"You are Lin Jingxing?" Shangguan Wan'er asked with certainty.
Although it sounded like a rhetorical question, Lin Jingxing, who understood, nodded heavily.
"Yes, I am Lin Jingxing. The Lin Jingxing who is full of lies and has been playing tricks on Sister Wan'er."
Lin Jingxing felt ashamed of the person before her. Although she had never been a mother, she had used someone's child as a bargaining chip to achieve her own goals. One moment she would say the child was alive, the next she would say the child was dead. If she were the child's mother, she would have been furious enough to slap her a few times. Therefore, she stood there ready to take the blows.
However, Shangguan Wan'er, after receiving an affirmative answer, did not lash out. She simply stood there in a daze. After a long while, as if waking from a dream, she murmured, "My child, he really isn't dead? Is he… alright?"
"Don't worry, your precious son is lively and well, better than he could be. And if nothing unexpected happens, he will be recognized by his biological father and even ascend to the throne."
What Lin Jingxing didn't say was that she had a selfish motive for saving Lin Zimo back then. If Xiao Ge'er had truly disguised herself as a man to serve in the army in place of her brother, it would have been a serious crime of deceiving the emperor. Although she had informed the male protagonist, the Crown Prince, in advance, the emperor's heart was as unpredictable as the sea. Only one's own nurtured child could be trusted. Of course, these were things she couldn't, and wouldn't dare to, tell the child's own mother.
However, after hearing this, Shangguan Wan'er let out a long sigh of relief and then revealed the other part of the 'truth' she knew. It turned out she was not the protagonist of that world. The true protagonist was Leng Ningyue, who arrived later as a transmigrator. And she was merely a wronged original owner mentioned in a few sentences of that book. In the book, she, blind and foolish, fell for the Fourth Prince, but was schemed against by her half-sister, Shangguan Yuyan, and fell into a lake, perishing.
But somehow, something went wrong, and she survived the fall into the lake, even replacing Leng Ningyue at that banquet. Later, she fell into Shangguan Yuyan's trap, but fortunately, Leng Ningyue appeared in time to continue the original plot. At that time, she didn't yet know she was just a tool to be used before the protagonist officially appeared, but she had a vague sense of something being amiss. Thus, she would rather disfigure her own face than become the Crown Princess.
But she was the one who carried Lin Zimo for ten months. They say mothers and children share a special bond. She truly cherished this child. Yet, reality was cruel. Fearing her maternal grandmother and aunt would worry, she never dared to return to the Jade Maiden Sect. Who knew that Madam Xiahou, with her venomous heart, would find her during her childbirth and forcibly snatch away the newborn child? By the time she regained consciousness, she frantically searched for her child.
Madam Xiahou, however, used the child as a threat and imprisoned her in a woodshed. Although she knew deep down that the child's fate was likely dire in Madam Xiahou's hands, she still held onto a sliver of unrealistic hope. Only later, from the wet nurse who guarded her, did she learn that the child had been drowned by Madam Xiahou… She slaughtered everyone in the entire residence to pay for her child's life.
Alas, Madam Xiahou was protected by a master, and she failed to take the life of that poisonous woman! And, following the instructions of the wet nurse before her death, she searched for the place but found no trace of the child's body. Renewed with a flicker of hope, she began a life of wandering across the land.
Meanwhile, Madam Xiahou, having escaped, was worried that so many deaths would attract the attention of the authorities. She simply bought the rented residence for a large sum of money. She later attempted to sneak into the residence several times to assassinate Madam Xiahou, but each time unexpected events occurred, forcing her to give up. Thinking back now, it must have been the so-called plot at work. The most apparent change was that the Fourth Prince, whom she had previously found handsome and dashing, suddenly became ordinary. Even if they passed each other, she no longer felt her heart flutter; instead, she deeply doubted her past aesthetic judgment. That kind of empty, straw-like man was someone she would never fancy even if she were blind.
As for the highly praised Crown Prince, while he was relatively more normal and somewhat presentable, he was arrogant, full of himself, and affected, not her type at all. Later, she was deceived by Lin Jingxing, finally completing her mission, and was forcibly taken offline. After her death, she learned that the world she inhabited was merely a novel, but she was not the protagonist. To be honest, she was angry and resentful, but more than anything, she was unfulfilled.
Fortunately, heaven gave her a chance to start over. When she opened her eyes again, she was a baby. This baby was the cherished young miss of a prominent jewelry family. She spent the most beautiful six years of her two lives. Just as she thought she would continue to live happily, fate played another trick on her. She was kidnapped. The eldest young master of the neighboring Ye family was kidnapped with her. Because the Shangguan and Ye families were close friends and neighbors, she recognized Ye Xiangchen. After breaking free from her ropes, she coincidentally saved Ye Xiangchen from the neighboring family.
However, during their escape, she was tripped by a girl who suddenly rushed out, and from that moment on, as if under a spell, her life was plagued by bad luck. She didn't know how many years she spent in a daze in that small mountain village. It wasn't until recently, in a moment of clarity, that she suddenly came to her senses. Fortunately, with her six years of life experience, she quickly sorted out her situation and circumstances.
At the same time, she overheard the peasant couple on the phone with a mysterious person. This mysterious person regularly sent money to the peasant couple, instructing them to keep her confined and not let her leave the small mountain village. Feeling that her every word and action was being tightly controlled by an invisible hand, she gave the peasant couple a good beating and left the small mountain village. According to the peasant couple, they did not know the name or identity of the mysterious person; the mysterious person had contacted them proactively.
She eventually returned to Tianshui City. Having spent all her money, she was preparing to sleep on the streets when she was scouted by an agent. To earn a living, she signed the contract provided by her agent, and then, according to the agent's arrangements, she first filmed videos to become an internet celebrity to accumulate popularity, and then debuted by acting in web dramas.
After listening to Shangguan Wan'er's account, Lin Jingxing asked with some confusion, "Since Sister Wan'er, you have regained your senses, why didn't you look for your family?"
Upon hearing this, a flicker of sadness crossed Shangguan Wan'er's eyes. "At first, I did go back. But I was told that the Shangguan family no longer lived there. Over twenty years can change many things. If my existence would be a burden to them, why would I disturb their peaceful lives?"
Moreover, she had no way to contact the Shangguan family. And she was unsure if such a prestigious family would accept a young lady who had been displaced for over twenty years, raised as a child bride, and engaged several times in the interim.