Chapter 304: Chapter 303: Taboo
"Duanmu Qing?"
Duanmu Ling was stunned for a moment, then her expression changed abruptly, and she looked fiercely at Yang Fei.
Qin Yanyang and Yang Fei had been observing Duanmu Ling, Seeing her react this way, both of them felt a sudden sinking in their hearts, each harboring an ominous premonition.
All they saw was Duanmu Ling staring at Yang Fei with a grave expression, scrutinizing him closely.
Yang Fei became extremely nervous.
This involved clues about his biological mother and also affected whether he could still be husband and wife with Qin Yanyang, a level of nervousness he had never experienced before.
He even felt a hint of fear.
"Mom, why do you keep staring at Yang Fei, do you... recognize the person Duanmu Qing?" Qin Yanyang’s throat felt dry, she cleared her throat and urged her mother.
Only then did Duanmu Ling come back to her senses.
She took a deep breath, looked at Yang Fei with a complex expression for a long time, and nodded, "I recognize her."
Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang’s faces changed drastically.
Feeling immensely heavy-hearted, they felt as if the whole world had suddenly lost its luster.
"Mother-in-law, you had seen me before in Binhai, hadn’t you?" Yang Fei felt a suffocating pressure in his chest, but he still couldn’t help but control his feelings and asked.
Duanmu Ling nodded and said, "Yes, I had seen you then."
"Since you had seen me then, why didn’t you notice that I bore some resemblance to Duanmu Qing?" Yang Fei asked, puzzled.
Duanmu Ling’s lips twitched a few times, then she suddenly sighed and said, "I wasn’t very close to her."
Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang’s eyes brightened, like a drowning person in the night suddenly seeing a glimmer of dawn.
"Mom, what exactly is going on? You know Duanmu Qing, but aren’t very familiar with her—does that mean she doesn’t have any blood relation with you?" Qin Yanyang asked.
Duanmu Ling clearly understood what her daughter was worried about, she smiled faintly and shook her head, "We do have a blood relationship."
Qin Yanyang’s mouth hung slightly open, her face turning pale.
Yang Fei felt as if someone was grabbing his throat, experiencing a sensation of suffocation.
How could this be?
Was it a cruel joke played by fate on them?
Both Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang were normally as unflappable as if Mount Tai were collapsing in front of them, with incredibly strong mental states. Normally, it would be difficult for them to lose their composure.
But this matter was too peculiar.
Both were in their first love, and had truly fallen in love, only to find out that they might be related by blood and unable to be together, it was like a cruel joke played by fate!
Seeing such expressions on their faces, Duanmu Ling chuckled lightly and said, "Actually, you should call her ’little auntie.’"
"Actually?" Caught in despair, Qin Yanyang’s eyes suddenly brightened, seizing on the loophole in her mother’s words: "So, she’s not actually my aunt?"
Yang Fei too perked up, looking at Duanmu Ling with a mix of desire and anticipation.
Duanmu Ling smiled slightly and said, "Well, she’s not exactly an aunt, but her grandfather and my grandfather were brothers, so in terms of generation, you should also call her ’aunt’."
Even if she wanted to deceive them, it would be useless; the truth would come out eventually. If the two developed feelings, they would surely get a blood test to determine the truth, so Duanmu Ling did not hide anything or lie.
Both Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang breathed a sigh of relief, looking at each other with a happy smile.
It was just a false alarm.
Feeling great, Qin Yanyang asked her mother with a smile, "Mom, could you tell us about Duanmu Qing?"
Duanmu Ling shook her head and said, "I know very little about her, and I’ve only met her once."
Yang Fei suddenly realized why Duanmu Ling had met him before but had not noticed that he resembled Duanmu Qing.
But he found it strange. Since they were both from the Duanmu Family, why had they only met once?
Qin Yanyang was curious about this too, and could not help but ask, "Aren’t you from the same family? And being of similar age, part of the same generation within the family, how could you not be familiar or have met only once?"
Duanmu Ling was silent for a while before slowly saying, "She was born out of wedlock and only returned to the family and acknowledged her ancestry when she was twenty-one. Later, she did something outrageous that infuriated the senior members of the Duanmu Family, who saw it as a disgrace. That’s why the family has forbidden mentioning her name for over twenty years. It’s a taboo no one can violate."
Qin Yanyang nodded silently.
No wonder he had never heard that name before.
Yang Fei’s feelings were complicated because Duanmu Qing might be his biological mother, so he was very interested in her story and could not help but ask, "Mother-in-law, who in the Duanmu Family still knows about this, and could you introduce them to me? I have some questions to ask."
Before Duanmu Ling could reply, Qin Zhengfang hummed coldly, his expression indifferent as he said, "You should stop asking about these matters. The Duanmu Family was targeted because of that woman. For decades, they could not hold their heads up. Now, the younger generation is almost forgetting that incident, and yet you want to bring it up, isn’t that like rubbing salt into the wounds of those old folks in the Duanmu Family?"
Yang Fei looked at Qin Zhengfang, his eyes filled with questions, "It seems father-in-law knows quite a bit about Duanmu Qing; could you please tell me?"
Qin Zhengfang was never very pleased with Yang Fei. In his eyes, someone from the Zhang Family was the ideal suitor. Most importantly, an alliance through marriage between the Qin Family and Zhang Family would stabilize the Martial World of Divine Continent Country.
Now, since his daughter married Yang Fei, the Zhang Family’s attitude had become increasingly arrogant, and the situation in Divine Continent Country had also become tense, which made him dislike Yang Fei even more.
Since Yang Fei had come to their home with his daughter and kept asking questions they preferred not to discuss, facing Yang Fei who repeatedly called him father-in-law, he was visibly displeased and coldly said, "Why must you always ask about things that others do not wish to discuss?"
Yang Fei sensed his father-in-law’s emotions, opened his mouth, then held back.
After all, this was Qin Yanyang’s father, and since he and Qin Yanyang were in love, he had to be more tolerant towards her family.
However, Qin Yanyang was displeased. Knowing that her father had always wanted to marry her into the Zhang Family and sensing his attitude towards Yang Fei, she quickly said, "Dad, if you know and are willing to tell, then tell us; if not, don’t. But don’t look so impatient. Yang Fei is asking because this may relate to his origins. As someone who has been an orphan without parents since childhood, how can he not inquire upon learning of his mother’s whereabouts? Can you understand what he is feeling?"
Duanmu Ling silently nodded, her eyes on Yang Fei showing a trace of pity.
As a woman, she was more easily moved by such things.
Although Qin Zhen was a man and had known for a long time that Yang Fei was an orphan, he too was somewhat moved by his sister’s words, feeling that it was not easy for this young man to have grown into what he was now; it was quite impressive.
Wang Ying, having had children herself, also felt sympathy for Yang Fei’s background.
Qin Zhengfang was rendered speechless by his daughter’s words.
He snorted heavily and said, "We are in our house; if it were the Duanmu house, just mentioning Duanmu Qing’s name could cause trouble. I am just kindly reminding you. Moreover, if he really is Duanmu Qing’s son, then you two definitely cannot be together."
Upon hearing this, both Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang’s expressions changed. Before Yang Fei could speak, Qin Yanyang raised her voice, staring at her father, "Why not? I decide my own marriage, no opposition matters, even if you are my father!"