He raised his head, eyes full of resentment, "Xia Zian, I am your father after all, why are you so cruel?"
Zi'an curled his lips, "Yes, you are Xia Zi'an's father, but not my father. Aren't you surprised? Your daughter has changed so much, haven't you ever doubted that they are the same person?"
Xia Huaijun looked at her in shock. How could he not have doubted her? However, she had never left the mansion, and there was no one to replace her. Besides, there were no two people in the world who looked so similar.
So he didn't pursue his suspicions in the end.
Zi'an said cruelly, "In fact, you should feel guilty towards Zi'an, because she never hurt you. Do you remember that day in May when Madam Linglong and the prince forced her and beat her in the yard? That day, she died. I am the ghost in her body. I came to avenge you on her behalf. Prime Minister, that day, you hid far away and watched your only bloodline die at the hands of your favorite concubine."
Xia Huaijun's lips trembled, his face grim, "You are talking nonsense, don't try to confuse me with your lies."
"Whether you believe it or not, this is the fact." Zi'an said calmly: "You have always hated your biological daughter, but in fact, she is the one who should hate you the most."
She pulled out a hairpin from her head. It was a crude silver hairpin without any carvings. It was smooth all over, but very ugly.
"This is the hairpin you gave your daughter when she was seven years old. Do you remember?"
Xia Huaijun looked at the hairpin in her hand. He couldn't remember, not even whether he had given her a gift.
Zi'an didn't know about this at first. Before she came, she went to see Princess Danqing and asked her if Xia Huaijun had ever given anything to Zi'an.
Princess Danqing took out the hairpin and told her a story. Zi'an felt sad and hateful after hearing this story.
"Don't make up these random things. You came here to see the joke today. You've seen enough of the joke. Get out of here!" Xia Huaijun said angrily.
"Don't you remember? Well, let me tell you. On her seventh birthday, a distinguished guest came to the mansion. You were talking in the main hall. At that time, the guest said he wanted to see Yuan Cuiyu, but you said she was not feeling well and did not let her out. Later, the guest wanted to see Yuan Cuiyu's daughter, but you could not refuse, so you asked someone to summon her out. She was so happy at that time, thinking that you remembered her birthday, so she came out happily and told the guests happily that it was her birthday today. At that time, you asked Cuiyu to take a silver hairpin from a maid's head in secret and said it was a birthday gift for her. At that time, she was only seven years old. This was the first time she received a gift from you since she could remember. She was so happy that she cried in front of the guest."
A face flashed through Xia Huaijun's mind, a face that was red from the cold, laughing and crying, like a fool.
However, it was just fragments and he couldn't remember anything from that time.
Zi'an sneered, "If you still don't remember, maybe if I tell you the name of this guest, you will remember. He has only been to the Prime Minister's Mansion once. He is the old prince of Daliang, Song Anran."
Xia Huaijun suddenly remembered that this was indeed the case. At that time, she looked at him eagerly, as if asking for a gift, but he did not prepare any gift. He did not even remember her birthday.
In order to get rid of her, he secretly asked Aunt Cuiyu to bring a hairpin and put it in a wooden box so that others could not tell what it was. However, this girl actually took it out in front of Prince Song, making him very embarrassed.
"Do you remember it? Do you remember it?" Zi'an looked at his expression and asked two questions in succession.
Xia Huaijun stared at her fiercely, "What do you want? What do you want to say?"
He now began to believe what she had just said. If she was really Xia Zian, she would not call Yuan Cuiyu by her name. She had always been very respectful to Yuan Cuiyu and would not joke about this.
Zi'an smiled bitterly, "Can't you hear what I want to say? I want to say that you personally pushed your only daughter to a dead end. She loved and respected you so much that she regarded even a crude hairpin you gave her as a treasure. However, in order to marry the prince, you watched her being beaten to death. She was the only person who had never plotted against you. Let's see how you face her when we meet in the afterlife."
Zi'an originally wanted to hurt him with the harshest words, but he found himself sad first, not for himself, but for the original owner, Xia Zi'an, who used the memory she had always cherished as a weapon to hurt her father.
However, this did deal a fatal blow to Xia Huaijun. He looked up blankly, with tears in his eyes.
If this Xia Zian was not his daughter, his daughter would have been beaten to death in the yard that day, killed by Chen Linglong and the prince, and killed by his cruelty.
That is his only bloodline.
If it were in the past, he might not have felt heartbroken, but it was different now. Even if he could get out alive, he would not have any children. And his daughter had never betrayed him. The person who had been cruel to him these days was not her, but the vicious woman in front of him.
No wonder he failed miserably. It turned out that she was not his daughter, so naturally she was only calculating and cruel, without any family affection at all.
Indeed, only that silly child had never plotted against him.
He suddenly felt completely hopeless, not entirely because of his daughter, but because his mother was dead and he had no hope anymore. Master Liang was a man who would destroy his bridges after crossing them, and he would never save him.
Looking up, he looked at Zi'an. Looking at this person, he still couldn't let go of his hatred. If it weren't for her, the prime minister's mansion would not have collapsed.
However, if Zi'an had not died, how could she possess Zi'an and enter the prime minister's residence to catch them all off guard
He began to feel that there was God's will in the universe, and perhaps there really was such a thing as retribution in this world.
He said quietly: "I beg you for a favor."
Zi'an said coldly: "Speak!"
"If what you said is true, please don't let Chen Linglong go, and don't let Murong Qiao go. Avenge Zi'an." He said gritting his teeth.
Zi'an knew that he was naturally not seeking revenge for the original owner, Xia Zi'an. He wanted Chen Linglong to die because Chen Linglong betrayed him. As for why he wanted the prince to die, it was to provoke a fight with the prince. He would be happy to see anyone die, and it would be best if both sides suffered losses.
However, no matter what his purpose is, Zi'an knows very well what he wants to do. Chen Linglong will not be let go. As for Prince Murong Qiao, she will send him to hell with her own hands.
She threw the hairpin down and looked at Xia Huaijun, "This hairpin was given to Zi'an by you. I'm returning it to you now."
Before she left, she gave him a meaningful look.
Xia Huaijun looked ashen.
He knew that the purpose of her leaving the hairpin was to make him commit suicide. If he had no hope, it would be better to die than to live like this.
Even if he committed suicide, he could leave his body intact. Just as she said just now, the law could still judge him, as long as he was no longer the prime minister.
However, Murong Jie retained his status as a first-rank official so that he would be tried as the prime minister. In this way, the last bit of face of the Xia family was lost.
He completely became the sinner of the Xia family.
(End of this chapter)