On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

Lin Zhen's eyes suddenly narrowed, like a cold abyss with shattered ice crystals: "Keep talking!"

Mother Zheng burst into tears. "Yes, I was hiding behind the haystack beside the yard that day! When they dragged Liu out, the child fell into the cold mud and cried loudly. An official, the chief official in black clothes with a face full of flesh... he said..."

Mrs. Zheng's voice was distorted by fear, and she imitated the official's cold tone:

"'This brat is a nuisance if we keep him alive! He'll save his parents from having their case overturned someday! I'll chop him up and throw him in the river to feed the fish!'"

Her words were like a poisoned dagger, stabbing into Chengxuan's heart!

Her vision instantly went dark and her teeth started chattering!

Not only kill the parents, but also wipe out the roots!

This is not just corruption and abuse of power! This is inhumanity!

"Then...then..." Mrs. Zheng gasped for breath, her body shaking like a leaf in the wind. "That damn official, he really raised his knife, a shining ghost-head knife! He pointed it at the baby on the ground..."

She made a downward chopping gesture, too painful to speak.

"Dead?!" Cheng Xuan's voice was so sharp and almost broke due to extreme anger, and her heart was tightly grasped by an invisible hand!

"No... not dead!" Mrs. Zheng shook her head violently, and her anxious tone interrupted Chengxuan's despair.

A glint of fear and immense relief flashed in her cloudy eyes. "God must have opened his eyes! Just then! A gray shadow appeared from nowhere! As fast as a gust of wind, it slapped the knife-wielding officer away! He slammed hard against the wall and fainted!"

Lin Zhen and Cheng Xuan looked at each other.

Gray shadow?

Slap the police officer and send him flying?

Mrs. Zheng's voice was filled with the excitement of having survived a disaster:

"The man was wearing a gray, hooded robe, so his face couldn't be seen at all. His movements were incredibly nimble! He snatched up the doll from the ground... and with his other hand, he seemed to smear some dirt or blood on the ground, smearing it on the unconscious official's face."

She lowered her voice, full of mystery and awe:

"Then he glanced at the haystack where I was hiding... His eyes were so cold and frightening! Like a knife! He didn't say anything, just grabbed the child, climbed over the wall, and disappeared! Like a ghost!"

"Later, the officials were terrified, thinking it was the ghost of Zheng Dalang's family. Plus, they were busy dealing with the body and escorting Liu back to the county government office, so they never mentioned the baby again. They just thought it was taken away by a stray dog, or beaten to death by that person..."

When Mrs. Zheng said this, she sighed deeply and long, with a look of lingering fear on her face.

"I didn't dare tell anyone, not even a word! It was a life-threatening matter! I was afraid the officials would find out and kill me! I was also afraid that I would implicate that man in gray! I was even more afraid that I would bring more harm to that poor child! Over the years, every time I see that memorial archway... I feel so choked up. I'm so sorry to Dalang, and I'm so sorry to Liu!"

She suddenly raised her head, and her skinny fingers trembled as she pointed at the huge archway that grew increasingly eerie in the twilight, and then at the desolate wilderness outside the village. Her voice was filled with pleading and a last glimmer of hope:

"But sir! You're here today! You asked about this! You look different! Even if this old old woman were to die here today, I would accept it! I only ask you one word!"

Her eyes were like burning charcoal, staring at Lin Zhen intently:

"Who rescued that kid? Is he still alive? Did that girl A Diao find her brother?!"

A Diao should be You Meng’s former name.

The moonlight climbed up the treetops, and its cold light sprinkled on Zheng Pozi's tear-stained and hopeful face, and also illuminated the complex storm that was rapidly surging in Lin Zhen's eyes.

Man in gray!

The mysterious master in gray!

Rescue the baby from the government's butcher knife!

They even deliberately erased their traces to intimidate the officials!

How can this be considered an ordinary person?!

This is clearly the work of a top master!

Even... it might come from some extremely secretive organization!

Youmeng...does she know that her brother might still be alive?

Does her mother know?

What role did Heaven play in this matter?

A series of questions were like a cold tide, instantly breaking down the clear boundaries in Lin Zhen's mind.

He originally thought that this was just the uncovering of an old injustice case fabricated by local officials, but he never expected that the depths of the pool were so deep and complicated, and even involved mysterious forces!

"Don't worry, old lady," Lin Zhen's voice was unusually low, as if every word was fighting against invisible pressure, yet it carried a heavy power, firmly supporting Zheng Pozi's heart, which was hanging on the edge of despair. "What you said today is worth a thousand gold! I've taken note of it! I will definitely find out the whereabouts of A Zhuang! As for A Diao..."

He looked towards the capital, his eyes deep and determined:

"Wait until I bring her back! She'll hear the truth about her parents and the possibility that her brother is still alive!"

"Good! That's good! I hope I can still see that day!" Mrs. Zheng hunched her back, as if she had said her last words, and turned away.

The last rays of sunlight in Xilin Village sank into the western hills, and the dusk, like lead, pressed heavily down on the low roofs.

Lin Zhen sighed and prepared to leave the village with Cheng Xuan.

But the depression in my heart never goes away.

The cries of Mrs. Zheng, which had been suppressed for twenty years, still lingered in their ears, mixed with the harsh creaking of the child being hurriedly dragged back under the old locust tree and the wooden door closing tightly. The air was so thick that it was suffocating.

Cheng Xuan gripped the reins tightly, the chestnut horse snorted uneasily, and the horseshoes made a dull echo on the bumpy dirt road.

"Go to Cangzhou." Lin Zhen's voice broke through the frozen silence, as cold as the ice outside the Great Wall.

His gaze penetrated the deepening night and locked onto the dimly lit area in the northeast.

......

After a night of galloping, when the horse's hooves wrapped in the north wind and dust arrived at the foot of Cangzhou City, a layer of dim fish belly white had just appeared on the horizon.

The Cangzhou city wall is as massive as a crouching beast, and its battlements reveal a ferocious, jagged outline in the morning light.

A long, sparse queue of people waiting to enter the city had formed in front of the city gate, and peddlers were breathing out white air.

And when Lin Zhen took the lead and flashed his badge, the guards on the city wall saw the black and gold coiled dragon pattern in the dim light, and the moment they heard shouts of horror, they immediately tore through the tranquility of dawn.

"Prince—open the gate! Open the main gate quickly!"

The heavy copper-clad wooden gate was pulled high with a teeth-grinding winch sound, and a huge shadow swept across the ground.

Lin Zhen rode without stopping, rushing in through the crack of the door that was not fully open. The sound of his iron hooves echoed like thunder on the empty bluestone main street, and the vendors, hungover drinkers, and patrolling police officers on both sides were startled and hurriedly avoided it.

His black cloak fluttered violently in the strong wind, like a black lightning wrapped in frost, striking directly at the government office in the heart of the city, which was guarded by high walls and deep courtyards.