“It’s this.”
Lin Yingxue took it.
It felt heavy in her hand.
The book hadn’t mentioned the origin of this longevity lock.
Lin Yingxue figured the original host’s parents must have loved her dearly, otherwise they wouldn’t have forged such a solid, expensive lock for her.
Jiang Baozhen asked, pretending to be casual, “Have you worn this longevity lock since you were little?”
Lin Yingxue nodded.
“I’ve had it on me for as long as I can remember.”
Jiang Baozhen sighed as if making small talk.
“This lock is solid and inlaid with gold.
I reckon it’s worth at least twenty taels of silver.
Your family treated you truly well.”
Lin Yingxue tried hard to recall the few lines in the book about the original host and said softly, “My father really did treat me well.
He was a hunter.
During the chaos of the war, he was beaten to death trying to protect me.
As for my mother, I’ve never met her.”
Jiang Baozhen felt as if a blunt knife was sawing at her heart, the pain leaving her breathless.
Still unwilling to give up, she pressed on, “Then when did your mother pass away?
Do you really have no memory of her at all?”
Lin Yingxue thought for a moment, then shook her head.
The book barely mentioned the original host’s mother.
Afraid that saying too much would give her away, she simply lowered her head, tucked the longevity lock inside her clothes next to her skin, and fell silent.
The oil lamp flickered, casting shadows over Jiang Baozhen’s unreadable face.
“Xue’er, if your mother were still alive…”
“There’s something else inside.”
Lin Yingxue hadn’t caught Jiang Baozhen’s murmurs.
She pulled out a neatly folded stack of paper from the bottom of the cloth bag.
As she unfolded it, a Jade Pendant rolled out.
She casually picked it up before looking down at the writing on the paper.
To her surprise, it was a letter.
“This is a letter written by Qin Sangruo to Chen Huaiyuan.” Lin Yingxue read the opening and then glanced at the signature.
The matching names made her gasp softly.
Too excited by the scent of juicy gossip, Lin Yingxue completely forgot that the original host didn’t know how to read at all.
Jiang Baozhen didn’t find it suspicious.
When Chen Tianhao was on the mountain, Chen Huaiyuan taught him how to read every day.
Her daughter was so clever; it wouldn’t be surprising if she picked up a few words while standing by to prepare the ink and paper.
“Let me see what it says.” Jiang Baozhen took the letter and leaned close to the lamp to read it carefully.
Lin Yingxue wasn’t surprised at all that Jiang Baozhen could read.
The Jiang Family doted on their daughter.
When Jiang Baozhen was young, she had attended the village’s private school alongside Jiang Shouren.
Later, to be a worthy match for the educated Chen Huaiyuan, she had studied bitterly for a while.
Jiang Baozhen’s hands trembled slightly as she gripped the letter.
She gritted her teeth and spat, “Shameless adulterers!”
Since her rebirth, Jiang Baozhen felt nothing but hatred for Chen Huaiyuan.
This affectionate letter only fueled her anger; it didn’t break her heart.
The letter was dated fifteen years ago in the autumn.
Calculating the timeline, it was exactly two months before Lin Yingxue was born.
In the letter, Qin Sangruo complained about her bitter fate.
She claimed she was forced to separate from Chen Huaiyuan when Manager Qin arranged for her to marry far away, becoming the second wife of a wealthy merchant.
The merchant treated her poorly, and missing Chen Huaiyuan day and night, she ended up having an affair with a young man who closely resembled him, resulting in a secret pregnancy.
With her due date approaching, she lived in constant terror that the child wouldn’t look like the merchant and her affair would be exposed.
She originally wanted to abort the baby, but having been married to the merchant for years without bearing a child, she ultimately couldn’t bring herself to do it now that she was finally pregnant.
Out of sheer desperation, she turned to Chen Huaiyuan for help.
She hoped that once the child was born, he could raise it on her behalf.
As for the merchant, she would lie and say the baby died shortly after birth.
“No wonder Chen Ergou made such a fuss about leaving home when I was about to give birth, lying to me that he was going out to find a way to make money.
It turns out he hooked up with that slut long ago!” Jiang Baozhen cursed through gritted teeth.
“I always said Qin Sangruo was treating him like a dog, but he wouldn’t listen!
Look at this.
If that bitch truly cared about him, would she have slept with someone else?
But his brain must have been eaten by dogs—just a few sweet words and he was willing to raise another man’s bastard.”
As Lin Yingxue listened to Jiang Baozhen’s furious cursing, she marveled inwardly.
Qin Sangruo had actually written about her affair so blatantly in a letter.
As expected, the male lead’s mother was no ordinary piece of work.
This definitely wasn’t in the original book.
The book merely stated that when Qin Sangruo returned to her maiden home to visit her relatives, the wealthy merchant’s enemies tracked her down and burned her parents to death.
The shock caused Qin Sangruo to go into premature labor, giving birth to Chen Tianhao.
Fearing the enemies would continue to hunt her son, she sent a letter to Chen Huaiyuan, begging him to take the child away and raise him.
Hating the merchant for making enemies that caused her parents’ deaths, Qin Sangruo sought revenge.
Upon returning home, she lied, claiming her son had also perished in the fire.
The merchant’s previous wife had given birth to three daughters.
He had finally gotten a son, only for the boy to die before he could even lay eyes on him.
Driven into a furious depression by this, the merchant eventually passed away.
Later, during the war, Qin Sangruo’s region was pillaged.
She was reduced to a refugee but was saved by a young master from the Capital, and the two married amidst the chaos.
Because the young master’s family had aided the new dynasty, their status soared once the new dynasty was established.
By the time Qin Sangruo reappeared in the story, she was already a noble lady in the Capital.
Looking at it now, the truth was far less glamorous than the book portrayed.
Male-oriented power fantasies always loved to dress up the male lead and his relatives’ pasts as pure and innocent.
Lin Yingxue guessed that Chen Tianhao’s birth was actually a blood-soaked scheme.
No wonder the stepfather treated Chen Tianhao like his own flesh and blood after Chen Tianhao and Qin Sangruo reunited.
It turned out the stepfather was his biological father all along!
Jiang Baozhen was clearly on the same wavelength.
She said coldly, “I remember at the beginning of winter fifteen years ago, the parents of that slut Qin Sangruo burned to death in a fire.
Everyone outside said it was the work of her husband’s enemies.
Thinking about it now, what enemies?
It wouldn’t surprise me if that venomous woman did it herself!
“Xue’er, tell me, how could it be such a coincidence that her parents died right when she was giving birth?
“Such a venomous slut is a perfect match for Chen Ergou!”
Unaware that Lin Yingxue already knew the plot, she recounted all the old rumors to her one by one.
Lin Yingxue said, “Mother, if we go out and say Chen Tianhao is Qin Sangruo’s child, I doubt anyone would believe us.
Chen Huaiyuan and Chen Tianhao won’t admit it right now either, which would put you at a disadvantage when you ask for a divorce.
But now that we have this leverage, things will be much easier to handle…”
Lin Yingxue waved the letter in her hand.
Jiang Baozhen’s eyes lit up.
“My Xue’er is the smartest after all,” she praised.
“This letter is ironclad proof of that bastard’s origins!”
She calculated in her mind that if the Chen Family dared to stand in her way, she would smash this letter right in their faces.
At that thought, her chest full of anger gradually transformed into an eager excitement.
Who knew, maybe Qin Sangruo’s previous merchant husband had also been killed by her.
In her past life, that bastard was recognized by the wealthy merchant’s family and became their sole male heir, sitting back and enjoying their vast fortune.
Qin Sangruo had played a brilliant hand, letting her fake son act like a cuckoo in the nest, taking over one family after another.
In this life, Chen Tianhao could forget about it.
Jiang Baozhen tugged at the red ribbon of the Jade Pendant in Lin Yingxue’s hand and scoffed, “This Jade Pendant is probably a love token between Qin Sangruo and that wild man.
And Chen Ergou hid it away like a treasure, not even finding it filthy!
Tomorrow, I’ll take you to Peng City to pawn it and use the silver to have some jewelry made for you.”
“I actually think this Jade Pendant might be proof of Chen Tianhao’s identity,” Lin Yingxue replied.
“Don’t pawn it just yet.
Keeping it gives you another piece of leverage.”
“I didn’t think of that.” Jiang Baozhen nodded.
“Xue’er is much more thoughtful.
Whatever its origin, a bastard is a bastard.
But Mother will listen to you; we’ll keep it for now.”
Lin Yingxue pursed her lips into a smile.
She was so certain because the book explicitly stated that this Jade Pendant was the crucial token for Chen Tianhao to return to his ancestral roots in the future.