The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 817 - 795: Origin of Birth

Chapter 817: Chapter 795: Origin of Birth

Daji had been waiting for Old Madam’s call, so he quickly came over and reported in a low voice about the young master scaring Zhou SiLang and also reported the speculation that the two children were hiding in the room.

Old Madam Liu hadn’t expected the two children to actually guess Manbao’s origins, and after a moment of silence, she waved her hand and said, "I know, you may go."

Daji bowed and withdrew.

Old Madam Liu couldn’t help but sigh.

Nanny Liu asked, "Old Madam, will the Zhou Family tell Miss Man?"

Old Madam Liu pondered for a moment, then said, "Whether they tell or not, we have to. The Zhou Family has been quite alarmed lately, and County Magistrate Tang is clearly about to start investigating here, so let’s just tell everything that needs to be told. As for whether they inform Manbao, let them consider and decide for themselves."

Ms. Qian and Old Zhou were weighing their options, the two of them exchanging glances across the space, communicating with their eyes.

Manbao lifted her little head, looked at her dad, then at her mom, and seeing them shamelessly flirting with their eyes in front of her, slapped the bed in anger.

The couple then looked down at her.

Manbao felt somewhat guilty, as losing her temper at her parents was very impolite. She retracted her hand and pouted, "Dad, Mom, just tell me, or I’ll go ask my brother and sister-in-law, and the people in the village. Do they all know too?"

Ms. Qian sighed and asked, "Couldn’t this longevity lock just be something Dad and Mom got from somewhere else to give to you?"

"Where from?" Manbao persisted, determined to get to the bottom of it. "Mom, right now County Magistrate Tang is investigating our family, and I don’t know what he’s looking for, but I also feel that we can’t afford such a fine longevity lock."

Ms. Qian was silent for a moment before saying, "This longevity lock was made by your uncle..."

Manbao silently watched Ms. Qian.

Ms. Qian closed her eyes for a moment and looked at Old Zhou.

Old Zhou let out a sigh while sitting on the chair and said, "Just tell her, the child already knows. What’s the point of hiding it? The officials are nearly upon us, and by then we won’t know what to do. Manbao should at least pay respects to her aunt and uncle with incense."

Old Zhou then stroked Manbao’s head and said, "Manbao, you indeed weren’t born to your Mom. You are your uncle and aunt’s child."

Tears fell from Manbao’s eyes, and after wiping them, she said, "I knew it, I, I and Shanbao had guessed it. Mom, tell me everything about them, why didn’t you raise me as your niece, but as your daughter?"

Ms. Qian took Manbao’s hand and carefully explained the story of Zhou Yin selling himself and then returning, "When you were just over six months old, you weren’t uncomfortable with strangers, and you giggled when Mom held you. It was the change of the seasons then, the weather unpredictable, and you had just been brought back. We weren’t sure if it was a question of acclimating, but the next day you seemed listless. Your parents had entrusted people to transport the luggage here, only reaching the county seat, so the third day they planned to go into town to retrieve the luggage and also buy some urgently needed items. I thought, with you being so young, it wasn’t good to be constantly on the move, so I decided to keep you here."

During restless nights, Ms. Qian had more than once been grateful for her persuasion back then, but also had some regrets that she should have asked them to stay as well. If just one day later they had gone into town, things might have been different.

"Your parents," Ms. Qian choked up a little and said with teary eyes, "they were murdered. It happened in the tiger-infested mountains on the way into town. Your father and mother’s faces had been slashed with a knife several times. At that time, your Fourth Brother carried them back, and we wanted to report it to the County Governmental Office, but before we had the chance, the officials arrived in the village with your father’s portrait, claiming your father was a bandit..."

Manbao gasped in surprise, her mouth wide open.

Ms. Qian clenched her hand and said, "How could your father possibly be a bandit? He has been kind-hearted since he was a child, and he returned to the village this time to settle down and start a business. With a wife and children to care for, how could he get involved in such a decapitating affair? He is innocent, but those government runners wielded his portrait and swore by it; we, none of us dared to acknowledge him..."

Manbao asked, "My father sold himself, so how did he redeem himself, and how did he earn so much money? Right, who is my mother?"

Ms. Qian wiped the tears off her face and said, "Your father told me that he had originally sold himself to a merchant caravan and followed them north to do business. But halfway through the journey, maybe due to the climate or getting caught in the rain, he came down with a high fever and could no longer travel."

"The caravan’s steward found a doctor for him, and treating the illness was going to cost a good deal of money. Moreover, he couldn’t continue the journey, so the caravan left him behind," said Ms. Qian. "They left your father with several concoctions, but even after he took them all, he wasn’t healed. Your father needed a place to stay and food to eat, and in just a few days he had spent all his savings. It was then that the inn’s people carried him outside, where your maternal grandfather saw him and, taking pity on him, allowed him to stay in the gatehouse, and even hired a doctor for his treatment."

"Your father was only fourteen at that time. After he recovered, he stayed at your maternal grandfather’s place to help out, occasionally running errands to earn some money, hoping to repay your grandfather for the medical expenses."

Old Zhou nodded repeatedly, "Your father never liked to take advantage of people’s kindness. I reckon that’s why your maternal grandfather took a liking to him and eventually took him as his son-in-law. After caring for them until they passed away, your father brought you and your mother back to the village."

Manbao’s tears had dried, and now she wasn’t sad, just curiously asking, "Then do I have any brothers or sisters?"

In her mind, it seemed as though every household had siblings.

Old Zhou said, "No, so all the wealth of your maternal family belongs to your parents. Even that longevity lock around your neck was said to have been made for you by your maternal grandfather."

Manbao pondered, "So, wasn’t my father a ’live-in son-in-law’?"

Old Zhou nodded, "He was a live-in son-in-law."

Manbao: "Then why do I have the surname Zhou?"

Old Zhou and Ms. Qian: ...

Manbao looked at her mother, then back at her father.

Old Zhou patted her head guiltily, "What a silly girl. Your father’s return... that’s something you can’t talk about outside. You have to pretend to be my daughter, how could your surname not be Zhou?"

Manbao hung her head and asked, "Then, will I have to change my surname in the future?"

Old Zhou seemed reluctant, "No, there’s no need, right?"

Ms. Qian, on the other hand, thoughtfully said, "If it’s possible to change it, of course it would be better to change back. Your maternal grandfather had chosen a name for you, albeit a boy’s name, which your parents didn’t use, thinking of saving it for a future brother for you. But who knew..."

Ms. Qian hesitated and then said, "Your father is a man of his word, he said he was a live-in son-in-law and so he was."

Old Zhou shuffled his legs somewhat discontentedly and muttered, "And I had hoped to find a live-in son-in-law for Manbao..."

Manbao felt this was too distant for her to consider, and she finally remembered the most pressing matter at hand, "So, is County Magistrate Tang investigating the bandit matter from back then? Since I said... my uncle... my father is a bandit, there must have been victims who were stolen from or robbed, right? Who are the victims?"

Ms. Qian and Old Zhou shook their heads together and said, "We’ve also inquired at the County Governmental Office, but those government runners weren’t from the County Office. We didn’t dare to ask too much, for fear of raising suspicion. After all, it was still your uncles who indirectly tried to find out through relatives of the governmental office runners, but we found out nothing."

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