The countless number of clues slowly established contact inside of Shen Yanxiao's brain, and it was a while before her mind's thoughts gradually became clear.
Just as she was pondering over these thoughts, Shen Feng suddenly called her.
"Shen Duan, you'll be in charge of entertaining the guests from the God's Domain. Shen Ling, if the Vermillion Bird over there has any sort of demands, you need to satisfy him as soon as possible. As for the others, go and do what you ought to be doing! Xiaoxiao, follow me to the study room for a while."
…
It was the first time that Shen Yanxiao had entered Shen Feng's study room. Contained within the simple and unadorned room, besides that desk, were bookshelves upon bookshelves, stuffed with ancient books. The Vermillion Bird Clan was very richly provided for, but Shen Feng's study room was unexpectedly relatively unadorned. He wouldn't treat anyone from the clan harshly, but by himself, he was nevertheless very frugal.
"Have a seat." Shen Feng looked at Shen Yanxiao with a smile on his face.
Complying with his words, Shen Yanxiao sat. She didn't know why Shen Feng had called her over, and could only wait for Shen Feng to open his mouth.
From the back of the desk, Shen Feng took out a scroll painting and passed it over to Shen Yanxiao.
Shen Yanxiao unrolled the scroll painting. On top of the picture was a drawing of a couple—standing side by side. The man appeared to be a little more than 20 years old, his unusually elegant face far better compared than Shen Yifeng's by a hundred times. Although this was merely a drawing, the man's elegant appearance was nevertheless vivid and lifelike.
The corner of his eyes carried smiles and left people with a feeling of endearment. As for the woman who was snuggling up at his side, and who appeared to be extremely petite, her pretty face had a pair of extremely charming, quick-witted, and big eyes. The woman's facial features were seemingly so perfect that they couldn't be picked on. She was akin to a fairy that had fallen into the mundane world, and made people unable to bear to have her move away from their line of sight.
The two people in this picture were so perfect that it didn't seem to be real.
"These are your parents. Merely, it's a pity that not long after you'd been born, they departed from this world." Shen Feng's voice was downcast. He felt regret as he struggled to find the words to say.
Shen Yanxiao was extremely astonished, and she finally understood why Shen Yue and the others had always said that she wasn't Shen Yu's child. With this pair of parents, how was it possible that the child they gave birth to would have an appearance that was so mediocre? There was no need to speak of Shen Yue and Shen Duan, even Shen Yanxiao doubted her own identity at this moment.
"I don't look like them."
Shen Feng laughed as he said, "Although you don't look like them, after you recovered to normal, your smiling expression nevertheless has a hint of your father's look."
Shen Yanxiao touched her own mediocre, little face, for she found it very hard to believe that her own smiling expression unexpectedly resembles the man that was on the picture scroll.
Her appearance wasn't just firmly that of an ugly duckling, and using two white swans to describe the two people that were inscribed on the picture scroll simply wasn't sufficient.
Even if it were a genetic mutation, this change was unavoidably too excessive. There certainly wasn't any kind of plastic surgery in this era, and it was evident that these two people were naturally born so perfect. As a result, why was it that her appearance, as their daughter caused people to feel that she was so… so ghastly in comparison!
Shen Yanxiao's mouth twitched, for the heavens truly didn't like her much. For her to look like this despite having such good-looking parents… she'd really let down her parents' beauty.
"Your father was my youngest son, and was also my pride. I had once hoped that, if there were a day that the Vermillion Bird were able to be roused, then I must have him be the Vermillion Bird's master. He was very intelligent, and regarding Dou Qi, his gift was very high. Everyone said that Yifeng was a rarely seen genius of the century for the Vermillion Bird Clan. However, when compared to your father, there was nevertheless a huge discrepancy." Shen Feng stood behind Shen Yanxiao, looking at the son of his that was on the picture scroll.
The once most-prided son of his, as of now, was eternally separated from him, and he'd never be able to see him again. Even though it was Shen Feng, at present, it was hard for him to conceal the sorrow inside his eyes.