The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

Chapter 198

"Mom, I still don't quite understand, I..."

"You can look for answers later and discover it if you don't understand now. I can only say this much. As for how far the Ye family can go, it's up to you and Nathaniel. I feel so relieved after passing this heavy burden onto you. Even though I don't know how long I have left, I'll just focus on being a grandma and I'll take care of Rita and Wisdom."

The old lady smiled teasingly.

Right then, Mango knew that she did not want to discuss it further.

Although she had not spent a lot of time with Madam Ye, Mango knew that madam Ye was a person who had a plan for everything.

Up until now, Mango had thought that Madam Ye did not like Zion and didn't accept him. Ever since they showed up at Ocean City until Zion's disappearance, Madam Ye had never paid any attention to Zion at all. Furthermore, she did not even mention his name.

Because of this, Mango had once hated her, and she felt particularly distressed about it.

But now, it seemed that Madam Ye had not taken Zion lightly at all.

Hence, Mango didn't know what to say. Her emotions were mixed and complicated.

The, she whispered, "Mom, if you knew everything, how could you let Nanny Zhang do such a thing to me, Nathan and even Zion?"

"That's because it's no longer peaceful working in the Dark Night Empire."

Madam Ye narrowed her eyes and she said in a grave voice, "Since ancient times, absolute power has always led ill intentions in other people. Even some of the descendants of the Ye Family were evil. Back then, Nathan's father was the head of the Ye Family and his brother, Nathan's uncle, was in charge of the Dark Night Empire. Unfortunately, he wanted to turn it into his own independent organization. Mango, you have to remember that no matter what, the Empire serves our country. It doesn't matter if you don't have military experience, but you have to remember this as it's important. The Ye family and the Empire belongs to the country. Everything we have, we owe it to our homeland. Thus, we are in service of the homeland and its people, and no one else. Do you understand?" Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.

These words were spoken by the old lady with particular prudence, even with a hint of sternness.

Mango was not sure if she understood completely, but she nodded anyway.

The old lady said in a low voice, "His uncle was a traitor. Fie thought that the Ye Family, with its illustrious background, could separate from the country and become one entity. So, he planned to leave the country with the Dark Night Empire and he even encouraged many people to join him in trying to seize power. Ultimately, he failed. Now, his uncle's whereabouts are unknown, and the Empire is in turmoil. Thus, I understand my current medical situation better than anyone else."

Hence, these words stunned Mango again.

She felt that she had heard too many shocking things today.

"Mom, do you know who poisoned you?"

"It was Nanny Zhang!"

Madam Ye's words were calm.

Although Mango had her suspicions, she was still a little surprised when she heard this answer from Madam Ye.

After all, Madam Ye had always defended Nanny Zhang, hadn't she?

What kind of tolerance level did Madam Ye have that allowed her to tolerate Nanny Zhang even though she knew that she was being poisoned?

After all these years, everyone knew that the old lady was very protective of Nanny Zhang, even more so than just any ordinary servant. Hence, what secret did they share?

Looking at Mango's confused eyes, Madam Ye smiled.

"You're smart. As expected, Nathan has good taste."

This sentence both praised Mango as well as Nathaniel.

Then, Mango smiled sheepishly. It was the first time that Madam Ye had praised her like this, so she was somewhat embarrassed.

Seeing her like this, Madam Ye was reminded of herself in her youth.

"You know what? Once upon a time, I was just like you, coming from a noble family. I knew nothing and I fell in love deeply. Only after marrying into the Ye Family did I realize how deep their connections went, but unfortunately I couldn't back out by then."

Madam Ye recited her story with a hint of sweet remembrance. Hence, she was like both a nostalgic young woman and an old man reminiscing about their past, sweet and sad at the same time.

"Dad must've been very handsome!"

"Of course he was."

Madam Ye was generous with her praise for her husband.

"He was even more handsome than Nathan. Can you believe it?"

At this time, the old lady was no longer Nathaniel's mother. Instead, she was proud woman, which really surprised Mango.

Usually, most people would think that their son was very handsome.

However, Madam Ye was not like that.

Nevertheless, Mango liked her being this way.

"Yes, of course Dad is more handsome than anyone else in your eyes."

"Yes, he wasn't just handsome, but he was also very affectionate. Even though he knew there would be no children between us, he still married me without hesitation. What's more, he almost left the Ye Family for me." Then, the old lady sighed and in her eyes were the beginning of tears.

On the other hand, Mango was stunned.

"You couldn't have children? How's that possible? Then, Nathan..."

"He's actually the child of my husband and Nanny Zhang!"

Madam Ye's words struck Mango's mind as a strong thunderbolt struck directly into her brain.

"How... Does Nathan know?"

"No, he doesn't know."

Initially, Madam Ye did not want to talk about this incident, but ultimately she had to reveal it.

She could not talk to Nathaniel about this matter, so she had to tell Mango instead.

"My blood is RH positive and my husband had RH negative blood. Hence, the two blood types are naturally incompatible and there was no way for us to conceive a child. In the first few years, I had always tried any prescriptions to change my blood quality and pH level, hoping to have a child of our own. What's more, we even went for IVF, but all of that failed until Nanny Zhang came along."

As she spoke, there was a hint of pain in Madam Ye's eyes.

"Did she get involved in the relationship between you and dad? Was she his mistress?"

"That's not true, my husband was not a fickle man, and he was certainly not one who would betray my trust for the sake of having a child. She told us at the time that she had the means to cure me of my illness and therefore make me pregnant, which was the best news your father-in-law and I could hope for. So, we took her into the Ye Family. In order to hide the truth, we told everyone that we had hired her as a servant to serve us."

It could be seen that Madam Ye was still very much affected by these events, as her words were staggered.

Hence, Mango did not interrupt her and she was contented to listen quietly.

The old lady continued, "Nanny Zhang really is something. She gave me a traditional medical prescription, saying it was a secret family recipe. I was dubious at first, and your father-in-law wouldn't let me take it for fear that I would have problems, but I took it anyway. After taking a course of it, I did change physically and I managed to conceive a child. You wouldn't know how happy I was back then."

"Your father- in- law even threw a big banquet to announce to everyone in Ocean City that the Ye Family would soon have an heir. At that moment, I felt as if I was on top of the world, plus Nanny

Zhang was very good to me and she always gave me nourishment in my body. I felt that even if I had to sacrifice my life, I would be satisfied as long as I could give birth to a son and a daughter for the Ye Family."

"But I was not destined to be so lucky. When I was eight months pregnant, the baby in my belly suddenly had no heartbeat. No matter how much effort I made, the baby still passed away. When the doctors took him of my body, I could still see his little face and he looked just like my husband and I. But, he died before he could even experience this world."

Suddenly, Madam Ye could not help but cry.

Even after so many years, she still could not forget the pain of having lost a child.

Mango did not expect to hear such a secret. Thus, she did not know how to comfort Madam Ye. She gently held the old lady's hand, and any words she had were stuck in her throat. Right now, she did not know what to say.

Those who have never been a mother would never feel the pain of losing their child. Hence, only a mother would understand the feeling of wanting to die on behalf of their children.

In order to make Mango more comfortable, Madam Ye tried hard to stop her tears and she felt a little embarrassed.

Nevertheless, Mango did not say anything. Then, she took out a tissue and she handed it over.

After the old lady composed herself, she said, "Your father-in-law was also very sad at that time, but he still consoled me, saying that it was not a big deal. After all, the worst that could happen was for the Ye Family to hand over their power to someone else. But, I know that he felt more distressed than anyone else. Unfortunately, my body did not allow me to get pregnant again. To be able to

conceive a child once was already against nature's decree, so at that time I thought of another way to continue the Ye Family's bloodline." "What was the solution?"

"Certainly, surrogate pregnancy was needed!"

At this, Madam Ye smiled bitterly.

"The last thing a woman can accept is for her husband to have a child with another woman. But I loved him too much to lose him after losing the child. Also, there must be inheritance in the Ye family, so I had to do it. At the time, Nanny Zhang volunteered to be a surrogate. I was relieved because at least we knew each other. Moreover, Nanny Zhang swore that she would never acknowledge the child and she would continue to stay with the Ye Family to take care of them, so..."

"So you agreed?"

Then, Mango sighed softly, her heart went out to Madam Ye and she felt sorry for her.

"Did Nanny Zhang do so because she wanted to?"

"Yes! At the time, I was so grateful that I thought she was an angel who was sent by heaven to save your father-in-law and me."

It was then Mango suddenly noticed that something was wrong.

"Did Nanny Zhang have other intentions towards the Ye Family?"

"Ha ha!"

Madam Ye smiled bitterly again, but the answer was evident.

"I didn't understand it until many years later as it wasn't clear back then. Your father-in-law accepted the offer of surrogacy but he was determined not to have sex with Nanny Zhang. What I didn't

expect was for Nanny Zhang to go behind my back and she nearly seduced him!"

Madam Ye's expression darkened as she spoke about the incident.