Chapter 92 He is Lady Dai's son
The discord between the Cai and Wei families can be traced back more than three generations.
Back then, Cai Taigong's own sister married Wei Langjun. This Wei Langjun had a violent temper and would often beat his wife when he was extremely angry.
Lady Cai endured this for five years, but could no longer bear it. She secretly sent a letter to a retainer who had once been in love with her but was forced to transfer after her marriage.
The loyal servant arrived on the scene and, disguised as a bandit on the official road, killed Wei Jialang and fled the Wei family with Cai's daughter and her two young children.
The matter should have ended here. After all, the entire Wei family had been killed, the carriage had driven off the cliff to create the illusion of an out-of-control fall, and three unrecognizable corpses had even been placed below.
But man proposes, God disposes. No one expected that a hunter would witness everything, and that the Wei family would unexpectedly find this hunter.
That was a huge uproar; the Wei family was furious and demanded an explanation from the Cai family.
At that time, the head of the Cai family had recently been replaced by Cai's sister's elder brother. Because of the large age difference between the siblings, Cai Taigong treated his sister like a daughter. Now that the Wei family had come to their door, demanding that the Cai family hand over the person and that he would personally execute him, how could they possibly comply? Not only did they refuse to hand him over, but they also bluntly stated that Lord Wei was morally flawed and deserved to die, and that their retainers were merely acting on behalf of Heaven.
These words, once spoken, caused quite a stir, infuriating the Wei family.
The deceased Wei Lang was a direct descendant and possessed considerable abilities. In their eyes, aside from his minor, insignificant quirk of being easily angered, he was undoubtedly a pillar of the Wei family, perhaps even ranking among the top five in the vast Wei clan.
The discord between the Cai and Wei families has been like a broken mirror ever since.
Within the next two generations, there will be no more intermarriages between the younger generations.
Putting aside this old grudge, this recent drunken murder case is no small matter.
The rank of Commandant of a Prefecture is slightly higher than that of Commandant of a Department.
In other words, Wei Conglin, his subordinate, actually killed his superior.
According to the laws of the Great Yan Dynasty, officials who commit regicide shall be punished with sixty strokes of the cane, be shaved, imprisoned, and forced to work as laborers in the city for five years.
This means that they were first whipped sixty times with a whip or a wooden board, all their hair and beard were shaved off, and a highly insulting iron collar was placed around their necks before they were sent to build the city wall.
"...Father, this sixty strokes of the cane will kill me! The Cai family is in charge of criminal law, and they will definitely have someone beat me to death." Wei Conglin knelt before his father.
The younger brother, Wei Congsen, was very helpless. "Second brother, why were you so impulsive? You could have just hurled a few insults at Cai Pei, but why did you have to kill him? The Cai family had worked so hard to raise a county commandant, and now that he's gone, they will never let this go."
"I... I did hit him, but I didn't kill him. How could I possibly beat someone to death?" Wei Conglin felt extremely wronged.
The elder brother, Wei Congmu, scoffed, "You killed a servant last year while drunk. How many times have I told you that drinking leads to trouble? I've told you to drink less, but you just won't listen."
Wei Conglin said in a low voice, "That day was Zou Yude's birthday banquet. I've always been close to him, so naturally I had to attend. The atmosphere was right, and I inevitably drank a bit too much. Cai Pei's death was also suspicious; who knows if he was already in poor health..."
"Bang."
Someone at the head of the table smashed a teacup, and Wei Conglin quickly hissed.
Wei's father looked at his second son with disappointment and anger. "The clan has put a lot of effort into cultivating you and promoted you to the position of Commandant. They were hoping you would be promoted a level higher in a few years. But you've been causing trouble outside and haven't helped the family much. Now your father is worrying about cleaning up your mess."
With accusatory glances directed at him, both overt and covert, Wei Conglin felt utterly aggrieved.
The Commandant of the Division wielded considerable power; he was used to being influential and fawned over by many. Now, returning home to be reprimanded, even his third brother, who held no official rank, dared to secretly criticize him.
“Father, although my sister has been gone for fifteen years, the Marquis of Wu’an has not remarried all these years. In the end, the relationship between the Qin and Wei families is far superior to that of other prominent families. Could we send someone to the Qin family to smooth things over? If the Qin family intervenes, the Cai family will certainly not dare to act recklessly,” Wei Conglin suggested.
There was a moment of silence in the study after these words were spoken.
Father Wei pinched the bridge of his nose. “Have Cheng Niang go to the Qin family to find Qinian. Cheng Niang is Qinian’s aunt. She has been visiting the Qin family often over the years. It would be most appropriate for her to act as a go-between.”
No sooner had these words been spoken than a servant's panicked voice came from outside, "My lord, a lot of people from the government have arrived, saying... they want to take the Commandant of the Guard to interrogate him."
"This is outrageous! They're arresting people at home!"
They're here to arrest someone.
"Find Fifth Sister quickly!" Wei Conglin said to his younger brother.
*
At the same time, at the residence of Lord Yuyang.
"Uncle Yan, why have you come back? Did you come to tell me that Father has relented and summoned me to the front lines?"
The sixteen-year-old boy was dressed in a red and black outfit. The lower half of his face resembled his father, but his eyes were more like his mother's, dark and with slightly rounded corners.
Instead of sitting on a chair, he insisted on sitting on the wooden box, swinging his legs, with a blade of grass in his mouth.
Before Yan San could speak, the boy continued, "The wounds I sustained in the Northern Kingdom have healed for hundreds of years. Old Master Ding also examined me, and there's nothing wrong with me. They say that fathers and sons fight side by side, but my father didn't take me with him on this expedition. That doesn't make sense."
"Third Young Master, the Marquis has ordered you to go to the military camp in the suburbs," Yan San said.
Qin Qinian, who had been listless, suddenly perked up. He spat out the grass in his mouth and said, "Really? Don't try to fool me. Last time I secretly went to the military camp and was caught, my older brother punished me by making me copy books, just like Father said. Ugh, my head gets dizzy as soon as I look at the books. Those words are like dancing characters. It would be better to beat me up."
Yan San: "I'm not lying to you. There's just one thing: the Marquis wants you to stay in the military camp and follow my orders, and you're not allowed to return to your residence for a while."
Qin Qinian leaped off the box. "Listen, listen, I'll listen to Uncle Yan. Let's go now. I'm going to be a great general someday. If we're a step late, I might be a whole day late."
Yan San said nothing more, and simply left with his men.
An hour after they left, a carriage bearing the Wei family's wooden plaque arrived at the Qin residence.
This carriage was not unfamiliar to the Qin family, and the guards at the gate knew why the person inside had come. Usually, they would simply announce her arrival and let her in, but today the guards said:
"The Third Young Master left the manor an hour ago and is not currently in the manor."
The young woman was surprised. "Qinian isn't here. Did he say when he would be back?"
The guard shook his head.
"Okay, I'll come again tomorrow."
*
Longxing Temple, behind the mountain gate.
A servant rushed over, "Sir, this is White Elephant's reply."
Liudao sat by the window in the room, with many things laid out on the table in front of him, among which small boxes were the most numerous. They were not large in size and resembled a woman's rouge box.
"Put it on the table," Rokudo said calmly.
The servant left the room after putting down the letter.
Liu Dao opened one of the small boxes, which was filled with yellow powder. He scooped out a small amount with a small wooden spoon and placed it in a ceramic bowl.
Before Liudao could open the other small box, footsteps could be heard outside.
A tall, slender figure in white walked in from outside. "Uncle, I'm back."
The one who came was Di Ting.
Seeing the items on the table, he raised an eyebrow slightly. "You're making new medicine again."
Speaking of "medicine," Di Ting's expression grew serious. "Uncle, I've heard that Marquis Wu'an has been arresting people recently. His men are active in Yanzhou, Qingzhou, and the northern regions, and he has arrested many of our key members. It's really strange how Marquis Wu'an knew the location of the stronghold."
The situation in the church has been quite turbulent during this period.
The impact from the northern forces was particularly significant. Northern troops split up to arrest people, storming the strongholds and capturing them with pinpoint accuracy, just like…
It's better to know in advance!
"A spy has been discovered." Liu Dao said calmly.
Di Ting was stunned, his expression changing drastically. "A spy? What kind of spy could know so much about our location?"
"The Marquis of Wu'an came to Xiagu with the Mingdeng back then," Liu Dao said, only this one sentence.
Di Ting subconsciously said, "Uncle, you doubt Mingdeng? Impossible! He came to the Qinglian Sect at the age of ten and has been going through fire and water for us all these years. He has never had any contact with Marquis Wu'an before. How could he betray us because of a small act of kindness from him? Not to mention that Mingdeng has been taking divine medicine all these years. Without us, where would he get the medicine?"
Liu Dao pointed with a small wooden spoon to the unopened letter on the table. "I did not assign any task to Mingdeng. This letter was just delivered by Bai Xiang. You can open it yourself."
Upon hearing this, Di Ting reached out and took the letter, quickly opening the sealing wax.
One eye and ten lines.
The more you look at him, the more bizarre his expression becomes.
Then Mingdeng told him that he had received a new assignment from above and was going somewhere else, not with them.
At the time, he didn't think much of it, assuming that his uncle had assigned Mingdeng another task, but he didn't expect that to be the case.
Now, the White Elephant claims to be unaware of the situation, and those in the sect who can direct the Beacon of Light all say they have not given any instructions.
Could it really be...?
"Why is that? He has been in the sect for nine years, yet he turned against them because of a few words from Marquis Wu'an. Did Marquis Wu'an bewitch Mingdeng?" Di Ting was very puzzled.
Liu Dao placed the wooden spoon aside and adjusted the Buddhist beads on his wrist. "I've been thinking about this for a long time, and then I remembered something. Some time ago, the Northern Lands issued a missing person notice to all merchants, looking for a nine-year-old boy."
This matter had been reported before.
However, this was a trivial matter of finding someone, especially a child surnamed "Qin." Like many others, Liu Dao initially thought that Marquis Wu'an was looking for a lost son of the Qin family.
He glanced at it casually and then handed it over to his subordinates to keep an eye on.
It was only recently, due to the rebellion of Mingdeng, that he focused much of his attention on the North, and ordered people to compile a list of all the major and minor events that had occurred in the North over the past year.
So, the missing person notice was once again placed on his desk.
"The Northern Lands were previously searching for a boy named 'Qin Yanzhou.' Qin Yanzhou was the original name of Mingdeng." Liudao fiddled with his prayer beads.
Di Ting's pupils suddenly contracted. "Are you...are you sure?"
Liu Dao didn't speak, but turned to look out the window.
Today the sky is clear and bright, as blue as crystal, and a gentle breeze blows, creating a peaceful atmosphere.
Liudao's thoughts slowly drifted back to nine years ago.
Nine years ago, a great famine swept across the states like a plague. He was traveling from Yangzhou back to Yanzhou with Di Ting and the white elephant. When they passed through Yangzhou, they saw a child who had escaped.
Yes, he escaped, but a gaunt man was chasing him.
The child was holding a small knife with blood on it. The person behind him was running with a limp, and was probably injured by him.
The man roared ferociously, saying that once he caught him, he would cut him into eight pieces, peel off the skin, and chop the bones into pieces to make soup.
An ordinary, yet not so ordinary scene.
He didn't act immediately, only watching as the thin man caught up with and tackled the child. The two struggled fiercely on the ground, and he saw a startling ferocity flash in the dirty child's eyes as he narrowly managed to hold onto the knife and plunge it into the thin man's chest.
At that moment, he knew this child was a promising talent. He took the child into the group and brought him back to the church.
At first, the child remained silent, as if he were mute. When asked where he came from, where his ancestral home was, or who his family members were, he did not answer any of the questions.
Several months later, the little mute finally spoke, only saying that his name was "Qin Yanzhou".
Everyone in the church has a code name, and he personally named the child "Bright Lamp," which helped him abandon his past.
Unexpectedly, nine years later, this abandoned past has become an invisible rope that has pulled the once homeless child back home.
"Uncle..." Di Ting was uncharacteristically speechless with astonishment, "Ming Deng is actually the son of Marquis Wu'an?!"
His surname is Qin, and the missing person notice came from the north. If he wasn't the son of Marquis Wu'an, how could he have turned against his opponent after only meeting him once?
“No, that’s not right.” Di Ting suddenly shook his head as if struck by lightning. “Uncle, he may not be the son of Marquis Wu’an.”
Liu Dao frowned. "What makes you say that?"
Di Ting solemnly said, "I spent some time with Madam Dai. When I first met her, I had a vague feeling that she was somewhat familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on where that feeling came from. But now I realize that it came from Mingdeng! Mingdeng's eyebrows and eyes are very similar to hers."
Liu Dao was stunned. "Madam Dai?"
Di Ting continued, "Uncle, the Salt Stone and the Dragon Bone Waterwheel were made by Lady Dai, and going back in time, the missing person notice from the North was issued from Ying County. These two events happened almost simultaneously, and I suspect Lady Dai may have made a deal with Marquis Wu'an. However…"
As she continued, Di Ting hesitated noticeably. "Why is she looking for a nine-year-old child? According to our reasoning, she should know that Ming Deng is already nineteen years old."
“It’s possible this is a smokescreen.” Liu Dao stopped fiddling with his prayer beads. “Regardless, the connection between Mingdeng and Madam Dai is a good thing for us.”
*
Bai Ri City, Qin Residence.
Dai Li left Ding Lianxi's courtyard with her son, her heart heavy. Since it's too late to treat an illness early, and Ding Lianxi couldn't do anything about it, she had no choice but to return to Yuyang.
"Mom, I'm not feeling unwell right now." Qin Yanzhou followed closely beside his mother.
Dai Li's worries remained: "I'm not feeling unwell now, but it's hard to say what will happen in the future. I'm going to find Qin Shaozong and talk to him about returning to Yuyang."
“Mother, I heard that Nangong Qingzhou has arrived. Marquis Wu’an is probably still entertaining guests at the moment,” Qin Yanzhou said.
Dai Li paused, "Oh, I see. Then let's go eat first."
...
After dinner.
Dai Li glanced at the sky; the rainy summer was over, and the cool autumn was approaching.
As winter approaches, the days become shorter and the nights longer. While we have our evening meal, the sky is still filled with brilliant sunset glow, but by the time we finish eating, the sky is basically dark.
"I'm going to the main hall," Dai Li said, unable to sit still.
However, just as Dai Li reached the entrance of the courtyard, a tall figure turned into the courtyard at that moment, and the two bumped into each other.
Qin Shaozong reached out and pulled her close, asking, "Madam, you're acting all flustered. Where are you going?"
When the person she was looking for came to her door, Dai Li was naturally happy and said, "I'm looking for you."
Qin Shaozong was taken aback, a deep smile spreading across his eyes. "Looking for me? Is Madam...?"
He turned the person in his arms around and carried her inside. Just as he was about to say something shameless to her, he looked up and saw a young man with a blank expression standing in the courtyard.
Qin Shaozong: "..."
Author's Note: Every time I open the comments section, I sometimes see one or two comments in a new chapter saying the pacing is slow/dragging/filler. I also see arguments in previous chapters. To be honest, after seeing so many, I feel a bit tired (collapses).
Even though I know some of the plot points are necessary, and I understand that you really like this story, which is why you're so eager to see what happens next.
But I've been updating this book for 90 chapters now, which is a full three months, rain or shine, without taking a single day off. I work like a slave during the day and write at night, occasionally having to attend small meetings (my eyes are practically black with exhaustion). It's also my own fault for starting the story so hastily with so few drafts.
I know what kind of story I want to write, but my mind and my hands are gradually going out of sync, which is why I'm updating less and less.
There's a completed novel next door with a similar theme called "My Mother, a Transmigrator, Famous Throughout the Land." Those who can't wait can check that out first, or wait until this one is more complete. It's currently updating around 4,000 words a day, which is about 30,000 words a week.
The update time has changed; it will be at 11 PM tomorrow. I'll rest a bit later, and I hope the reviewers will be lenient with me. [crying emoji]
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