Upon hearing this, Gongsun Mo's face showed difficulty, this was the only token his youngest daughter left him in the world.

He had already prepared himself, prepared to never see his daughter again in this lifetime, but as long as she was well, he would be content.

As for the golden snake jade pendant, he couldn't bear to let go of it for even a moment.

Seeing this, Lin Yi did not want to make it difficult for him, and affirmed.

"It seems that this jade pendant means extraordinary to Brother Gongsun, then I shall not trouble you further."

Lin Yi wisely skipped over the topic, but Gongsun Mo couldn't hold back, opening his palm to show the jade pendant to Lin Yi, yet unwilling to let go.

Then, with tears in his eyes, he recounted the story of his youngest daughter.

After hearing Gongsun Mo's story, Lin Yi was also greatly shocked; this clearly was a case worthy of a family being executed, how could two people have escaped under Dayou's legal system.

If Gongsun Mo could avoid the massacre because of the old eunuch, Lin Yi could understand.

After all, for the past decade, Eighth Prince has intentionally spared strong convicts so as to cultivate and utilize them.

But a baby in swaddling clothes, logically, should not have escaped the massacre.

Combining the situation as described by Gongsun Mo, Lin Yi suddenly had a chilling thought, realizing this might well be another trap set by the old eunuch for Gongsun Mo.

Perhaps the original jade pendant never reached Gongsun Mo's youngest daughter's hands but was intercepted by the old eunuch.

Then choosing today, many years later, to use this jade pendant to blackmail Gongsun Mo for personal gain.

'Ha, the eunuch's schemes are indeed clever; he really has Gongsun Mo firmly in his grip.'

Lin Yi initially wanted to reveal all this, but seeing how Gongsun Mo guarded the golden snake jade pendant as if it was his only faith in life,

'Forget it, Brother Gongsun just realized the true face of the old eunuch, that blow is already huge enough, it's tough for him to have any expectations, let's not disturb him.'

'Wait until the future when things can't be hidden, then it won't be too late to tell him.'

With this in mind, Lin Yi began to say some insincere words.

"Brother Gongsun, your daughter must be living happily now; I believe that Heaven knows it made a mistake, and will surely make amends to your daughter."

Although he had never seen his own daughter, any father would be overjoyed to hear Lin Yi praise his daughter like so.

"Yes, in the future, if I complete my heart's desire and survive any major disaster, I will go to White Horse Temple to chant scriptures and pray for blessings for her, praying to Heaven to bless my daughter's lifelong peace and health."

Chanting scriptures and praying for blessings?

Lin Yi's mind suddenly jolted upon hearing these four words.

He finally remembered where he had seen that jade pendant.

"Brother Gongsun, I'm afraid I remember now, I've seen this jade pendant!" Lin Yi shouted excitedly, directly grabbing the golden snake jade pendant and scrutinizing it over and over.

This scene shocked Gongsun Mo.

"Hey, hey, hey, having said that, give my daughter's jade pendant back to me."

Before Lin Yi finished inspecting, Gongsun Mo directly snatched the golden snake jade pendant back and held it in his palm.

Lin Yi, agitated, was sitting on pins and needles—the golden snake jade pendant, he had seen it on Murong Qingxue's neck, of course, the quality of that jade pendant was not as fine as the one in Gongsun Mo's hand, but it was also a top-quality jade.

Once securing his own jade pendant, Gongsun Mo urgently asked, "Brother Lin, speak quickly, was it the golden snake jade pendant you saw at White Horse Temple?"

Lin Yi shook his head. More than a decade ago, he was still playing in the mud in the elementary schoolyard; how could he have possibly seen this jade pendant.

But to say that he saw it around Murong Qingxue's neck during an intimate night, this just wouldn't be appropriate.

Being one of the eunuchs close to His Majesty, it certainly isn't appropriate for a eunuch to see such private parts of His Majesty's concubine.

How to express this, Lin Yi found it troublesome.

Seeing Lin Yi hesitant to speak, Gongsun Mo became more anxious and directly grabbed Lin Yi's neck, urging anxiously.

"Speak quickly, what happened to my daughter?"

"Cough, cough, cough."

Unprepared, Lin Yi suddenly choked, his whole body unable to breathe properly.

"Let go, let go quickly, you're about to take my life, if I die, who would tell you?"

Lin Yi gasped for air and begged for mercy, which made Gongsun Mo finally relax his grip.

"Cough cough, can you change that temper of yours? We just became sworn brothers, and you, sigh."

Right now, Lin Yi was furious. Gongsun Mo, this old man's temperament was truly unbearable.

Realizing his own outburst, Gongsun Mo did not apologize but offered an explanation instead.

He told Lin Yi that when he first saw the golden snake jade pendant, he was very excited and believed that his younger daughter was still alive in this world.

But upon learning that his wretched junior brother was the culprit behind the massacre of his family, he no longer held much hope that his daughter was still alive.

Perhaps it was more of a wishful thinking.

He knew his despicable junior brother all too well, but he was unwilling to face the possibility that his daughter might have already met with misfortune.

So he deceived himself, maintaining a sliver of hope that his daughter was still in this world.

However, the moment Lin Yi mentioned seeing the golden snake jade pendant, the one shred of hope in Gongsun Mo's heart was instantly ignited.

He believed in this young man before him, even though they had known each other for less than two days.

After hearing Gongsun Mo's explanation, Lin Yi's anger subsided a bit, and he slowly said.

"I also saw it by chance at the home of a woman who was pregnant."

After Lin Yi finished speaking, he suddenly felt something was amiss, and immediately thought of a disturbing possibility.

"Cough cough, if Murong Qingxue is really Gongsun Mo's daughter, then wouldn't Gongsun Mo become my father-in-law?"

"No, this, this is too absurd, sigh."

But then he thought, if it were true, it might not be such a bad thing after all.

On hearing about the pregnant woman, Gongsun Mo's fatherly face instantly overflowed with tears. Although he was still unsure if the woman was his daughter, Gongsun Mo was overwhelmed with emotion.

Perhaps only he could understand the joy of having his hopes reignited.

Gongsun Mo pulled over a stool, gesturing to Lin Yi to speak slowly, to recount every single word.

"That woman likes studying Buddhist Scriptures, has a peaceful nature, devoid of any desire for fame and gain, and she's about the same age as your younger daughter."

"Only her golden snake jade pendant isn't as exquisitely beautiful as the one you have."

The phrase about her being of similar age once again gave great hope to Gongsun Mo.

After his excitement, Gongsun Mo quickly sensed that something was amiss.

"Wait, who are you to her, and how could you see her jade pendant so clearly." Gongsun Mo stared coldly at Lin Yi, as if trying to see through him.

Speaking of Murong Qingxue, Lin Yi felt somewhat guilty, not forgetting that he is known to everyone else as an eunuch.

But Gongsun Mo's intense gaze pressured Lin Yi to tell the truth about Murong Qingxue's identity.

Of course, regarding finding the golden snake jade pendant, Lin Yi merely lightly mentioned that he discovered it while tidying up the Dragon Couch for His Majesty.

After hearing Lin Yi's words, Gongsun Mo's expression darkened.

Although unsure of the odds that Murong Qingxue is his daughter, just hearing that she had entered the Imperial Palace and became the current Your Majesty's concubine made Gongsun Mo very distressed.

The imperial family is indeed the most heartless.

He would rather have his daughter marry an ordinary commoner and lead an ordinary happy life than enter the palace to vie for favor and become a casualty in the struggle for imperial power.

At this moment, Gongsun Mo's feelings were incredibly complex; he hoped that Murong Qingxue was his daughter, yet also hoped she was not.

After a long silence, Gongsun Mo slowly spoke.

"The golden snake jade pendant is unique to our Gongsun family; our ancestors have always used the golden snake as a totem. Why would the woman Murong Qingxue possess it, I hope Brother Lin can help me clarify this matter."

Lin Yi nodded; since it was not yet clear, he could not guarantee that Murong Qingxue is Gongsun Xue.

"Gongsun brother, how well do you get along with the former dynasty's historian, Lord Murong?"

Lin Yi tentatively asked, wondering if there's a possibility that the two aristocratic families, upon seeing the Gongsun family's downfall, might out of goodwill adopt the Gongsun family's child.

…This chapter ends…

Ps: Adding more updates today! Fourth update coming later!

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