539 The Secret About the Past 157 (1/2)
Finally, the tightly-shut door opened.
To An Xiaoning's surprise, the man whom she imagined to be a monk was completely different from her expectations.
He was fairly handsome and slim, with a full head of hair. He appeared rather youthful with radiant and healthy skin, perhaps due to his long-term vegetarian diet.
Tuoba Shuo was momentarily stunned to see the pair of eyes before him. He squinted and asked in an extremely faint voice, ”Qingzhou?”
An Xiaoning knew who he was referring to.
”May I enter?”
”Please, come in.” He was in a state of confusion and seemed to be in a trance. The instant that the door was shut, An Xiaoning felt him embrace her tightly from behind.
”Qingzhou, you're still alive, aren't you?” he asked agitatedly in disbelief.
An Xiaoning remained still and asked, ”Why did you stay here for so many years?”
”Because you're no longer around.”
He must have loved her mother dearly and mistook An Xiaoning for her mother due to the striking resemblance between the two.
An Xiaoning struggled to break free from his embrace and turned around to face him. Looking him in the eye, she said, ”The Qingzhou you mentioned is my mother.”
She removed the surgical mask to reveal her youthful beauty.
Tuoba Shuo stared at the face in front of him in utter bewilderment. Logically speaking, there was indeed no way that the beautiful woman whom he knew back then would still look so young and brimming with youth, considering the fact that she would have aged too since they were about the same age.
”What… what did you say?”
”I've been searching for my biological parents recently because I was abandoned as an infant. I was wrapped in a small blanket when my adoptive parents found me on the streets, and the blanket was made with a fabric that was only meant for use in the Autumn Palace. That's why I came here to search for them,” An Xiaoning explained.
Tears welled up in Tuoba Shuo's eyes upon hearing her words. ”According to what you said, Qingzhou didn't die back then…”
”What do you mean?”
”I don't know if she was pregnant when she passed away, but I know for sure that she didn't have a child. Besides, I don't believe that doppelgangers who aren't related by blood exist in this world. You resemble your mother tremendously, be it appearance, voice, or frame and stature,” said Tuoba Shuo, keeping his eyes fixed on An Xiaoning.
”Are you my father then?” An Xiaoning asked eagerly.
Shaking his head, he answered, ”I'm not too sure about that, because I've always thought that she was already dead all along. In fact, I don't even know if she's still alive now.”
”Give me a few strands of your hair. I'd like to run a DNA test.”
He immediately plucked a few strands of hair from his head and handed it to An Xiaoning, who then wrapped the hair in tissue paper and placed it inside her pocket.
”What is your name?”
”My name is Xiaoning.” An Xiaoning suddenly thought of a crucial question and asked, ”May I ask if you have any supernatural powers?”
”Supernatural powers? I don't possess any, but your mother has the ability to read fortunes,” he said bluntly.
At this point, An Xiaoning was a hundred percent sure that the woman was her mother.
She whipped out her human mask and said, ”I'm currently disguising as the princess' bodyguard because I wanted to sneak in to find my parents, so…” An Xiaoning continued to ask about his living conditions, ”How many years have you been living here?”
”I've been living here for ages, I don't know exactly how many years. It's been too long since I stepped out of this yard. In the past, I've been thinking that your mother was dead. But now it seems to be otherwise. Well, after all, it's tough for a woman to overcome great scourges.”
Although he did not say so, his actions proved that he loved Shi Qingzhou dearly.
Tuoba Shuo had managed to earn An Xiaoning's admiration and respect. She felt that her mother was exceptionally fortunate to have a man devote himself to her and love her eternally.