Chapter 279: Father and Daughter Meet

Mo Yuan: “…”

He thought about it for a moment. His master was indeed as Gu Baozhu had said—if there was something that shouldn’t be revealed, he would have explicitly instructed him to keep it a secret.

Since there were no such instructions, it meant that Gu Baozhu had the right to know.

“I’ll tell you,” Mo Yuan said. He didn’t just recount Gu Qingsong’s deeds in Xiliang; he practically narrated his entire life story to Gu Baozhu.

By the time Gu Baozhu finished listening, an hour had already passed.

On the table lay an open document, and she read through it word by word.

When she saw that Gu Qingsong had become a high-ranking official and married a young concubine, the admiration she had felt for her father collapsed in an instant.

Her mother had endured hardships while raising her and her siblings, while her father lived a life of luxury with his concubine and young son.

Was this the father her mother had described as loving them deeply?

When Erhuzi was mischievous and fell off a hillside, his father would rush over to cushion his fall with his own body. When Erhuzi got sick and wanted to eat candied hawthorn, his father would trade the family’s saved eggs for money to buy it for him. When Erhuzi fell asleep on the bamboo bed, his father would fan him to drive away the mosquitoes.

She had always believed that her father truly loved them and would certainly be just like Erhuzi’s father.

No, her father was just as good as Erhuzi’s father—only, not to her and her brothers, but to the younger brother born of the concubine.

Mo Yuan watched as her hand pressed against the document, her head bowed low, motionless. He frowned slightly, wanting to say something.

Then he saw a teardrop fall onto the page, the ink slowly spreading outward, mirroring her current mood, as if a dark cloud had settled over her heart.

“Third Miss,” Mo Yuan said as he noticed one, two, three teardrops falling onto the document. “This document is still useful. If the tears blur it, it will become unreadable.”

Gu Baozhu’s tears were abruptly halted by Mo Yuan’s comment, and her fingers nearly scratched a hole into the document.

After what felt like an eternity, Gu Baozhu raised her head, her tear-filled eyes shimmering. She pouted slightly and asked, “Uncle Mo Yuan, did Second Brother say that there are bad people trying to harm us?”

“Hmm?”

Gu Baozhu lowered her tear-streaked eyelashes and forcefully poked the document with her finger. “The villagers all said my father was eaten by wild beasts. This person must be a bad guy pretending to be my father, right?”

“They couldn’t beat Big Brother and Sister-in-law, so they came up with a crooked scheme to make us heartbroken. Then they would win.”

Gu Baozhu slammed the booklet shut and tossed it in front of Mo Yuan, clenching her small fists tightly. “They’re absolutely despicable!”

She shot to her feet. “I want to go meet him!”

Mo Yuan didn’t refuse. “Wash your face first.”

“No need to wash.” Gu Baozhu casually wiped her face with her sleeve. Her eyes were still damp, resembling a little bunny that had just been bullied. She followed Mo Yuan to the inn where Gu Qingsong was staying.

Gu Baozhu lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, her small head peeking out as she gazed up at the three-story inn. “Uncle Mo Yuan, do you have his portrait?”

“In the cabinet by the carriage wall,” Mo Yuan replied.

Gu Baozhu hurriedly rummaged through and pulled it out. Looking at the portrait of the tall and imposing Gu Qingsong, her eyes seemed to dim as if covered by a layer of dust. He was exactly like the father she had imagined—like a hero.

But not the hero of their family.

Gu Baozhu stuffed the portrait back into the cabinet carelessly and jumped down from the carriage. The moment she landed, her eyes fell on Gu Qingsong, who was striding out of another carriage with his head held high.

She froze in place.

Gu Qingsong felt a gaze fixed on him and followed it, spotting an eight or nine-year-old girl with tearful eyes glistening red, filled with grievance.

His heart jolted. Recognizing Mo Yuan standing beside her, he didn’t need to think further to know who this child was.

“Baozhu.”