Qin Yan changed into a light apricot-colored qipao, draped a milky-white shawl with long tassels over her shoulders, and went to the Marshal’s residence.
Her hair was pinned up, adorned with a pearl comb. She wore the diamond bracelet and earrings Cheng Tianxun had given her.
She had rarely dressed so formally. She held the Marshal’s wife in great respect.
Before the wedding, when the Marshal’s wife learned that Qin Yan had opened a newspaper, she had merely nodded.
“If you run into any difficulties, tell me. It isn’t easy to build something of your own. Do your best.”
She had never told Qin Yan to close the newspaper, stay home, and devote herself to her husband and children.
The Marshal’s wife herself handled the Marshal’s residence’s diplomatic affairs. She spoke several foreign languages and was quite capable.
Of course, there were some mothers-in-law who managed their own careers yet expected their daughters-in-law to do nothing but live the life of a wealthy socialite. Qin Yan had never thought that her mother-in-law’s support was something she was entitled to simply because of their relationship.
She was grateful to the Marshal’s wife.
Even though the woman had always been rather cold toward her, Qin Yan treated her with the utmost respect.
“Mom.”
“Sit.” As usual, the Marshal’s wife was stern and expressionless. “I called you here today because there’s something I need to remind you about.”
“Please tell me.”
Qin Yan sat upright.
“Have your chief editors stop criticizing the Du family for the time being. Tianxun beat someone, and you also fired a shot at Miss Du. Neither of you came out on the losing end.
“The Marshal is somewhat displeased. He may be looking for something to use against you—‘killing the chicken to scare the monkey,’ as they say, using your matter to teach Tianxun a lesson.”
“Mom, don’t worry. I’ve already given the necessary instructions. I’ll personally go over the newspaper proofs before they’re printed.”
The Marshal’s wife gave a slight nod.
Then she added, “Tianxun also beat Chief of Staff Lan. If you have time, come with me to the Lan family’s house. Pay them a visit.”
Chief of Staff Lan had suffered an entirely undeserved beating.
Qin Yan hesitated.
The Marshal’s wife looked at her.
“I’ve never told anyone outside that you’re Lan Changming’s illegitimate daughter…”
She was trying to tell Qin Yan not to be afraid of the Lan family.
Qin Yan raised her eyes.
“Mom, I’m not Lan Changming’s illegitimate daughter.”
The Marshal’s wife did not understand.
When it came to Qin Yan’s past, the Marshal had told his wife not to ask questions, and he had never been particularly willing to explain the details to her.
So Qin Yan told the Marshal’s wife what she had told Cheng Tianxun a few days ago.
After listening, the Marshal’s wife remained expressionless. But she was silent for a long while before finally saying, “What a damned mess. I never would have expected those people to bully a little girl who was only a few years old. They’re worse than beasts.”
Qin Yan did not wallow in her past. Her expression remained calm.
The Marshal’s wife continued, “I had thought you were… Since I told you not to go to the Lan family, then don’t go. Tianxun should have kicked him harder.”
“Thank you for understanding my situation, Mom.”
“I’m not heartless,” the Marshal’s wife replied.
Then she asked, “Lan Changming only gave you twenty thousand silver dollars as your dowry?”
“Yes.”
“If I get the chance, I’ll help you ask for some more. Twenty thousand silver dollars is far too little.”
As the two women talked, a maid entered and quietly informed the Marshal’s wife, “Madam, Madam Lan and the Eldest Young Master of the Lan family have arrived.”
The Marshal’s wife’s expression turned cold.
“Tell them I’m busy. Have them leave!”
“Madam, didn’t you say earlier that you were going to visit the Lan family? Since they’ve come here…”
The Marshal’s wife gave the maid a quiet look.
The rest of the maid’s sentence died in her throat.
Qin Yan chatted with the Marshal’s wife for a little while longer.
Neither of them was particularly fond of idle family gossip. Apart from discussing important matters, the only other thing they could talk about was Cheng Tianxun.
And there wasn’t much to talk about there either.
Qin Yan knew almost nothing about Cheng Tianxun.
The Marshal’s wife never asked about his private affairs, either—whether Qin Yan was pregnant, whether Cheng Tianxun planned to take a concubine, and so on. She simply had no interest in such things.
After a few dry exchanges, they quickly ran out of topics.
“Mom, it’s getting late. I’ll head home first.”
Qin Yan knew when to take her leave.
The Marshal’s wife nodded, then stood and went upstairs without waiting for Qin Yan to leave first.
Only after her figure disappeared around the bend in the staircase did Qin Yan walk out.
At the entrance of the Marshal’s residence, she saw a car.
The window rolled down, revealing, somewhat indistinctly, a young man and a middle-aged woman in the back seat—the Lan family members the maid had mentioned.
They looked toward Qin Yan.
She saw the young man push open the car door and step out.
Qin Yan got into her own car, started the engine, and drove away.
Dust billowed behind her. The rearview mirror grew hazy, but Qin Yan kept her eyes straight ahead and left without looking back.
The Lan family’s eldest son, Lan Zheng, was left with a face full of exhaust fumes.
“Mom, are we going home? Or are we still waiting for the Marshal?” Lan Zheng asked as he climbed back into the car.
Madam Lan, Du Jia, was rather irritated.
“This is simply outrageous. The Marshal’s wife refuses to see us, and that Young Madam has absolutely no manners. Surely the Marshal owes us an explanation?”
She continued, “You and Cheng Tianxun have a personal friendship. He showed no mercy when he beat your father and your uncle, and his wife injured your cousin…”
Lan Zheng was at a loss for words.
His mother was still seething.
Lan Zheng had only recently returned from abroad, but he had already learned a few things.
“Mom, let’s go home,” he said again.
This time, Madam Lan did not insist on staying.
On the way back, Lan Zheng asked her, “Mom, do you know what kind of background Tianxun’s wife has? Did you attend her wedding banquet?”
“I did. Her background is difficult to pin down. Some people say she’s the illegitimate daughter of Marshal Qin of Guangzhou. The Qin family sent gifts for her wedding, and she herself bears the surname Qin.
“Others say she’s the illegitimate daughter of the Luo family in Hong Kong.”
Lan Zheng asked, “Which Luo family? The Luo family that runs the Hong Kong headquarters of the Hongmen?”
“Yes.”
“Then… whose daughter is she really?”
“There are also people saying she’s the illegitimate daughter of the Ling family, the wealthiest family among the Thirteen Hongs of Guangzhou. There were even photographs circulating of her with Mr. and Mrs. Ling,” Madam Lan said.
“In any case, she’s either rich or powerful. She clearly has an extremely strong backing. Otherwise, Cheng Tianxun would never have married her.
“She doesn’t like socializing, and the Marshal’s wife is even more aloof and reserved. I haven’t seen either of them for the past year, so there was no way for me to find out more.”
Lan Zheng pondered for a long while before saying, “Mom, she looks a little like you.”
“She looks somewhat like Zhuojun,” Madam Lan replied.
Du Zhuojun was her niece. Naturally, her niece resembled her aunt.
Perhaps it was precisely because that Young Madam looked somewhat like Du Zhuojun that Cheng Tianxun had been willing to marry her.
“Mom, does she look like Muhe?”
Lan Zheng suddenly asked.
The moment Madam Lan heard the name “Muhe,” she felt a little irritated.
She really did not like Lan Muhe.
Her own biological daughter had been given to her mother-in-law to raise from childhood, so she had never been particularly close to Madam Lan. And Madam Lan could never see eye to eye with the way Muhe conducted herself.
But she could not say that to anyone.
That was her own biological daughter. How could a mother hate her own child? Even animals knew to protect their young.
It was wrong.
Whenever resentment toward her daughter welled up inside her, Madam Lan would remind herself that such feelings went against the natural bond between mother and child, then immediately suppress them.
“No!” Her voice was somewhat stiff. “Muhe looked like me when she was little, but the older she gets, the more she resembles your father.”
She and her husband had a deep affection for each other. She did not dislike him, nor could she say she particularly hated her mother-in-law.
So why did she simply dislike Lan Muhe?
She must be ill. Something must have gone wrong with her feelings toward Muhe.
“…It seems like a lot of families have illegitimate children. Mom, could Father…”
Madam Lan laughed.
“That’s one thing I’m certain of. Your father knows where to draw the line.”
Then she asked, “What have you heard?”
Her tone was relaxed. She was not suspicious in the slightest.
Lan Zheng shook his head.
Cheng Tianxun’s words—your sister, Qin Yan—had made Lan Zheng unable to stop thinking about it.
His younger sister, Lan Muhe, had the childhood nickname Qin Yan.
Could that really be nothing more than a coincidence?
And he had vaguely heard people in the military saying that Cheng Tianxun had married the daughter of Chief of Staff Lan.
Then there was the glimpse he had just caught of the Young Madam from a distance. She had looked somewhat like his mother.
Just what was going on?