Chapter 112

Chapter 112

The truth was almost exactly as Han Zhang had guessed—his Fifth Aunt really had been swapped!

The Han family's real fifth daughter was none other than Kang Zhanxun's concubine, Xiang Lian.

And the people who swapped the children were a Liu family from Liu Family Village, the neighboring village of Shangpo.

Normally speaking, both families were farming households, and the Liu family's circumstances back then were actually somewhat better than the Han family's. You'd think there was no reason to pull something so shady.

But there's an exception to every rule.

At the time, the Liu family's daughter-in-law had given birth to four daughters in a row.

You can only imagine how rough her life was in her husband's household in this era that was so big on having boys over girls.

Even more horrifying was that the husband's family flat-out hated this youngest granddaughter, convinced she was blocking a grandson from being born. They actually came up with the idea of turning the infant into a "female ghost suppressor."

And what was a "female ghost suppressor"?

It meant brutally killing a newborn baby girl (or young girl) and burying her beneath the threshold of one's own home or family compound.

Superstitious folks firmly believed this method would "suppress" the baby girl's spirit, preventing her from reincarnating into that household again, and would also scare off other female spirits seeking rebirth—all in hopes of finally getting a boy.

A mother's heart goes out to her own child.

How could Liu's mother stand by and watch the child she carried for ten months suffer such a fate?

She couldn't fight her in-laws on her own, so she eventually cooked up a wicked plan—she would let someone else's child suffer in her daughter's place!

As it turned out, Liu's mother's older sister was a well-known midwife throughout the surrounding villages.

Liu's mother tearfully begged her sister, and although the midwife thought it was totally unconscionable, her sister was weeping and pleading, and the child in question was her own niece. Family came first, plain and simple.

The midwife figured out which farm families were about to give birth, and the Han family became the unlucky target.

Who'd have thought a kid from a poor, humble family would get swapped?

Childbirth was chaos, and with one side scheming and the other caught off guard, the scheme went off without a hitch.

In the end,

The Han family's daughter became the Liu family's despised "Fourth Girl"—worthless as dirt.

And the Liu family's daughter became the Han family's Han Zhenzhen—precious as gold.

When the steward tasked with investigating learned the full story, he couldn't help but comment:

"The Han family sure has some luck on their side. After Fourth Girl was swapped to the Liu family, just when they were about to do the kid harm, the old village shaman took pity and stepped in, persuading them to spare her life."

"Fourth Girl was clever too. Though she suffered greatly in the Liu household, she managed to survive, barely making it to ten."

"But the Hans were all good-looking, and Fourth Girl got prettier every year. Around that time, the Liu family's grandson needed to go to school, and they had to scrape up tuition, so they cold-heartedly sold her into those god-awful brothels."

"Talk about the Han family's luck—within days of being sold, Fourth Girl encountered Earl Kang, who was then still a dissolute young master, pushed by his rowdy buddies to 'see the world.'"

"The Earl took pity on her, and out of compassion, bought her out, named her Xiang Lian, and made her his personal maid. Later, he took her as a concubine..."

Everyone knows the rest of Kang Zhanxun and his beloved concubine's story.

Shen Qinglan listened, feeling both sympathy and anger: "How could Liu's mother be so awful! She swapped someone else's kid to take the hit, and when the child survived, she not only treated her badly but was cruel to her in every way, even selling her into a place like that."

That Fifth Aunt ended up doing well was thanks to her own luck and grit, not any mercy from the Liu family.

The steward also said with disgust: "Indeed, this old servant went to Liu Family Village to ask around. Fourth Girl's childhood in the Liu house was so rough that even the families who hated daughters the most couldn't stand to watch."

"Liu's mother only cared about her three real daughters and totally ignored Fourth Girl. When she got upset out in the world, she'd come home and take it out on Fourth Girl, hitting her even harder than the rest of the Liu family did."

"Fourth Girl survived purely on sheer grit and smarts..."

"As for the swap itself, there's no hard proof, but Han Zhenzhen (the fake Fifth Aunt) probably knew all along, because the Liu family's youngest son had been working odd jobs at Han Zhenzhen's husband's shop for years."

"Han Zhenzhen had been returning to the Han family asking for money all these years, supposedly to help out her husband's family, but part of it probably went to the Liu family..."

Otherwise, with that Liu kid being so lazy and sneaky, what shopkeeper would keep him around?

Perhaps Han Zhenzhen feared her support of the Liu family might arouse suspicion, so she'd used the excuse of "repaying a life-saving debt" to cover her tracks.

So there was no direct evidence of whether she'd known her true origins all along—each side could argue their case.

After Shen Qinglan sorted through the whole affair, he waited until Han Zhang returned that evening and recounted everything in detail.

Han Zhang didn't know what to say after hearing it all.

Indeed, in this life, one could never count on others to be kind.

Liu's mother's love for her own daughter was real, but her cruelty toward someone else's daughter was equally genuine.

At the end of the day, the human heart is selfish.

That's why those who sacrifice themselves for others are called heroes and earn people's admiration.

"This matter should be handled sooner rather than later. I'll ask for leave from my teacher tomorrow, and we'll return to the village."

After brief consideration, Han Zhang decided to go back the next day to tell his grandparents the truth.

Better not to delay, lest complications arise.

"Alright, I'll also arrange for a physician to accompany us. Grandfather and Grandmother are advanced in years—hearing such news might be too much for them..."

But the matter couldn't be hidden; the truth had to be known.

Shen Qinglan seemed carefree on the surface, but in practical matters of household management, he was quite meticulous.

Han Zhang's expression softened, and he praised with a smile: "My husband is indeed thoughtful. Then I'll leave it to you."

"Of course—love me, love my family..."

Shen Qinglan blushed at the compliment but nodded proudly, expressing his feelings directly.

He couldn't feign modesty or wifely virtue for a moment.

But that was exactly what Han Zhang loved about him—his emotions were fierce and pure, like a flame drawing moths to it, warm and dazzling, impossible to look away from.

He truly adored his husband.

The next day.

After Han Zhang requested leave from the Imperial Academy, the couple loaded two carts with food, tonics, jewelry, and fabric, brought along the physician they'd arranged, and set off back to Shangpo Village.

“It’s the Han family’s eldest son! The eldest son and his husband are back again…”

“Isn’t today a day off? Why has the eldest son come back?”

“The eldest son is so dutiful—he must be thinking of his grandparents and parents…”

“Being dutiful is great, but he shouldn’t skip his studies! The eldest son is the most promising scholar in our village for the imperial exams. Why the sudden return—could it be good news?”

“Oh wow, he’s brought so many nice things again. The Han family really raised a fine grandson and found him a good husband…”

“The eldest son’s husband is so devoted—he sends stuff back every few days and is always kind to the villagers. Not like the husband of that scholar Zhang from our village—his family owns a small tavern in town, and he acts like he’s better than everyone…”

“That’s right, our village’s eldest son is smart and has good taste too…”

“Hey, Stinky, go call your Grandpa Han and Grandma Han from the field ridge…”

Even though Han Zhang is part of the Han family, that doesn’t stop the rest of the village from being proud of him too.

Because when one person gets ahead, everyone around them benefits. Even if Han Zhang doesn’t go out of his way to help, as his status rises, his name alone is enough to give Shangpo Village a lot of protection.

When the Han family heard the news out in the fields, they were thrilled, yelling “The eldest son’s back!” and dropping their tools to hurry home.

The Han family’s situation was totally different now—with all the money Han Zhang kept sending home, they didn’t need to farm the land themselves anymore and could easily rent it out.

But who was Grandpa Han?

Grandpa Han was a worldly old man with real foresight and vision.

His eldest grandson might look successful now, but he didn’t have a solid foundation yet—he was still leaning on his in-laws and his husband’s dowry, and hadn’t really made his own way yet.

If the Han family started getting comfortable now, it would hold back the eldest grandson’s future and spoil the younger kids into being lazy.

The Han family still worked the fields—not to suffer for no reason, but to keep the family’s values strong.

So.

When Han Zhang saw Grandpa Han and the others come back covered in mud, he didn’t say much.

He just rolled up his sleeves, took the hoe and basket from his grandparents, and started tidying the yard. Then he said casually:

“Grandpa, I’ll take care of the yard—you go get changed. Grandma, make us some steamed egg custard. I was craving your egg custard all night; nobody else can make it like you do.”

Old folks love nothing more than feeding the kids.

When Grandma Han heard her grandson wanted to eat something she made, she beamed:

“You little foodie! Always thinking about your grandma’s cooking. But this egg custard is my specialty—any banquet for miles around, they ask me to run the kitchen! Years of practice—no matter how good a city chef is, they can’t beat your grandma’s version.”

“Hold on, Grandma’ll make it for you right now…”

Then she hurried off to wash up and change.

Shen Qinglan quickly added, “Grandma, let Qiao Dong and the others help you with the fire.”

He definitely wasn’t going to do it himself—not just because he wasn’t used to it, but because if he tried, he’d probably burn the whole house down.

Grandma Han knew this precious grandson-in-law’s ways and didn’t mind at all, and cheerfully led Qiao Dong and the others into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Han’s mother pulled some fresh fruit out of the well to cool off and took Shen Qinglan aside, worried:

“Lan Geer, have some fruit to cool off. The sun’s been brutal lately—you and the eldest son should just stay in town where it’s comfortable. Everything’s fine here, don’t worry… And the eldest son, he doesn’t know how to take care of you, dragging you all the way out here in this heat.”

Han Qinnian and the other boys had recently started school and hadn’t come home from the private school yet.

Dong Geer, Qiu Geer, Chun Ya, and Xia Ya—the four kids—were home and brought out cold tea, fussing over him like doting little sweethearts.

“Big brother’s husband, have some tea to cool off…”

“Big brother’s husband, you got even more handsome!”

“Big brother’s husband, your outfit today matches big brother’s perfectly!”

“Big brother’s husband, I just saw you two holding hands—he really likes you a lot!”

The four of them chimed in one after another, and every word hit the spot.

They had Shen Qinglan so happy that he was grinning from ear to ear.