Because of the medicine she specially prepared, Chu Yuning is only on her second course of treatment.
A course of treatment requires drinking the medicine for at least three to seven days for the medicinal properties to slowly penetrate into the bones and blood.
That's why she tried to persuade Chu Yuning to stay.
However, she didn't need to tell Jiang Yuchen these things.
Shen Yuan did not answer Jiang Yuchen's question; instead, she took out paper and pen and asked Xiao Ling.
When did you get back?
[Last night.]
Have you found your sister?
Xiao Ling shook his head dejectedly, then picked up his pen and wrote: [However, I found a new clue.]
In the past six months, Xiao Ling has traveled to all seventeen cities south of the Great Yan.
Following the clues, he found the human trafficker who had abducted Xiao Jinmeng from the assassins who had kidnapped her.
He found the human trafficker, an elderly woman who was nearly seventy years old.
The old woman had one son and three daughters. When he found her, she was lying at home, enjoying the pleasure of her daughter-in-law massaging her shoulders and legs.
Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were all around her, and the family lived in harmony and happiness.
Until he appeared before the old woman, carrying a knife.
The harmonious atmosphere of their family was instantly destroyed.
The assassin who kidnapped Xiao Jinmeng was one of the Empress's men, but he was turned against her halfway through. The assassin spared Xiao Jinmeng's life and sent her to Jinling.
Originally, they had people in Jinling to meet them, but Xiao Jinmeng suddenly disappeared along the way.
He had always assumed that the assassin had broken his promise and murdered his sister after obtaining the antidote. Later, through investigation, he learned that it was the old woman who had taken his sister away.
Xiao Ling searched for several months before finally finding the old woman.
When the old woman saw Xiao Ling, she was terrified and knelt on the ground begging him not to kill her.
Xiao Ling did not kill her directly. Rather than seeking revenge, he was more concerned about Xiao Jinmeng's whereabouts.
But when he pressed the old woman to tell him where she had sold Xiao Jinmeng, she couldn't remember.
Because he has trafficked far too many children over the years.
It wasn't until Xiao Ling mentioned the birthmark on Xiao Jinmeng's body that the old woman finally remembered.
She said, "There was a little girl with a birthmark on her arm. The birthmark was vermilion red and looked a bit like a butterfly. When I saw that birthmark, I felt it was too obvious and would be easily found by her parents. So I..."
At this point, the old woman paused, unable to continue.
But Xiao Ling pointed the knife at her most beloved grandson.
She could only grit her teeth and continue, "I...I was worried that the little girl's family would find her because of that birthmark, so I used a red-hot iron to burn...burn off the birthmark."
"At the time, the little girl was still struggling and making a fuss. I didn't hold the branding iron properly and accidentally dropped it on her scalp, burning that area of her scalp. She stopped growing hair after that."
“I took her to a brothel to sell, but the brothel refused to take her because she was too young, had scars on her body, and a piece of her scalp was missing. So I sold her to a farm in Daping Mountain, Lingnan.”
"The owners of the estate had no children and longed for one. After I delivered the little girl to them, the couple were incredibly grateful, promising to take good care of the child. I only sold the little girl to them because I saw how much they loved children. I beg you, sir, spare my life for finding her a good home! Please, sir, spare my life!"
The old woman cried and begged for mercy, but in the next instant, Xiao Ling's long knife pierced her heart.
Recalling that scene, Xiao Ling gripped the pen tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
That old woman caused countless children to disappear without a trace.
So he cut off her head and hung it on their front door.
They cut off both legs; one was thrown into the mass grave west of the city, and the other was chopped up and thrown into the long river outside the city to feed the fish.
He took his remaining two arms to Lingnan, leaving one at a farm and feeding the other to a four-eyed dog in the neighboring village.
That old woman caused his sister's disappearance to this day, so her body should also be scattered everywhere, never to be buried.
Xiao Ling killed the old woman, but when he arrived at the village she had mentioned, the estate had already vanished. According to people from nearby villages, the farm had committed a crime and its owners had been exiled; the people from the farm had also disappeared.
At this point, Xiao Ling's trail went cold again.
He dejectedly put down his pen, his brow furrowed with an inescapable sorrow.
He searched for Xiao Jinmeng for nine whole years.
But he still hasn't found her, and he doesn't even know if his sister is alive or dead.
"The birthmark on my left arm was burned off by a branding iron... My scalp was also burned by a branding iron, leaving a patch where hair won't grow..."
Shen Yuan read aloud the two lines Xiao Ling had written on the paper. She noted down these two new clues and was about to comfort Xiao Ling that as long as there were new clues, there would be new hope, when Tian Tian suddenly asked, "Sister Yuan Yuan, what do you mean by that?"
"Are there any people like Tian Tian who have a patch of scalp missing and can't grow hair?"
Sweetie suddenly spoke up, leaving Shen Yuan and Xiao Ling stunned.
Sweetie tilted her head, looking at Shen Yuan with a blank expression, and said, "And you said the birthmark on my left arm was burned. I don't know if I have a birthmark on my left arm, but I do have a burn scar, but I don't know what burned me..."
Before Tian Tian could finish speaking, Xiao Ling suddenly stepped forward, took her hand, and rolled up her sleeve again. However, this time Xiao Ling's actions were more cautious, and contained a mix of excitement, pleading, doubt, and uncertainty.
Sweetly, her sleeves were rolled up to her shoulders, revealing her entire arm, which was still covered with crisscrossing scars, just like before, only now without bruises and swelling, and even thicker than before.
Xiao Ling gripped Tian Tian's arm, feeling an even stronger pang of heartache than before.
The burn scar on Tian Tian's left upper arm that was covering her birthmark was actually quite obvious. Xiao Ling and Shen Yuan had seen it before, but at the time they both thought it was an accidental injury Tian Tian had sustained.
I didn't think of it as a soldering iron.
Looking at the scar now, it is rounded in shape and has clear edges. It doesn't look like a burn from boiling water or kerosene, but rather like a branding iron.
Xiao Ling was about 60-70% certain, but he didn't dare to draw a conclusion so soon.
He looked at Tian Tian, his gaze falling on her neatly styled hair.
Shen Yuan understood Xiao Ling's meaning and spoke up for him, "Sweetie, could you let your hair down and let us see where the bald patch is?"
"sure!"
Sweetie didn't think it was a big deal. She immediately took her hair out of the bun, pointed to a patch of scalp on the side of her forehead, and said, "I feel like it's here, take a look!"
Shen Yuan pulled aside Tian Tian's hair, completely exposing her bald scalp.
There are indeed burn marks.
So... is Tian Tian really Xiao Ling's biological sister?
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