The Earl of Anyuan was furious. He ordered his men to beat the entire family of four severely in public before handing them over to the authorities.
She was sentenced to exile for three thousand miles on charges of impersonating the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Anyuan and premeditatedly murdering her.
The other members of the Xu family, as accomplices, were sentenced to three years of hard labor in the quarry.
She was escorted away alone.
Without any family or friends to help her, it's obvious what kind of trouble a vulnerable woman might encounter on the road.
To survive, she had no choice but to sell her body to obtain a meager amount of food from the officials.
But three thousand miles is too far.
She slept with him day and night, unable to rest either day or night, and couldn't take good care of his hygiene.
He soon fell ill due to the inflammation there.
The officials were afraid she had some kind of illness, so they didn't dare touch her and started speaking harshly to her again.
Not only did they withhold food and water, they also urged her to continue her journey.
She was too weak to walk any further, and after collapsing, she could not get up. On her deathbed, she begged the officials for help.
They simply picked her up, threw her into the woods by the roadside, and left her there.
She lay on the ground, watching the procession leave in despair.
But something even more desperate happened.
A pack of wild dogs appeared in the woods.
Her hands and feet were violently bitten by wild dogs.
Pieces of meat were torn off one by one.
When her stomach was brutally torn open, she finally breathed her last.
Wen Wan was awakened by this terrible nightmare.
When he woke up, he found himself in her boudoir.
"Miss, you're awake! Quickly, Chun Tao, bring the medicine."
Wen Wan felt a dull ache in her heart and back, and couldn't help but hiss softly.
She was still somewhat bewildered at this moment.
What's wrong with me?
The maidservant hurriedly said, "Miss, you fell off your horse and were injured in the market. After the madam learned of this, she ordered someone to take you to the hospital and bring you back."
I heard the keywords "fallen from power in the market" and "Madam".
The gentle memories suddenly returned, her pupils contracted sharply, and her face grew even paler.
She suddenly grabbed the maid's hand, startling her so much that the medicine that had just been handed to her spilled.
She ignored him and just stared intently at him.
"Did Madam send someone to bring me back? Did Madam say anything?"
The maid felt that her question was a bit strange, but she didn't dare to hesitate any longer.
"Madam only instructed me to take good care of Miss."
As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and quickly added...
"Oh, right, Madam also said that if Miss wakes up, she should immediately send someone to inform her. I will send someone to inform Madam right away."
"Wait!" Wen Wan exclaimed in surprise, almost falling off the bed. "Don't say anything yet."
"Don't say anything?"
Just then, Cen's voice rang out from the doorway.
The maids all bowed in unison.
The color drained from Wen Wan's face instantly.
As she watched Cen approach, her mind went completely blank.
However, she quickly came to her senses and, seeing that the other person was about to walk to the bedside, she managed to force a smile that looked worse than crying, which she thought was gentle.
"mother."
Cen stared at her intently.
Something seemed to be about to burst forth from his eyes.
She was able to maintain her position as the eldest daughter-in-law for over a decade despite having only one daughter, keeping her concubines and illegitimate children under her completely under her thumb.
Cen was hardly a fool.
Perhaps the only stupid thing she ever did in her life was regarding her daughter.
The fact that her child was switched back then is like a thorn in her heart, always buried there, becoming her obsession.
So much so that when the child is found, no matter what she finds wrong, she will automatically make excuses to gloss over it.
All she knew was that she owed this child so much.
But what if the other person isn't your own daughter?
When she first saw that letter that suddenly appeared, which was clearly provocative, she certainly didn't believe it.
They immediately ordered the letter to be burned.
But afterwards, she couldn't stop thinking about that day in court.
The adopted daughter's resolute severance of ties, and the words she uttered as she left, which seemed deliberately provocative.
These words kept her tossing and turning, unable to stop thinking about the contents of the letter.
Finally, one day, she couldn't help herself.
They summoned the maid who served Wenwan closely and asked her if she had any cracked toenails.
Then I received a positive answer.
The impact on Cen was enormous.
Even so, she still clung to a sliver of hope and refused to believe it.
She secretly sent people to investigate whether any of her other illegitimate children had cracked armor.
While trying to get information out of her husband, she learned that none of his family members knew of anyone with cracked armor.
Cen's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.
She returned to her room in a daze, sat there all night, and then secretly sent someone to the village where the Xu family lived to investigate Wen Wan's background.
And whether the Xu family has had any daughters in recent years.
The letter only stated the truth that Wen Wan was not the daughter of the Earl of Anyuan, and did not mention Yun Zhiyi.
In addition, Yun Zhiyi's words back then were somewhat misleading.
Therefore, Cen suspected that her daughter might have been abandoned or replaced by Wen Wan.
But the information she found left her bewildered.
Even though the Xu family hastily fled the famine with their children back then.
But they fled together as a whole village, and later they basically all ended up in one place, settling down together in another village.
Some elderly people still remember that the baby girl the Xu family always took care of was Xu Qing, who is now Wen Wan.
Moreover, Wen Wan's physical characteristics and her resemblance to Xu Shi's appearance all indicate that she is indeed a daughter of the Xu family.
If she is a member of the Xu family, then what about her daughter?
At this moment, Cen already had a guess in her mind.
But she dared not face this conjecture.
She couldn't help but recall how resolutely Yun Zhiyi severed ties with them in court.
Thinking of all this, even though she tried her best to endure it, she still couldn't hide the anger and resentment in her eyes when she looked at Wen Wan.
Even if Wen Wan was stupid, she could still see what Cen Shi's eyes meant.
Her lips trembled slightly, and she couldn't help but grab the blanket and pull it up, trying her best to appear vulnerable.
"Mother, my head hurts so much, and my chest hurts too. Mother, am I going to die?"
In the past, if she acted like this, Madam Cen would have already felt sorry for her and gently comforted her.
But now, all she wanted to do was step forward and grab her by the neck.
And that's exactly what she did.
"So you knew all along."
Judging from Wen Wan's behavior, it was clear that everything might indeed be a conspiracy between her and the Xu family, as the letter stated.
A conspiracy that began when they first met more than a decade ago.
"Why? What have I done to wrong you? Why are you treating me like this? Why!"
With her neck being choked, Wen Wan could only reach out in terror to pry it off.
But Cen was already somewhat out of control at this point, and she was very strong. Wen Wan couldn't pry her apart at all, and could only leave finger marks on her hands.
However, Cen seemed to feel no pain.
She just stared intently into her eyes, "Your mother wants to take my daughter away, and you want to take her life. You want wealth and glory, so why must you separate us, mother and daughter!"
Wenwan stared in despair, her mouth agape, tears streaming down her face.
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