The Film Empress's Secret Marriage and Child - Chapter 3

Sheng Yunshu looked at the paternity test reports spread out on the desk. She reached out to take them for a closer look, but she lacked the courage to do so.

Mother would never use something like this to deceive her.

Was she not Mother’s child? Were she and Sheng Qingshan not biological sisters? How could that be? They clearly looked so much alike.

“I don’t believe it!” Sheng Yunshu stood up abruptly. She looked at Sheng Jiazhen and spoke loudly for the first time: “It has been thirty-four years! If I was not born to you, why did you not discover it sooner? Why wait until now to tell me? I want to have a paternity test done with my sister! We look so much alike; how could I not be your biological child?”

“Yunshu, calm down. None of us could have foreseen this happening.”

Her reaction was within Sheng Jiazhen’s expectations. The latter produced another folder, took out three test reports, and spread them on the table, saying softly:

“These are the kinship test reports for you and Qingshan.”

Sheng Yunshu’s movements froze.

She felt as if someone had pressed a pause button on her. Her gaze fell slowly, and even with dread, upon the reports.

“I had them done,” Sheng Jiazhen said. “Before telling you this, I had three tests conducted. The results were the same each time.”

Sheng Yunshu gritted her teeth, bent down, and flipped through the first, the second, and the third report.

“Inconclusive. No biological relationship detected.”

Those words burned like a branding iron on Sheng Yunshu’s heart. She took a step back, feeling her legs go weak. By the time she looked at Sheng Jiazhen again, she was already covered in tears.

Sheng Jiazhen wanted to say something more, but the study door suddenly opened. Sheng Qingshan’s breathing was slightly rapid, and she immediately saw Sheng Yunshu standing by the table with her shoulders heaving.

Sheng Qingshan’s brow furrowed. She covered the distance to Sheng Yunshu in two or three strides, and without saying a word, she pulled her into an embrace and patted her back:

“It is okay. That piece of paper does not mean anything; we will always be a family.”

However, the person who was usually accustomed to being feisty and sharp could now only clutch her clothes and weep in silence.

Sheng Qingshan felt pained by her crying and hugged her even tighter. She looked at Sheng Jiazhen with a hint of reproach, wanting to say something, but considering that Sheng Yunshu was still there, she held back.

After a while, Sheng Yunshu lifted her head from her embrace and looked at her with tear-filled eyes: “Sister…”

She choked on her words after just one sentence, and her tears fell even faster.

Sheng Qingshan’s heart ached. She pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears, rubbed her earlobe, and coaxed her gently: “Stop crying. Go wait outside for a bit while I have a word with Mother, okay?”

Accepting the handkerchief, Sheng Yunshu sniffled, nodded, and escaped the room as if fleeing.

Once the study door closed, Sheng Qingshan withdrew her gaze. She looked down at the reports on the table and took a deep breath:

“Mother, did we not agree not to tell Yunshu? What does this have to do with her?”

Sheng Qingshan had known about this since last month and had already met her biological sister. Like Sheng Jiazhen, even without the tests, she knew at a glance that the woman was her sister. After the results were confirmed, she had discussed it with her mother and grandmother, deciding they did not want Yunshu to know. After all, it had been over thirty years; was being biologically related really that important?

“She is the same age as Yanzhou. If we do not tell her, how are we supposed to explain Yanzhou’s return?” Sheng Jiazhen said.

Sheng Qingshan did not think that was an issue. “They do not look different in age. Can we not subtract a year or add a year, and claim to the public that Yanzhou has been in poor health and living overseas?”

“Why should Yanzhou be wronged?” Sheng Jiazhen’s emotions suddenly flared. “Qingshan, she is your biological sister! You know what kind of life she has had out there all these years, and you know how spoiled Yunshu has become under your care. If we do not tell her, are you going to let her treat Yanzhou poorly when she returns?”

Sheng Qingshan frowned slightly. “Yunshu is not that kind of person.”

“It is you I am worried about!” Sheng Jiazhen stood up, walked around the table to Sheng Qingshan, her eyes reddening: “I know you two grew up together and have a deep bond, but Yanzhou. She has suffered too much. You are her sister; you cannot hurt her because of an outsider.”

Sheng Qingshan clenched her fists and said in a hoarse voice: “Mother, Yunshu is not an outsider.” There was no need to assume she would bully Yanzhou.

But Sheng Jiazhen did not want to hear it.

“Qingshan,” Sheng Jiazhen took her hand, her eyes glistening with tears, “Mother needs you to promise that you will never treat Yanzhou poorly in the future. Even if she does something that makes you dissatisfied, you must be tolerant toward her, just as you are with Yunshu.”

“Promise Mother.”

Looking at the tears sliding down her mother’s cheeks, Sheng Qingshan reached up to wipe them away, her voice strained. “I promise. Mother, they are both my sisters, and I will take good care of them.”

Having received a definitive answer, Sheng Jiazhen stepped forward and hugged her, stroking her hair. “Good child, you are Mother’s pride. Mother loves you the most, but I have also wronged you the most…”

Sheng Qingshan knew she was referring to placing the burden of the family on her shoulders. She hugged her mother back and comforted her:

“It is okay, Mother. I am not tired.”

After soothing Sheng Jiazhen, Sheng Qingshan turned to leave, intending to go talk to Sheng Yunshu, but she could not find her anywhere on the floor.

After asking the servants, she learned that Yunshu had run off to the flower fields by herself.

Just as Sheng Qingshan was about to head downstairs, she heard the elevator chime. She looked up and came face-to-face with Sheng Jiuyuan.

Before Sheng Qingshan could even speak, the old lady retreated and frantically pressed the door-close button.

Sheng Qingshan: …

In the flower fields.

Sheng Qingshan used the surveillance system to locate Sheng Yunshu hiding in a rose bush. She skated over on her board.

As she drew near, Sheng Qingshan reduced her height, gliding almost against the ground before coming to a stop two or three meters behind her.

“Yunshu.”

Hearing the voice, the figure curled into a ball shivered but did not respond. It was not until Sheng Qingshan crouched down and cupped her face in her hands that she reacted.

“Did I not tell you to wait for me outside? Have you really stopped listening to me?” She gently wiped the tear tracks from her face with her thumbs, being as gentle as possible: “It is fine. Mother told you only because she wants you and Yanzhou to get along well. After all, you are the same age and will be interacting more in the future. You are my sister, and you always will be.”

Sheng Qingshan was not good at comforting people, so she could only make her a promise.

Just by being coaxed like this, Sheng Yunshu’s nose felt sore, and the tears that had stopped flowed once more. “Why. Why is it not. I look so much like you. Our eyes look so much alike. You are my sister. Why.”

Sheng Qingshan did not answer immediately.

She continued to wipe away Sheng Yunshu’s tears, one after another, moving slowly as if she were afraid of hurting her.

The roses swayed gently beside them. Several flowers were in full bloom, their deep red petals brushing against Sheng Qingshan’s sleeves and leaving behind a faint, lingering fragrance.

“We do indeed look very much alike,” Sheng Qingshan said softly. “When I held you for the first time as a child and you opened your eyes to look at me, I thought to myself, how can this child look so much like me?”

Sheng Yunshu’s sobbing paused for a moment as she looked up with blurred eyes.

“As you grew up and your features became more defined, every time someone told me, ‘Your sister looks just like you,’ I would think, ‘Is that not obvious? Of course my sister looks like me.'” Sheng Qingshan smiled slightly as she said this. “So, you see, this has nothing to do with what is written on a report.”

“But.” Sheng Yunshu’s lips trembled. “But it is not the truth.”

“What is the truth?” Sheng Qingshan asked in return.

Sheng Yunshu opened her mouth, unable to answer.

Sheng Qingshan took her hand and pulled her up.

The evening sky was a shade between blue and gray. A few stars were faintly visible on the horizon, and the night breeze swept by, carrying the scent of flowers as it drifted away from them.

“You only need to accept that there is one more sister. Nothing else will change; I am still me, and Mother is still your mother.” Sheng Qingshan squeezed her hand and promised her again:

“I guarantee that no one will dare to gossip. This place will always be your home.”

Sheng Yunshu looked at her with red-rimmed eyes. The warmth in her palm chased away the cold in her heart, and the boundless panic began to fade under her steady gaze.

“Then, from now on, you cannot be mean to me.” Now that she had been coaxed, Sheng Yunshu began to push her luck. “She is the biological one, and I am not. You can be better to her than you are to me, but you cannot be mean to me, because you have never scolded me before; you can only do it when I actually do something wrong.”

Seeing her become spirited again, a smile appeared in Sheng Qingshan’s eyes:

“Understood. But you also cannot go looking for trouble on purpose.”

“When have I ever looked for trouble? You said you would treat us equally just a moment ago, but now, before she has even arrived, you are already siding with her!”

Sheng Yunshu grumbled a few times. On the walk back with Sheng Qingshan, she sighed, a cynical expression on her face:

“It is a good thing Mother told me today, otherwise, if I had gone abroad for IVF, it would have truly become a laughingstock.”

The blood flowing through her was not from the Sheng family, so naturally, the Sheng family would not need her children.

She had only intended it as a lament, but once Sheng Qingshan heard it, the nature of the situation changed.

“IVF?” Sheng Qingshan stopped walking, her gaze sharpening. “Why are you doing that? Who told you to do it? When did you start preparing? How many more things are you hiding from me?”

Sheng Yunshu felt a tremble in her heart under her stare and instinctively wanted to run away.

But she could not break free from Sheng Qingshan and could only honestly confess everything, followed by another round of scolding.

After the scolding, all the lingering sadness in Sheng Yunshu’s heart was completely gone, leaving her feeling dazed.

Why could she not keep her mouth shut!

…

The next day, Sheng Yanzhou was returning, and the whole family was waiting for her in the main hall.

Sheng Yunshu sat beside Sheng Qingshan, and as time passed, she grew nervous again.

Sheng Qingshan patted her hand to put her at ease.

She gripped her hand back, wiping the cold sweat from her palms onto her.

Sheng Qingshan: …

Finally, near eleven o’clock, a figure appeared in their field of vision.

When Sheng Yunshu stood up, her legs were so weak with nervousness that her face turned pale. She stared fixedly at the newcomer.

A tall woman was pushing a wheelchair into the room. The woman in the wheelchair had long black hair, a thin frame, and a pale complexion, making her look quite fragile.

Sheng Yunshu’s gaze lingered on her for only a second before moving up.

That person looked seventy or eighty percent like Sheng Qingshan, though her brow and eyes were colder. She wore an inverted cross on her left ear and two black studs on her right, with a black choker around her neck.

She wore a long white suit coat over a deep V-neck black shirt, the collar wide open, revealing large, dark red tattoos on her collarbone and chest, the patterns of which were impossible to identify at a glance.

Seeming to notice her gaze, the woman looked at her.

The next moment, the woman curled her thin lips into a faint smile.

However, this smile made Sheng Yunshu feel a chill run down her spine.

She was certain—she was Sheng Yanzhou.

Sheng Qingshan’s biological sister.

Unlike Sheng Qingshan’s reserved and steady nature, Sheng Yanzhou was more like a drawn sword: cold, sharp, and piercing.

The wheelchair stopped in front of them, and Sheng Yanzhou spoke first:

“Sheng Yanzhou. She is my person; her name is Shi Yun, as in ‘Shi Lai Yun Zhuan,’ a turn of fortune.”

Sheng Jiuyuan and Sheng Jiazhen had been very kind toward her, so they said nothing for the moment, suggesting they eat first and discuss adding her to the family genealogy after the meal.

But just as they were about to head toward the dining room, Sheng Yanzhou suddenly called them to a stop.

Sheng Yunshu turned around and found the woman’s gaze fixed on her, an ominous premonition rising in her heart.

“Before being added to the genealogy, I do not wish to see her in this house.”

Sheng Yanzhou stared at Sheng Yunshu, her eyes filled with undisguised malice.

“Strike her name from the genealogy, transfer her household registration, and announce her status to the public. As long as I am here, she is not allowed to return.”

This situation exceeded the expectations of Sheng Jiazhen and the others. Just as Sheng Jiazhen was about to speak, Sheng Qingshan stepped forward, blocking Sheng Yunshu from view:

“She is also a member of this family. You do not live in the same place, so you do not have to see each other if you do not want to.”

But Sheng Yanzhou was clearly unsatisfied with this result.

“If she does not leave.”

Sheng Yanzhou met Sheng Qingshan’s gaze, a murderous intent flashing through her curved eyes:

“I will kill her.”