After understanding the general situation, Madam Ling was willing to help. "Old Lin, help them into the carriage and take them to the clinic."

"Yes," the coachman replied, stepping forward to lend a hand.

Only then did Old Madam Ling see Shen's mother's face clearly. She frowned in surprise, not expecting that the person she had casually helped would be from the Cheng'en Marquis's mansion.

Old Madam Ling felt inexplicably complicated. She disapproved of the actions of the Marquis of Chengen's family, but she didn't particularly hate Mother Shen.

Even at their first meeting, she felt a vague sense of familiarity.

It's a pity that this person is clueless and the things he does are despicable.

Qiu Yue hadn't expected that the person she was asking for help from would be Old Madam Ling. She looked a little embarrassed and said dryly, "Old Madam Ling, thank you for your trouble."

Madam Ling sat to the side with her eyes closed, resting. When she heard this, she simply responded softly, showing no desire to continue the conversation.

Qiu Yue wisely kept quiet; she knew that Old Madam Ling didn't particularly like the people from the Marquis's mansion.

She just quietly huddled in the corner, holding a handkerchief in her hand, wiping her mother's face from time to time.

When she brushed against Madam Shen's wrist, Old Madam Ling suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze fixed on the scar on Madam Shen's hand with a dark expression. "This scar..."

Qiu Yue scratched her head sheepishly, "This servant doesn't know either. The old lady said that when they brought the lady back to the manor, she already had this scar on her hand."

"You mean, she was adopted by the Qin family?" Old Madam Ling immediately grasped the key point in Qiu Yue's words. The people she sent out had not found anything about the adoption.

"Yes, Madam is indeed not the biological daughter of Master and Madam." Qiu Yue didn't expect that she would let it slip, but fortunately it wasn't a big deal, and Madam Ling wasn't one to gossip.

As soon as she finished speaking, Old Madam Ling fell into deep thought.

Adopted, with scars on her hands, and with similar eyebrows and eyes, every detail resembles her daughter.

How can there be so many coincidences in the world?

Madam Ling felt it was necessary to investigate this matter further.

*

Three days later, at Qingfeng Village.

When the chief received news that the imperial court was sending troops to attack Qingfeng Village, the army had already arrived at Mingyin Mountain.

He angrily kicked Shen Yanxi, not expecting them to actually send troops. It seemed they didn't care about the kid's life or death at all.

He waited for three days, but instead of receiving the silver, he was met with an attack from the imperial court. And during this entire period, he hadn't received a single word of it.

The leader's face was frighteningly gloomy. He wasn't stupid; he knew that Prince Li had already abandoned them, otherwise he wouldn't have kept quiet.

He sneered a few times, then kicked Shen Yanxi in the chest. "Killing one of my brothers isn't enough, you also want to destroy my stronghold. I should have skinned you alive to vent my anger back then!"

Shen Yanxi struggled to his feet. After three days in Qingfeng Village, he had been beaten beyond recognition.

He had been waiting for his father to raise enough money to rescue him, but he never expected that the imperial court would send troops to attack Qingfeng Village.

He's still in the lion's den; if he angers these bandits, he'll lose his life.

Shen Yanxi couldn't help but feel resentful towards Shen Feng, and anger welled up in his heart. He didn't even notice what the leader was saying.

Just then, a robber suddenly scrambled in, his voice filled with panic, "Boss, it's terrible! Su Jinyang has led a large army to attack!"

"Hmph, I've wanted to meet this famous General Su for a long time." The leader snorted coldly. Now that things had come to this, there was no way to avoid it. Fortunately, he still had a backup plan. He picked up his big sword and was about to go out to fight.

Halfway there, he suddenly remembered something. His dark eyes stared straight at Shen Yanxi, who was lying on the ground, and he grinned. "Someone, cripple this kid's hand and cut off two of his fingers. I want to give General Su a gift."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yanxi was shocked and kept backing away, but his hands were held down tightly, and he could only watch helplessly as the cold-looking dagger approached step by step.

"ah!"

With a piercing scream, Shen Yanxi's hands fell limply to his sides. Two fingers on his right hand were missing, leaving only two bloody severed fingers, which looked extremely horrifying.

As he fainted from the pain, a series of strange yet familiar images flashed through his mind. For some reason, his heart ached more than the wounds on his hands.

"Shu'er's hands are for playing the piano. Are your hands as precious as hers?"

"You have only yourself to blame. If you hadn't come to save me so late, I wouldn't have gotten beaten up. You deserve to have your hand ruined."

"I only have one younger sister, Shu'er. As for you, go back to where you came from. I will never acknowledge your identity."

"..."

*

Mingyin Mountain.

Song Zhiyu poured out the last bottle of medicine powder, turned around and nodded to Su Jinyang.

There is more than one way to Qingfeng Village. Song Zhiyu had already made plans and prepared enough poison to kill as many people as possible.

At this moment, a deep voice came from not far away, filled with arrogance and ruthlessness, "You must be Su Jinyang. I've heard so much about you."

The burly leader, as strong as a bear, stood a few meters away, carrying a large knife. His dark eyes sized up Su Jinyang, and although his words were polite, his tone was full of sarcasm.

What good is a renowned general if he has to leave his head here today?

Suddenly, one of the robbers standing next to the leader recognized Song Zhiyu, his eyes flashing with malice. "Leader, it was that woman who killed the third leader. She was also from the Chengen Marquis's mansion."

Upon hearing this, the leader's fierce gaze fell on Song Zhiyu. He sneered and threw the severed finger he was holding onto the ground. "Little girl, do you still recognize these two fingers? That kid screamed horribly when I chopped them off."

Song Zhiyu looked in the direction of the sound, her face expressionless. She had long since witnessed the methods of these people. If Shen Yanxi fell into their hands, he would be severely injured, if not killed.

In her past life, the bones in her hands were smashed so badly that she could no longer hold a silver needle and became a complete cripple.

Shen Yanxi, on the other hand, only lost two fingers, which was far less painful than what she suffered.

Seeing that Song Zhiyu remained unmoved, the leader's already dark face became even more unsightly.

If he had known, he should have chopped off that kid's hands.

The leader brandished his broadsword and arrogantly shouted, "The imperial court has been unable to deal with Qingfeng Village for so many years. Do you think you can take it down with just a few of you?"

Song Zhiyu smiled without saying a word, silently calculating the time in her mind.

Before long, a raging fire broke out in Qingfeng Village, thick smoke filled the sky, and the sounds of clashing weapons filled the air.

The leader turned around abruptly, staring incredulously at the large group of soldiers approaching, almost losing his footing.

"Boss, something terrible has happened! The stronghold has fallen!"

"Boss, something terrible has happened! All the brothers have been arrested!"

"..."

The continuous stream of bad news left the chief leader in a daze; he couldn't even understand how these people knew about the other road leading to Qingfeng Village.