Just as Qin Shuang was about to grasp Ruan Jiu's hand, Ruan Jiu immediately took two steps backward, frowning tightly.
"Yan'er?" Qin Shuang's hand froze in mid - air. Then she retracted it and clenched her fists so tightly that her fingertips turned white. Choking back sobs, she asked, "Do you have a plum - blossom birthmark on your right arm?"
Qin Shuang stared at Ruan Jiu intently, her eyes full of expectation. Hearing this, Xie Jingchu's eyes flashed with a moment of surprise, and then he looked at Ruan Jiu.
Ruan Jiu replied coldly, "No." Although her face was expressionless, her fingernails had already dug into her palm.
Hearing this answer, Qin Shuang shook her head repeatedly. "Impossible, it's absolutely impossible!" She took a few steps forward. "Roll up your sleeve and let me have a look, just one look!" After saying that, she immediately tried to grab Ruan Jiu's arm.
Seeing this, Xie Jingchu stepped forward to block Qin Shuang. "Madam Shen, be cautious!" Shen Yu also immediately stepped forward to hold Qin Shuang back, looking confused. "Mother, what are you doing?"
Qin Shuang looked at Shen Wenshan with a helpless look in her eyes. "Husband, she is Yan'er, she is really Yan'er!" Shen Wenshan pulled Qin Shuang into his arms and gently stroked her back. Then he said to Xie Jingchu, "Young Master Xie, could you please ask Ruan Jiu to roll up her sleeve so that we can take a look?"
Before Xie Jingchu could say anything, Ruan Jiu directly said, "There is no plum - blossom birthmark on my arm. I'm not the Yan'er you're talking about! A Jing, let's go!" After saying that, Xie Jingchu immediately took Ruan Jiu and left.
It wasn't until they returned to the Xie Mansion that Ruan Jiu said a single word. Xie Jingchu was a bit worried. He grabbed Ruan Jiu's hand and gently pried open her tightly - clenched fist. Looking at her red - palm, his eyes were full of distress. After hesitating for a long time, he said, "A Jiu, don't be like this."
That day when he carried Ruan Jiu out of the water prison, although he only saw it for a moment, he still clearly remembered that there was indeed a plum - blossom - shaped birthmark on Ruan Jiu's right arm. Qin Shuang's reaction made it hard not to suspect that Ruan Jiu's background was related to the Shen family.
"A Jing, I'm a bit scared."
"Hmm?"
Ruan Jiu shook her head and lowered her eyelids without saying a word. In fact, she didn't know what she was afraid of. Just now in the Shen Mansion, it wasn't that she didn't admit to having the birthmark on her right arm. It was that she didn't dare to admit it!
Xie Jingchu pulled Ruan Jiu into his arms and whispered, "Don't be afraid. I'll be here for everything." Ruan Jiu buried her head in Xie Jingchu's arms. Only in this way, it seemed, could she calm her restless heart.
Just then, Qin Yuan came in to deliver a message. "The Shen family has been waiting at the door."
"Drive them away," Xie Jingchu said.
Ruan Jiu raised her head, pursed her lips, and said, "We can't hide it." She had recuperated in the Shen Mansion for several days, and it was the Shen Mansion's maids who applied medicine to her. Even if she didn't want to figure this out, the Shen Wenshan couple would never let it go.
So, Xie Jingchu sent someone to lead the Shen family to the main hall. As soon as Qin Shuang wanted to step forward to get close to Ruan Jiu, she was immediately stopped. She had no choice but to walk to the side reluctantly and sit down.
Ruan Jiu directly said, "Since you want to figure this out, I'll let you see clearly." After saying that, Ruan Jiu slowly rolled up her sleeve. Her entire right arm was covered with dense and scabbed wounds. It was extremely ghastly! Just the arm was like this, not to mention the countless wounds all over her body. Of course, the plum - blossom birthmark also came into Qin Shuang's view.
Qin Shuang excitedly grabbed Shen Wenshan's hand. "Husband, she is Yan'er! She is really Yan'er!" How could Shen Wenshan not understand? The moment he saw Ruan Jiu, her appearance was exactly the same as Qin Shuang's when she was young!
Qin Shuang covered her chest. "Yan'er! You've suffered so much!" Then she lowered her eyes and didn't dare to look any more. So many wounds not only hurt her eyes but also stabbed deeply into her heart!
Shen Wenshan said sorrowfully, "Yan'er! You are our own daughter! We've searched for you so hard!" After hearing this, Ruan Jiu remained unmoved. She put down her sleeve and said coldly, "Even if you are my parents, you've never raised me for a single day. Don't think you can make me forgive Shen Ruoxi like this."
Qin Shuang pounded her chest hard and cried. "Yan'er, are you blaming mother for losing you?" She was crying so hard that she could hardly catch her breath. This was her beloved daughter whom she had missed for more than a decade! She had even said so many harsh words to her before!
Shen Yu, who had been silent beside them, finally spoke up. "She is my sister? I have a sister?" He was completely unaware of this!
Qin Shuang nodded. "She is your own sister!" Only then did Shen Yu understand why his heart would ache whenever he saw Ruan Jiu sad. It turned out that Ruan Jiu was his sister!
Qin Shuang wiped away her tears and continued, "Sixteen years ago, there was an internal strife in the Shen family. I was pregnant at that time, so your father had to send me back to the old residence in Qinzhou. Due to the bumpy journey, I gave birth in a dilapidated temple in the west of the city. But I gave birth to twins. At that time, twins were regarded as inauspicious. I couldn't let this become a handle for them to bring down your father. So, out of desperation, I only took you back to the Shen family's old residence first and hid Yan'er in the dilapidated temple. But the next day, I immediately sent someone I trusted to look for Yan'er in the dilapidated temple. I originally planned to secretly send Yan'er to my mother's family, but who would have thought that Yan'er was gone! Later, after your father stabilized the Shen family, I told him about this. Over the years, we've secretly sent many people to look for her, but there was no news. Fortunately, God had mercy on us, and finally I found Yan'er!"
Hearing what Qin Shuang said, Ruan Jiu's cold eyes flickered. Her mind was filled with a thousand thoughts.
Shen Wenshan took over from Qin Shuang and continued, "Yan'er! Your mother didn't lose you on purpose! She had no choice! Since then, she has been sad every day. Even the doctor said that her heart was filled with melancholy and no medicine could cure her. Later, she met Xi'er, who was about your age. She brought Xi'er back to the mansion and regarded Xi'er as you. Only then did she gradually get better."
After hearing this, Ruan Jiu's eyes narrowed, and she said coldly, "So, is this the reason why you indulged her in taking human lives?"
"No, it's not like this! No, it's not like this!" Qin Shuang shook her head repeatedly. "Yan'er, you are a piece of flesh that fell from mother's body! I feel so heart - broken, so heart - broken!" Just one arm had so many ghastly wounds. How much pain must she have endured all over her body!
Ruan Jiu snorted. "Do you know? I've never expected my parents, and I've never envied others. These days in the Shen Mansion, I even envied Shen Ruoxi for having parents like you. You would not only feel sorry for her but also lower yourselves for her. At that time, I was thinking that if my parents saw me like this, would they be extremely heart - broken? Even more laughable is that the parents I envied Shen Ruoxi for having are actually my own parents."
At this point, Ruan Jiu took a deep breath. Then she relaxed her frown and said, "I won't take Shen Ruoxi's life. Since you gave me a life, now I'll return a life to you. From now on, we owe each other nothing."