Reunion, Killing the Kidnapper Foster Mother
Pain…
So much pain!
It felt as if every bone in her body had been crushed, forcing a soft whimper from her lips. Instantly drenched in cold sweat, she opened her eyes.
This was not the main residence courtyard where she had lived for years, nor was it the pitch-dark secret chamber.
Her body trembled as pain spread from her limbs, especially her legs.
Yu Shuwan lifted the blanket to find her wounds carefully bandaged. Only then did memories gradually surface.
Yes, she had been reborn.
She had escaped the moment Liu Chunlan tried to cripple her legs and encountered…
Yu Fangyi.
The door creaked open, revealing a face Yu Shuwan could never forget even in her dreams. Now weary yet filled with joy, he hurried forward.
“Xiao Wan, you’re awake?”
Memories from her past life made Yu Shuwan instinctively shrink back, but the movement tugged at the injuries on her leg, causing her to stifle a groan.
“Don’t move just yet.”
Yu Fangyi quickly soothed her. Seeing the girl’s guarded eyes, his own grew slightly red, and he spoke with a trembling voice,
“I won’t harm you. I… am your father.”
When Yu Shuwan remained unmoved, Yu Fangyi suppressed the ache in his heart and forced a smile.
“You are my daughter. Something happened at your birth that led to your identity being swapped, leaving you here…
But it’s alright. Don’t be afraid. I’ve come to take you home.”
He made it sound as if it were an accident that led to the identity swap. How dare he not admit it was done deliberately?
Yet she only stared intently at Yu Fangyi. “Why didn’t you come before?”
Yu Fangyi fell silent.
What could he say?
That they had been completely unaware until just recently, when they discovered she had been deliberately switched?
“It’s not too late to come now.”
Yu Shuwan looked at Yu Fangyi. “I’ve never had a father since I was young. Even if you’re lying to me, I’m willing to be deceived.”
Hearing this, a storm of emotions surged within Yu Fangyi, his throat tightening with bitterness.
“Who am I? You said I was switched at birth. What will you do with the other girl?”
“We are from the Zhongyi Houfu in Jingcheng. Guiwan has been with us for a long time…
You will return to the estate as the second young lady. There’s no need to worry about anything. Guiwan has an excellent temperament, and I’m sure the two of you will get along well.”
Even though she knew the answer, even though she had lived through this once before, Yu Shuwan couldn’t help but feel a deep sorrow.
From beginning to end, they had never given up on Yu Guiwan. Only she was the “second young lady” who could be discarded at any time.
Suppressing all the pain in her heart, she suddenly lifted her face with a radiant smile. “I never imagined I was actually a young lady from a noble family.
When are we going back?”
“You’re injured now. We’ll return in a couple of days.”
Yu Fangyi felt a pang of guilt at her words, “I never imagined I was actually a young lady from a noble family.”
Last night, Yu Shuwan’s wounds had been soaked in water, causing a fever.
Now lying in bed, she was pale as a ghost.
Just as she said, she should have been a young lady from a noble family.
All of this…
Should never have been her burden to bear.
As if unaware of his emotions, Yu Shuwan asked, “Where are we?”
“From last night until now, you’ve slept for nearly seven or eight hours. We’re at the medical clinic in the town.”
Yu Fangyi answered patiently, and Yu Shuwan listened attentively, silently calculating the distance between the clinic and Liu Chunlan’s home. Suddenly softening her voice, she asked,
“Father, I’m hungry?”
“There’s a huntun vendor outside, I’ll go get you a bowl.”
Yu Fangyi hurried out and returned with a bowl of huntun in hand.
Watching Yu Shuwan devour the food ravenously, Yu Fangyi felt a dull ache in his heart.
After she finished eating, Yu Fangyi carefully broached the subject, “The injury on your leg…”
“Mother wanted to sell me to a fool. Afraid I’d run away, she tried to sever my tendons.”
The young girl’s long lashes trembled, her voice timid, “Father, I want to sleep for a while.”
Almost instantly, Yu Fangyi felt a chill run through his entire body.
Her desperate plea for help last night, the severe injury on her leg, the overlapping old and new marks on her body, and her frail frame so thin it seemed a gust of wind could blow her away…
Yu Fangyi wanted to reach out and touch her but dared not, merely whispering softly:
“Don’t be afraid anymore. From now on, your father will protect you. Sleep.”
Yu Shuwan obediently curled up in the corner, her brow tightly furrowed even in sleep, looking utterly heartbreaking.
Seeing her fall into a deep slumber, Yu Fangyi quietly tiptoed out of the room, his eyes filled with rage.
To dare treat his daughter like this—Liu Chunlan was truly something!
But remembering she was Guiwan’s birth mother, Yu Fangyi hesitated once more.
Meanwhile, inside the room, the girl who had seemed fast asleep had already slipped silently out through the window at some unknown time.
Yu Shuwan had seen this yiguan before; the private room’s window happened to face a narrow alley.
Emerging from the alley, she immediately blended into the crowd and hurried toward Liu Jia Village.
Liu Jia Village was a remote place with few residents; including Liu Chunlan and herself, the entire village had fewer than a dozen people.
Yu Shuwan’s heart pounded wildly.
She was going to kill Liu Chunlan.
As the one who caused all the tragedies, Liu Chunlan had allowed her own daughter to live in luxury for fourteen years while subjecting her to daily beatings and abuse…
Those days haunted her like a nightmare, a shadow she could never shake off in this lifetime.
In her previous life, Liu Chunlan had vanished without a trace before Yu Fangyi appeared, as if all the suffering she endured had never happened.
But how could that be!
She was the root cause of all this—why should she get to live?
Soon, the familiar hut came into view, and Yu Shuwan’s eyes turned as cold as millennia-old ice.
Liu Chunlan had already packed her belongings but felt uneasy about failing to accomplish the task assigned by the noble lady.
Cursing under her breath, she looked up and saw Yu Shuwan, who had been missing all night.
“You wretched girl, you finally decided to come back?”
Liu Chunlan’s eyes lit up, and she eagerly rushed forward to grab Yu Shuwan’s hand, dragging her into the house.
Yu Shuwan allowed herself to be pulled into the dilapidated room.
While rambling about how severing her tendons was for her own good, Liu Chunlan reached for the liandao.
Before her fingers could even touch the handle, she felt a sharp pain in her neck, as if something was gushing out.
“What is this?”
Confused, she reached up to touch her neck, her hand coming away warm with blood.
Pain quickly overwhelmed her, and her plump body slowly slid down against the wall.
Liu Chunlan wanted to cry but dared not move too much, mumbling incoherently, “How… how dare you…”
On her way back, Yu Shuwan had deliberately chosen a branch and sharpened it on a riverside stone.
This was her first grand gift to Liu Chunlan.
“I also want what’s best for Mother.”
Yu Shuwan took the sickle from her hand, watching her body writhe like a fat maggot, and couldn’t help but let out a crisp laugh.
In an instant, the blade fell, and blood splattered everywhere in a flash.
Liu Chunlan screamed, trying to flee, but Yu Shuwan swiftly severed the tendons of her other foot.
Watching her roll on the ground, the smile on Yu Shuwan’s face gradually faded, turning icy cold.
She crouched down, tapping Liu Chunlan’s pale, plump face with the still-dripping long blade, whispering like a demon,
“You looked down on me the most, yet secretly swapped my life, harming me so righteously all these years.”
“You… how did you…”
Liu Chunlan’s eyes were now filled only with terror and despair, her thick hands clawing wildly in the air.
“How did I know, right?”
Yu Shuwan chuckled softly, pressing the long blade against her neck,
“Mother, have a safe journey.
When I return to the Houfu, I’ll take good care of that sister of mine.”
As soon as the words fell, her hand suddenly pressed down and swept outward. The blood gushed out like a waterfall, even splattering onto her face.
Yu Shuwan didn’t dodge, merely watching calmly as Liu Chunlan convulsed and fell still.
Her expression cold, she tossed Liu Chunlan and the prepared bundle directly into the manure pit in the backyard, watching until no trace remained. Only then did Yu Shuwan turn and begin cleaning the house.
When everything was done, Yu Shuwan rinsed off briefly, burned the bloodstained clothes, and sat quietly alone on the doorstep, watching the sky gradually darken.
She was originally the daughter of the Houfu, meant to be raised with endless pampering and affection.
But at birth, Liu Chunlan deliberately swapped her with her own daughter. Fourteen years in a living hell, and just when she had lost all hope, someone finally came to take her away.
Yet, when she returned to the Houfu in Jingcheng full of anticipation, Yu Fangyi, who had promised to treat her foot, had eyes only for Yu Guiwan, completely forgetting her injured foot.
Su Jintang said she was her mother and would never favor one over the other.
Yu Jingzhou said he was her brother, that he had only one biological sister, and he would make it up to her.
So she truly believed them.
She cooperated with them to change Yu Guiwan’s status into that of a legitimate Yu family daughter in the clan register.
And herself? She became an adopted daughter of the Yu family, earning them a fine reputation.
Yu Shuwan laughed mockingly.
How foolish!