Chapter 283: Framing One’s Own Mother
An unnatural flush appeared on Meng Fanxin’s face. It was from anger.
Yu An was curious. Tian Fu was just a child right now. What could he have possibly done to make his own mother, Meng Fanxin, feel such immense... hatred for him?
That’s right, hatred. A hatred so intense she looked like she wanted to kill Tian Fu.
"A child?"
A self-deprecating look flashed in Meng Fanxin’s eyes. "What kind of child is cruel enough to frame his own mother? The scheme was so... so... vile!"
To be framed for adultery by her own son... even her worst enemies would have felt their grievances settled after seeing her meet such a fate.
She had gone through hell and back to give birth to Tian Fu. Looking at the tiny baby in her arms, she had secretly sworn to protect him and ensure he grew up safe and happy.
But who would have thought that a year ago, the then five-year-old Tian Fu would personally feed her a pastry laced with a sedative. When she woke up, a strange man was lying on her bed, and the room was filled with people.
She saw the young Tian Fu standing in the crowd. He wasn’t looking at her as a son would his mother, but as if she were someone of no importance.
Every word from Meng Fanxin was laced with hatred. As Yu An listened, her mind filled with questions. "I’m not trying to defend Tian Fu, but he was only five at the time. How could he do something like that?"
Although some children are born bad seeds, if Tian Fu could come up with such a vicious scheme to frame his mother, he must have understood that if Meng Fanxin was disgraced, his life as her biological son would certainly not be easy afterward.
And that was indeed the reality. Tian Fu’s status in the Tian Family was even lower than Tian Shu’s; you could say it was the lowest among the direct descendants.
"Who knows," Meng Fanxin laughed self-deprecatingly. "It’s my fault. Maybe I never should have given birth to him in the first place."
When she was pregnant with Tian Fu, she threw up everything she ate. In just two months, she lost nearly twenty-two pounds!
She had several bleeding scares and could only rest in bed. Her husband... the Second Master... was so frightened he watched over her day and night, even neglecting the family duties assigned to him.
If only she had known. If only she had listened to the advice and aborted this wicked child!
But there are no cures for regret in this world.
"Afterward, I was confined to this courtyard. Tian Fu came to visit once. I thought perhaps he had been deceived or used by someone, that he was coming to explain it to me, but..."
At the memory of the past, Meng Fanxin was overcome with anger and began to cough violently. Yu An quickly went to her and helped her drink some water.
It was sweet. She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but Meng Fanxin felt a gentle warmth spreading through her body.
She continued, "He came to kill me, but I don’t know why... he stopped at the last moment."
Meng Fanxin gave a self-deprecating smile. "Perhaps he didn’t want to be branded a matricide, or maybe it was for some other reason. I don’t know, and I don’t want to know."
She only knew that the child she had risked her life to bring into the world wanted to kill her.
Meng Fanxin had been heartbroken, furious, and had despaired. In the end, all she could think was...
’Perhaps my sins in a past life were too great, and this is my punishment in this one.’
Combining what Meng Fanxin had said with her own memories of the adult Tian Fu, Yu An thought, ’Sure enough, he was a bad seed as a child, and he’s still a bad seed as an adult.’
What would you even call that?
’How could a fine bamboo stalk produce such a rotten shoot?’
At this time, Tian Fu was only six years old, and this was the extent of Meng Fanxin’s knowledge about him. Yu An thought for a moment and told Meng Fanxin that she was from the future.
"In the future, Tian Fu will take the Tian Family’s orders to the Beastman World. There, he..."
Meng Fanxin was first stunned, then filled with guilt.
"It’s my fault. It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t given birth to Tian Fu..."
"It’s not your fault," Yu An comforted her. "When you gave birth to him, how could you have known he would turn out this way?"
Tian Fu’s personality wasn’t a disease; even prenatal checkups wouldn’t have been able to detect it.
Meng Fanxin took a deep breath. "Miss, that your world became what it is... when you get to the root of it, a part of the responsibility is mine."
"I can’t stop the future Tian Fu from doing evil, but I do know some things about the Blood Crystals."
At first, Meng Fanxin had assumed this was what Yu An wanted to ask, so she had been trying to recall the details. Yu An actually hadn’t considered this angle, mainly because she thought the Blood Crystals were so important that the Tian Family would never let an "outsider" like Meng Fanxin know about them.
"It’s true that the Tian Family insiders are tight-lipped about it, but my husband... the Tian Family’s Second Master... would occasionally tell me a few things."
Yu An silently noted that Meng Fanxin had mentioned her husband, the Tian Family’s Second Master, at least five times. It was clear that before the incident, they had been a very loving couple.
She pretended not to notice Meng Fanxin’s slip of the tongue. "Oh? What did he tell you?"
"The Blood Crystals are used to enhance spiritual power," Meng Fanxin frowned. "But the Second Master said they were made from people. I didn’t understand at first, but later I learned that one Blood Crystal equals one human life."
"However, people who absorb too many Blood Crystals experience physical problems. Some become simple-minded, others fall gravely ill, and some even die outright."
"The Tian Family members later found out this was because of impurities in the Blood Crystals, so they tried to find a way to remove them. They couldn’t bear to use their own clansmen to test the process, so they captured people to experiment on. Miss, I don’t know if you’ve seen those children on the training grounds, but they were captured to be test subjects."
"And it’s not just those children. There are adults, too. They’re being held somewhere else."
Yu An’s fists clenched. "That’s despicable!"
She had originally thought those children were being trained by the Tian Family as Hidden Guards or guards, not that they were being used as test subjects!
’It makes sense, though,’ she thought. ’The masters of the Tian Family include both adults and children, so naturally, they would need to test the purified crystals on people of all age groups before daring to use them themselves.’
"But there’s something I don’t understand," Meng Fanxin said, confused. "According to what you’ve said, Miss, the Upper Realm is a tier above other worlds. Logically, Blood Crystals made from people of other worlds should have more impurities. Why would they do this?"
Yu An had considered this as well. She took out the Blood Crystal from Han Li. "Have you seen the Tian Family’s Blood Crystals? This one is from a Beastman."
Meng Fanxin saw the difference with a single glance. "The Beastman’s Blood Crystal has no white filaments. Also, the Blood Crystals from Upper Realm People don’t have this pattern on them."
The white filaments were the impurities. The Tian Family was researching how to remove them, but the Blood Crystals made from Beastmen didn’t have any at all!
The Tian Family must have discovered this, which is why they had Tian Fu usurp her identity as the Beast God. After gaining control of the Beastman World and deceiving the Heaven and Earth Stone, they could then wipe out the Beastmen in one fell swoop.
She didn’t know how the Tian Family had discovered this, but one thing was for sure: since she had taken all the Blood Crystals, the Tian Family would definitely not let the matter rest.
Yu An then asked Meng Fanxin if she knew a way to turn the Beastmen back. Unfortunately, for a secret this confidential, it was unlikely that even the Tian Family’s Second Master knew, let alone her.
That was everything she had wanted to find out. As promised, Yu An was now supposed to get He’er out of the Tian Family estate.
As if guided by a phantom impulse, Yu An suggested bringing them into her space. She wanted to see if she could take people out with her.
Not just out of the Tian Family estate, but out of the Illusion Realm entirely.
He’er’s servitude contract was with the Tian Family. In reality, after Meng Fanxin died, the Tian Family certainly wouldn’t grant her freedom. Or, being more ruthless, they might simply kill the servant who had attended to a "criminal wife."
Even if she couldn’t take them out of the Illusion Realm, a change of scenery to let them relax would still be a good thing.
Ever since she heard Yu An was from the future, Meng Fanxin had guessed that she and He’er likely had no future of their own.
Otherwise, Yu An could have just asked their future selves directly.
’Coming to this point in time to ask me... Perhaps in a few days... no, perhaps today is the day I die.’
Thinking of this, Meng Fanxin readily agreed.