Chapter 129: The Original
Xie Rong stood quietly beneath the pavilion, his hands clasped behind his back as his gaze remained fixed upon the entrance leading into the secluded courtyard. The morning breeze stirred the hem of his dark robe, carrying with it the faint fragrance of blooming flowers. He had arrived long before breakfast had ended, yet he showed no sign of impatience. Instead, he simply stood there in silence, waiting.
Time passed quietly when the wooden doors at the courtyard entrance were finally pushed open.
The figure who stepped out, however, was not the one he had been waiting for.
It was Qing’er.
The young maid immediately lowered her head the moment she noticed Xie Rong standing beneath the pavilion. Her footsteps hastened as she approached before respectfully lowering herself into a curtsy.
"This servant greets the Young Master."
Xie Rong’s eyes instinctively swept past her shoulder toward the courtyard beyond. The entrance had already been closed once more, leaving no trace of Wang Gege’s figure.
A faint understanding settled within his heart.
"She does not wish to see me." Although his tone remained calm, it was evident that he had not intended those words as a question.
Qing’er’s heart tightened. She hesitated for a brief moment before lowering her head even further.
"Young Madam instructed this servant to convey her apologies to the Young Master." She carefully chose each word before continuing. "Young Madam wishes to visit the market today. She also humbly asks whether the Young Master would allow her a few more days before the two of you speak about Chuntao, as promised yesterday."
The surroundings fell into silence once more.
The breeze swept gently across the courtyard, rustling the bamboo leaves overhead, yet Xie Rong remained standing exactly where he was. His eyes lowered ever so slightly before a nearly inaudible sigh escaped his lips.
"I understand."
The three simple words carried no anger, nor any intention of forcing the matter further.
Yet for reasons Qing’er herself could not explain, they sounded far heavier than any reprimand she had ever heard.
She secretly raised her eyes, only to find Xie Rong still gazing quietly toward the secluded courtyard, as though hoping the person he had been waiting for might still appear despite already knowing the answer.
After dismissing Qing’er, he made no attempt to stop Wang Gege from leaving the residence, nor did he instruct Qing’er to persuade her otherwise. He simply remained where he was, allowing the silence around him to grow heavier with every passing moment.
Only after Qing’er’s footsteps had completely disappeared did another figure descend soundlessly from the roof of a nearby corridor.
"Young Master." Mo Yan knelt on one knee, his head respectfully lowered.
Xie Rong did not immediately turn around. "You’ve returned."
"Yes, Young Master." Mo Yan cupped his fists. "This subordinate has completed the investigation."
Only then did Xie Rong slowly shift his gaze toward him. "And?"
Mo Yan hesitated. For perhaps the first time since accepting the assignment, uncertainty appeared upon his usually composed face.
"Young Master..." His expression became unusually solemn. "This subordinate followed every lead regarding Madam’s biological family exactly as Young Master instructed."
He paused for a brief moment before continuing, "I retraced Master Shen’s journey to Jiangnan nineteen years ago, questioned the officials who still kept the travel records, searched through local household registries, missing persons reports, and even the archives preserved by the magistrates."
Xie Rong remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"However..." Mo Yan frowned slightly. "The further this subordinate investigated... the stranger everything became."
Only then did Xie Rong slowly lift his chin. "What did you find?"
Mo Yan lowered his head. "Nothing."
Xie Rong’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. "Nothing?"
"Yes, Young Master. There was no record of any noble family losing a daughter. No merchant family reporting an orphaned child. No village mentions an infant left behind after a disaster. Even the officials responsible for recording abandoned children had nothing."
He slowly exhaled. "It is as though... Madam never existed before Master Shen brought her back to the capital."
Silence descended upon the pavilion.
Mo Yan continued in a lower voice, "This subordinate even questioned several elderly residents who had lived in Jiangnan their entire lives."
"They all remembered Master Shen visiting. They also remembered him returning with an infant. But... no one knew where the infant had come from. No one had ever seen the child’s parents. It was as though... Master Shen had simply appeared with a baby in his arms."
Xie Rong remained silent.
Although his eyes were concealed beneath the white silk blindfold, Mo Yan could distinctly feel his Lord’s gaze resting upon him.
There was no trace of anger.
Nor disappointment.
Instead, Xie Rong appeared to be quietly arranging every fragment of information within his mind, searching for the one piece that refused to fit.
As far as he knew, the current Shen Taotao was merely a transmigrator who had awakened within the body of the original Shen Taotao.
That alone proved one thing.
Before Wang Gege...
There had once existed another Shen Taotao.
The girl who had lived within this body for nearly nineteen years.
She should have had a past.
She should have had a beginning.
Even if Master Shen had deliberately concealed her origins, complete secrecy for nineteen years was almost impossible. Somewhere, someone should have remembered something. A servant who had witnessed the adoption. A villager who had seen the child. A passing rumor. Even the smallest trace would have been enough.
Yet according to Mo Yan’s investigation... There was nothing.
Not because the clues had been hidden but because they simply did not exist.
Xie Rong’s brows gradually drew together beneath the blindfold.
Unless... The story the Shen family had told everyone nineteen years ago had never been the truth to begin with or a far more absurd possibility quietly surfaced within his mind.
If the current Shen Taotao was not the original owner of this body, then what certainty did he have...
That the Shen Taotao before her... Had truly been the original?
The thought lingered for only a brief moment before Xie Rong instinctively dismissed it.
Impossible.
A newborn infant could neither speak nor explain her origins. No one would ever realize if something had changed.
His fingers unconsciously tightened behind his back, unless that was precisely why no one had ever questioned it.