Chapter 26: Father

"Little Sister, I'm so sorry things happened like this. I'll make sure everything is returned to you as they should be. Mother's things should never have been let out of the treasury. I'm sure Father will be upset to learn that this has happened as well."

"It's ok, Brother Ru. I'll leave it in your hands. I have yet to meet this Father of ours, however, I feel that it's somewhat unlogical to assume Mother's things have been taken out of the treasury without his permission.

Anyway, I think it's about time I start setting up Brother Bohai's array before we get another interruption. I still have your own array to do after this."

The men quickly agreed and followed her instructions.

Several hours later, they had just finished with Fu Ru's own courtyard when the next disturbance occured. A loud male's voice shouted loudly throughout the courtyard.

"Fu Ru! Where are you, you impertinent brat! What do you mean by sending your servants to search your Mother's courtyard and removing her stuff!"

An angry handsome man stormed into the room they were in before stopping in shock at the sight of Leng Ling.

"That stuff does not belong to Mother Li, Father. That stuff is my Mother's and thus belongs to Ling'er. It should never have been removed from the treasury. You know this."

Fu Bai couldn't remove his eyes from Leng Ling at this point. The shock was too great. The girl standing in front of him looked so much like his late wife he thought he was seeing a ghost. His stare made Leng Ling somewhat uncomfortable and noticing this, Long Junjie stepped between them, blocking Fu Bai's view.

"This... Who is this, Ru'er? Why does she look so much like your Mother?!"

Fu Bai turned to his son in shock now that his view of Leng Ling was blocked.

"This is Leng Ling, Beast Princess of 10 Thousand Beast Forrest, my sister and yours and Mother's daughter. She was raised by the Fire Wolf Tribe when their King found Mother and her at the bottom of a cliff."

"My... Daughter? Li'er had our daughter?"

At this point a scroll and a jade tablet was thrown into his hands from behind Long Junjie. A soft voice followed it.

"These belonged to Mother. Father Hui saved her things for me, when he found us. Mother didn't survive the fall after giving birth to me. Father Hui buried her after taking me home to Mother Fei."

Fu Bai looked down at the things in his hands. The jade table did indeed belong to his late wife. He could still feel Di Li's aura on it despite her passing. A single tear ran down his cheek as he opened the scroll and saw the image of his late wife inside it.

Leng Ling watched him from behind her fiance. That tear shook her heart slightly before it settled down again as still and ice like as before. Her so called Father's grief looked sincere but she had already experienced betrayal on her past life. Although Long Junjie and his friends had started to create cracks into that ice like heart, Leng Ling still kept them at a distance. While it seemed like she had accepted them on the surface, she had not taken them as deeply inside of her heart like she had with her Beast Family and Friends.

Looking back up at Leng Ling, Fu Bai eyes still showed shock along with his grief.

"Meili!...my daughter, Meili... You're alive? Where did they find you?why have you not come home before this?"

"My name is Leng Ling, not Meili."

"Leng Ling? But the name your mother and I decided on for you was Meili! Your name should be Fu Meili."

"My adoptive parents named me Leng Ling and I'm sorry, while Meili sounds like a beautiful name it reminds me too much of your Fu Family's Young Miss. I don't want to be named anything similar to that banshee."

Fu Bai looked confused at that.

"Banshee? Meilin? I don't understand. She's usually such a polite and graceful child. How is she like a banshee?"

"Uncle Bai, you may not be aware but a few days ago she forced her way into Jun'ers residence with Aunt Di's gold whip, injuring several of his servants and also trying to whip Ling'er. The entire time she was there she was screaming like a banshee. Ling'er punished her on Jun'ers behalf. Then again this morning she forced her way into my courtyard. Again her behaviour was disgusting.

Ru'er was also there to witness it this morning and got justifiably angered when he learnt that all of Aunt Di's things had been removed from the treasury and distributed out between Aunt Li, Mother and Fu Meilin. That's why their courtyards were ordered to be searched to return those items and also why Ling'er would object to being called anything similar to Fu Meilin."

Fu Bohai stepped up to explain the situation to his uncle. Fu Bai's expression darkened as he spoke.

"Are you telling me, Li'ers things have been removed from the treasury without my permission and given out? And it was Chen'er, along with Su Wan and Fu Meilin, who did so?"

"That's right. That's why I ordered the search. That stuff was put aside for Ling'er and no one should have removed it."

"Alright. I understand. I won't interfere anymore in the matter. Your Mother's things are very precious. They should be returned to Mei.. er... To Ling'er. As Li'ers daughter, they belong to her after all.

Um... Your Highness, Crown Prince,do you mind moving out of the way, so I can see my daughter, please?"

Long Junjie refused to move however,and instead it was Leng Ling who gracefully walked around him into view. Placing her hands together, Leng Ling bowed slightly.

"Greetings Father. I am Ling. It is nice to finally meet you."

She was slightly shocked when Fu Bai suddenly grabbed her hands and pulled her closer.

"My daughter. My daughter is finally home. Welcome home!"