He reread the original owner's memories countless times, trying to find any clue as to which powerful figure the Zheng family had offended. However, no matter how he looked, he couldn't find anything suspicious. This family was loyal to the Emperor, devoted to serving the country with utmost sincerity, and thus spent most of their time on the frontier. The original owner had also galloped across the frontier during his childhood.
He had finally returned to the capital with his family and taken a liking to Yang Zhongqing, even taking him back to the frontier afterward.
If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't think about it. He believed that the truth would eventually come to light. He didn't know if it was the previous encounter that had frightened the other party, but for some reason, they hadn't encountered any strange incidents recently.
He was in the dark, while the other party was in the light. He couldn't hide forever. However, after that incident, Wu Caiwei resolutely ordered several people she dispatched to keep a constant watch on her son.
Soon, her people reported that Yang Zhongqing, for some unknown reason, kept encountering her son intentionally or unintentionally, saying words of care.
At first, Rui'er couldn't be bothered to pay him any attention. But as time went by, thinking that he was, after all, his father, it was understandable for him to express concern, and he spent more and more time with him.
The hidden guards asked if she needed to teach Yang Zhongqing a lesson. Wu Caiwei waved her hand, telling them not to interfere. Wu Caiwei didn't believe that Yang Zhongqing was approaching him without any ulterior motives.
Knowing that he meant no good, she still indulged him. She felt that her son still harbored some expectations of him, and it was necessary to let the other party personally shatter his illusions and utterly disappoint him. Only then would he be able to stand by and watch when Yang family matters arose. Su Dan Novel Network.
Rui'er intentionally or unintentionally avoided his mother, feeling that he was letting his father get close to him, which was wronging her and he didn't want to upset her. But he couldn't help but want to be close to his father. After all, every child had a father, and if his father was willing to approach him, he didn't want to push him away.
It was impossible to say that he had no defenses against him at all. He hadn't forgotten everything that happened to him at the Yang family back then, and after so many years, his father had never visited. All his care had been given to another son. He didn't believe that his father had suddenly woken up, realized his debt to him, and wanted to make amends. The reason he didn't drive him away was, first, that the other party was his elder after all, and it wouldn't look good if word got out. Second, he was somewhat immersed in this false fatherly love, and he knew it was wrong, yet he was a little greedy for it.
Wu Caiwei remained indifferent, but Wu Qingzhi couldn't stand it anymore. Originally, she thought that with Zheng Nian'er's pride, she would never let them get close. Unexpectedly, she had guessed wrong. It had been a whole month, and the other party even showed signs of indulgence. What exactly did she want to do? This made Wu Qingzhi overthink.
At first, she brought her son and daughter to wait at the door every day, so that her husband would see his children the moment he returned home, so that his heart wouldn't wander elsewhere.
She could clearly feel that her husband didn't reject this, but why did he then go to contact that boy from the Zheng family? Was it just because he had passed the preliminary examination? It wasn't impossible. Looking at her own son's terrible results, and the way the tutor shook his head whenever he mentioned it, she couldn't help but feel annoyed.
To urge her son to study hard, she personally sat by his desk, urging him to read late into the night every day. She also asked the servants to keep it a secret from her husband and the old madam.
Although Mother Yang didn't manage the household affairs much, she knew about her niece's little thoughts. However, this wasn't a bad thing. In fact, she also resented her grandson for not bringing her any honor.
Every time she saw her grandson yawning sleepily and looking listless, she couldn't help but shake her head. She didn't approve of her son bringing that grandson back, but she could understand her son's anger and frustration at his lack of ambition.
Originally, Yang Zhuohui had deliberately shown his fatigue to his grandmother, hoping she would mediate for him. Unexpectedly, no one paid him any attention, and he felt a little wronged. Under the dual pressure of studying and his mother, he fell ill.
When the doctor arrived at her son's room overnight, Wu Qingzhi couldn't help but regret it, especially when she saw her son's flushed face and heard his terrified expressions of not wanting to study in his delirium. She began to reflect, had she pushed her son too hard?
Compared to her son's life, nothing else mattered. Her son was the foundation of her stable life in the Yang family. She felt she had gone mad, constantly pushing her son to his limits. Although her son had no talent for studying, he liked to wield swords and guns. Perhaps in the future, he could inherit his grandfather's legacy, fight on the battlefield, and achieve military merits.
Since her husband liked that boy so much, why not make him disappear? Anyway, he was a time bomb. Even if he didn't explode now, when her son grew up, he might return to compete for the Yang family's resources and wealth. Crushing everything in its cradle was more reliable than anything else.
Wu Caiwei and Rui'er were unaware that their unintentional actions had caused the other party to act preemptively. Even if they knew, they probably wouldn't have taken her seriously. After all, her abilities as a woman in the inner courtyard were limited. Moreover, the two were bound to clash sooner or later, destined for a life-and-death struggle.
As soon as she decided, she acted. A few days later, Yang Zhuohui's fever subsided and he felt much better. Wu Qingzhi found an excuse to go shopping for her son, shook off the servants who followed her, and led her personal maid through several turns to a slum.
Her personal maid, Yan Zhi, was visiting such a place for the first time and felt a little panicked. Her intuition told her that her mistress was about to do something astonishing, but she dared not stop her. After all, she and her mistress were in the same boat. Only if her mistress was safe could she be safe. If anything happened to her mistress, she wouldn't be able to escape.
Indeed, her premonition was correct. Wu Qingzhi walked to the end of the alley and frowned involuntarily as she looked at the dilapidated courtyard in front of her. Next time, she would definitely bring more silver to help him repair the courtyard.
With three short and two long knocks on the door, the other party quickly opened it and gestured for them to enter.
Wu Qingzhi looked around cautiously, making sure no one was paying attention to them, before entering with her maid. Yan Zhi kept her head down the entire time, knowing that the more she knew, the faster she would die.
Originally, it wasn't her who was supposed to accompany her mistress out today. She thought she was just going out to buy some things for the young master, so she asked for the task herself, wanting to deepen her position in her mistress's heart and become her confidante. If she had known it would be like this, she would never have volunteered.
Even without looking up, she could tell from the messy footsteps that this courtyard was not as simple as it appeared on the surface. It was practically screaming at her that although the courtyard was small, many people lived here.