Chapter 1627 — Paternity Test

"And so I was left behind in the Hidden Tang family, becoming the eldest young master's concubine. Before long I was with child..." Xiao Ming sighed. "But the eldest young madam saw me as a thorn in her eye. She too came from a hidden family, so she had always found me an eyesore and wanted to put me in my place... Several times I nearly miscarried..."

Xiao Ming recounted the circumstances of those years in fits and starts, until the moment the eldest young madam sent men to snatch the child away. Bing Tang listened in mounting fury; she brought her palm down on the jade table in the inn room, and the jade table crumbled into a heap of powder...

"The eldest young madam, is it? Very formidable, is she..." Bing Tang's voice was cold. Had that eldest young madam been before her eyes, Bing Tang would likely have struck her dead with a single palm. However formidable the hidden family behind her might be, before Bing Tang they would not dare so much as break wind—they might even clap their hands and cry, Well struck! Wonderfully struck!

"She... ah, it is not entirely her fault either. Her jealousy was only natural..." Xiao Ming shook her head.

"Natural, was it... Then it must be that eldest young master who was too worthless?" Bing Tang said indifferently. "He cannot even keep his own woman in hand—what sort of family head is that? He might as well be dead!"

Xiao Ming looked somewhat embarrassed... Though their union had not begun in joy, so many years had passed and there was a child between them; she had come to feel something for Tang Lingtou, and she understood his difficulties. So she bore a grudge against no one—she was simply that kind of kindhearted person.

"Find a hospital and have a paternity test done. Similar looks they may have, but the world is vast and strange things are everywhere." Bing Tang composed her feelings, then said mildly, "If you truly are my mother, then stay in the Ice Palace. That home—I do not wish to return to it, and I cannot return to it!"

"This..." Xiao Ming was taken aback. She knew what Old Master Tang intended: he wanted Bing Tang to acknowledge her ancestry and return to the clan, which would more than double or triple the Hidden Tang family's strength. But now Bing Tang seemed to have no intention of acknowledging the Tang family at all.

"Other matters can wait until later." Bing Tang saw Xiao Ming's predicament and silently lamented her good heart. But everything must wait until the paternity test results came out; science was so advanced now that a paternity test was a simple matter.

Though Bing Tang belonged to an ancient sect, she was not the sort to shut her ears to the world outside her window; she still knew of the technology beyond.

"Very well..." Xiao Ming nodded hurriedly.

Leaving the room, Bing Tang returned to Old Master Tang's former room. Seeing her expression dark, Old Master Tang wanted to ask how Xiao Ming was faring, yet hesitated, not knowing what to say for fear of provoking her.

"To the hospital. A paternity test!" Bing Tang said mildly.

"Good, good! We will go at once." Old Master Tang was overjoyed. By saying this, did Bing Tang mean to acknowledge her place in the Tang family? At the thought, Old Master Tang was beside himself with delight.

Bing Tang paid Old Master Tang's expression no mind and strode from the room again, leaving a few words behind: "Tomorrow morning, wait for me here!"

With that, Bing Tang took Xiao Qing and left the inn, returning to the Ice-Snow Spirit Mountain, leaving behind only Old Master Tang, whose lips twitched with glee, and Xiao Ming, who lingered with reluctance. As for Tang Yuyi, he felt that matters were perhaps not so simple...

Who was this Palace Master of the Ice Palace? She was the head of an ancient sect—how could she possibly go to the Tang family to acknowledge her ancestry and return to the clan? If what happened back then had truly been an accident, that would be one thing, but the events of that year were precisely not an accident!

My own dear mother, you have truly doomed us! Tang Yuyi cursed inwardly. Not only had she doomed his own father, she had doomed the entire Hidden Tang family! A figure of such caliber—and she had simply thrown her away?

That night was destined to be sleepless. Xiao Ming was too excited to sleep, her heart brimming with sweetness. Old Master Tang and Tang Yuyi pondered the Tang family's future, their feelings mixed with joy and worry. And Bing Tang—she did not quite know how she should face this Hidden Tang family!

Tang Lingtou, her own father? Kill him? Her mother Xiao Ming would certainly never agree. If it came to it, she could only make an example of that eldest young madam. As for the hidden clan behind the eldest young madam, Bing Tang did not take them seriously in the least.

"Palace Master, rest early..." Xiao Qing saw Bing Tang's worries and could not help urging her.

"Yes, very well, Aunt Qing..." Bing Tang said so, yet felt no trace of sleepiness...

Bing Tang and Xiao Qing had not worn their usual gauze robes today, but had changed into ordinary clothes. At this moment Bing Tang was like any ordinary young woman, bright and striking, much like a university student.

Yet Bing Tang's face remained cold and stern, without the faintest smile!

No one spoke much. Since Bing Tang said nothing, Old Master Tang and the others naturally dared not say more. They went straight to the cars and headed for the nearest hospital to prepare for the paternity test.

The two cars drove directly to the nearby hospital. After registering, Bing Tang and Xiao Ming walked together into the laboratory and underwent mitochondrial sequencing and autosomal STR typing. Since few people had this done, the results would be ready quickly.

Bing Tang's face was expressionless; Xiao Ming was excited and nervous; and Old Master Tang and Tang Yuyi were bitter at heart. Now that Bing Tang knew the truth of that year, his original plan had come to nothing, and whether the Hidden Tang family faced fortune or disaster was still uncertain!

At last the results came out—but the findings were somewhat strange!

"The DNA similarity between the two is around twenty-five percent. Theoretically, the DNA similarity between mother and daughter should be above fifty percent, though special cases cannot be ruled out," the doctor said. "Such a similarity, while possible between two unrelated ordinary people, is very unlikely; it appears most often among members of a maternal family line. So for these two examinees, the possibility of a mother-daughter relationship cannot be excluded..."

"What?" Old Master Tang was dumbfounded by the doctor's words. Possible? How could it only be possible? How had such a situation arisen? He could not help but grow vexed. "How does your hospital do these tests? How can there be a 'possible'?"

"What can be confirmed now is that the examinees should belong to the same maternal family line. The father did not come; if the father came and had his DNA tested as well, we could basically make a determination," the doctor explained.

"The father did not come—will the grandfather do?" Old Master Tang somewhat regretted not bringing Tang Lingtou along.

"The grandfather... would also do. We can do Y-chromosome STR typing. Once the Y-chromosome comparison results are out, if the examinee is also a member of the paternal family line, then the child's identity can basically be confirmed," the doctor said.

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