Xu Tieniu quickly found a crucial point in this.
"Has this Mrs. Li and her grandson always lived in the Li family's house? Have you ever met the Li family's son-in-law?"
The captain shook his head. "Never seen it before."
"However, as everyone knows, Young Master Wenyuan's father is an extraordinary figure."
"Because when that Aunt Li went home to give birth, she was quite the star."
"My mother later recalled that the escort team included not only maids and servants, but also soldiers riding tall horses."
"Everyone is spreading rumors with great detail, saying that the Li family must have climbed up to some royal relatives."
Xu Tieniu's mind went blank. Li Ruide, Song Wenyuan.
This matter must be related to the Song family. Song Wenyuan is very likely a descendant of the Song family who was separated from his family. It's just unknown who in the Song family did it.
Xu Tieniu hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What kind of person is this Aunt Li?"
The brigade leader looked regretful. "Aunt Li is a famous beauty in the surrounding area. Not only is she beautiful, but she is also kind-hearted. She is kind to everyone and never gets angry with the servants. She is a living bodhisattva in our area."
"I heard that there were two years of bad harvests, and she not only begged the old master of the Li family to reduce the rent for the servants, but also built a soup kitchen at the entrance of the town."
"It was because of her good deed that many poor people in the area were able to survive that winter."
"Everyone said she was a Bodhisattva descended to earth. It's such a pity, good people don't have good lives. That fire back then..."
As Xu Tieniu listened to the captain speaking leisurely, he quickly seemed to remember something, took a deep breath, and asked again.
"Young man, did you ever hear of a girl named Wang Sujun when you were young?"
The captain nodded without hesitation. "Have you heard of her? We know her. Who in Taiping Town doesn't know the name Wang Sujun? She's a hero from our Xiangnan Village."
Xu Tieniu's heart tightened. "She...she's also from Xiangnan Village?"
The captain slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, shook his head, and said, "No."
"However, she also grew up in Xiangnan Village. Her mother was a married daughter from Xiangnan Village. It seems that she always traveled with her father. At that time, things were chaotic, with wars everywhere, so it was inconvenient to take the child with her. Therefore, she was sent to her maternal family."
“I remember she was about ten years old when she came. She was a tiny little girl, hiding timidly behind her grandmother and not saying a word.”
"According to her grandmother, she was traveling with her parents when she saw those bloody and frightening scenes, which terrified her."
“When she first came here, no matter how we tried to coax her, she wouldn’t say anything. Everyone said she was mute. It wasn’t until two years later that she slowly started to speak.”
Xu Tieniu took a deep breath, "So, are Wang Sujun and Song Wenyuan on good terms?"
"Great! Why not? She's practically Young Master Wen Yuan's personal maid. Everyone in the manor says she'll be taken into Young Master Wen Yuan's room sooner or later!"
"Moreover, the Li family is aware of these rumors, and they haven't refuted them, which can be considered as tacit acceptance."
"However, after the Li family got into trouble, she was also taken away by her parents, who said they were taking her out to do some revolutionary work."
"A few years later, news came that she had sacrificed her life and become a martyr. Her grandmother, who was already in poor health, passed away within two months of hearing the news. Sigh..."
The amount of information was so overwhelming that Xu Tieniu was completely bewildered.
But he was no ordinary person, and he quickly regained his composure.
"Brother, what year was the Li family's house burned down?"
The captain tilted his head back and thought for a moment, "I can't remember the exact year, but my son was born around that time, probably around xxxx or two."
......
Xu Tieniu emerged from Xiangnan Village, his weathered face heavy with worry.
Although the village chief of Xiangnan Village did not give an exact time, he remembered that in those same two years, the general's wife went south on business, encountered bandits, disappeared, vanished in the south, and never returned.
Subsequently, various rumors spread throughout the army, claiming that the power of the General's Mansion was actually a result of the merger of the General and his wife.
At that time, due to the incident involving the wife, the merged forces quickly split into two, and the two forces became bitter enemies.
He was young at the time and didn't understand what was going on.
All I remember is that the young marshal, who had been away for more than half a year searching for his wife, returned with her coffin and bloodshot eyes.
Subsequently, the young marshal seemed to have changed his personality, becoming violent, tyrannical, and ruthless. After a series of iron-fisted measures, he quickly took over all the forces brought by the general's wife.
The person in charge of the General's Mansion was suddenly divided in two.
That incident solidified the General's Mansion's position in the three northwestern provinces.
Although many people died, most of them were people who were purged out for their problems. The survivors of the General's Mansion were not affected at all; on the contrary, they were like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath.
By now, Xu Tieniu understood that the calamity that befell the Song family back then might have been closely related to the backyard of the General's Mansion.
It's just unknown whether the arson attack on the Li family was carried out by people from the General's Mansion, and what kind of conspiracy lies behind the sudden disappearance and death of the Madam while she was traveling south.
Could it be a general?
Xu Tieniu shook his head; it couldn't be a general.
Back then, the general and his wife were an enviable couple, deeply in love and with a very good relationship.
Even when his wife passed away, the general, a tough and resolute man, almost became a walking corpse and nearly followed her in death.
Moreover, he genuinely loved the young marshal.
Xu Tieniu carefully searched through those distant memories.
It can't be a general.
Could it be Lieutenant Song?
Back then, the general's mansion housed not only the general's family, but also his two brothers.
"Sigh~", Xu Tieniu shook his head, which was a complete mess.
The truth seems to be right in front of us, but the entanglements involved are just too messy.
As the investigation progressed, Xu Tieniu's initial enthusiasm suddenly seemed to deflate.
He subconsciously raised his hand to touch his left ear, which was empty, with nothing there but a large, uneven, and terrifying scar.
If that calamity back then was merely a power struggle within the general's mansion, then what about those brothers who died unjustly...?
It seems he has to go back to the island; there are some things he needs to clarify.
That person should know these things better than anyone else.
(Character introduction: The Young Marshal is Song Jingzhou's father, the General is his grandfather, the Madam is his grandmother, the Young Madam is his mother, the Li family is Li Ruide's maternal grandmother's family, the Li family's great-aunt is his mother, his former name was Song Wenyuan, Wang Sujun is a member of the Wang family and is also Song Jingzhou's biological mother. Before liberation, she was the personal maid of Song Wenyuan, the grandson of the local gentry Li family, and they developed feelings for each other.)
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