The county magistrate came from a long - standing official family. For generations, his ancestors had served in the imperial court. However, by his generation, the family gradually declined.
Later, he was demoted and sent to serve as a county magistrate in the northern border.
At that time, he was still a young and promising man. The Ji family thought that he might have a chance to make a comeback, so they married their precious daughter to him.
Unfortunately, there was no such comeback. All that awaited her was an abyss.
The county magistrate was initially motivated, but later, realizing that there was no hope of rising again, he began to indulge in vice.
He doted on his concubines and mistreated his wife, leaving Ji Yuqing with no hope of survival in the mansion.
If it weren't for the sudden arrival of the child, she might have divorced long ago.
"Back then, the fourth concubine deliberately said that the child had died prematurely. In fact, she handed the child to someone else and then returned the child to you, making you think that the son by your side was not your own biological son."
In simple terms, it was like swapping the crown prince for another, with the aim of making others think it was a case of replacing a prince with a commoner.
At this point, Ye Zhinan let out a long sigh.
Fate loves to play tricks on people. Who knows what the consequences of cause and effect will be after all the twists and turns?
"How do you know this?"
"I accidentally met someone who could barely be called the county magistrate's mistress. It was when she was going crazy in prison that she accidentally revealed this to me."
Ji Yuqing curled her lips and looked at Ye Zhinan mockingly.
She seemed to be looking at a crazy person with wild ideas.
"You believe such unfounded words?"
"He has a birthmark on his arm. I'm sure it's the same as that of the newborn back then. But you dislike him so much in your heart that you probably don't even want to change his clothes."
This time, Ji Yuqing couldn't sit still anymore. Her body trembled, and she was full of surprise.
She really had never changed clothes for her son.
As long as she saw him, she would think of her dead child.
She knew in her heart that this step - son was bought back by the fourth concubine to disgust her, and unfortunately, she had fallen into the trap.
But she never expected that the person she hated to the core was actually the one she loved deeply.
"Where is he now?"
Ye Zhinan finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that her gamble had paid off.
"He's in a village at the foot of the mountain. But I'm afraid he wants to follow in his father's footsteps and carry countless lives on his back, destroying the entire village."
Ji Yuqing was completely panicked. She covered her mouth, and tears flowed uncontrollably.
She was indeed an unqualified mother.
She didn't let him study and raised him like a good - for - nothing.
"He has no real skills and wouldn't be so calculating."
Ye Zhinan looked at the panicked Ji Yuqing and couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy.
But now was not the time to talk about feelings. Maybe Ji Yuqing's appearance would make Wu Yangping stop.
"He's imitating his father's methods. I came to find you not to ask you to help save people, but because I think he shouldn't be hated for no reason. He deserves justice."
Ye Zhinan always felt that if he set fire to the village just to seek justice for his father, it would be too cruel.
So there must be something unknown behind this, and the root of it might be Ji Yuqing.
"I'll go with you. I'll go and see him with you."
Ji Yuqing asked the steward to prepare a carriage. Taking Ye Yingfeng, who was waiting at the door, the group set off towards the mountain.
When they arrived, Wu Yangping was working.
He had rolled up his cuffs slightly, revealing his strong forearms and biceps. On his wheat - colored skin, there was clearly a dark - brown birthmark.
Although it wasn't very big, as long as one paid a little attention, they could see it clearly.
When Wu Yangping saw Ji Yuqing, his body visibly swayed, and then he became excited.
"What are you doing here!"
Everyone stood by silently, seemingly a bit curious.
Ye Zhinan didn't want Wu Yangping to make a fool of himself, so she greeted everyone to continue working.
Ji Yuqing's eyes were red. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but she just raised her hand and then awkwardly put it down.
"I didn't know you were my son. Come home with mother. Let's stop doing those things."
Maybe her words hit Wu Yangping right in the heart. His body trembled, and he slammed the shovel on the ground heavily.
The copper tool clashed with the stone, making an unpleasant crashing sound.
"You didn't know? I've called you mother for twenty years, but you've never treated me as your own son. You're even worse than my father."
Hatred clouded Wu Yangping's eyes and made him lose his mind.
He took several steps back and finally burst out laughing.
"I will never forgive you, and I will never go home with you. Take your guilt to the next life."
Wu Yangping walked up to Ye Zhinan and laughed in a particularly creepy way.
"Please trouble Miss Ye to take good care of my mother. I'll send her on her way tomorrow."
Ye Zhinan originally wanted to awaken his conscience with family affection, but later she found that Wu Yangping's conscience was already gone.
Maybe it disappeared the moment he was treated unfairly, or maybe it vanished along with his father.
But no matter what, it couldn't change his determination.
Ye Zhinan had no choice but to take Ji Yuqing back to her own courtyard first.
When Qin Yihuai saw the person in front of him, there was an obvious flash of surprise in his eyes. But in an instant, he quickly regained his composure.
"Please stay here in peace. I'll send you back tomorrow."
She gave her own room to Ji Yuqing. Watching her walk in, she then pushed Qin Yihuai out.
"I have something to tell you. I've kept it from you for a long time. It was my fault."
The sense of unease in Qin Yihuai's heart grew stronger and stronger. He gradually realized that Ye Zhinan bringing the person here didn't seem to be just to stop Wu Yangping.
"I found that he has gunpowder, similar to the components of a grenade. So I suspect that he should have picked it up from the battlefield."
Qin Yihuai looked surprised. He had sent people to follow Wu Yangping for a long time. Except for not being able to enter his room, they had almost never left his side.
If he had gunpowder, he couldn't have not known.
"How did you find out?"
"He has a strong smell of gunpowder on him. He should be carrying it with him and hiding it secretly wherever he goes."
Ye Zhinan tried hard to keep her tone calm. She didn't want to show panic, but the fear in her heart still made her shiver.
She knew best how simple it was to make gunpowder. Moreover, there were countless weapons in the county magistrate's mansion, not to mention the gunpowder necessary for war.
"The reason I didn't tell you was that I wasn't sure. But just now when he passed by me, I saw that what was hidden around his waist was a grenade."
Although it was called a grenade, it didn't have a safety pin.
It looked more like a modified bomb. But she had also been wandering around here and hadn't found any traces of gunpowder.
So she guessed that maybe the gunpowder wasn't for the village but for his mother.
"Using coal to burn the village can only be said to be a way to complete a certain ritual and pursue the feelings for his father. But using gunpowder is about being quick, accurate, and ruthless. It's for revenge."
This was also the reason why Ye Zhinan had brought Ji Yuqing here.
Surprise was also hard to hide on Qin Yihuai's face. He never thought that a young man who had just come of age would be so cruel - hearted.