Chapter 4, Searching for the Missing Person
"What? Didn't they say that Dad was still being treated for his illness and that the two of them didn't get together? How did the child come about?!"
Jiang Huai'an did not deliberately inquire about these matters.
However, the maids and servants in the mansion were obsequious and looked down on the powerful and the weak. They didn't even care about the legitimate daughter, so they looked down on him, their adopted son, even more. They spoke without any restraint in front of him.
He dared to say anything, mostly saying that once the Marquis and Madam Zhang had a biological son, he, as the adopted son, would fall out of favor with the old lady.
"So, Zhang is worried. If another month goes by, her belly will be showing. What will she do then?" Jiang Ruanruan smiled wickedly.
"You mean, Zhang cheated on Father, even before she entered the manor!" Jiang Huai'an's eyes widened, and he covered his mouth in surprise.
Little did they know that Old Madam Jiang and the housekeeper, who were worried that Jiang Ruanruan would be hungry in the middle of the night and brought her some food, overheard everything.
"Little sister, how did you know?"
Jiang Huai'an's eyes flickered. In his previous life, Zhang did indeed fall and give birth prematurely to a son more than seven months after entering the mansion. Fortunately, the child was very healthy.
The arrival of this child directly dispelled the rumors that Lord Jiang was incapacitated, and Lord Jiang doted on the child immensely.
He never imagined that this child would come about in this way.
“I had many dreams. In my dreams, Zhang was very evil. She cheated on my father and beat and abused me every day. When I grew up, she tricked me into losing my virginity and forced me to marry her nephew.”
"And you, brother, are also in a terrible situation. In order to prevent you from inheriting the Marquis's mansion, Zhang's daughter, Lu Zirou, plotted to frame you. She deliberately seduced a prince, but told you that she had been harassed."
"You had no idea that the man was a prince. You broke his arm, and the Imperial Concubine ordered her men to break your hands and feet. It was only through your grandmother's special decree that you were saved, and you were expelled from the Jiang family by your grandmother."
“You think that your grandmother was disappointed in you and completely gave up on you, but actually, your grandmother had already been poisoned by Zhang Shi at that time. She knew that she wouldn’t live much longer and couldn’t protect you, so she drove you away.”
"As a result, alas, only five years after Grandmother was murdered, you, brother, were also murdered. There are many, many more things, which I will tell you slowly later!"
Jiang Huai'an was shocked and couldn't believe it: "Sister, do you... also have memories of your past life!"
Everything made sense. At the time, he resented his grandmother for not believing him, but after only a month in the village, news of his grandmother's death arrived.
"Ah, you have one too!"
Jiang Ruanruan also wanted to use the dream to cover up her identity as a time traveler who held the script.
I never expected this little brat to be a reincarnated person.
That makes things easier. First, she can find an ally to help her complete the debt collection system's tasks.
Once the debt is settled, the original owner's resentment dissipates, and they are given the chance to be reborn as a human again.
After completing this 10,000-point task, she can accumulate 100,000 system points and choose a system reward.
One hundred thousand points! I wonder which big shot spent ten lifetimes of merit to complete this task. Such a huge investment, just to get the original owner a chance to be reborn as a human.
"Yes, sob sob sob, little sister, we died such a terrible death in our past lives!" The fellow villager's eyes welled up with tears as he saw her.
God knows how hard he had to pretend to be a child to hide his hatred for Zhang.
Ignorance can bring happiness, but in his previous life, after being driven out of the Marquis's mansion, he was chased and killed and was seriously injured. He met a divine doctor who cured him, and he and the doctor's granddaughter developed feelings for each other.
But just as he decided to leave the Jiang family, withdraw from worldly affairs, and travel the world with his Lan'er.
That bitch Lu Zirou sent someone to kill his beloved.
His heart was filled with hatred. He went into hiding and joined the Jiang family army. With the help of his mother's old subordinates, he finally became a general. He wanted to go back to take revenge and take back everything from the Jiang family.
He tried his best, but was framed for treason by Zhang and her son, and was forced to flee, only to be betrayed by his own men.
He was captured by Zhang's people, locked in a house and tortured every day. He was not given food and was given rats, cockroaches and other insects every day.
If he doesn't eat, he'll die; if he does eat, he'll feel nauseous and die.
This hatred and resentment made him feel that he must have been so resentful that he had become a vengeful ghost and returned to seek revenge on Zhang and her son.
"Brother, keep your voice down! So, we absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait to die. We must avenge ourselves and settle the debt we owe for being abused and killed in our past lives!"
"That's right, we're here to collect our debts!" Jiang Huai'an's eyes were brimming with tears; finally, someone understood his suffering.
He still has nightmares every day.
"Waaah, little sister, you have no idea how I survived in the village. I had no food or water, and I survived for more than ten days by eating live insects and rats."
"But then I heard that Aunt Liu was sold to the mountains and committed suicide as a wife shared by two brothers. I didn't want to live anymore... Sister, I suffered too much in my past life!" Jiang Huai'an cried uncontrollably.
"Waaah, brother, I'm so miserable too. I was tricked by that scumbag and had my body taken away. In the end, I was forced to have my abdomen cut open and they took my child. After I died, they used the child to steal the dowry my mother left me. That scumbag even married another beautiful woman. Waaah!"
The two children hugged each other and cried.
It took her a long time to wipe away her tears and calm down.
"Little sister, whatever you decide to do, I'll do it!"
Jiang Huai'an originally only thought of pretending to be stupid, or even faking illness, or breaking away from the Jiang family to avoid Zhang's suspicion and persecution.
But now, he's also willing to give it a try when it comes to collecting debts.
The two children whispered even softer, so it was hard to hear them clearly.
The two people at the door found it unbelievable. They only came to their senses after returning to the old lady's courtyard.
"Butler, do you believe what they're saying?" Old Madam Jiang paced back and forth in the room, her heart aching at the words she heard.
"Madam, there is a saying that Zhuangzi dreamed of being a butterfly. Moreover, some things also make sense. Your food has been tampered with ever since Zhang entered the mansion."
"And Zhang is trying her best to match her nephew with the eldest daughter. If... in order to seize the huge dowry that General Xia brought from the Prime Minister's mansion, once the eldest daughter grows up and gets married, she will divorce her mother and keep the child, so that her illegitimate child can inherit the Marquis's estate..."
The butler broke out in a cold sweat as he spoke.
Such speculation made Old Madam Jiang gasp in shock.
"Send a bodyguard to follow the young lady. Tell him to cooperate with whatever she wants to do and report back to me!"
Although Madam Jiang disliked the current Marquis, her granddaughter was her own flesh and blood, one of her husband's only two bloodlines.
"I absolutely will not allow such a thing to happen, Steward. The Marquis is muddle-headed. You must not tell anyone about these things!" The old lady still wanted to give him a warning.
"Don't worry, Madam. When the old Marquis passed away, he left the token to you. I am naturally your man, and the Jiang family army listens to you." The steward kowtowed.
"Alright, send more people to continue searching near where Yu Rou disappeared. I don't believe she's really dead. Without their mother's protection, it will be difficult for me, an old man, to raise them to adulthood!"
The old lady was somewhat worried, after all, according to the two children, she had died long ago.
"Madam, since Miss hasn't gone mad, shouldn't we groom her to be the leader of the Jiang family army?" The old butler said excitedly.
Originally, the old lady had groomed Xia Yurou to become the leader of the Jiang family army, but some of them had complaints, since she wasn't surnamed Jiang.
Later, Xia Yurou became the only female general of the Great Xia Dynasty. With her strong personal abilities, she elevated the status of the Jiang family once again and won the support of everyone. Unexpectedly, she suddenly disappeared in the battle.
"Ruan Ruan is still young. We can't let the news that she's recovered from her mental illness get out. Otherwise, I'm afraid some people won't give up and will continue to harm her." The old lady shook her head. How could she think that far ahead now?
At that moment, a sharp arrow suddenly pierced the door frame of the Prime Minister's residence.
Prime Minister Xia opened the note on it—"The person you are looking for is in Butterfly Valley."
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