face from every angle.
Xiao Yanfei really did resemble the late Old Matriarch Yin. Not like a perfect copy, no—but those cat-like eyes, that soft, crescent-shaped smile… there was a good five or six parts likeness, at least.
At first glance, she’d been transported back to that moment years ago, when she had just married into the Yin family and lifted her eyes to meet her mother-in-law’s while offering tea. At the time, the matriarch had been just over thirty.
She had been an exceptional beauty, pampered and cherished by the old patriarch all her life.
“She really does look like her.” Old Master Yin’s aged eyes lit up with a spark of vitality as he reminisced. “Mother always regretted… that she never had a daughter who looked like her…”
As he spoke, Old Master Yin suddenly froze, as if only now realizing something crucial.
He turned to glance at Xiao Luanfei, then looked again at Xiao Yanfei. Doubts churned in his mind, and his once-clouded eyes slowly sharpened, regaining their clarity as his thoughts raced.
Wait a minute—this girl named Yanfei, wasn’t she supposed to be a concubine’s daughter?
The child of that concubine Cui… then why—why did she look so much like his late mother?
Xiao Yanfei was close enough to catch the confusion and shock in Old Master Yin’s gaze.
The Yin family was the wealthiest merchant clan in Jiangnan, a position only attained in Old Master Yin’s generation. For someone capable of managing such a massive commercial empire, it was impossible for him to be as simple and guileless as he looked.
Xiao Yanfei smiled lightly, lips gently curved as she allowed him to examine her, poised and composed.
Too much alike… He couldn’t tear his eyes away. His gaze began to burn, the muscles in his face stiffening, his smile slowly fading. A storm of emotion surged in the depths of his pupils.
Though physically weakened by his stroke—his limbs no longer fully under his control—his mind remained sharp. Not just clear, but quick, calculating.
He’d lived a long life, traveled the breadth of the country, heard countless strange tales, and witnessed every kind of human sorrow and joy. For someone like him, it wasn’t hard to guess what that face might signify.
A terrifying possibility surged to the surface of his mind—one he could no longer ignore.
If it was true, then the truth was simply too cruel to bear.
His hands began to tremble uncontrollably. Fury simmered, climbing steadily in his chest.
“Grandfather,” Xiao Yanfei called softly, her voice a gentle balm. “Don’t get agitated.”
Her words, slow and soothing, fell like a warm spring breeze, carrying with them a strange, calming power.
She was worried. He had just suffered a stroke and was still recovering—any emotional shock could be dangerous.
“As long as the truth comes to light, everything will work itself out,” Xiao Yanfei said calmly. She turned her head slightly, guiding Old Master Yin’s gaze toward Xiao Luanfei. Her voice remained gentle, yet deliberate. “Don’t you agree, Eldest Sister?”
Her eyes curved like a fox’s—smiling, yet mocking. As if to say: What’s mine… will come back to me, sooner or later.
Those words—the truth will come to light—stabbed into Xiao Luanfei’s heart like a blade.
She stared at Xiao Yanfei, wide-eyed. A terrifying realization flooded her mind: Xiao Yanfei knew. She knew everything.
Thud! Thud!
Her heart pounded like a war drum. Her throat burned like fire. Unbidden, memories from her previous life surged forth.
In her past life, she had lost everything.
Was she destined to repeat that same fall into the abyss all over again?
“What did you just say?!” Xiao Luanfei blurted out, voice raised without thinking.
“I said,” Xiao Yanfei replied with a soft chuckle, “everything will turn out fine.” Then, with perfect calm, she added, “Eldest Sister, one shouldn’t be so pessimistic.”
She tilted her little face slightly, eyes wide with innocence. Her dark pupils shimmered with a clear light, and under the sunlight, she looked so well-behaved it stirred pity in the heart.
Old Master Yin cast a shrewd glance over the two sisters, Xiao Yanfei and Xiao Luanfei.
Standing side by side, the two young women were of similar age, but while the younger appeared calm and composed, the elder was clearly anxious and unsettled.
Suppressing the turbulent emotions surging in his chest, Old Master Yin took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
So many words hovered on the tip of his tongue, yet none came out.
Xiao Luanfei, under the weight of his sharp and discerning gaze, felt a growing pressure, as though every secret she had was being laid bare. A chill crept down her spine.
Suddenly, Xiao Yanfei let out a soft “Oh!” and said, “Eldest Sister, your handkerchief dropped.”
Her voice was clear, just the right volume—enough for everyone on the deck to hear. All eyes turned toward Xiao Luanfei.
Even she instinctively glanced down and saw her handkerchief had somehow fallen to the deck.
Her thoughts were a tangled mess—she couldn’t think straight. Acting on reflex, she crouched down to pick it up. But just then, a gust of wind swept the handkerchief away, carrying it along with a dried leaf across the deck.
Xiao Luanfei froze again. It wasn’t until that moment she remembered: retrieving handkerchiefs was a servant’s job. Slowly, awkwardly, she straightened back up.
Her maid, Shuxiang, rushed forward to retrieve it for her.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yanfei smiled sweetly. As her gaze happened to meet Old Master Yin’s probing eyes, her smile grew even more demure.
She looked like a snow-white Persian kitten—adorable, harmless, and entirely disarming. The sight made Old Master Yin’s heart ease slightly, and he couldn’t help but chuckle.
That single smile helped ease the storm within him. He drew another deep breath, and the sharp pain that had been throbbing at his temples now seemed to fade. The dizziness clouding his vision began to lift.
Now calmer, Old Master Yin could see things more clearly. He realized the girl had been trying to comfort him.
She was a good child.
Within moments, he regained his composure and sighed inwardly. Yanfei is right, he reminded himself. I must not lose control.
He couldn’t afford to collapse again.
He needed to stay alive—to watch everything unfold with his own eyes.
If the truth really was as he suspected, then his daughter would need him—would need both her aging parents to stand behind her.
Even if merchants were ranked at the bottom of society, far beneath nobility and titled families, he couldn’t allow his daughter to be schemed against, to be trampled like this!
At last, Old Master Yin steadied himself. In a hoarse voice, he said, “Let’s disembark…”
“Yes, if we don’t reach the capital before nightfall, it’ll be troublesome,” Old Madam Yin echoed, though her voice was uneasy.
Madam Yin nodded slightly, her own thoughts now a tangled knot. Her heart felt like a ball of yarn rolling loose—no matter how she tried, she couldn’t make sense of it.
Every so often, her eyes drifted toward Xiao Yanfei.
The air around them grew stranger by the second.
Two of the Yin family’s guards lifted Old Master Yin’s wheelchair off the sandboat and down the gangplank. A line of elegant carriages was already waiting at the riverbank.
Everyone boarded their respective carriages. The servants from both the Yin family and the marquis’ household began loading the luggage onto the carts behind.
In less time than it took for a single stick of incense to burn, the entire group departed from the Tongxian dock and headed west, toward the capital.
But Xiao Luanfei no longer carried the pride and confidence she had when they first set out. Throughout the journey, she remained lost in thought—distracted and unsettled.
Beneath her lowered lashes, a storm of conflicting emotions churned—resentment, frustration, fear, despair, and above all, a deep, unrelenting unwillingness to accept it all.
Xiao Luanfei’s mind kept replaying Xiao Yanfei’s words on the boat—each one dripping with implication, layered with meaning.
Xiao Yanfei knew. She knew her background. She knew about their maternal great-grandmother in the Yin family.
That whole charade with the disfigurement—Xiao Yanfei had staged it to deceive her. It was despicable. She would stoop to any means to steal what was hers!
Xiao Luanfei sat in a daze, completely unaware of how much time had passed—until she heard the voices of the servants outside the carriage.
“We’ve arrived in the capital!”
“Master, Madam, Young Master… we’ve reached the capital!”
Only then did Xiao Luanfei snap back to reality. She reached out and lifted the curtain, gazing toward the carriages behind them.
Because of Old Master Yin’s health, they had traveled more slowly than they had in the morning. Now it was nearly dusk, the sun already low in the sky, casting a golden glow over the trailing line of carriages.
Old Madam Yin sat in the most elaborate and grand carriage at the rear. It was a double-horse, flat-roofed design—custom-built in Jiangnan specifically for the Yin family. Larger than most, lacquered with gold and inlaid with multicolored glazed windows, its corners adorned with pearl tassels—every detail was exquisitely crafted. Even the most luxurious carriages in the Marquis’ household couldn’t compare.
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