733: MingXia

MingXia

"Haiz, here I thought my Elle was missing me," spoke Mu Chenyan in a sad tone. "But clearly, you just wanted to do some digging." She even wiped her non-existence tears but once she looked at Raelle eyes staring at her, she sighed, "I should drop the act?"2

"Yes," replied Raelle.

Mu Chenyan rubbed her forehead as she tried again to avoid this topic, "But my dearest Elle, I wasn't close to Xian's mother. Yes, we met. But we were just casual acquaintances. If you really want to know about her matters, ask Yue Yue instead."

"I won't ask her," said Raelle. "She is overly emotional. Just thinking about my mother-in-law, she is gonna start shedding pearls from her eyes."

Mu Chenyan pursed her lips when she heard that from Raelle. Inwardly, she couldn't help agreeing with that statement. Sigh! Her best friend was just that fond of shedding beautiful pearls from her eyes. What could they do about it? 

Raelle wasn't done yet as she continued, "And also, even Yue Yue knows something, she won't know it like you."

Mu Chenyan scratched the back of her head and said, "But I didn't know Qian Yin. I wasn't all that interested in her personal life."

"Lies," said Raelle blankly. "From the moment you chose Xian as my husband, you had an interest in everything and everyone related to him. There is no way you don't know anything."

Mu Chenyan felt like she was pushed into a difficult situation here. Why did her Raelle have to know her so well? She couldn't even pretend like she was an ignorant person here.

She took a deep breath and paced around the room for five minutes before she stopped and faced them again. "You sure you want to know?" asked Mu Chenyan looking at Shui Xian and Raelle.

"Yes," replied Shui Xian for both of them.

"Then let's start from the beginning," said Mu Chenyan. "It's not just Qian Yin who had a problem with the Tang family. It's the whole Qian family against the Tang family. Let's make it clear. Both families are irreconcilable. No matter where these two families face each other, they'll always look for a way to ruin the other. It had been going on for the past four generations now."

"But why?" asked Raelle.

"Because they have a blood feud," answered Mu Chenyan. "It's the feud that can never be settled unless every single person from both families perishes. There is no other way to end this feud."

It was Shui Xian's first time hearing about the blood feud. He didn't even know anything about that. 

"How did it start?" asked Shui Xian.

Mu Chenyan sighed at that, "Before I get there, let me give you a brief history of the relationship between the Tang and Qian family." She looked serious looking at the playfulness and gentleness she always carried around Raelle. "Once upon a time, both families were actually very good family friends. No, scratch that, it was more than just friendship. It was a brotherhood that had been passed down for generations. Your great grandfather and Tang Hebe's great grandfather were also sworn brothers. They grew up together like the previous generations of the two families. In fact, their wives were also best friends."

Shui Xian felt like the start of this story was already shocking. If the two families had such a good relationship, then what went wrong?

"And because of this deep connection of brotherhood and friendship, Patriarch Tang wanted to marry his precious youngest daughter to the Qian family's youngest son. They were both of the same age and from the moment they were born, the two families wrote their destinies. And trust me, this destiny was written with blood. If only they knew it back then."

Shui Xian felt his breath hitch when he heard that. "Did one of them fall for someone else and wanted to break the promise between the two families?"

"Is it a drama?" retorted Mu Chenyan. "It wasn't like that. Qian Ming and Tang Xia... Oh, by the way, Qian Ming was your Granduncle and Tang Xia was Tang Hebe's grandaunt. Even their names were chosen to match each other. Ming and Xia... Mingxia meaning bright glowing dawn clouds."

Raelle really wanted to interrupt and asked Mu Chenyan, why she knew these small details when just a moment ago, she was claiming to know nothing. Really, how could anyone believe her words from this? But it was a fact that Raelle didn't like interrupting people so she just let Mu Chenyan continue.

"Moving on, Qian Ming and Tang Xia grew up together. And even when they were kids they already knew that their families had chosen them as each other's life partners. It couldn't be better that with age, they loved each other more. Perhaps, it would have been better if they didn't love each other so much. Everything would not have spiraled out of hands if those two had chosen to forget that love." There was no melancholy in Mu Chenyan's voice as she spoke. She sounded more like she was displeased with something but only she'd know what she was displeased with.

"If everything was well, where did it go wrong?" asked Shui Xian.

"I'm getting there," said Mu Chenyan. "Don't rush me. A storyteller has to first grab the interest of the listeners. Then drop the bomb!" She picked up a glass of water to take a sip and continued, "It all started in the 60s when the country was going through turbulent times. No one was safe. In that era of betrayal, Patriarch Qian was betrayed by his sworn brother. He was reported and his whole family was sent to the farm for reform. Perhaps the humiliation didn't hurt as much as the betrayal so Patriarch Qian's health deteriorated within days. Lack of proper healthcare led to his early demise on that desolute and cold farm."

Shui Xian's heart felt a chill seeping into his bones.

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