The Favored Heiress
Chapter 610: The Change Eleven Years Ago

Chapter 610: Chapter 610: The Change Eleven Years Ago

Li Qiao and Shang Yu looked into each other’s eyes, her fingers climbing to his eyelid to gently caress, "When have I ever lied to you?"

Even after hearing what Ming Dailan had said, regardless of its truth, her scales would still tip in his favor.

Good or bad, they were never her criteria for judging Shang Yu.

...

Not long after, Li Qiao dimmed the brightness of the crystal lamp and raised the curtains, casting a dim yellow glow that added a touch of warmth to the room.

The tea on the table had gone cold, Shang Yu leaned back in his chair, his arms tightly wrapping Li Qiao in his embrace as he was calming his emotions, while she was discreetly sending text messages.

On the other side, after Madam Xiao’s car left, He Chen, accompanied by Wang Yue and Zhui Feng, walked out of the underground wine bar.

The bodyguards around the Mansion also resumed their duties one after another.

At the stairway corner, He Chen caught sight of the scene in the living room, and looked towards Wang Yue with an indescribable expression.

With one hand on his hip, he pinched his brow and asked in a low voice, "How did Li Qiao come back?"

Wang Yue pointed to his phone screen and chuckled awkwardly, "Brother Chen, I have no idea, Miss Li’s location... was clearly at the border."

He too wanted to know how Miss Li had returned.

And... Luoyu’s location had always overlapped with Miss Li’s; they were supposed to be together.

He Chen glanced at him and, with a look of disdain, waved his hand, "Enough, can’t you see? The four of you combined can’t outplay her."

In this world, the only thing Li Qiao doesn’t want to do is what she can’t do.

Zhui Feng by his side felt defiant yet seemed to agree with the reasoning.

...

In the living room, Shang Yu slowly opened his eyes, the complex emotions at the bottom of his eyes had dissipated. His palm caressed the back of Li Qiao’s head as he spoke in a deep voice, "Is there something you want to ask?"

Li Qiao lifted her head from his embrace, looking straight into his eyes, and stated flatly, "That child... had nothing to do with you."

Even though Madam Xiao adamantly accused Shang Yu of killing his brother, she still didn’t believe it.

No matter how cruel Shang Yu was, he wouldn’t lay a hand on a child.

There was no reason or rationale for it.

For instance, although he was strict and demanding towards Shang Lu, he was still caring and attentive.

However, the words that Shang Yu subsequently uttered left Li Qiao greatly shocked.

"It had to do with me." The man released her shoulders, leaned forward to pick up a cigarette case from the table, pondered for a long time, then revealed the truth of what happened back then.

Eleven years ago, in the summer, Shang Yu was ambushed and injured. Pregnant for six months, Madam Xiao, who received the news, made a special trip back from the British Imperial to Parma to visit him.

That was her and Duke Charlman’s second child, although she was already forty, Madam Xiao’s health had always been excellent. Her travel was secure with several members of the Duke’s Knight Squad accompanying her.

No mother in the world does not love her own children, and even if there was hatred, it had a cause.

Before that incident, although Madam Xiao had remarried the Charlman family, she still cared greatly for Shang Yu and Shang Lu.

Divorce of her parents didn’t affect her affection for her children.

Yet it was that one visit to see Shang Yu that forced her to terminate her pregnancy due to a bowl of "fetal protection medicine," which consequently led to severe bleeding that not only resulted in her uterus being removed but nearly cost her life in the old house.

The child in Madam Xiao’s womb for several months, to be exact, was a six-month fetus.

That night in the old Parma residence was chaotic and tumultuous.

When Madam Xiao awoke, she was devastated.

Because—

"The bowl of fetal protection medicine was indeed given by me," Shang Yu spoke with a tight voice, enunciating each word, uncovering that blood-tinged past once again. Even his breathing felt heavy.

Li Qiao had considered countless possibilities, but each word he spoke did not belong to any of the scenarios she had imagined.

That year, Shang Yu was sixteen.

Despite his severe injuries not yet healed, he still insisted on preparing Fetal protection medicine for Madam Xiao.

They once indeed shared a tender mother-son relationship, but everything came to an end on the night Madam Xiao lost her child in agony.

Shang Yu had never anticipated such an outcome, nor that Madam Xiao would be so heartbroken.

The child she miscarried was a boy.

Madam Xiao hadn’t lied. When the fetus was taken from the womb, its arms and legs were broken, a bloodied mess, marking the beginning of their estrangement.

Everyone knew of Madam Xiao’s malicious core, favoring her stepson over her biological son.

Yet even to this day, she showed boundless affection for her brother Shang Lu, and wished nothing but to quickly rid herself of Shang Yu.

For the more love there was, the greater the hatred became.

She came back to her homeland carrying Shang Yu’s child within her, but the medicine he personally served led to the miscarriage and the removal of her womb.

This incident later became a taboo topic within the Shang clan.

It was also since that year that the already thawing relationship between the Charlman Family and the Parma Shang clan once again plummeted to rock bottom.

Since then, Shang Yu left home. From being the heir to a family of traditional medicine, he became the Overlord of the South Sea.

If not for those changes, he would likely have stayed in Parma, following his predetermined life path, inheriting Shang Zonghai’s medical skills, and taking charge of the family’s medicinal hall.

The reminiscences came to a full stop.

At this moment, Li Qiao narrowed her eyes at Shang Yu and analyzed in a very calm voice, "You had no reason to get rid of that child. If you wanted to do so, the daughter of the Duke Charlman wouldn’t be alive today."

The man turned his head and looked at her, a ripple crossing his dark gaze, "Do you trust me that much?"

"Of course," Li Qiao raised an eyebrow and smiled serenely, "You also said it was Fetal protection medicine, not an abortifacient."

Raised in the Shang’s traditional Chinese medicine environment from a young age, if Shang Yu truly wanted to harm Madam Xiao’s child, why would he need to act himself within his own home?

Traditional Chinese medicine could kill a person without leaving a trace.

He wasn’t that foolish, nor was he that malicious.

Shang Yu’s lips curled slightly as his deep gaze settled on the teacup, "That child, indeed did not survive."

Li Qiao thoughtfully stroked her chin, "If you prepared the medicine, did anyone else handle it?"

The man slowly relaxed his eyebrows, laying his palm atop her head and stroking it gently, "No."

He personally took care of preparing, cooking, and serving the medicine.

Therefore, he could not defend himself.

Madam Xiao’s hatred for him was also completely justified.

Li Qiao looked at Shang Yu, silent for a long while.

A single dose of medicine had caused irreparable damage; from Madam Xiao’s perspective, she indeed was the victim.

But this affair could not withstand scrutiny, and Li Qiao murmured while pondering, "She cared for you so much, she should also understand your nature. Sometimes what you see isn’t always the truth."

After a long silence, Shang Yu lowered his eyelids and caressed her cheek, sighing deeply, "It’s all in the past."

The misfortune of eleven years ago, right or wrong, was beyond investigation and had long since been buried in the dust of time.

With Madam Xiao harboring such resentment, a reconciliation might now be impossible.

...

That night, Li Qiao went to the underground bar.

Sitting at the bar, He Chen casually lifted his glass, and with a sidelong glance said, "Is he asleep?"

"Mhm," Li Qiao climbed onto a high stool and poured herself half a glass of wine, which she downed in one go, "Did Madam Xiao come this time for Xiao Yeyan?"