"You've got some nerve showing up here again."
Shen Qingqing leaned lazily against the doorframe, her body angled slightly. Seeing the woman attempt to enter, she casually placed a slender leg across the entryway.
Feng Yilian had come prepared and wasn't angered. "Why wouldn't I dare?"
Shen Qingqing raised an eyebrow.
"You won't kill me."
Seeing her unconcerned demeanor, Shen Qingqing clicked her tongue in annoyance. "That's not guaranteed. This is Country H, after all, not our homeland where the law is supreme..."
A hint of ferocity flashed in her eyes.
Feng Yilian's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly reassured herself. Shen Qingqing's uncle was Chris; he wouldn't let her break the law. "Is this how you treat guests?"
"What kind of guest are you?"
At this point, Shen Qingqing wasn't afraid of a confrontation. They had long since crossed that bridge. She casually moved to close the door.
But Feng Yilian blocked it. "Please, I'm begging you, let me in. I need to talk to you. I have something important to discuss today."
Shen Qingqing remained unmoved and pushed the door shut with force.
Footsteps sounded from the stairs. It was Alang. "Who is it?" she asked softly.
"No one."
Alang glanced at the door. "It's Feng Yilian, isn't it?"
Shen Qingqing walked to the sofa and sat down, propping her chin with one hand. "Since you know, why are you asking me?"
Alang pursed her lips and smiled, then descended the stairs and stood by the sofa. "Sis, I want to see her."
"Why?"
"I want to ask her some things."
Shen Qingqing didn't need to ask to know it was about her mother. Since she was there, the other party couldn't cause any trouble. She decided to open the door.
Feng Yilian stumbled back a couple of steps as the door opened. She bit her lip, her eyes filled with hatred.
Just as she was about to leave, the door opened.
She hesitated, then heard Shen Qingqing's impatient voice, "Not coming in? I'm closing the door."
"I'm coming in!"
She hurried inside. Upon seeing the young girl in the white dress standing in the living room, she nearly lost her composure. She lowered her eyes, pretending not to see her.
"Shen Qingqing, let's make a deal."
"What deal?"
"I'll give you the special medicine, and you save my father. We won't bother you anymore, and you won't make things difficult for us," Feng Yilian pleaded, her eyes full of hope.
Shen Qingqing walked past her and sat on the sofa. "I refuse."
"You don't want the special medicine anymore?"
Of course, she did.
But... Shen Qingqing glanced at Feng Yilian. She didn't believe this woman knew the whereabouts of the special medicine. She was here to negotiate without any real bargaining chips.
Only a fool would negotiate with her.
Feng Yilian could clearly see the disdain in her eyes. She bit her lip. She no longer had the capital to question brazenly and had to endure.
"Then what do you want to make you release my father?"
"Whatever it takes, it won't be with you," Shen Qingqing said nonchalantly.
The woman was utterly unresponsive. Feng Yilian took a deep breath and turned to Alang, carefully concealing the hatred in her eyes.
"Alang, speaking of which, you are my sister."
Alang remained silent.
Feng Yilian continued, "He is my father, and he is also your father."
"The father who locked you up for seventeen years?" Shen Qingqing's sarcastic voice rang out. Feng Yilian faltered, almost losing the carefully constructed sorrowful expression. She quickly took a deep breath, telling herself not to be influenced.
"Alang, Father locked you up, but he never deprived you of food or clothing. He even researched the special medicine for you. All of this shows that he loves you!"
Alang tilted her head, appearing moved.
Feng Yilian was delighted and pressed on. "Father knows he was wrong. When he returned home, he told me he wanted to dote on you properly..."
Suddenly, a light laugh echoed through the living room.
Feng Yilian turned and saw Shen Qingqing covering her mouth as if she had heard a joke. Seeing Feng Yilian look at her, Shen Qingqing waved her hand. "Sorry, please continue your performance—oh, I mean, your speech."
Feng Yilian felt a lump in her throat. Even the best actor, after building up emotion, would be annoyed by constant interruptions.
Moreover, she wasn't an actress, and acting for Alang was incredibly difficult.
She was on the verge of shouting insults!
But thinking of her father, she suppressed her anger. Her voice took on a hint of urgency. "Alang, for the sake of him being our father, and because he raised you, please let him out."
Her eyes reddened, and tears welled up.
Alang said softly, "I want to ask you something."
The question was completely off-topic, but the fact that she spoke was good. Feng Yilian quickly wiped her eyes, adopting the demeanor of a gentle, understanding elder sister.
"Tell me. I'll tell you everything I know."
"Does my mother's death have anything to do with your mother?"
Feng Yilian froze, then shook her head. "No, absolutely not. Father never allowed my mother to appear before your mother. My mother never met her."
This was something she had heard from the old servants at home.
And because of this, she hated Alang's mother, and even more, she hated Alang!
"Are you telling the truth?"
Alang's dark, bright eyes fixed on her, like a mirror reflecting the most shameful, most hidden darkness in people's hearts.
Feng Yilian instinctively averted her gaze, unable to meet Alang's eyes.
"Yes."
But this evasion made Alang disbelieve her. "You're lying to me."
Aunt Cao came down from upstairs, her face cold. She blocked her young lady and glared at Feng Yilian. "You still dare to lie? After all this, do you think your beast of a father hasn't suffered enough?"
The moment Feng Yilian saw Aunt Cao, it was like an old enemy meeting, and their animosity flared.
If it weren't for Aunt Cao producing the recording and exposing her father, she would now be the happiest, most joyous bride, her father's darling.
She would be adored everywhere she went.
Instead, she was reviled, and had to wrap herself up tightly just to go out.
Seeing the hatred in Feng Yilian's eyes, Aunt Cao became even more certain. "See? You still haven't repented!"
"You're just like you were back then."
Alang suddenly said.
Shen Qingqing and Aunt Cao both looked at her. "What happened between you two years ago?"
That was right. As soon as she was born, Chairman Feng brought Feng Yilian back. The two children had lived together, so conflict was not surprising.
But they were only six years old then. How could such young children form a deep-seated enmity?
Alang lowered her eyes, her voice clear and cold. "She falsely accused me of pushing her into the water. I had a fever for three days and three nights. In his rage, my father locked me up to reflect."
It was initially meant to be a period of reflection, but for some reason, he never let her out afterward.
Alang waited and waited, yearned and yearned. She knew her father preferred Feng Yilian. Although he didn't dote on her as much as Feng Yilian, he would still give her the toys Feng Yilian didn't want.
She was young then, and without a mother, how could she not yearn for her father?
Especially when she saw Feng Yilian sitting on her father's shoulders while she could only stand by and watch, clutching a rag doll.
She was so envious.
But her father never came for her.
Feng Yilian's pupils contracted sharply.
How could this be? How could she still remember...?
Aunt Cao clenched her fists, tears streaming down her face, her heart writhing in pain. "My poor young lady... Feng Yilian, you truly are a beast! So malicious at such a young age, you must have taken after your mother. The Madam's death must have something to do with your mother!"
"Impossible, it's impossible! I really don't know!"
Feng Yilian's expression was panicked, and she repeatedly shook her head.