"Moyu, who's Lan Yunru's mother?" Feng Tianyi asked her again. "Please, Moyu. This is really important to Fengyan."

  Words couldn't describe how painful it was for Song Fengyan when he found out that Lan Xiyan aborted their child. It took him a few painstaking years for him to be able to smile again, hiding his sorrow deep in his heart. As he thought about it, his eyes stung and turned red.

  Song Fengyan could never understand why she had made that choice. He wanted to blame her, blame himself, but he was also aware that it wouldn't change the fact that Lan Xiyan had killed their child and he was left with nothing but grief in its wake.

  It hadn't been easy for him until the day he learned to smile and pretend that everything was alright. Thinking about the idea of 'fake it till you make it', Song Fengyan resumed his life without Lan Xiyan and pretended that everything was normal, so no one would be worried about him.

  "Please, Moyu. Tell us the truth." Song Fengyan heard his cousin tell the empress, who was looking at them with confusion all over her face. He snapped back to his senses but fell silent.

  "Tianyi, I don't understand…" She answered.

  Feng Tianyi gave him an inquisitive look and Song Fengyan nodded. If they really wanted the truth, then they would need to convince Tang Moyu by coming clean and reveal the secret that they've been keeping.

  "This stupid Fengyan informed me and Lianchen too late" Feng Tianyi glared at him as his jaws hardened at the thought of Song Fengyan being alone, dealing with everything on his own.

  "The reason why he broke up with Lan Xiyan five years ago was that she said she had aborted their child." The devil paused, allowing his words to sink in on Tang Moyu's mind. He didn't need to explain more as it was enough for her to understand why this was important to Song Fengyan.

  The revelation left the empress speechless, her eyes trying to find deceit in Feng Tianyi's eyes, but there was none. Even Song Fengyan looked like he was about to collapse at any moment.

  The three sunk into a heavy silence, only the sounds of the laughter coming from the children from the dining area could be heard. Feng Tianyi waited for Tang Moyu to make up her mind while she looked between the cousins, contemplating if she should get involved in this, but looking at Song Fengyan's helpless expression, what kind of person was she if she denied him the truth.

  "Her mother… Her mother is Lan Xiyan." She confirmed the two men's suspicions. If it comes to this, she wondered why Lan Xiyan hid the child and kept her away from Song Fengyan?

  How… what were the odds that Lan Xiyan hadn't truly aborted their child and the girl he was seeing now was his own daughter?

  There were so many times, when he held Tianyi's twins in his arms, he wondered what his child would look like if Lan Xiyan hadn't killed it, but he'd never dared to imagine that she hadn't truly done it and kept her pregnancy from him.

  There were so many times, when he found himself driving aimlessly around the city in the middle of the night, crying for Lan Xiyan, crying for the child that he would never be able to hold. For some time, he contemplated if he should kill himself to end his misery. He'd lost the woman he loved the most, as well as their child. What was the point of living a life without them?

  In the end, he was forced to continue to live in this gray and lifeless world. Occasionally, he found himself driving back to the place he once shared with Lan Xiyan for three years before they eventually broke up.

  "Thank you for telling me the truth, Miss Tang. This is enough for me." Song Fengyan said before excusing himself, intending to leave the place, but Feng Tianyi stopped him.

  "Fengyan, don't do stupid things. Let me and Lianchen to investigate the truth first." He told his cousin.

  Song Fengyan wanted to argue that it wasn't necessary, but the threatening look the devil had on his face told him that he could not say no.

  "Fine. I'll be off for a few days, if that's alright…" He gave Lan Yunru one last look before looking away, aware that his eyes were now stung with tears. "Tell me whatever you find out."

  Since he and Lan Xiyan broke up, he told her that from then on, they had nothing to do with each other, but seeing Lan Yunru now, Song Fengyan felt at a loss about what to do. For years, he had thought that his child had really died, so thinking of the possibility of Lan Yunru being his, filled him with such grief and despair he hadn't felt for a long time.

  Right now, he felt like he was hit by a dump truck and that he now had a gaping hole in his c.h.e.s.t. If Lan Yunru was really his child, then what? Would it change anything aside from knowing that his child didn't die?

  All these years, he had kept his promise to Lan Xiyan. The promise that he would never show himself to her ever again. He had kept his word.

  "Uncle Yan? You are leaving already?" Little Star asked when he saw him leaving.

  "Y-yes…"

  "Be careful with your driving, Uncle!" He heard Xiao Bao and saw Lan Yunru smiling brightly at him, making his heart ache. It was hard to explain the impulse to hug the girl that washed through him, but he wouldn't… not until he was sure that she was his daughter.