The legitimate wife of Xiao Rudie, Madam Peng, gave birth to a healthy baby girl. This baby girl was Xiao Qiniang. However, Miao Miao's child died during childbirth.
Fearing Miao Miao's sorrow, Xiao Rudie insisted that Miao Miao raise Xiao Qiniang, claiming the child was hers. The legitimate wife's child had already perished. Poor Madam Peng, she had done nothing wrong but first lost her son, then her daughter.
She did not lose to that Miao Miao; it was simply because Xiao Rudie had never loved her.
Madam Peng was consumed by grief and melancholy. Less than half a year after giving birth to Xiao Qiniang, she passed away.
Xiao Rudie felt no sadness and immediately elevated Miao Miao to the position of primary wife. They were in the remote Mobei, and even if outsiders knew, they couldn't reach them to accuse him.
Xiao Rudie didn't even observe the mourning period. He immediately began displaying affection with Miao Miao. To prevent Xiao Yu, the legitimate son, from competing with Xiao Si, he registered Miao Miao's son and daughter under another concubine after promoting Miao Miao.
Thus, these two legitimate children, a son and a daughter, were manipulated by their own father into being recognized as the offspring of a mere concubine.
Of course, all of this was learned by Xiao Qiniang in her adulthood from an old woman who had served Madam Peng. Those who had served Madam Peng mysteriously disappeared from Mobei. Some died of sudden illness, some were sent to estates and vanished without a trace, and others were directly executed or sold for offenses.
This old woman was incredibly lucky. She was supposed to be beaten to death for an offense but only fainted. Others mistakenly believed she was dead and dragged her out to be dumped in a mass grave.
Due to constant warfare in Mobei, there were quite a few mass graves. The old woman's luck was immense; she woke up and desperately crawled out of the pile of corpses, thus saving her life.
She painstakingly healed herself, but her leg was permanently injured. She walked with a limp and lived by begging, often lingering outside the government office.
Finally, she found an opportunity to inform Xiao Qiniang of the truth. Xiao Qiniang naturally didn't believe her, thinking she was a骗子 from somewhere.
But the old woman told her that in the former residence of Madam Peng, there was a floor tile under the bed that could be lifted. Inside, there was Madam Peng's handwritten blood letter, every word true. She had left a contingency plan after falling ill, fearing her children would never know of her existence.
With trepidation, Xiao Qiniang secretly sneaked into Madam Peng's former courtyard and successfully retrieved a brocade box from beneath the floor tile. It contained not only Madam Peng's blood letter but also the birthdates of herself and Xiao Yu.
Madam Peng's blood letter clearly stated that her son, Xiao Yu, was the legitimate heir, born three days before Xiao Si, with a birthmark on his left foot. Although she herself had no birthmark, she had three vortices on her head and a red mole under her armpit.
Even that woman Miao Miao didn't know these things. How could the deceased Madam Peng have known?
Upon seeing this blood letter, Xiao Qiniang was eighty percent convinced. Only a mother would think so thoroughly of her daughter, worrying about her even until death.
If Miao Miao were truly their birth mother, why, after being elevated, did she not change the status of her own son and daughter to legitimate heirs? Instead, she registered them under an unfavored concubine. Didn't she understand the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children?
She wasn't unaware, but why would she care about other people's children?
Moreover, Miao Miao had always treated Xiao Si differently from them. Everything proved that the old woman was telling the truth; she and Xiao Yu were Madam Peng's biological children and the legitimate heirs of the Xiao family.
Once Xiao Qiniang knew all this, she detested Xiao Rudie and Miao Miao. However, she was powerless and didn't know how to retaliate, so she could only scheme in secret.
What truly turned her into a "cut-open-black" was Xiao Yu being held as a hostage in the capital.
The Emperor demanded that Xiao Rudie bring his legitimate son to the capital. Xiao Si was the legitimate son of the Xiao family. How could Xiao Rudie bear to let his beloved son with Miao Miao be a hostage?
Therefore, he arranged for Xiao Si to fall from his horse and injure his leg, making him unable to walk properly. In the end, he had to bring Xiao Yu to the capital to confess his crime to the Emperor.
As expected, Xiao Yu remained in the capital for many years, bearing various infamies and having no freedom at all. His sister and brother were separated for many years. All of this was because of that woman Miao Miao!
Therefore, Xiao Qiniang orchestrated Miao Miao's death, not only frightening her to death but also preventing Xiao Rudie from returning to Mobei to see Miao Miao off for her final journey.
The incident of killing Xiao Rudie that year was also her doing.
Although she wasn't the sharpest, she was adept at seizing opportunities. First, she secretly contacted Madam Peng's maternal family and informed them of Madam Peng's cause of death, and they recognized each other.
To avenge their daughter, the Peng family spent a fortune hiring experts from the martial world to assassinate Xiao Rudie.
If Xiao Rudie died, the world would only suspect the Emperor of wanting him dead, and no one would ever dream that his own daughter wanted him dead.
It was a pity that those people were incompetent and only managed to injure Xiao Rudie's leg, failing to kill him.
However, Miao Miao was dead, Xiao Rudie was crippled, and he harbored some resentment towards the Emperor. For Xiao Qiniang a few years ago, these were enough.
If not for the incident in the Moluo Mountains, Xiao Si might have had a chance to live well.
But now, he had to die.
Xiao Qiniang picked up a letter from the side and began to reply to her third uncle.
The night was long, the north wind howled, and the cold of Mobei seemed unable to freeze Xiao Qiniang's hatred.
Li Man'er continued to acupuncture Xiao Rudie for several more days. Xiao Rudie felt his leg was much better, seemingly loosening day by day.
"Niece, I really don't need to take any medicine?" It had already improved so much with just acupuncture; wouldn't it be even better with medicine?
Li Man'er shook her head. "Your leg injury has been there for too long. Taking medicine now would be useless and even detrimental to your health. Acupuncture is best for pain relief. Starting tomorrow, you can let two physicians administer the needles, and I will observe. If there are any discrepancies, I will inform them, so they can administer the needles as soon as possible."
Upon hearing this, Physicians Xu and Zheng both stated that they would do their utmost to administer the needles for Xiao Rudie.
Xiao Rudie said, "So be it. You two shall come tomorrow!"
The two men quickly bowed in salute, their hearts filled with excitement. The test was approaching.
"Tomorrow is Xiaonian. The manor will be hosting a family banquet. Niece and Marquis must attend!"
Li Man'er was taken aback. "Tomorrow is Xiaonian?" As a modern person, she couldn't keep track of dates as precisely as people in ancient times. Who knew time had passed so quickly? It was already Xiaonian.
"Yes! It's all my fault for not taking good care of the Marquis, causing you to be unable to reunite with your family." Xiao Rudie said meaningfully, "However, the Marquis and I hit it off immediately. Our two families are as close as one. Celebrating the New Year together will compensate for the regret, don't you think, niece?"