Fu Nanli was speechless.
He did not know what he was expecting either.
Xue Tingxue pushed the document back and stood up.
"The engagement is dissolved. From this day forward, Your Highness shall walk your own path, and I shall walk mine. We owe each other nothing."
After she finished speaking, she turned and left.
Fu Nanli watched her back, then suddenly spoke.
"Xue Tingxue, you will regret this."
Xue Tingxue gave a cold laugh, "Your Highness is overthinking it."
Having said that, she strode out of the front hall.
Fu Nanli stood where he was, clutching the document in his hand tightly.
The indescribable feeling in his heart grew stronger and stronger.
The news of the engagement being dissolved spread throughout the Capital City.
Some clapped and cheered, saying that Xue Tingxue was not worthy of Prince Yu.
Others mocked and ridiculed her, saying she was "returned goods."
Xue Tingxue turned a deaf ear to it all.
She wore a plain cyan narrow-sleeved long dress, with a silver-threaded soft armor belt tied around her waist.
"Miss, the person has arrived."
Bi Tao pushed the door open and entered, followed by a middle-aged man who looked travel-worn.
The man was about forty years old with dark, tanned skin.
As soon as he saw Xue Tingxue, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed: "Commoner He Cheng, greetings to Eldest Miss Xue."
Xue Tingxue walked forward and helped him up, "Rise and speak."
He Cheng stood up, took a cloth bundle from his chest, and opened it layer by layer.
Inside was a yellowed official document and several letters.
"This is the document my elder brother He Dian filed at the county office back then, stating that in case anything happened to him, he requested the government to testify that his children had identifying marks."
Xue Tingxue took the document and read it carefully.
The document was written clearly.
He Dian's eldest daughter had a cinnabar mole the size of a grain of rice behind her left ear, and his eldest son had a black birthmark in the popliteal fossa of his right knee.
She put down the document, raised her eyes to look at He Cheng, "Have you seen those two children with your own eyes?"
He Cheng nodded, "I have. That year, their mother brought them back to their hometown, and I held them. I even touched the mole behind the girl's ear."
He gritted his teeth and said: "But these two in the Dingguo Mansion, I have seen them from afar; the girl has no mole behind her ear, and as for the other one, he would need to be stripped to be checked."
Xue Tingxue's lips curled slightly, "Good. If what you say is true, I will definitely reclaim the money spent on those two siblings all these years for Uncle He."
He Cheng patted his chest: "This commoner is willing to stake my life on it! My brother risked his life to save his master, not for outsiders to impersonate them and claim the favor!"
Xue Tingxue stood up and put the document away.
"Bi Tao, take He Cheng to rest and treat him well."
Bi Tao acknowledged and led the man out.
Xue Tingxue stood by the window, her fingers tapping lightly on the window lattice.
Three days later, in the main hall of the Dingguo Mansion.
The Duke and Duchess Ding sat in the seats of honor, Xue Tingxue stood to the side, and Xue Zhen had also specifically rushed back from the barracks.
Xue Manman and Xue Qing were brought in.
Xue Manman wore a light pink jacket, her face haggard, her eye sockets slightly red, and she knelt down as soon as she entered.
"Father, Mother, Manman knows she was wrong. Please forgive me..."
Xue Qing stood behind her, stiffening his neck with a look of defiance.
Duke Dingguo had a complex expression as he looked at Xue Tingxue.
"Tingxue, you said you had something important to say in front of everyone?"
Xue Tingxue stepped forward and took the official document from her sleeve.
"Father, please look at this first."
Duke Dingguo took it, unrolled it, and looked, his brows gradually furrowing.
"This is..."
"The document that Deputy General He Dian filed at the local government office back then." Xue Tingxue's voice was clear, "It lists the physical characteristics of his son and daughter."
Xue Manman's body, kneeling on the ground, stiffened slightly.
Xue Tingxue did not look at her and continued: "The eldest daughter has a cinnabar mole behind her left ear. The eldest son has a birthmark in the popliteal fossa of his right leg."
Her gaze fell on Xue Manman's face, "I wonder if Xue Manman has this mole behind her left ear?"
Xue Manman subconsciously covered her left ear, her face turning pale, "I... I..."
Xue Qing shouted from behind: "What right do you have to check these things? We are Deputy General He's children; this is a set-in-stone fact!"
Xue Tingxue was unhurried, "Set in stone? Very well, someone, please bring He Cheng."
He Cheng walked in from outside and knelt in the hall, "Commoner He Cheng, I am He Dian's younger brother. Before my brother took the children to join the army, he entrusted them to my care."
He raised his head and looked at Xue Manman and Xue Qing, "These two people before us are absolutely not my niece and nephew!"
Xue Qing was furious: "You're talking nonsense!"
Duke Dingguo slapped the table: "Silence!"
Xue Qing was stunned and dared not scold any further.
Xue Tingxue looked at Xue Manman and said calmly: "Second sister, do you dare to let someone check behind your left ear?"
Xue Manman bit her lip, her face deathly pale.
The hall was quiet for a moment, and Madam Xue said with a trembling voice.
"Manman, just let them look. If it is a misunderstanding, it will clear your name."
Xue Manman did not move, and Xue Qing became anxious first: "Sister, let them look! What are you afraid of?"
Xue Manman did not move; her hands were tightly covering her left ear.
Seeing this scene, Xue Tingxue could not help but laugh out loud, "No need to look."
She turned to look at her father, "Father, if it were true, she would have let them look with confidence long ago. With such a guilty conscience, is there any need to check?"
Duke Dingguo's face was ashen as he looked at Xue Manman with eyes full of disappointment, "You... who exactly are you?"
Xue Manman suddenly raised her head, her eyes full of hatred, "Who am I? I am the daughter you raised for eight years! Even if I am not your biological child, after eight years of kindness, are you going to kick me out because of a few moles and a few letters?"
Xue Tingxue said coldly: "Eight years of kindness? You stole Imperial Court secrets and caused Father to almost lose his position; is this what you call repaying kindness?"
She stepped forward and stared down at Xue Manman, "You impersonated the orphans of Deputy General He to deceive the Xue Family into raising you; is this what you call repaying kindness?"
Xue Manman was trembling all over and speechless, and Xue Qing immediately jumped up: "I'll fight you!"
Xue Zhen stepped forward in a flash and pressed him to the ground with one hand, "Behave yourself!"
Xue Qing could not struggle free and could only curse loudly.
Duke Dingguo stood up, his voice hoarse, "Someone, take them away and check them on the spot."
Soon, two Mamas and two Stewards entered. Xue Manman was taken to the side hall to be checked, and Xue Qing was also held down to have his pants and socks removed.
In less than a quarter hour, the Mamas and Stewards came out to report, "Reporting to the Duke, this young lady has no cinnabar mole behind her left ear, and this young master has no birthmark in the popliteal fossa of his right leg."
Duke Dingguo closed his eyes, his body swaying, and Madam Xue hurriedly supported him, her face covered in tears.
"We have been deceived for eight years... eight years..."
Xue Tingxue supported her mother and said softly: "Mother, it is not your fault. It is just that they were too good at deceiving people."
Duke Dingguo opened his eyes and looked at Xue Manman, who was kneeling on the ground, "Do you have anything else to say?"
Xue Manman raised her head, the panic from before gone from her eyes.
She slowly stood up and patted the dust off her skirt, "Since you all know, I have nothing left to say."
Her voice was terrifyingly calm, without the slightest panic of being exposed.
"Yes, I am not the daughter of the He Family, so what?"
✦✦✦