The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife
Chapter 189. Is Qin Mu a member of the Yan Family? (Second Update)

Chapter 189: 189. Is Qin Mu a member of the Yan Family? (Second Update)

In the hospital room, Andre entered and saw Eden with a gloomy expression. "Has An left?" Eden asked.

Andre nodded. "Enxi went to see her off. If you love her so much, why don’t you tell her?" Although Shen Qinglan may already know, saying it and not saying it are still different.

Eden smiled, "Andre, my love for her is my own business. Whether she knows or not, accepts or not, it doesn’t matter. All I want is her happiness. If the person who brings her happiness is me, that’s best, but if it’s not, I’d be grateful to that person."

Andre shook his head, unable to agree with Eden’s viewpoint. If it were him, the person who brings happiness to the one he loved would have to be him; he wouldn’t feel secure if it were someone else.

"Eden, like this..." Andre wanted to persuade but didn’t know how. Matters of the heart are truly a luxury for people of their status.

Eden laughed, a sparkle in his eye. "Andre, An has never been someone easily swayed by others. Even if I want to make her happy, she might not accept it."

Andre fell silent, knowing Eden had a point. Not just Eden, but Austin from the Duke of Kent’s family was the same.

He smiled, "Look, when An gets tough, she really is fierce. If she dislikes someone, she won’t even give them a chance. Maybe that’s why both Eden and Austin love her so much."

"Andre, have you seen that man?" Eden hesitated before speaking, "the man An married."

Andre nodded then shook his head. "I’ve seen him once, that time we went to rescue you. I didn’t have close contact with him. But he is a formidable man." Whoever could subdue KING definitely has strength, and he respects such a strong person.

Eden felt even more reassured then. It was good that the man was capable. Only a powerful person could properly protect An.

"Eden, is there something you’re hiding from us?" Suddenly reading something odd in Eden’s expression, Andre asked.

Eden wanted to shake his head but, after thinking, decided to speak up, "Perhaps that person is still alive."

Initially, Andre didn’t understand, but when he did, his face drastically changed, incredulous as he looked at Eden. "That’s impossible; we saw with our own eyes that he was badly injured and fell into the sea." If that person was still alive, then...

Eden’s brow furrowed tightly. "I’m not sure myself; this is all just my speculation. Maybe I’m overthinking it."

"You must be overthinking." Andre clenched his teeth, "If he could survive that, what is he then?"

Eden pursed his lips, a shadow of worry flashing across his eyes. Hopefully, it was just his overthinking.

**

After Shen Qinglan returned, she distributed the gifts she had brought for everyone and then her days returned to calm. Fu Hengyi was still at the military base and hadn’t returned. Shen Qinglan called him every two to three days discussing the usual mundane things, seeming no different from before.

Fu Hengyi never asked, and she never brought it up, as if both tacitly forgot about the incident at the border that happened some time ago.

That day, just after Shen Qinglan got up, she received a call from Ya Xi, the first since they had met at the art exhibition.

"Big sister." Ya Xi’s voice came from the other end of the phone, different from usual, lacking energy and somewhat hoarse, as if she had been crying.

Shen Qinglan paused, "What’s wrong?"

"Big sister, where are you right now? I want to see you." Ya Xi’s voice was choked with sobs. Shen Qinglan gave her the home address.

Half an hour later, Shen Qinglan saw Ya Xi at her doorstep, her eyes red and clearly having cried, with dark circles under her eyes.

Seeing Shen Qinglan, Ya Xi directly threw herself into her arms. She was shorter than Shen Qinglan, hugging Shen Qinglan’s waist and burying her face in her bosom.

Shen Qinglan stiffened. Except with Fu Hengyi and Little Douding from her cousin’s family, she hadn’t been this intimate with anyone else and wasn’t used to it, but given Ya Xi’s evident distress, she decided not to push her away, allowing Ya Xi to cling to her.

After a while, Ya Xi let go and followed Shen Qinglan inside. It was her first time in Shen Qinglan’s house, and her face showed none of the curiosity that was characteristic of her.

Shen Qinglan couldn’t guess what had happened to her. She had her sit on the couch and poured her a glass of water.

Ya Xi took a sip of the warm water and seemed somewhat calmer. She placed the cup on the coffee table and then took out a photograph from her backpack, handing it over to Shen Qinglan. Taking it, Shen Qinglan glanced at it once and her expression changed immediately, fixating on the person in the photo.

The photograph wasn’t complete; it was torn in half. The remaining half showed a man with a little girl, about six or seven years old, in his arms. Looking closely, the girl bore a slight resemblance to Ya Xi, but Shen Qinglan didn’t believe it to be Ya Xi as a child, because the little girl looked identical to what Qin Mu looked like as a child.

When she met Qin Mu, he was eight years old, slightly older than the child in the photo, but his features had not changed much.

"Where did you get this photo?" Shen Qinglan asked Ya Xi, a slight tremble perceptible in her voice.

Ya Xi looked down at her toes. "I found it in my dad’s study. That man in the photo is my dad."

Ya Xi said, her tears falling. She had never expected that her father, whom she saw as a perfect man, would have an illegitimate daughter - older by several months than her own brother.

"The child above is my father’s illegitimate daughter," Ya Xi said in a low voice.

Shen Qinglan looked at Ya Xi and, even though she knew how distressed she was, still asked, "What is the name of the child above?"

"Qin Mu."

With a ’boom’, Shen Qinglan felt her brain explode at the moment— it was Qin Mu, it really was Qin Mu, truly the Qin Mu she had been searching for.

She grabbed Ya Xi’s shoulders tightly, staring at her, "Her name is really Qin Mu? Where is she now?"

Ya Xi, startled by Shen Qinglan’s demeanor, frowned, "Big sister, you’re hurting me."

Shen Qinglan let her go, "Sorry."

Ya Xi, distracted from her own sadness now, looked at Shen Qinglan with some concern, "Big sister, are you okay?"

Shen Qinglan shook her head, "I also know someone called Qin Mu. I just want to know if they are the same person. Do you know where the person in the photo is now?"

Upon hearing this, Ya Xi shook her head, "I don’t know; I only know she’s my father’s illegitimate daughter. I heard she got lost when she was very young."

Shen Qinglan’s heart sank abruptly— she hadn’t expected Qin Mu to be a member of the Yan Family. Since she was a member of the Yan Family, how had she entered Devil Base in the first place?

Contemplating Qin Mu’s status as an illegitimate daughter, Shen Qinglan’s gaze turned icy, thinking of a speculation.

Ya Xi didn’t notice the change in Shen Qinglan’s expression; recalling the quarrel between her parents triggered by that photo, her tears uncontrollably began to fall.

After being questioned by Shen Qinglan at the art exhibit, Ya Xi had searched her father’s study many times upon returning home but never found the photo.

"How could it not be here, I remember it was here? Where did Daddy put it?" Ya Xi searched the study but nearly turned the whole room inside out without finding the photo.

"Xiao Xi, what are you doing in your father’s study?" Mrs. Yan, passing by the study and seeing the door ajar, came in and saw her daughter seemingly looking for something.

At that moment, Ya Xi was standing on a stool reaching for a book on the shelf; she remembered that her father seemed to have tucked the photo inside a book. Startled by her mother’s sudden voice, she lost her balance and swayed.

She let out a shriek, about to fall, but Mrs. Yan quickly caught her daughter.

"Mom, why did you suddenly come in, you scared me," Ya Xi said, patting her chest, visibly shaken.

Mrs. Yan too was startled by her daughter, "You scared me first. Why are you climbing up there anyway? Would it be fun if you fell? You’re a girl; if you hurt your face, then what?"

"I... I was getting a book. We were asked to write a book report for winter holiday homework, and school is starting soon—I haven’t written it yet, so I wanted to find a book to read," Ya Xi explained. "Besides, if you hadn’t come in suddenly, I wouldn’t have almost fallen."

Mrs. Yan glared at her, not missing her daughter’s murmuring.

"This is your father’s study, filled with military books which you never read. Why do you want to read them now?" Mrs. Yan queried skeptically.

"I want to read them now. Plus, Daddy is a soldier, and I’ve always admired soldiers—they are the greatest," Ya Xi retorted, stubbornly.

Mrs. Yan chose not to argue about likes and dislikes; she knew her daughter’s mind, "Which book do you want? I’ll get it for you."

"That one," Ya Xi pointed.

Mrs. Yan took the book down for her, "In the future, ask someone else to get it. Don’t climb up yourself, it’s dangerous, understand?"

Ya Xi nodded, "I understand, Mom. You’re getting more and more naggy."

Mrs. Yan shook her head and left the study.

Once Mrs. Yan was gone, Ya Xi quickly flipped through the book, from beginning to end, but didn’t find the photo she was looking for.

"Could I have remembered wrong?" Ya Xi’s gaze wandered around the study, then suddenly set on the desk.

She placed the book back on the shelf, walked over to the desk, and opened the drawer; then at the very bottom, she found a small box.

She looked around and then reached for the box; her heartbeat involuntarily quickened as she took the box out. The box was small, and of a very ordinary material.

When Ya Xi opened it, she saw a thick stack of letters, neatly placed within the box, not many—by estimation, just around a dozen or so. The recipient of the letters was her father.

She took out one letter, wanting to open it, but her upbringing reminded her not to open others’ letters without permission. After hesitating for a moment, she ultimately didn’t open it, but took all the letters out when suddenly, a photo slipped out of one of the letters and fell to the ground.