Exile: Empty half of the capital and blow up the enemy's palace

Yun Qingqing sat on a stool beside her, and the woman sat down with her. Then she slowly said, "Miss, what do you want to know? Just ask."

"Ping'an is not Zhang Dalang's biological son, right?" Yun Qingqing asked straight to the point.

The woman nodded and said, "Ping'an is not Dalang's biological son. He is the son of me and my ex-husband."

Yun Qingqing thought to herself: Zhang Dalang must have been the one taking over. No wonder he has such a handsome adopted son and such a beautiful daughter-in-law.

"Does Zhang Dalang know that Ping'an is not his biological son?" Yun Qingqing asked her.

If Zhang Dalang has been kept in the dark, then this woman must be a ruthless person.

The woman nodded and said, "Dalang knows. When I left that man, I felt that life had no hope and wanted to commit suicide. It was Dalang who saved me and brought me to Anyi Town. In order to prevent Ping An from being treated as a wild child when he was born, Dalang also pretended to marry me and treated Ping An as his own son.

Over the past six years, Dalang has been incredibly caring towards us, mother and son, and he's never taken advantage of me. He said he knew I had someone in my heart and wouldn't force me to be his wife. I had been planning to be his wife this year, but I didn't expect... woooo, it's all my fault that I ruined him.

The woman burst into tears, her tears streaming down her face. In the light of the fire, she looked unreal, like a fairy walking out of a painting.

Seeing her grief-stricken look, Yun Qingqing knew that she was also a person who valued friendship and loyalty. She comforted her, "Don't cry, Mrs. Zhang. The dead cannot be brought back to life. Now our main task is to help Zhang Dalang clear his name. Tell me everything you know."

Zhang Dalang took care of the mother and son for six years and never took advantage of the beautiful woman. Zhang Dalang is definitely a gentleman. How could a gentleman like him bully that tofu girl with a sweet potato body?

This Zhang Dalang must have been wronged!

The woman paused in her sobbing after hearing this and said, "Miss, Dalang didn't bully Li Cuihua. He was wronged."

"I know he was wronged. Tell me who is harming him."

After hearing this, the woman's face flashed with confusion. She shook her head and said, "I don't know."

Yun Qingqing: "...You don't know, why do you say you harmed him?"

The woman lowered her head and cried, "That Li Cuihua couldn't stand me and often spoke rudely to me. Dalang spoke up for Li Cuihua, so Li Cuihua slandered Dalang and bullied her, causing Dalang... wuwuwu..." The woman cried again, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have let Dalang know about Li Cuihua's rude words to me. I'm the one who killed Dalang."

Yun Qingqing felt that the matter was not as simple as she said. Even if Zhang Dalang was found guilty of bullying Li Cuihua, according to the laws of the Great Zhou Kingdom, he would not be sentenced to death. At most, he would be imprisoned for a few years or exiled.

However, the county magistrate directly ordered people to behead Zhang Dalang, which showed that someone wanted Zhang Dalang to die.

The county magistrate lived in the county town and had little interaction with the people living in Zhang Dalang's small town, so he should not have had any grudges with Zhang Dalang.

But he ordered someone to kill Zhang Dalang, which means someone bribed him to kill Zhang Dalang.

The person who wanted to kill Zhang Dalang should be from Anyi Town, and he should be very rich and powerful, so that he could bribe the county magistrate to kill people.

Zhang Dalang was a warm-hearted and kind person in Anyi Town. He never offended anyone, so it was very unlikely that his enemies would want to kill him.

There was nothing valuable in Zhang Dalang's house, so there was no money to worry about.

The person who was able to bribe the county magistrate and wanted to kill him was not short of money and was not killing him for money.

There is only one possibility, that the person who wants to kill Zhang Dalang is attracted by Zhang Dalang's beautiful wife.

In order to get Zhang Dalang's wife, the man bribed Li Cuihua, who was resentful of Zhang Dalang, with money and asked her to slander Zhang Dalang and bully her.

Then he bribed the county magistrate with money and killed Zhang Dalang on the charge of bullying Li Cuihua, and finally took possession of Zhang Dalang's wife.

However, he did not expect that someone would play tricks and disrupt his plans, which is why he failed to successfully take possession of Zhang Dalang's wife.

The person who pretended to be a ghost and scared everyone was most likely Zhang Dalang's younger brother Zhang Xiaobao, who had been away from home for five years and was avenging his brother.

Yun Qingqing figured it all out and asked the crying woman, "Who is the richest person in Anyi Town?

The woman paused, her voice choked with sobs as she said, "The richest man in Anyi Town is Mr. Liu."

"What do you think of Mr. Liu?" Yun Qingqing asked her again.

The woman frowned and said, "I didn't have much contact with him. We only met a few times, but those few encounters made me feel very uncomfortable."

Every time Mr. Liu saw her, his eyes seemed to be glued to her, which made her feel disgusted.

When Yun Qingqing heard this, she was certain that the person who bribed the county magistrate to kill Zhang Dalang was Liu Yuanwai.

The reason why Zhang Xiaobao acted like a ghost in Anyi Town was probably because he knew that Mr. Liu had killed his brother and wanted to seek revenge on him.

Suddenly hearing something, Yun Qingqing's eyes flickered slightly, and she continued to ask the woman calmly: "Have you seen Zhang Xiaobao?"

The woman shook her head and said, "I haven't seen him, but I often hear Dalang talk about his brother. He said that his brother is very well-behaved and sensible, and he misses him very much. He said that he regretted letting his brother leave home. If he could go back six years, he would definitely not let his brother leave home to make a living."

Yun Qingqing looked at the big tree outside and said, "Zhang Xiaobao, did you hear that? Your brother misses you very much. Come out and burn some paper for him to let him know you're home."

As soon as he finished speaking, a black shadow fell from the tree and walked towards the house. Yun Qingqing looked at the young man coming towards her. The boy was about seventeen or eighteen years old. He had a very handsome face, but on his handsome face there was a scar extending from his brow to his right cheek, which added a bit of solemnity to him.

The young man walked into the house, knelt in front of the brazier as if no one was around, and burned paper in it.

Yun Qingqing watched this scene and knew that the young man in front of her was Zhang Xiaobao. Seeing the young man burning paper as if no one was around, Yun Qingqing watched quietly without making a sound to disturb him.

The woman also knew that the young man in front of her was Zhang Xiaobao, and she watched quietly.

No one spoke, and the room was very quiet. The only sound was the crackling sound of burning paper.

After a long time, the boy said, "Brother, I'm sorry I'm back late."

His voice was filled with endless sadness. The woman listened to his words and started crying again, "Xiaobao, I'm sorry. It's all my fault that I hurt your brother..."

Zhang Xiaobao pursed his lips and said nothing, his hands clenched into fists. He knew that her death was not his elder brother's fault.

But when he thought that his elder brother was killed because of her, he felt an inexplicable resentment towards her.

Yun Qingqing looked at Zhang Xiaobao's clenched fists and saw that he was resentful towards his sister-in-law.

As she expected, this Zhang Xiaobao knew the truth about his elder brother's death. It seemed that the ghost stories in the town were caused by this Zhang Xiaobao to avenge his elder brother.

The woman also noticed that Zhang Xiaobao was resentful of her, and she cried even harder, "Xiaobao, I've let your elder brother down, and I'll pay for your elder brother's death with my own life..."

As she spoke, the woman stood up and was about to hit the pillar. Before Yun Qingqing could react, Zhang Xiaobao had already stopped the woman. He grabbed the woman's arm to prevent her from committing suicide.

"What will happen to Ping An if you die?" he asked her in a deep voice.

The woman paused after hearing this. "Yes, if she died, what would happen to Ping An? Ping An was still so young. If she died, how would her Ping An survive in this world? Who would take care of him when he was hungry, cold, thirsty, and who could help him grow up safely?"

At this time, Yun Qingqing said, "Mrs. Zhang, don't be so depressed that you want to commit suicide. Ping'an is still so young and can't live without his mother."

Knowing that she was thinking of committing suicide to pay for Zhang Dalang's life because Zhang Xiaobao resented her, she added, "Sister Zhang, Zhang Xiaobao didn't blame you. If he did, he wouldn't have pretended to be a ghost and protected you."

If Zhang Xiaobao had not pretended to be a ghost to protect this woman, I am afraid that this woman would have been bullied by Mr. Liu.

When the woman heard Yun Qingqing's words, a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes, and then tears welled up again.

Zhang Xiaobao hated to see women cry. Seeing her crying again, he turned around and left.

"Mrs. Zhang, please stop crying. The dead cannot be brought back to life. Please accept my condolences."

Yun Qingqing comforted the woman and went to chase after Zhang Xiaobao who had left.