"I... I want to acknowledge your sister and I hope that you will too..." Rong Qiu hesitantly said, finally admitting the real reason why he wanted to tell them the truth. He couldn"t very well abandon Yao Ling and didn"t give her any status, right?
Rong Heng furrowed his eyebrows. It wasn"t that he didn"t want to have a new sister, but he felt a bit uncomfortable to have a stranger as his sister. He didn"t know who thas Yao Ling was and what kind of ident.i.ty that she had. Didn"t his father say that she wasn"t from around here just now?
"Where is she coming from?" Rong Heng asked.
"The Shu Kingdom..." Rong Qiu answered.
"Are you sure that she"s not lying to you?" Rong Heng quietly asked the most important question. He was afraid that his father was being swindled by that trio...
"No... she"s not. I"m still able to judge clearly about it. Don"t worry!" Rong Qiu said with clear eyes.
Rong Heng could only sigh when he heard that. There was a bit jealousy in his heart because Rong Qiu cared about another person so much. He started to realize that he was quite petty when the matter was related to his "father". He was already this big and yet, he still craved for his father"s love. Somehow, he felt a bit ashamed of his own selfishness but couldn"t help but keep doing that.
Rong Qiu was an important person to him and would always be his father! He shook his petty thought away and focused on the matter at hand...
"Which ident.i.ty that you want to use to acknowledge her with? As my father or as a Bei Yue person?" Rong Heng asked curiously because those two ident.i.ties would lead to a different result. He didn"t really understand what his father actually wanted to do.
"This..." Rong Qiu hadn"t thought that far yet because he was too concerned about Rong Heng"s reactions. He just wanted both of them to acknowledge each other and he didn"t even think about his own ident.i.ty. For Buddha"s sake! This was so confusing ah~!
He was thinking about his ident.i.ty"s matter seriously. They already knew that he wasn"t the real Rong Qiu, so how could he possibly continue pretending to become one? Wouldn"t it make him look like he was so shameless?! He didn"t really have a thick face to continue the facade ah~!
"But I... How can I continue taking your father"s place when both of you already know the truth?" Rong Qiu asked helplessly. He already had a plan if he couldn"t use Uncle Qiu"s ident.i.ty anymore... He might as well make a new ident.i.ty if he needed to use his Bei Yue ident.i.ty. The Bei Yue people were being hunted for their power, so there would be no peace if he became his real self once more.
It would also make people pay more attention to Yao Ling --- after all, she was the descendant of Aunt Yue. A smart person would know that Yao Ling would certainly inherit Aunt Yue"s power sooner or later and it would make her become a target.
Wu Cheng also looked at Rong Heng, waiting for his answer. Even though he already accepted Rong Qiu"s explanation, he didn"t know what kind of thoughts that Rong Heng had. In the end, he would follow along with the decision that Rong Heng would make. No matter what, he would stand by Rong Heng"s side.
Rong Heng frowned, contemplating. He could see the hesitancy in Rong Qiu"s eyes, thus, he sighed inwardly. "Father... You will always be my father. My real father had given you permission to take his place so I don"t see something is wrong with it if you want to continue using my real father"s ident.i.ty," he honestly said.
"Besides, if you suddenly go missing out of nowhere when you are this healthy, what do you think people will talk about? Especially the Han Emperor..." Rong Heng added.
He didn"t say that he actually didn"t remember anything about his real father, after all, it would be an insult to the latter, besides, he could see that his real father was important for Wu Cheng and he wanted to respect his feelings as well, and no matter what, Rong Qiu was the one who brought him up so he would always be his father.
When Wu Cheng heard what Rong Heng had just said, tactfully understanding what he meant. He nodded in agreement and quickly said, "You will always be my master forever as well..." Wu Cheng didn"t try to become a bootlicker by saying that but he honestly felt happy with Rong Heng"s choice. At least, he would still have a family. If he rejected Rong Qiu, he also knew that Rong Heng would be sad.
"Is that really okay?" Rong Qiu still felt uncomfortable, feeling like he was robbing someone else"s life. However, there was a hopeful glint of happiness in his eyes which Rong Heng could see clearly. Rong Heng"s mood became better because it meant that Rong Qiu still loved him, right?
Rong Heng laughed softly despite his complicated feelings. "Father... It"s really okay..." He hoped by continuing to become his father, he wouldn"t leave or abandon him all alone once again. "We will forever be father and son."
"Thank you," Rong Qiu answered in a hoa.r.s.e voice, feeling so grateful and happy --- it meant that Rong Heng really appreciated him as his father, right?
Both of them smiled at each other and understood that Rong Qiu would continue using the real Uncle Qiu"s ident.i.ty once again --- maybe, even forever.
"So..." Rong Qiu trailed off while biting his lower lip out of nervousness once again. He felt that his current behavior was quite awkward but he just couldn"t get back easily to his usual way of interaction with Rong Heng. Oh well... it would take time.
"About Yao Ling..." Rong Qiu wanted him to meet Yao Ling more formally ah~! However, he also couldn"t force Rong Heng if the latter didn"t want to do that right away. Even though he would be disappointed, he would relent and introduce them once again later.
Rong Heng understood what he wanted to say and felt better because Rong Qiu still cared about these feelings. "Why don"t we call my new sister in? I want to get to know her better," Rong Heng said with a smile.
"Good! Good!" Rong Qiu said happily while clapping his hand excitedly. It seemed like Rong Heng had started to accept the idea of having a new sister, at least, this was a start.
"I will call her in," Wu Cheng offered his help because he wanted to know about Yao Ling as well. Thus, Rong Qiu and Rong Heng waited patiently.
"Can I tell you a little bit about your sister?" Rong Qiu asked softly.
"Go ahead!" Rong Heng nodded in agreement. Knowing a little bit about her would be a good start as well.
Rong Qiu gave a brief explanation of Yao Ling"s past --- including how the Ce Fei became her mother and how they lived a humble life in a village. Rong Heng could only gape in surprise because honestly, the relations.h.i.+p between Yao Ling and Xiao Fang was actually that complicated.
"Father, that"s unbelievable!" Rong Heng exclaimed.
No wonder his father wanted to acknowledge her as soon as possible, it seemed like it was because he felt guilty for Yao Ling"s situation and wanted to let her live a better life. If Yao Ling was good, he wouldn"t prevent his father.