Bai Sheng's pair of watery eyes sparkled. She crossed her arms, a confident expression on her face. "Master, I believe you understand the complexity of human nature better than I do. Be honest, back then, were you solely focused on your career and rarely paid close attention to your junior sister?"
Granny Wu looked at her beloved disciple in disbelief. "How did you know!" Back then, she was indeed engrossed in researching Gu techniques. It was her master who constantly clung to her, and her junior sister clung to her master.
Bai Sheng naturally couldn't say she had guessed based on clichéd romance plots. She merely smiled and didn't answer. She still needed to clarify one important person. "Master, did your master love you or your junior sister?"
Granny Wu replied without hesitation, "It was me, it must have been me. I could feel it in his gaze. After I came of age, my master personally confessed his love for me. He married me when I was sixteen."
"However, why wasn't he by your side when you were giving birth?" Bai Sheng asked with a frown.
"Because—" Granny Wu paused for a moment. "Because something very important happened at the time, and he had to attend to it."
"And then? What happened to your master and junior sister? Where did they go?" Bai Sheng's smile faded.
"Later?" Granny Wu felt a chill silently creep up her back, sending a shiver through her entire body. "Later, my master fell into a deep abyss while fighting enemies. To save him, my junior sister also jumped down."
Bai Sheng clenched her fists. "Did you witness all of this with your own eyes?"
Granny Wu's face turned a little pale, and cold sweat broke out on her palms. She shook her head. "At that time, I suddenly fell into a strange and serious illness and was unconscious for several days. It was others who saw my master and junior sister fall off the cliff and then told me. Later, I went to the bottom of the cliff to search for their bodies, but I only found some fragmented limbs. Everyone said their bodies were eaten by beasts at the bottom of the cliff."
A surge of immense anger welled up in Bai Sheng's heart. She was almost certain that her master's junior sister was a manipulative woman, and very likely not dead at all, but had designed a plan to abduct her master's man.
"Master, do you believe that your junior sister is very likely not dead? She must have designed a plan to abduct your husband. Perhaps they are now hiding somewhere living happily! If that's the case, your daughter is also very likely not dead!"
Bai Sheng boldly voiced her suspicions to her master. Although it was just speculation, it was a possibility. One had to grasp even the slightest possibility, didn't they?
She thought that her master's man was either a scumbag of the highest level, perhaps living with her master's conniving junior sister, otherwise, why hadn't he come looking for her master all these years? Or, he was somehow controlled by the scheming junior sister and unable to leave.
At this moment, Granny Wu's hands were ice-cold. She knew that what Sheng'er had said was merely her conjecture, but upon careful consideration, it was all logical!
For more than thirty years, due to her trust in her junior sister, she had never considered these possibilities. Thus, had she been living in a colossal lie all along?
She, a State Preceptor, couldn't even grasp her own destiny, how could she steer the nation's fortune?
Granny Wu's expression was utterly dejected.
Bai Sheng squatted down, held her hand tightly, and comforted her, "Master, don't be sad. What's a man? If your grandfather was a scumbag and left you, it's your good fortune. Moreover, now that we have a clue about your daughter, you should be happy."
"My master is not a scumbag. I believe in him. If he's alive and hasn't come to find me, he must have his reasons. I believe in him," Granny Wu squeezed Bai Sheng's hand, her eyes firm. kuAiδugg
"Then let's find a way to find him and clarify everything!" Bai Sheng's tone was spirited and resolute.
Granny Wu sighed, "In the vast sea of people, where can I find him? Besides, thirty years have passed. Even if I find him, it's meaningless now."
"Then let's focus on the child! Let's forget about the man and just find your daughter. Master, do you mind if I tell Concubine Mei about your situation?" Bai Sheng said directly.
Granny Wu raised her slightly reddened eyes. "Sheng'er, do you really believe Concubine Mei is my biological daughter?"
Bai Sheng nodded. "Since she resembles your master so much and the age also matches, I think we can try. How will we know if we don't try? Does Master have any Gu techniques for verifying parentage?"
The blood-dripping verification in TV dramas wasn't accurate enough.
In the ancient Han Dynasty, there was also a method called bone-dripping identification. Instances of this were recorded as early as the Three Kingdoms period. It involved dripping living blood onto the bones of the deceased to observe if it permeated. If it permeated, it indicated a blood relationship such as parent-child or sibling.
Song Ci's forensic work, "Collected Cases of Washing Away Wrongs," also recorded this method of paternity testing.
However, bone-dripping identification was too cruel for living people. Did they have to cut off a piece of bone and then drip blood?
Therefore, it was also not very feasible.
Granny Wu's eyes brightened. "Yes!"
"What method?" Bai Sheng asked excitedly. Her master was simply too amazing! She knew all sorts of Gu techniques, no wonder she was only focused on her career when she was young and didn't notice her man being snatched by a manipulative woman.
"Blood Son Gu," Granny Wu said gravely. "That is, using my blood to cultivate Gu worms. Once cultivated, this Gu worm can only survive on my blood. If it's my close relative, the Gu worm can also survive. The further the distance from my bloodline, the lower the chance of the Gu worm surviving."
Bai Sheng said impatiently, "Master, then cultivate the Blood Son Gu quickly!"
Granny Wu nodded and smiled, "I'll start tomorrow, and I'll teach you." She was also very excited. If she could prove that Concubine Mei was her daughter, then in the future, if she found her junior sister, she could at least leave her junior sister's body intact.
"Master, Concubine Mei wishes to study medical Gu with me. Do you, allow it?" Bai Sheng linked her arm through Granny Wu's, seeking her opinion.
Granny Wu's expression turned serious. "Sheng'er, to be frank, for certain reasons, I deeply resent the royal family of the Great Xia Kingdom. However, for Concubine Mei's sake as your friend, and possibly my daughter, I agree."
"Thank you, Master!" Bai Sheng kissed her master's old face. "Master, don't worry. It's not just you who hates the Great Xia royal family; our entire family does. You might not know this," Bai Sheng lowered her voice, "our family bought the old residence of the Baili family. My third and fourth uncles are actually the orphaned heirs of the Baili family. The Emperor exterminated nine generations of the Baili family. Do you think we hate him?"
Granny Wu was shocked. "Such a coincidence?" The great case of the Baili family had caused a stir in various countries back then. How could she not have heard of it? General Baili, she had even seen him; he was truly a renowned general of his generation.
Bai Sheng nodded.