Ling Yinghua couldn't care less about anything at this moment. All he wanted to know was how his precious grandson and granddaughter had been abducted by child - snatchers. Were the people arranged around them just useless?
"Lord Ling, please calm down!" Zhang Zhi whispered to Ling Yinghua, who was on the verge of collapse.
Ling Yinghua nodded weakly. He was a bit exhausted but still stood upright steadily, pricking up his ears to listen to what was to follow.
"Lord Ling has lost two grandchildren all of a sudden. How heart - broken he must be!"
"Indeed. His family has never had many descendants. Among his two sons' families, there are only three grandsons and two granddaughters. The children are like treasures to them. Losing two at once, Lady Ling even fell into a depression and passed away because of it."
Thinking of his wife's death due to this, Ling Yinghua suddenly felt his eyes heat up, and two lines of tears silently streamed down his face. Aware of his gaffe, he quickly lowered his head to wipe them away.
"Shouldn't there be maids, old women, and servants around them? How could they still be abducted by child - snatchers? Was it at the lantern festival?"
"Well, this matter is a bit complicated. The Ling family is a large clan. Ling Jijiu's family is the main branch. Although this branch has always had few descendants, there are many clan members in the Ling family.
These collateral branches live around the mansion of Ling Jijiu's family.
As the saying goes, in a big forest, there are all kinds of birds. The same is true for the Ling family. Some are prosperous like Ling Jijiu's family, while others are down and out, relying on the clan's protection and assistance to survive.
There are even some who engage in illegal activities. Among the collateral branches, there is such a family: a seriously ill father, a weak - willed mother, a teenage sister, and a young child."
"Xiaozhuzi, your talent is growing. This doggerel you made is really catchy!"
"The sister in this family is fifteen years old, and the younger brother is six. The sister is already engaged and is preparing to get married after the Mid - Autumn Festival.
Although their father is seriously ill and their mother is weak, the family is quite wealthy.
The marriage was arranged with the son of their father's good friend, which is considered to be a well - known match.
It's a pity that this so - called well - known match is what caused the family's misfortune."
"Tell us. Is there something wrong with the sister's fiancé?"
"His character is extremely bad! A clan member of Ling Jijiu's family named Ling Yingda is married to Lady Jiang. Lady Jiang is a traditional woman. It's more accurate to say that she has been overly influenced by the Three Obediences and Four Virtues and is overly submissive.
She noticed that the family her husband had chosen for their daughter was not right. The son of the Xia family had a shifty look in his eyes. She mentioned this to her husband several times but was sternly scolded by Ling Yingda.
As an only son, he envied families with many brothers, so he chose a family with five sons for his daughter.
Lady Jiang couldn't persuade her husband. Due to her sense of female propriety, she had no choice but to compromise.
The Xia family was willing to engage with the Ling family's daughter because they had their eyes on the family's wealth."
"Are they trying to scheme for the girl's dowry?"
"No, no, no. They are eyeing the entire Ling family's property. Ling Yingda is seriously ill, and the only son in the family is only six years old. As for Lady Jiang and Miss Ling, they are both weak women, and the Xia family doesn't take them seriously at all."
"This doesn't seem right. The people here have a strong sense of clan. Although Ling Yingda's branch is a bit weak, there is still Ling Jijiu.
Ling Yingda's son is young, but he is the heir. With a son to inherit, how dare the Xia family try to seize the Ling family's property? The Ling clan members won't allow it, right?"
"What if this son disappears? What if Ling Yingda is left with only an only daughter? Even if she can't inherit all of it, she can still get most of it. If they can also bribe someone from the Ling family, they might really get the vast majority."
"So, the child - snatchers were after that Ling family boy?"
"The son of the Xia family hired the child - snatchers. Their purpose was to make his future brother - in - law disappear from the Ling family. Ling Yingda lost his heir, and due to his health, he couldn't have another child.
In the future, they would be the ones to take care of the old couple in their later years."
"There are so many Ling clan members. Can't they adopt a child? In this era, it doesn't seem like daughters are relied on for old - age support, right?"
"They have already bribed an elder of the Ling clan. The Xia family has many sons, so they are not short of grandsons. After Miss Ling marries the third son of the Xia family, they will make one of their sons take the Ling surname to inherit the Ling family's incense."
"They are really good at scheming. Indeed, adopting a child from a clan member is not as close as a grandson born to one's own daughter. Ling Yingda, that fool, will probably agree."
"On the original timeline, he did agree. Miss Ling gave birth to a son in her first pregnancy, and the child took the Ling surname as promised. Not long after the child was born, Ling Yingda's condition worsened and he passed away.
Later, Lady Jiang also passed away unexpectedly within a couple of years, and the Ling family's property was completely in the hands of the Xia family."
"Did the Xia family do something to this couple?"
"Yes. One year before the fall of the Dayan Kingdom, Miss Ling accidentally found out about this. Without making a sound, she got together some poison. After sending her son away, she used a packet of medicine to send the Xia family and herself to their graves."
"Miss Ling did the right thing. Although she ended up sacrificing herself in the end, this was really the best way for her to take revenge completely.
She also didn't have to suffer the pain of the country's destruction. It can be said that she died a worthy death.
"What's the deal with the two children from Ling Jijiu's family? Weren't they targeting Ling Yingda's family? Why did they also take away the children from Ling Jijiu's family?"
[The five - year - old grandson of Ling Jijiu's family took advantage of the open side door of the mansion with no one guarding it and ran out. His seven - year - old sister went out to look for him.]
"No, no. Although I've never been to Ling Jijiu's family, the layout of wealthy families should be similar. A five - year - old child should still be living with his parents.
How could a little kid pass through the numerous corridors from the inner courtyard to the outer courtyard, and coincidentally, the side door leading to the outside of the mansion was open with no servants guarding it?
This doesn't make sense and is full of oddities. Was it someone's deliberate doing?"
"Your Excellency is perceptive. There is indeed someone playing tricks here, but let's not talk about this for now.
After the siblings went out of the mansion one after another, the younger brother went in the direction of the lanterns and happened to run into the child - snatchers carrying Ling Yingda's youngest son out of the alley on the other side.
When the five - year - old Ling Zhi saw his little friend, he shouted. The child - snatchers were startled at first. Seeing that there was no one around at dusk, they picked up Ling Zhi and ran away.
A five - year - old child doesn't understand things yet and thought these people were taking him to play. But when the sister following behind saw her brother being taken away, she ran over to stop them and tried to get her brother back.
But her little arms couldn't match the strength of the adults, and she was also taken away."
After hearing the whole story, Ling Yinghua felt sad and felt that tears were about to well up again.
"These child - snatchers are really bold. The siblings from the Ling family should be dressed in fine clothes. How dare they target such children?
Aren't they afraid that the adults will search the entire capital city to find them?"
[After Ling Jijiu's family found that the children were missing, they searched for them. Later, they found that the son of a collateral cousin's family was also missing and immediately guessed that the children might have been abducted.
Ling Jijiu immediately reported the case to the yamen, and the constables searched for a whole day and night but couldn't find any trace of the children.]
