Chapter 941: Painful Exposure
"hiss!"

Luo Ningyu's words were like a bolt from the blue, causing Xie Xuan's pupils to suddenly freeze and his face to turn pale. He immediately became frightened and stunned.

"Thank you, Uncle..."

After being called by Luo Ningyu for who knows how many times, Xie Xuan, who seemed to be in a trance, finally came to his senses. He looked at Luo Ningyu, whose eyes were filled with tears, with complicated eyes. After hesitating for a long time, he asked intermittently: "Ningyu, you...where did you hear the news from..."

"I'm different from you. I won't test you just for fun, nor will I conceal things in a false way." Luo Ningyu said self-deprecatingly, "Maybe you will laugh at me for being stupid, but... I treat Second Uncle Xie as a family member. As the saying goes, 'Family members don't talk behind each other's backs'. If family members have their own agendas and scheme against each other, who in the world can be trusted? Second Uncle Xie, can you answer my questions directly, and don't use... the same excuses you used to fool mother and grandfather to evade me?"

"Tell me first, where did this news come from?" Xie Xuan asked impatiently, "As long as you tell me the truth, I will definitely answer your question."

"really?"

"really!"

"it is good……"

"Wait a moment!"

Before Luo Ningyu could make up her mind to tell the truth, Xie Xuan suddenly waved his hand to interrupt her, and then quickly walked to the door, opened it, looked around, and confirmed again and again that there was no one around before closing the door tightly.

"Ningyu, you don't have to explain too much. The simpler the better."

In fact, seeing Xie Xuan so uneasy, Luo Ningyu had already guessed the answer in her heart. In an instant, her body quickly shrank like a deflated ball, and she weakly squeezed out a trace of a miserable smile: "It seems... Mother and Grandpa are right, Second Uncle Xie... is indeed the one who secretly contacted the Young Qin King."

"This……"

Xie Xuan immediately understood the hidden meaning of Luo Ningyu's words and asked in surprise, "You mean... the news about Liu Xunyi was told to you by the leader of Qingfeng and his wife?"

"No! I overheard it by accident..."

At this point, Luo Ningyu decided not to hide anything anymore, either to satisfy her curiosity or to find out the truth of the matter. Instead, she told Xie Xuan everything that she had overheard when she was hiding outside Ling Xiaoxiao's room that day.

It's strange to say, compared with Xie Xuan, Ling Xiaoxiao has a closer "mother and daughter" relationship, but Luo Ningyu has never shown any abnormality in front of Ling Xiaoxiao. Instead, she tells Xie Xuan everything she knows.

Perhaps, this is her kind nature. After all, Ling Xiaoxiao's secret is "killing people", while Xie Xuan's secret is "saving people".

"This……"

Luo Ningyu's words made Xie Xuan's spirit chill to the bone and his heart tremble with fear. Even after Luo Ningyu finished speaking, he was still deeply shocked and could not extricate himself for a long time.

"You mean... Leader Qingfeng and his wife have known Liu Xunyi's background for a long time, and they have long suspected that I am a 'traitor'?" Xie Xuan was thinking a lot, muttering to himself, "So, Leader Qingfeng and his wife have been deliberately testing me and tricking me into revealing my true colors. And you... have been silently helping me avoid their temptations..."

Having said this, Xie Xuan cast an indescribable complex gaze at the distressed Luo Ningyu. After hesitating for a long time, he finally made up his mind, reached into his arms, and slowly took out the secret letter he had written to the Shao Qin King.

"This time... I'm afraid it's also a trap set by them together." Xie Xuan, still frightened, looked at the secret letter in his hand with trembling eyes and said bitterly, "If you had come a step later, I would have fallen into their trap without a doubt."

"why?"

Finally, Luo Ningyu, who had silently endured everything, could no longer suppress her inner grief. She covered her face and cried, bursting into tears.

"Uncle Xie, tell me why. Why is Liu Xunyi my half brother? Why do mother and grandfather keep hunting him down? Why do you want to protect him in secret? How many secrets are you hiding?"

As Luo Ningyu asked questions like a string of bullets, the restless Xie Xuan stumbled and fell into a chair with a plop. He murmured expressionlessly, "Ningyu, since you already know the truth, I will no longer hide it from you. In fact, Liu Xunyi is the illegitimate child of the Palace Master and Xiao Zhirou, and is the bloodline left by the Palace Master in Xiangxi... In addition to Liu Xunyi, the Palace Master and Xiao Zhirou also have a daughter who has been taken care of by Yun Zhuiyue all these years. Her name is... Yun Jianping."

"What?" The shocking secrets that followed caught Luo Ningyu off guard and left her at a loss.

"Qingfeng Alliance Leader and his wife insisted on hunting down Liu Xunyi. Their real purpose was not to avenge the Palace Master, but to... wipe out the roots and protect the Luo family's foundation for Hongxuan and you." Xie Xuan said in a daze, "As for why I secretly protected him... it was because the Palace Master entrusted me with his orphan before his death. Protecting Liu Xunyi means protecting the Luo family's incense..."

"Does Liu Xunyi know about this?"

"He... probably doesn't know."

"Where's my father?" Luo Ningyu asked unwillingly, "How did my father die? Is it really as rumored... that he was brutally murdered by Liu Xunyi?"

"Why do you ask that?" Xie Xuan frowned and asked suspiciously, "Do you think this is false?"

"Yes!" Luo Ningyu said bluntly, "First, Liu Xunyi promised me personally that he would never hurt Dad's life. Second, Dad is cautious by nature, how could he easily fall into the trap of the court? Third, Second Uncle Xie and Dad are like brothers. If Liu Xunyi is really the culprit, even if he is Dad's... illegitimate son, you will not protect him."

“This…” Looking at Luo Ningyu who was making such a confident argument, Xie Xuan couldn’t help but look embarrassed and stammered, “This matter… you’d better not ask about it.”

"Why?" "I'm doing this for your own good..."

"Excuses!" Seeing Xie Xuan talking about something else again, Luo Ningyu couldn't help but get angry and threw the teacup to the ground with a "bang", and said angrily, "Second Uncle Xie, I'm tired of guessing! At this point, is there anything you can't tell me? Could it be... there is a secret that is more bizarre than Liu Xunyi's life experience..."

"Shh!"

Seeing Luo Ningyu's excitement, Xie Xuan was worried that there might be ears on the other side of the wall, so he quickly dissuaded her, "Don't make a sound, in case you alarm the Madam..."

“Why don’t you alarm mother?” Luo Ningyu frowned and said in an unquestionable tone, “Uncle Xie, if you refuse to tell me the truth, I will go ask mother…”

"Absolutely not!"

Xie Xuan was shocked and wanted to persuade her earnestly. However, he saw Luo Ningyu's eyes wide open, her attitude was resolute, and the charm between her eyebrows was very similar to Luo Tianjin in the past, which made Xie Xuan feel as if he was in another world and felt even more sad. At the same time, he knew that it was hopeless to evade the question, so he let out an intriguing sigh.

"My father's death is indeed not simple!" Luo Ningyu was certain of the doubts from Xie Xuan's reaction. She immediately looked serious and asked word by word, "Second Uncle Xie, you still abide by my father's will, which shows that you are loyal to him and unswerving. In this case, you must not want my father to die unclearly, and you don't want Liu... Liu Xunyi to become the murderer of his own father. In this case, tell me what happened on the night of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month last year? Who killed my father...?"

"Ningyu, I can tell you the truth. But... no matter what you hear, don't act impulsively."

"I promise……"

"I want you to swear."

"I swear!"

At this moment, Luo Ningyu was eager to know the truth that was about to come out. Therefore, no matter what conditions Xie Xuan proposed, she would agree without hesitation.

"In fact, the Palace Master..."

Maybe he was extremely excited, or maybe the memories of the past rekindled Xie Xuan's anger, so that his eyes suddenly became sharp and fierce, and his facial features were hideous and distorted. For a moment, the murderous intent filled the entire study, causing Luo Ningyu to cover her face in dismay and shudder.

"The mansion master was killed by Qingfeng, Ling Xiaoxiao, Yun Zhuiyue and Zhao Yuan!" Xie Xuan gritted his teeth and said, "In fact, Yun Zhuiyue and Zhao Yuan were just accomplices of Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao, and as for Liu Xunyi... she was just a pawn of Zhao Yuan. In fact, the mansion master had already seen through Zhao Yuan's trick, but he was not in a hurry to expose it. Instead, he played along with it and wanted to reunite with Xunyi and his son. Therefore, it was impossible for the trap set by Zhao Yuan that night to succeed. Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. The mansion master never expected that when everything was almost set, the woman who had slept with him for more than 20 years would stab him in the back..."

"This……"

The bloody truth was far more cruel than Luo Ningyu had imagined. When she heard the names "Ling Xiaoxiao" and "Qingfeng" from Xie Xuan, she was filled with fear and loneliness that she had never felt in her life.

Being betrayed by the person you trust the most, love the most, and are closest to is far more despicable, cruel, and terrifying than being abandoned by the whole world. It makes Luo Ningyu feel heartbroken and unable to cry.

At this moment, she regretted it.

I regretted not asking for the truth, I regretted not listening to Xie Xuan's advice, I regretted my curiosity, I regretted everything I heard...

However, the matter was done, and even if she regretted it to death, she could not regard what happened today as a dream.

"Not only that!" Xie Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly and said angrily, "In fact, your Third Uncle Jiang, Fifth Uncle Deng, and Sixth Uncle Huang... were also killed by Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao."

"Stop talking!"

Terrified, Luo Ningyu hurriedly covered her ears, curled up her violently trembling body, and shook her head like crazy: "Second Uncle Xie, please stop talking... I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Mother loved Dad so much, how could she murder her husband... You must be lying to me!"

"I didn't lie to you. Xunyi witnessed this incident with his own eyes." Looking at Luo Ningyu who was like a frightened bird, Xie Xuan felt distressed and helpless. He wanted to reach out to comfort her, but he slowly retracted his hand halfway and sighed, "Ningyu, do you know why Xunyi didn't defend himself even though he knew he was wronged? Because... he is doing his best to make up for what he owed you, and is willing to bear the eternal infamy for Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao..."

"This..." Thinking of Liu Xunyi, Luo Ningyu felt a pang of bitterness in her heart again, and tears flowed down like the Yellow River bursting its banks. "Uncle Xie, what are you going to do? Are you going to kill my mother and my grandfather... to avenge my father?"

When Luo Ningyu said this, every word was like a sharp knife cutting her heart, piercing her bleeding heart into pieces.

"Originally... I just wanted to obey the Lord's will, help Xunyi clear his name, and take back everything that should belong to him from Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao." Xie Xuan's face was ashen, his eyes were cloudy and melancholy, and his lips and teeth were trembling slightly. "But now... you already know the truth, so Second Uncle Xie will give the decision to you. You can pretend that you know nothing and let me continue to carry out the Lord's will. Or... go to Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao and report me."

"Uncle Xie, you...how could you do this?" At this moment, Luo Ningyu's heart was broken. She felt that she was helpless and that she was the most miserable person in the world. "On one side are my mother and grandfather, and on the other side are my father and half brother. How can you let me choose? How can you be so cruel? Uncle Xie, if it were you, what would you choose?"

"Ning Yu, I..."

After saying this, Luo Ningyu, who was in excruciating pain, suddenly stood up, completely ignoring Xie Xuan's panic, tore off her cloak, ran out of the study without looking back, and staggered away in the cold wind.

Xie Xuan was the only one left in the study. He stood blankly at the door, trembling all over without realizing it, and tears streaming down his face.

……

(End of this chapter)