Although Ruan had told her that there were people around Kang Yunxi who were familiar with Ming, Tang Li never considered ng Shu as a suspect.
As the eldest son of the ng Family’s main house, ng Shu really had no reason to be involved with a Drug Lord.
ng’s Mother ca to apologize, bringing quite a few gifts.
The most precious of which was a set of erald jewelry.
Tang Li didn’t want to accept it, but Xiao Minglan reached out and accepted the peace offering on her behalf.
When ng’s Mother got up to leave, Xiao Minglan handed the jewelry to Tang Li, explaining the hidden ssage: "A kidnapping isn’t child’s play; even though you and Jingtian returned safely, ng Shu has already surrendered, and the ng Family can’t just consider the matter settled."
Tang Li understood.
The jewelry in her hand was probably arranged by Elder ng.
Such generosity was partly to please her, but more importantly, it aid to resolve the grudge in Song Baiyan’s heart caused by the incident.
Xiao Minglan continued, "Before marrying ng Liping, Su i had an affair in Yun Province."
Tang Li stopped looking at the jewelry and turned her gaze towards Xiao Minglan, who took a sip of tea and continued: "Su i’s father started his career in jade business, and thirty years ago in Yun Province, he was quite prominent, with a group of runners working under him."
"Among them was a young man nad Wu Ming, from Yue Country. Because his family was poor, he had illegally entered S Country. Eighteen-year-old Su i was imdiately attracted to this tough but silent worker, but Su i’s father disagreed. After sensing his daughter’s feelings, he sent Su i abroad for school, and as for Wu Ming, he was sent to guard the jade mine."
Wu Ming.
Upon hearing this na, Tang Li imdiately thought of Ming.
In the village, Ming indeed spoke the Yue language.
Xiao Minglan placed the teacup on the table: "Two years later, Su i returned and went to find Wu Ming."
"Did they stay together afterward?" Tang Li asked.
Xiao Minglan nodded: "Su i defied her father’s objections, insisting on staying at the jade mine to live as a common couple with Wu Ming. She urged him to study, preparing to open a small shop in the nearby town. Just when she was over two months pregnant, a woman ca to the door claiming to be Wu Ming’s partner and wanted to discuss business with him."
"While Su i was abroad for those two years, Wu Ming was in the pri of youth. Thinking he and Su i had no future, mingling long enough with other workers, he inevitably learned to spend money for fun, but the problem was, the woman he kept finding was a drug addict."
Listening to this, Tang Li could already guess the developnt.
Ming, in his dealings with that woman, likely ca into contact with things he shouldn’t have.
Even if he didn’t beco addicted, there was no way to be completely free again.
"My brother was a geologist before his death, studying alongside Su i’s sister, Su Lai. Upon finding out her sister was having emotional issues, Su Lai brought Su i to the Capital."
"By then, ng Liping’s first wife had been deceased for almost three years. Through a twist of fate, he t Su i, who bore so resemblance to his late wife, and gradually, the two beca acquainted until ng Liping proposed marriage a few months later."
Tang Li’s focus, however, was on Su i’s pregnancy.
ng Shu knew Ming, and Ming once had a child with Su i...
With no outsiders in the living room, Tang Li voiced her suspicion, "So ng Shu is actually—"
She didn’t finish the latter half of the sentence.
Xiao Minglan’s response confird her guess: "When Su i married ng Liping, she was already seven months pregnant. Her agreeing to the marriage was partly because of the child."
In other words, ng Shu truly was Ming’s son.
"ng Liping had no children with his late wife, and although he and Su i later had a daughter, he’s always treated ng Shu as his biological son. However, his father, Old Mr. ng, after discovering ng Shu wasn’t his son’s child, didn’t value this grandson much, preferring ng Lin from the second house."
Xiao Minglan’s words implied that ng Shu’s turn to the wrong path was partly due to Old Master ng’s favoritism.
Just as Tang Li bit into a piece of mung bean cake, Xiao Minglan slowly added, "Yunxi is also considered a child I raised, and I thought she’d at least rember the old friendship."
What Kang Yunxi said in the village, Tang Li didn’t plan to tell the old lady.
Since it’s a secret, let it remain as it is.
Carrying the plate of mung bean cakes, Tang Li left, and Xiao Minglan sighed. Aunt Min inquired with concern, but Xiao Minglan didn’t respond.
So thoughts are best kept to oneself rather than spoken aloud.
When she first learned Tang Li’s background, she had reservations about her son’s choice of bride.
Song Baiyan, as the Family Head of the Song Family, could marry soone who wasn’t a wealthy heiress of equal standing, but he shouldn’t marry the descendant of a drug dealer.
Marrying Tang Li ant bringing certain hidden dangers into the Song Family.
She had explained the potential consequences to her son.
But in the end—
Song Baiyan did it anyway.
If the entire Song Family was his responsibility, then Tang Li was the canary he selfishly chose to keep.
This form of keeping was for a lifeti.
When the news reached the Capital that Tang Li and Song Jingtian might have been kidnapped by a Drug Lord, Xiao Minglan understood that the crisis hidden within the marriage had begun to surface.
A couple of days ago, Song Baiyan ntioned he was going to the outskirts for an inspection, but in fact, he went to Diannan behind her back.
Otherwise, how would the originally untraceable pair—big and small—co back together?
This morning, upon seeing Song Baiyan in the dining room, Xiao Minglan noticed the bite mark under her son’s shirt collar, near the artery on the neck, still red.
This location wasn’t one an ordinary person could reach.
She finally couldn’t hold back and reminded, "Fooling around is fine, but you just got back from outstation yesterday. You’re twenty now, and you should be mindful."
At that point, Song Baiyan said,
"After a few days apart, and with recording the show and the kidnapping, now that we’re back safely, I can’t help but feel a bit elated."
With that, he took all the responsibility upon himself.
So, it’s not the demoness absorbing the scholar’s vitality, but the scholar himself volunteering.
When Xiao Minglan remarked, ’I’m worried you’re constantly on edge,’ Song Baiyan’s reply was—’As you already know, among their generation, soone my age is basically a senior. If I don’t spoil her, she might really run off with soone else.’
Carrying the mung bean cake, Tang Li was still thinking about her kidnapping case on her way back to the master bedroom.
She originally planned to share her findings with Song Baiyan.
But before she could even start, the case had reached its conclusion.
ng Shu surrendered himself, but Kang Yunxi—
Still hasn’t been found by the police.
Tang Li recalled Song Jingtian ntioning Kang Yunxi wanted to take him to F Country.
So, Kang Yunxi is very likely to have returned to F Country.
Tang Li pivoted on her feet to the first floor and encountered one of Song Baiyan’s secretaries, Guo Li.
Guo Li held a docunt, informing Tang Li, "Master is in a eting."
He then asked if Tang Li had an urgent matter.
Tang Li truthfully replied, "I just rembered a detail about the kidnapping case, concerning another hostage."
"Do you an Miss Kang Yunxi?"
"Yes," Tang Li nodded.
Guo Li directly handed the docunt in his hand to Tang Li: "There’s already news from Yun Province, which I was about to report to Master later. With the cooperation of Myanmar police investigation, it was found that Miss Kang appeared at Suolei Pier in Myanmar, and around midnight yesterday, S Country’s patrol vessel intercepted two smuggling ships from Myanmar headed to Burkina Faso in the vicinity of the Malacca Strait."
"One of the smuggling ships escaped; on the intercepted one, a group of won was found in the cabin. According to the snakehead’s confession, these won were supposed to be sold to Burkina Faso."
Burkina Faso is a country in Africa.
Tang Li put the docunt aside and looked up at Guo Li.
Guo Li, not disappointing her, quickly spoke up, "If the snakehead isn’t lying, Miss Kang should be on the other ship."
Tang Li: "..."
So, Kang Yunxi plans to go to Africa to pick corn?
Even if escaping Song Baiyan’s pursuit, this is quite an overreaction.
But Guo Li added, "The snakehead claims Miss Kang is a renowned Drug Lord in Shan State, sold to him by Ming."
Tang Li: "......"
This plot twist—
It’s already turning into a spectacle for her father-in-law to sell his daughter-in-law for attention?
——
Good night!
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