Jiang Mengzhen squeezed the juice of the Li fruit into another bowl filled with clear water. He held Jiang Cen, who didn't understand the situation, and gently cut her palm with the sharp blade. Bright red blood dripped into the bowl and turned light pink in the clear water.
Jiang Min hurriedly grabbed Zhang's hand and cut him with the knife. The blood of the two people pooled together, and it was indeed blue.
Jiang Min's anger at being cuckolded dissipated a little. She let go of Zhang's hand and asked, "Tell me, what's going on?!"
She raised Jiang Cen for ten years and spoiled her only daughter to the extreme. She even hastily married off her capable son Jiang Mengzhen for Jiang Cen, causing Jiang Mengzhen and her to almost become enemies.
But today she was suddenly told that Jiang Cen was not her daughter at all. How could she bear this
Zhang was very fragile at first, but when everything was exposed, he became cold and cruel: "That's right, she is indeed not our Cen'er. Our Cen'er died ten years ago. She was killed by this bastard born to you and Lin Nan."
Zhang was already physically weak due to a previous miscarriage, and it was difficult for her to keep the baby. When she was pregnant with Jiang Cen, she took countless pregnancy-preserving medicines and soaked in medicine jars every day. When she was seven or eight months pregnant, the doctor said that the baby in her belly was a dead fetus, and she would never be able to get pregnant again.
At that time, Jiang Mengzhen already had a very high status in the Jiang family. If he became a man who couldn't even have children, he would definitely be inferior to Jiang Mengzhen. So he made up his mind and found a man who was pregnant at about the same time as him.
On the day of the birth, he replaced the baby with a daughter from another family and brought her into the house to pass her off as his own child. The stillborn baby was sent away and someone found a place to bury it.
Zhang couldn't say it, so Jiang Mengzhen revealed the secret of that year.
Zhang asked him: "I think I did it secretly, but when did you find out about it? I did something wrong and you found out."
Jiang Mengzhen was married off and was no longer considered a member of the Jiang family. In fact, he had not been back for several years, so he should not have interfered in the affairs of the Jiang family. He did not understand why Jiang Mengzhen had the urge to investigate these things, and he did not know where he had made a mistake.
Jiang Mengzhen explained his confusion: "This is purely a coincidence. I only found out about it not long ago. As for how I found out, the person in charge of burying the dead fetus buried it near Fuyuan Temple."
Fuyuan Temple is the temple that Old Master Wei often visits, and Zhang had someone to help him deal with the people involved. As long as the people who know the secret are still alive in this world, this matter will be revealed sooner or later.
Zhang kept calling him a bastard, and Jiang Min slapped him in the face. When facing Jiang Mengzhen, she felt even more guilty: "Zhen'er, it's my fault. I believed the lies of this vicious husband before. I'm sorry for you."
She extended her hand, but Jiang Mengzhen dodged it: "I have already sent the return gift to this mansion, so I won't keep it any longer."
He turned his head and placed his hand on Hao Cheng's: "Wife, I'm tired."
Hao Cheng held his hand tightly and responded gently: "Since you are tired, let's go back first." After watching such a bloody drama, she also felt that it was not appropriate to stay here.
She originally wanted to try to keep him, but she had to deal with Zhang's matter and Jiang Cen's matter first. Now she was almost at the age of knowing the destiny, and she only had Jiang Mengzhen as her biological child. Even if she married a new husband in the future, she might not be able to have more children.
Even if she did, she would be too old by then and would not have the energy to take care of a second child. She would have to rely on Jiang Mengzhen. Even if it was for the sake of having someone to hold the fire basin for her after her death, she could no longer treat Jiang Mengzhen with the same attitude as before.
When Hao Cheng took Jiang Mengzhen away, Jiang Min chased after him and shouted, "I will take care of these things and give you an explanation. You are my only child, I hope you can forgive me."
When they got on the carriage back home, Jiang Mengzhen didn't speak for a long time, so Hao Cheng gently turned his head and let him rest his head on her shoulder. Jiang Mengzhen would naturally tell him what he should tell her, and if he didn't want to say it, she wouldn't force him to explain everything.
Halfway through the journey, Jiang Mengzhen suddenly said, "I actually told a lie when I was at the mansion just now."
"Eh?" Hao Cheng turned his head to look at him.
He continued, "Just now I said that I only learned the news not long ago, but I knew this fact several years ago."
Hao Cheng opened his eyes wide: "If that's the case, why didn't you say it earlier? Don't you dislike your stepfather?" If she were Jiang Mengzhen, she would definitely leak out the confirmed news immediately.
Jiang Mengzhen said, "I originally thought that I would tell everyone later, and then my mother's performance would definitely be more exciting than it is now."
He had been staying in the Wei Mansion before, and the Jiang family's affairs actually did not affect him. Jiang Cen was arrogant, but with the title of a duke's daughter and Jiang Min's protection, her life would not be too difficult.
When Jiang Mengzhen first learned the news, he did think about spreading it immediately, but he preferred to kill with a blunt knife. He had to wait until Jiang Cen became a little more crooked and his mother was older before spreading the news, so that it would have a better effect.
In fact, he only said it on impulse today. His original plan was to wait until Jiang Min was old, then invite the elders of the Jiang family to reveal the news in front of her. Compared with Zhang, he actually hated his mother more.
If Jiang Min had not been so soft-hearted and gullible, and had not been cruel to him for the sake of Zhang's unborn child, he would not have married Wei Yanan. Zhang was jealous of his biological father, which he could understand. If he were in Zhang's position, his methods might be even more excessive. But Jiang Min was his biological mother, and she treated him very well when his biological father was still alive. But between the child in Zhang's belly, Jiang Min still chose to sacrifice his future.
If he had been a bit more cowardly and less capable, and if the right time, place and people were not in place, he might have been tortured to death in Wei's mansion.
At that time, if Jiang Min, his mother, had not wanted to marry him off, he would never have been insulted by Wei Yanan. Zhang was just a stranger to him, so he hated Zhang but hated Jiang Min. He hated her as much as he admired her when he was young.
Hao Cheng could guess what he was thinking, so he said, "You were originally planning to tell the news later, so why did you suddenly change your mind today?"
Jiang Mengzhen grabbed Hao Cheng's hand that was resting on his knee, took out a small medicine bottle, and applied an even layer of ointment on the place where the golden marble broke the skin. He said in a light tone: "Jiang Cen shouldn't have hit you."
Jiang Cen was adopted and was born after he got married. In the end, she had no personal grudge against him. Once her identity was exposed, Jiang Cen's fate would only be bad, and he didn't mind letting such a child enjoy a few more years of wealth and glory, but she should never hit Hao Cheng.
Hao Cheng didn't expect this reason, and couldn't help feeling a little guilty towards the naughty kid. But then he thought, Jiang Cen's temper was distorted, and maybe she would do something terrible when she grows up. Although she has lost her wealth and glory now, it would be a good thing if her temper changed.
Seeing her silence, Jiang Mengzhen held her hand tightly again and asked in a low voice, "Do you think I'm a bad person?"
Hao Cheng's hands were a little painful from his grip, but she didn't break free. Instead, she said, "If I were you, I probably wouldn't do it. But this is your choice. No matter what you do, as long as it's not murder or arson, you can do whatever you like. Or do you think I will speak up for them?"
Jiang Mengzhen was silent, and it was obvious that he was thinking this way. In fact, some of the upright qualities shown by Hao Cheng always made him feel very worried. He had been wavering between two ideas. One was to disguise himself completely so that Hao Cheng would only see his good side. The other idea was to tell her, to tell the person in front of him, how crazy and terrible he was, but if she wanted to escape, he would never let her go.
She paused, placed Jiang Mengzhen's hand on her chest, and continued, "I am your wife and mistress, and have nothing to do with them. You see, people's hearts are born on the left side, and people's hearts are biased when they are born. No one can be truly fair. Between other people in the world and you, my heart is biased towards you. I am a very ordinary person, and I have never been as noble as you think."
She curved her eyebrows and said, "After hearing what I said, do you think I'm not that good? But it's too late for you to regret it now. We are already husband and wife."
Jiang Mengzhen's methods might seem too cruel to ordinary people, but she had never experienced what Jiang Mengzhen had experienced, and she didn't know what she would do if she had. She could only try her best to make him not be so cruel, instead of forcing him to do things her way and forgive those who had hurt him.
She could feel that Jiang Meng really had a terrible sense of security, and that was because she hadn't done enough. She hoped she could do better, at least to make him trust her and feel at ease.
Jiang Mengzhen suddenly stood up and pressed her against the wall of the carriage. The distance was so close that Hao Cheng could even count his long eyelashes one by one, which made her envious.
His voice was hoarse, his fingers wrinkled Hao Cheng's clothes, and he said word by word: "I will protect you and treat you well, so please don't hate me. Even if one day you want to leave me, don't tell me."