Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 320: The Truth

Chapter 320: Chapter 320: The Truth

He didn’t know what sort of potion his daughter had taken from this Xiaoqi, but she insisted on following him everywhere like a little shadow.

"Dad, what’s wrong?" Yuanbao was cradling her father’s face, looking left and right but she could see nothing wrong.

"Yuanbao..."

Chi Sheng felt helpless, but he was thinking about what the old Daoist had said.

Only by finding a mother and husband for Yuanbao would they save Qing Fenghan.

But now the mother Yuanbao had recognized was nowhere to be seen, and Xiaoqi was only a boy of nine, what could he do?

Chi Sheng couldn’t help but feel a headache, regretting taking this matter seriously.

Otherwise, Yuanbao wouldn’t be following Xiaoqi around like she was now.

Xiaoqi only had his sister in his heart. Where would he have room for his own daughter?

Old Xu limped over from behind the village. Seeing Chi Sheng here, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Leader!"

Hearing someone call him, Chi Sheng turned his head and met Old Xu’s gaze. Knowing he was here for the matter, Chi Sheng didn’t hold Yuanbao any longer. He put her down and took Old Xu into the house.

"Brother Xiaoqi, shall we continue sword practice?" Little Yuanbao looked at Xiaoqi, tilting her face as if she wasn’t tired at all.

Xiaoqi had a thought, but he still shook his head: "Off you go, that’s enough for today."

"Oh..." Yuanbao was somewhat disappointed. Brother Xiaoqi had to gather herbs for their uncle every day, and her uncle wouldn’t let her follow. The only time she could spend with Brother Xiaoqi every day was one hour.

As soon as they entered the room, Chi Sheng beckoned Old Xu to sit down.

Old Xu was one of the earliest to arrive at Qing Fenghan, he had watched him grow up since childhood.

"Leader, I just wanted to ask about Niuniu Village." Old Xu looked somewhat vague, and his hands were a little nervous.

"Old Xu..." Chi Sheng looked a bit complex, but finally sighed.

"We only saw Granny Xu and no other villagers. I believe Xiaoqi has told you the same."

Chi Sheng knew that Old Xu was thinking about his wife and child, but they had asked around the village.

Granny Xu had indeed given birth to a boy, but the child was a "monster" from the moment he was born and did not survive.

A disappointments filled Old Xu’s face, he didn’t believe it.

That child, surely, surely, was still alive in this world.

Juanjuan, surely, would have been able to raise the child.

Old Xu has now reached his twilight years, and with his leg broken earlier, his body was now failing, he misses his wife and child every day.

"Then, how... how is my wife doing?" Old Xu remembered something else, he looked up at Chi Sheng, hoping to hear more news from him.

"Granny Xu is not doing so well." Chi Sheng put it gently.

When they first arrived in the village, they had guessed that Granny Xu’s situation would not be good.

But it was only when they saw the wary expression on Granny Xu’s face that they realized how hard her forty years must have been.

He knew that some villages were very exclusionary toward outsiders, and Granny Xu was originally a neighbor in Niuniu Village with Old Xu. But Old Xu disappeared for decades, their child was given the label of a goblin, how could a woman have a good life?

"It was me, I failed her." Suddenly, Old Xu began to sob.

"If, if I hadn’t taken her away from Kyoto, she wouldn’t be living this hard life."

Old Xu cried like a child, but Chi Sheng didn’t ask anything more, he just sat quietly by his side.

He had heard from Old Xu that he was originally from Kyoto, but because his wife’s parents did not agree with their marriage, the two had eloped from Kyoto.

Old Xu wiped his tears, filled with regret.

"Juanjuan was the daughter of a wine seller in Kyoto, I was just a poor boy, but she ran away to Yan City with me, leaving her parents behind. I should have lived a good life with her, but, instead, I left them mother and daughter for decades!"

It was the first time Old Xu had told anyone about this.

People in the village only knew that he had come to Qing Fenghan with a broken leg when he was young, but they didn’t know he was originally from Kyoto.

Chi Sheng looked at Old Xu in surprise, and after a moment’s hesitation, he finally asked what was on his mind.

"Old Xu, if I may ask, how did you break your leg?"

If Old Xu had been missing his wife for decades, why wouldn’t he return to see her?

"Juanjuan and I were doing well in Niuniu Village. Although the villagers were a little xenophobic, we lived a good life relying on the wine recipe Juanjuan brought. Over time, some of the villagers even started coming to buy wine on a regular basis, which lessened their exclusion towards us.

Juanjuan brewed wine at home while I sold it outside to earn some silver. Once, I went with a fellow villager to do some business in another place. Something happened at night."

At this point, Old Xu’s voice paused.

"It rained suddenly that night, so we hid in an old temple to rest. In the middle of the night, he said he wanted to have some wine. I gave him a bowl.

After he drank the wine, he fell asleep after a while, I thought he was tired. But at night, I heard people talking outside the temple. I woke up and prepared to wake him up to leave.

But no matter how I called, he just lay there stiffly. When I got closer, I saw he was already dead."

Old Xu’s eyes grew dim, his hands no longer tightly clenched.

"I was panicking when I saw two official-looking men coming into the temple. They said I murdered for money and wanted to take me away. I was scared, so I ran."

Listening to his words, Chi Sheng had a hunch, so he asked, "What happened next?"

Old Xu glanced at Chi Sheng, then sighed, "They refused let me go and said they would arrest me and execute me. This would involve my family as well. In my panic, they hurt my leg. Later, I escaped by risking my life and taking advantage of the darkness.

But although I escaped, I dare not go home, in fear one day they would involve Juanjuan.

I was picked up by your father at the bottom of the mountain and followed him up to Qing Fenghan. I hid for over forty years."

For a moment, Chi Sheng didn’t know what to say and just sat quietly.

But Old Xu wiped his tears and laughed twice: "It’s a relief to say it out. It’s a pity, with my condition now, I probably can’t go back to Niuniu Village. If, if you go to Yan City again, I just ask you to visit her. I owe her too much, I probably don’t have a chance to repay her in this life. In the next life, I will treat her well."

"I understand." Chi Sheng nodded, his eyes full of conflict.

He didn’t say it out. There have been cases in the past where mountain bandits pretended to be officers and framed innocent travelers.

Probably the fellow villager of Old Xu was assassinated and the crime was then pinned on him.

Making him believe he was a murderer, fearing that he would involve his family, he had been hiding outside ever since. That hide, was forty years long.

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