Chapter 1646 — An Extra Cousin
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Everyone entered the sitting room and took their seats in turn. Bingtang drew a deep breath. Even as Palace Master of the Ice Palace, she was nervous now. But Xiaoming had seen even less of the world, so at this moment it was most fitting for Bingtang herself to speak and explain.
Yet to explain, she needed an opening, a topic to begin with. Bingtang could not help looking to Feng Xiaoxiao for help.
"Heh heh, Senior Sister, leave it to me—but you have to help with Husband Wei Zhao's matter!" Feng Xiaoxiao seized the chance to drive a bargain.
"Fine, fine, I will find a way!" Bingtang had been blackmailed, but she could only accept it.
"Husband Wei Zhao, Sister Tang Zhi, Sister Yaoyao, Xiaoshu, let me introduce everyone. This is my senior sister Bingtang; this is Aunt Qing, an Elder of our Ice Palace; and this one is Sister Bingtang's aunt..." Feng Xiaoxiao first introduced everyone's identities, then went on: "This time, Sister Bingtang and Aunt Xiaoming have come to visit relatives, and I came along to see everyone on the way..."
"Visit relatives, an aunt?" Wei Zhao frowned slightly. "Before, back at the Ice Palace, did not Palace Master Bing say that you were an orphan? How is it you have an aunt now—and one you have come to visit?"
"Yes... Through the Hidden Tang family, I learned of my own origins. This time I came because I wanted to see my birth parents, and also the one who should have been my aunt's daughter but, by a strange twist of fate, became the younger sister of my parents' daughter..." As she said this, Bingtang felt somewhat guilty, and her gaze went to Tang Zhi...
Tang Zhi seemed to sense something. She gave a start, looked at Bingtang in disbelief, then at Xiaoming, and a vague guess took shape in her heart. Could it be that Bingtang was speaking of her? Were Bingtang's parents her parents? And was Xiaoming her mother?
Bingtang's implication was plain enough now; Tang Zhi could hear it, and naturally Wei Zhao could too. He smiled and tightened his grip on Tang Zhi's hand, signaling her not to be nervous, and asked mildly, "Palace Master Bing, you do not mean to say that Yunyun is your younger sister?"
Tang Zhi's expression shifted slightly, and Bingtang drew another deep breath. At this point Feng Xiaoxiao cut in: "That is really all there is to it. Sister Bingtang is Sister Tang Zhi's true elder cousin, and Aunt Xiaoming is Sister Tang Zhi's birth mother. It is a very simple matter!"
What had seemed a tangled relationship became much simpler once Feng Xiaoxiao laid it out. Yet in that instant everyone fell silent—especially Tang Zhi, the one at the center of it all, who clung to Wei Zhao's hand, utterly at a loss.
Xiaoming and Bingtang were in better shape—they had already weathered the shock, and having come here, they were mentally prepared. But the hardest to accept was Tang Zhi. Out of nowhere, a birth mother had appeared, and along with her a sister who was the Palace Master of the Ice Palace!
"I... I..." Tang Zhi truly did not know what to say. She looked anxiously at Wei Zhao and managed only two "I"s.