Although he was saying all that without emotion, Yao Ying still noticed the pain in his eyes. Yao Ying knew that it was Lin Jian's family matter and he had no say in it, therefore... he could only sigh. Remembering a painful past just like Lin Jian wasn't always good, while he, who didn't remember his past, would probably more blissful.

"What about your second mother? The Han Princess' mother?" Yao Ying asked. He had a gut feeling that Lin Jian found a hint of love from his second mother and her leave had a lasting effect on him. It must have been painful to him to lose someone so precious --- someone, who loved him dearly.

Lin Jian's gazed became hazy and it seemed like he was reminiscing his past with a soft smile on his face. A tender look that Yao Ying had never seen before appeared on Lin Jian's face --- probably it would only appear when he thought about his mother. "As I said before... to me, she's a mother, a sister, a friend --- everything. She is actually Father's childhood sweetheart. When she knew how Father fell into the woman trap, she didn't get angry at Father or behave unreasonably by throwing tantrum just like what an ordinary woman would do. She was elegant and had the best temperament ever. Other than that, it was probably because she knew that Father didn't have any feelings for my wicked birth mother and she also knew how stupid Father in term of a relations.h.i.+p was. He's a bit dense in that regard, so he fell into the trap easily."

Yao Ying seemed to see Yao Ling in that woman's temperament. Yao Ling also didn't behave unreasonably when she found out that he went to the hua lou. But this woman seemed like a saint, for forgiving General Lin when he got another woman pregnant. Well... he fell into a trap, that was probably why. If he was the one who fell into the trap, he wasn't really sure whether Yao Ling would forgive him or not.

"The funny thing is... the one who saved me was her. Father wanted to kill that woman on the spot without caring about her pregnancy. Mother was the one who stepped in front of my birth mother and stopped him without fear. I still remember until now what Father told me about what she had said at that moment..." Lin Jian trailed off at the last moment, trying to compose his disarray emotion.

Yao Ying sighed and patted his shoulder. "You can just let it all out. Everything that you said won't leave this room. Well... the only one that I will probably accidentally tell is Yao Ling." Yao Ying never tried to keep a secret from Yao Ling and Lin Jian should have known about it too, thus he told him straightforwardly.

The last part made Lin Jian laugh, but he liked how Yao Ying was straightforwardly telling him about that. He knew that this man wouldn't be able to keep any secrets from his wife, but this way... was also good. That was how his father and mother relations.h.i.+p was. They trust each other, hence the strong relations.h.i.+p. When he mocked Yao Ying for being a henpecked husband, he was only joking. In fact, he was jealous of him and at the same time... admired him.

"So... what did she say?" Yao Ying asked.

Lin Jian told him exactly what happened that day --- of course, it was all based on what his father had told him.

----

*flashback*

Young Lin Zheng was holding a sword and he was going to stab the servant who drugged him. The servant was kowtowing until her forehead was bleeding and she kept asking for his forgiveness. "Please... please... Young Master... forgive this servant. This servant had a lapse in judgment and made a big mistake by drugging Young Master. Please... please pardon this servant... on the account of the baby inside my womb. This is still Young Master's baby -- Young Master's flesh and blood. Young Master also knew that this servant was a virgin when 'it' happened. Young Master saw the blood too!"

At that moment, the servant felt regret for being too arrogant and thinking too highly of herself. She was so confident of herself because of her beauty and she just wanted to become the young general's concubine, hoping for a better life. She didn't even care that the young general already had a childhood sweetheart. In her mind, as long as she successfully climbed into his bed, he would certainly take her in as his concubine. She didn't expect to be kicked away while naked from the room when Young Master woke up and she became the laughing stock in the household. All the servants and maidservants looked at her in disdain because of it. The glory that she thought she would get... never happened.

When she got pregnant, she was so happy and thought that the young general would care about his own flesh and blood. On the account of his baby, he would at least take her in as a concubine and give her a good life. Even if he didn't touch her again, she didn't care. However... she didn't expect that the young general wasn't only angry but also wanted to kill her. She almost peed because she was finally understood the meaning of being scared. She shouldn't have provoked Young Master in front of his childhood sweetheart.

Young Lin Zheng almost vomited blood after listening to what that maidservant had just said. Drugging him should be punished by death and yet she was flaunting her virginity?! He was being drugged! How could he know that she was indeed a virgin or not? She could pretend that she was a virgin by dropping a few drops of any blood! He was dense, but not naive!

Was she threatening him with the baby? It made him hate the maidservant even more! How could he want a baby who had such an evil person as a mother?! Pei! He wouldn't accept the baby!

He was on the verge of going crazy until he heard the sweet voice of his beloved. She yelled at him loudly, "Stop!"

Only her... the one who could make young Lin Zheng calm down. Young Lin Zheng froze and stopped at the last second before the sword pierced through the woman's heart. The maidservant couldn't stop trembling and finally fainted out of fear. She peed herself and it made young Lin Zheng felt disgusted even more. The matter of him doing the deed with this servant had been blown up by this evil woman and put a strain on his relations.h.i.+p with the love of his life! How could he spare her?!

"Why? Why do you stop me?" Young Lin Zheng felt at a loss. Why did she stop him? Shouldn't she feel happy if he got rid of this maidservant? If this maidservant wasn't his wet nurse's daughter, he would already kill her after they were doing the deed. But now... she still has the gut to provoke him! What Lin Zheng disdained the most was a wicked and calculative woman.

The anger in him was faded when he saw the worried look on his beloved face. When he started to calm down, the woman patted his hand softly and tried to talk some sense into him. She knew Lin Zheng was stubborn but not unreasonable. He was just too angry to think at the moment.

"Zheng-ge... I know you are angry right now. I don't care about this woman at all, but I care about the baby inside her womb. The baby is your own flesh and blood. I can't let you abandon him... I don't want you to be blinded by rage and then regret it for the rest of your life!" The woman tried to appease him and she hoped that he would understand her feelings.

Yes... she was hurt, but it was out of his control when he was doing that. Even if Zheng-ge decided to kill the woman, she wouldn't bat eyelashes. She would just let him be, but this woman had Zheng-ge's unborn baby inside her womb. She didn't have the heart to kill the innocent baby.

Young Lin Zheng was still a hot-blooded youngster at that time, so he didn't think ahead and didn't understand her reasoning. He asked, "Why? I won't regret it! I don't even want the baby!"

The woman slapped him on his face, making young Lin Zheng stun. This woman, who was always so calm and delicate, just hit him?! He was more surprised than angry.

"Zheng-ge! Pull yourself together! I didn't tell you to forgive and receive her as a concubine! I just want you to protect the baby... your baby!" The usually soft-spoken woman yelled at Lin Zheng.

"But... Won't you hate this baby? Won't the baby remind you of this painful moment? I don't want to hurt you." Young Lin Zheng asked sadly because he knew he couldn't erase this guilt for the rest of his life. Then he asked weakly, "Don't you feel jealous at all?"

The woman glared at young Lin Zheng. "Are you really dense? Of course, I'm really really jealous! I'm so jealous and it makes me want to kill her with my own hands! But... the baby is innocent! I also do this for you... you... Stupid Man!" The woman said a bit loud due to anger.

"For me?" Young Lin Zheng furrowed his eyebrows and hesitantly asked, "Why?"