Chapter 1280: Chapter 1280

"So it turns out you’re a stepmother," Jin Fengzhao’s face darkened as she fixed her gaze on Master He and asked, "Father, then where is my real mother?"

Master He forced a smile and said, "Your mother is not in good health; she’s resting in her room. I didn’t have anyone call her out."

"Then I’ll go see her myself." Jin Fengzhao stood up.

Master He froze for a moment, then quickly said, "Ah, ah, you’re tired from the journey. Why don’t you sit down and rest? I’ll have someone call your mother out right this moment."

Master He subtly signaled to the butler next to him, and the butler tactfully left the room.

Having weathered countless storms in the Imperial Palace, what hadn’t Jin Fengzhao seen?

She instantly sensed something fishy and insisted on following them to see for herself.

Master He and the Chen Family concubine both tried repeatedly to dissuade her, but to no avail.

Master He was left stunned, completely unprepared for how unyielding Jin Fengzhao was.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder where exactly this daughter of his had grown up all these years, with such a fiery temperament to boot.

They passed through a twisting, winding corridor and eventually arrived at a remote, desolate courtyard.

Seeing this courtyard, clearly more rundown and isolated than the rest of the house, Jin Fengzhao immediately understood.

She pushed open the courtyard door. Inside, an emaciated old woman was washing clothes, and Jin Fengzhao’s eyes instantly brimmed with tears.

She was just as unwelcome as the legitimate wife, just old woman.

"This is Mother, isn’t she?" she murmured.

Her older brother nodded and then shouted loudly to the old woman, "Mother!"

The old woman paused for a moment before turning around.

Her brother said to Jin Fengzhao, "Mother has aged, and she’s a little hard of hearing. If you don’t shout, she can’t hear."

Then, her brother pointed at Jin Fengzhao and yelled loudly to the old woman, "Mother, this is younger sister, the eldest daughter, Fengfeng. She’s come back."

"Fengfeng?" The old woman looked at Jin Fengzhao in astonishment.

Jin Fengzhao immediately broke down in tears, crying out loudly, "Mother!"

Fragments of childhood memories resurfaced — fleeting and unclear. One scene in particular: her portly father standing over her mother, who was laboring incessantly, hurling abusive words. What exactly he had shouted, she no longer remembered; what stuck was how terrifying his anger had been and how pitiful her mother looked as she was berated. Both she and her brother had been left trembling in fear.

After an emotional reunion with her mother, Jin Fengzhao wept enough to let out her sorrows. Only then did she turn back coldly to glare at Master He and his beloved concubine.

"Is this how you treat Mother?"

Master He awkwardly smiled and said, "She’s just a rural woman, born to do labor. If you force her not to work, she wouldn’t be willing."

"She’s a rural person — and aren’t you one as well?"

Jin Fengzhao’s words left him speechless.

But the concubine beside him wouldn’t take it lying down and let out a derisive snort. "Who knows where you came from anyway? You call yourself his daughter, and the master has acknowledged you. So what? Does a daughter dare to criticize her father?"

When it came to playing the authority card, no one could outshine Jin Fengzhao.

She swept her cold gaze toward the concubine and ordered the maid behind her, "Slap her."

The maid responded with a slight nod and promptly stepped forward, delivering several crisp slaps to the concubine’s face, leaving her completely stunned. At the same time, the entire room was frozen in shock.

Master He opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself.

He still hadn’t figured out the full story of this daughter. But the aura she exuded was clearly something far out of the ordinary, unlike anything regular folk like him could measure up to.

If her background turned out to be something monumental, offending her, even accidentally, could end terribly.

The concubine’s face swelled red from the slaps, but though she wanted to lash back, she held her tongue. Seeing her own husband cowering before this girl, how could she dare to? Ultimately, it wasn’t just the physical slaps — it was Jin Fengzhao’s oppressive presence that had utterly cowed her.

These past years, how had she never heard anything about the family having such an imposing young lady?