Jiang Jizu's initial motivation for kidnapping the Liao family and going to great lengths to find the old nanny from back then was a small selfish one.
He and Liao had been married for many years. Even if they weren't very loving, they understood each other well. Liao Pingruo was foolish but not malicious. He chose her as his wife because of her kind nature; she wouldn't even step on an ant.
She doted on Jiang Chengyuan, and although she was short-sighted, she was a loving mother.
It seems illogical for someone to abandon their own child for their sister's daughter.
Liao went too far.
If she had raised Jiang Sheng in the countryside or sent her to the Liao family for care, she wouldn't have provoked such anger.
Abandoning an infant in swaddling clothes means they never intended to save its life.
Jiang Jizu had reason to suspect that the Liao family was behind something.
He never dreamed that the baby-swapping incident would affect not only the Jiang and Liao families, but also their in-law Yao family.
Even more unexpectedly, there was such a colossal lie behind this.
When the Liao family members, bound hand and foot, were dragged in by the guards, Jiang Jizu kicked the Liao family patriarch first, "What exactly happened twelve years ago? Tell me!"
"I...I don't know, I really don't know." The Liao family patriarch collapsed to the ground. "Don't hit me, I really don't know."
He was shivering all over, his face streaked with tears, and his fear seemed genuine.
Jiang Jizu turned his attention to several old women.
"I know you're old, fearless of death, and unafraid of being fought," he sneered. "But you still have descendants, you still have families. As a general of the Dayu Dynasty, I have the ability to make several families disappear without a trace..."
The several old women who had bravely faced death were dumbfounded.
With their cloudy eyes, they looked at the sky and then at the ground, and finally bowed down, pleading, "Please, General, forgive my family. Please, General, have mercy on us."
"When the Lü family fell into ruin, the eldest daughter died of postpartum hemorrhage. The old lady was heartbroken for the young lady in her swaddling clothes. Just then, the second daughter was born prematurely, and the child looked like a kitten. It was unknown whether the child would survive."
"The old lady felt sorry for the eldest daughter's hardships, and did not want the second daughter to experience the pain of losing her daughter, so she came up with a way to switch the identities of the two young ladies, which was the best of both worlds."
In this way, Jiang Chenghuan could live on as the legitimate daughter of the Jiang family, and the prematurely deceased child would not cause Liao Shi any grief.
This is a damn perfect solution; where does it put the Jiang family?
Jiang Jizu clenched his fists, veins bulging, wishing he could kill the Liao family.
“That’s not right,” Tan Yue said. “Our young lady stayed with the old lady for half a year before being taken away. She wasn’t switched at birth.”
The old women still didn't tell the truth.
Jiang Jizu finally couldn't hold back any longer and kicked the leading nanny eight feet away, causing her to collapse to the ground spitting blood.
"Will you tell me or not!"
"Tell us, tell us!" The others were completely frightened and told the whole story. "It was the eldest daughter. She was jealous that the second daughter married well, jealous that the Jiang family was booming while the Lü family was completely ruined. She was unwilling to accept that she, who had been outstanding all her life, was no match for her dull younger sister in the end."
Therefore, before she died, she forced Madam Liao to agree to give Jiang Chenghuan a good birth.
Knowing that Liao would never agree, the mother and daughter conspired to set a trap. Whether it was the two moles or the slander against the Yao family, it was all to persuade Liao to take Jiang Chenghuan in.
The only truly unexpected reason in this case is premature birth.
If it weren't for Old Madam Jiang taking Jiang Sheng in and caring for her meticulously for half a year, the premature baby would have been switched at birth and would have truly died.
The Liao family is ruthless, Lady Lü is ruthless, and Lady Jiang is stupid enough.
All the bad and stupidity combined caused the Jiang family's pain and also led to Jiang Sheng's tragedy.
But ironically, both of them died.
Jiang Jizu didn't even know who he should hate, who he should be angry with, or who he should grind to dust.
"You deserve to die!" he roared, kicking the Liao family patriarch in the chest again.
The obese man, as fat as a pig, flew out with a wail, spitting blood as he fell to the ground.
Jiang Jizu was about to kick again when a figure rushed past him—it was Liao Shi, with disheveled hair.
"Big brother, was that real? Was it real? Who is my child? Where is my child?" She grabbed the Liao family head, screaming and roaring wildly, "Tell me, who is my child whom I've been carrying for seven months? Who is it?!"
The Liao family patriarch coughed up blood again and was unable to speak.
Old Madam Jiang leaned on her cane and sneered, "Let me tell you, Jiang Sheng is, the child you abandoned with your own hands, your own flesh and blood."
"In the years you abandoned her, she wandered from place to place, she was on the verge of freezing and starving to death countless times, she was so hungry that she had to fight with dogs for food. She was a little beggar in everyone's eyes, a homeless child without parents, someone who could be trampled on at will. Spoiled food was a delicacy in her eyes, and even dogs ate more with more dignity than she did."
How ridiculous.
He treats his enemy's child like a treasure, while his beloved flesh and blood is on the verge of death.
Liao, you're ridiculous.
Some were consumed by rage, some felt dizzy, and some coughed up blood, injuring their hearts and lungs.
"My child? Where is my child?" Liao staggered to her feet, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. Her disheveled hair and clothes made her look like a ghost. "Child, your mother is looking for you. Your mother will protect you. Please come back. I was wrong. I was really wrong."
As she approached Jiang Sheng, her steps gradually slowed, as if she were trying to discern the situation or cautiously probing.
“Child, are you my child…” Liao reached out her hand.
Jiang Sheng subconsciously took two steps back.
How can the wounds caused be healed, and the mistakes made can never be undone? A child who has been maliciously abandoned can never return to the side of the person who has repented.
Is she? Or not?
Does it matter whether it is or not?
Twelve years have passed, too many mistakes have been made, and her child will never come back.
Liao coughed up blood again and wailed to the sky.
But as she cried, she suddenly laughed again, her arms loosely wrapped around something, and she even hummed a children's song, "A thousand miles of grass, green rice; ten days of divination, nothing will grow."
"My mother sings a lullaby to my son, and he neither cries nor makes a fuss."
She stopped looking at Jiang Sheng and the Liao family, and just smiled at the emptiness in her arms, "Don't cry, don't cry, look what this is, a little toy that your mother prepared for you."
“Our daughter is a general’s child, and she will grow up to be a valiant daughter of a general. But she can’t go to the battlefield, it’s too dangerous. Your grandfather died on the battlefield, and your father will probably suffer the same fate. I won’t allow you and your siblings to be in danger. I just want you to live well.”
She finally returned to twelve years ago, and walked away with the child she had been longing for.
No one stopped them, no one hindered them.
Only Jiang Chenghuan, who was in the corner, ran after her, calling out, "Mother, what's wrong? Mother, wake up!"
But he received a hard push in return.
"Get out, you bad person, don't touch my child." Liao's tone was vicious. "You're a bad person, get out."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
