The father and daughter talked all the way home. Su Qingran said goodbye politely and returned to her own yard.
Su Can looked at her back, feeling extremely guilty.
She will be married in a little over a month and will no longer be a member of the Su family. His daughter studied medicine for him, but he never came back to see her, leaving her to live a humble life under the care of her stepmother.
In the teahouse, after Chu Yifei left, he pretended to be a passerby and asked pedestrians on the street about his family affairs.
As soon as I asked the question, many people sneered in disdain.
"You asked General Su's mansion! Oh! It's so embarrassing. His legitimate daughter murdered his concubine's younger sister and got pregnant with someone else. She was then kicked out by Lin Hong, the son of Lin Geng, the Imperial Academy's tutor."
"Why? Why else? It is said that Madam Lin does not recognize this marriage."
"The eldest daughter of the Su family is so vicious that she even plotted to kill her concubine's younger sister. Who in the capital would dare to marry her? The second daughter of the Su family is a transparent person. She has been abused since she was a child. Even in this situation, they still can't tolerate it. It shows how vicious she is."
"Hahaha! The Su family is now a joke in the whole capital, but it's been a long time and no one mentions it anymore."
Su Can did not give up and went to ask other passers-by. Everyone started to mock the Su family when they mentioned them.
I chatted with my daughter all the way and learned some of the ugly things in the family through indirect clues.
I've been away from home for so many years, and I thought my wife would keep the house in order, but I didn't expect so many shameful things to happen.
The Su family became a laughing stock in the capital.
"Alas!" Su Can sighed and muttered in a low voice, "I was wrong all these years. I shouldn't have abandoned my family."
He strolled to the yard where his mother used to live. There was no light in the house. He pushed the door open and was greeted by a rotten smell.
An oil lamp was lit in the back room, and an old woman, hunched over, walked out slowly, holding the oil lamp in one hand and shielding the wind with the other.
Seeing it was him, the old woman froze in her tracks, then she put down the oil lamp, saluted him, and shouted in a trembling voice, "General! You're back!"
Su Can looked carefully and finally recognized that this was Nanny Fang, who came with his mother's dowry.
"Madam Fang! Why are you the only one guarding mother's room? Where are the others?"
"They were all sent away. I couldn't bear to leave the old lady, so I stayed here to look after the yard." Nanny Fang held a lamp and led Su Can to his mother's room. "I clean the old lady's room every day."
After saying that, she put down the lamp, took out a letter and a key from the secret compartment of the bedside drawer and handed them to him.
"This is something that the old lady asked me to personally hand over to the general. I have been waiting and looking forward to it. The general has finally returned. My wish has been fulfilled and I can rest in peace now."
Su Can sat down, opened the envelope, took out the letter, shook it, unfolded it, and began to read it under the light.
Dear son:
Seeing the letter is like seeing the person. My mother's time is running out and she can't wait for her own son to see her to the end. My mother's illness is strange and I have doubts. If necessary, we can open an autopsy.
Li was as vicious as a wolf, plotting against my mother bit by bit. She was old and weak, unable to fight back, and could only watch her body deteriorate day by day. Qing Ran was smart, but she lived a miserable life, and all of her mother's dowry was taken to her husband's family.
My son! I will never rest in peace because my mother was plotted against.
After reading the letter, Su Can was completely stunned.
This was his mother's handwriting. He could see that every word she wrote was full of tears and blood as she accused herself of being murdered. She would rather have her coffin opened and her body taken for autopsy than not get an explanation.
Li was really so bold that he actually killed his own mother?
It was a pity that when he came back he believed her slander and was so busy looking for a husband for his eldest daughter that he never had time to take a look at his mother's room.
Picking up the key, Su Can was a little confused. Aunt Fang explained: "This is the old lady's personal belongings, temporarily stored in the farm outside the city.
The old lady said that this was the dowry prepared for the second young lady. The mansion had treated her badly over the years, and her aunt had died in an unclear manner, but the second young lady had been enduring it.
Madam asked for it several times, but the old lady didn't give it to her, so she wanted to give the second young lady some compensation."
These words almost explained everything. Li asked for her mother's dowry money, but her mother refused to give it to her, so Li held a grudge against her.
When his sweetheart passed away, he did not come back immediately because he was concerned about his family's reputation and that he had an old mother who needed his care.
Later, I became discouraged and was distracted by other things and never responded. Unexpectedly, I ended up making a huge mistake.
Just look at the oil lamp in Fang Ma's hand and you'll know that Li treated his mother's dowry harshly. Most houses are lit by candles, and oil lamps are only used by ordinary people.
Holding the letter, Su Can's hands were shaking. He suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself. As a son, he couldn't even protect his own mother. What kind of man was he?
When Nanny Fang saw him beating himself, she did not stop him. She felt that it was justified since he had not been home for so many years just for a woman.
What's the point of coming back now? The old lady is gone.
Su Can picked up the letter and read it again and again, feeling sad and tears streaming down his face. Nanny Fang sighed and left the room in the dark. She thought, the general needs some quiet time.
After Nanny Fang left, Su Can cried bitterly.
He thought his mother was old and finally reached the age, but she didn't expect that she was murdered. She knew that she was murdered, but she couldn't save herself. What kind of despicable and shameless means did Li use?
After crying for a while, he finally wiped his tears and sat there in a daze, thinking carefully about how to plan and find out who murdered his mother.
After decades of deploying troops, it would be no problem for him to deal with a mere Li family.
Two days later, all those involved in the incident were clearly identified.
Madam Su and Su Qinghui have been very honest during this period and dare not do anything naughty. Su Can is back, and he doesn't have much time to meet with the mother and daughter. Most of the time he is meeting guests or going out to visit old friends.
Anyway, he was busy, never touching the ground, busy all the time. The child he brought back also stayed with him all the time and rarely stayed at the Su family.
Su Qinghui was unhappy, but she didn't dare to say anything. She knew that she was already stinky, and people would point fingers at her when she went out, and some hateful women would even throw rotten vegetable leaves at her.
She wanted to scold someone, but she couldn't do it. The other person kept blaming her and she couldn't respond at all.
The people she used to play with no longer looked for her, and even if she did, no one would pay any attention to her, especially Wang Yuling, the legitimate daughter of Wang Yong, the Shaoqing of the Guanglu Temple, who scolded her every time she saw her.
Instead, she had a very lively relationship with her half-sister Su Qingran. Fortunately, Su Qingran was a very quiet person and seldom went out in public. She would rather stay in the house and study herbs.
Her mother wanted to find a husband for her and sought out many matchmakers. However, most sons from good families would not marry her because they all knew about her experience with Lin Hong.
I also know that she once had a child, and she looked down on peddlers and hawkers, so as a result, she ended up in trouble.
Seeing that her younger sister was about to get married and she would become an old maid, Su Qinghui was filled with hatred but did not dare to show it.
Now Su Qingran is the eldest lady of the Duke of Huguo’s Mansion, and she can’t afford to offend her.
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