Bai Zhi’er didn’t have time to speak.

Feng Fuce already raised his eyes, looking towards the door.

At this moment, a hoarse voice came from the doorway.

"Back then, I had no choice but to drive you away. You were so rebellious and of such improper birth, how could I have kept you?"

Guoguo tensed up upon hearing this voice.

He turned around.

Together with Bai Zhi’er, he saw the over-fifty-year-old Duke Huan, unexpectedly sitting in a wooden wheelchair, carried into the main hall by servants.

Duke Huan’s hair was a mix of black and white, paired with his eagle-like eyes, making the whole person appear aged and weary.

However, although he tried to look lovingly at Guoguo, his gaze always seemed too sharp to Bai Zhi’er.

Duke Huan glanced at Bai Zhi’er and the others.

"These must be Chuan’er’s friends, right?"

Bai Zhi’er and Feng Fuce did not show Duke Huan a friendly face, only nodding slightly in response.

Guoguo clenched his fists, looking at his biological father who was now like a stranger.

"Since you think my birth is improper, why go through so much trouble to invite me back?"

Duke Huan wanted to speak but started to cough violently.

The middle-aged woman dressed in fine clothes, who stood by his side, handed him a handkerchief.

Bai Zhi’er glanced over.

There was a bond of marriage between this woman and Duke Huan.

It seemed this woman was Madam Wei, Duke Huan’s wife.

She had a round face with slender eyes, and her eyebrows were drawn slightly upward, looking somewhat serious and shrewd.

After coughing, Duke Huan drank some water to catch his breath: "I’m old, and your brothers have all encountered difficulties."

"I can’t bear to see our Song Family’s estate fall into others’ hands."

"Chuan’er, you are my son. This vast estate will be yours in the future."

Guoguo sneered silently.

According to Bai Zhi’er’s advice, he should pretend.

But Guoguo indeed couldn’t bring himself to feign politeness with such a heartless man.

Seeing him silent, Duke Huan glanced at Bai Zhi’er and the others behind Guoguo, with pursed lips.

"Your friends are quite capable."

Feng Fuce and the others hadn’t taken any action since entering the mansion.

But that was what Duke Huan said.

This meant they had been watched by Duke Huan’s people since entering the Capital City.

Duke Huan chuckled: "You’ve blocked the religious icon the Prince Li Zheng intended for the late Empress, letting everyone know the prince prepared a faulty Guanyin."

"Do you think the Prince Li Zheng will let you off easily?"

"Looking around the whole Capital City now, only my Duke Huan Mansion dares to shelter you."

Bai Zhi’er slightly furrowed her brows.

She strongly disagreed with this idea.

It was at her suggestion that the group discovered the statue was unstable.

If such a defective piece were presented to the Emperor, wouldn’t Prince Li Zheng draw even more trouble?

Not only were they ungrateful, but they also bore a grudge?

Bai Zhi’er didn’t understand.

The people of Qin Kingdom are really strange!

Guoguo still remained silent, his fists clenched tightly.

Seeing this, Duke Huan turned his head to glance at the woman beside him.

Madam Wei stepped forward: "Chuan’er, let’s forget about the past. Regardless of how long you’ve wandered outside, you are always the young master of the Duke Huan Mansion."

"No matter who bore you, now that you are willing to return home, I will love you as if you were my own child, without distinction between legitimate and illegitimate, how about that?"

Hearing this, Guoguo thought of the sufferings he and his mother endured under this Madam Wei.

He couldn’t help but sneer: "Madam really shouldn’t mind the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate, after all, even if you come from a noble family, you’re just an illegitimate daughter of the Prince Li Zheng."