He asked Old Man Sun, "Who was she close to back then?"
Old Man Sun thought he was hard of hearing. Just as he was about to confirm, he heard Xiao Tian continue, "Think carefully. Who on earth was it?"
Old Man Sun pointed at himself. "Me."
Xiao Tian said, "… You don't count. I'm talking about young men…"
Old Man Sun blew his beard and glared. "What do you mean by that? Am I not a man?"
"I'm talking about young men," Xiao Tian said helplessly.
"Young men?" Old Man Sun sized him up from head to toe. "What do you want to do? Wipe them out?"
Xiao Tian thought that if it was really someone who had seduced and abandoned her, it might not be a bad idea. He couldn't tolerate heartless people.
But if it wasn't… he would give that person some silver and let him go far away, get married and have children again, and never come to pester her again.
But he had already admitted that Baozi was his son. Now he couldn't go back on his word, so he just said vaguely, "I just want to ask."
"There's no one. I can tell you that much," Old Man Sun said. "We were so busy back then that we barely had time to catch our breath. Which military doctor didn't rest only when they were really exhausted? Which one of us didn't just flop down and fall asleep? Even if a fairy was lying beside us, we wouldn't even be able to open our eyes. She was a woman. She didn't have much stamina but was very stubborn…"
Xiao Tian said, "I must have been wrong."
So the question was, if she didn't meet the father of Baozi in the military camp, then who on earth was he?
Could it be someone from Li City?
As they were talking, Old Man Sun's voice gradually lowered for some reason.
Xiao Tian noticed his loss and asked, "Old Man Sun, is there something else on your mind?"
Old Man Sun's eyes gradually dimmed. "After the poison on the general was cured, do you remember that our military rations were burned? If it weren't for the Ping family's timely donation of a large sum of silver and rations, we might have suffered a great blow to our morale and wouldn't have been able to make it through."
Xiao Tian's face turned pale instantly.
It wasn't because the memory was too painful, but because he suddenly remembered what had happened later.
The burning of the military rations had become an unsolved case. They only knew that someone had deliberately set the fire, but they never found out who it was.
Since Old Man Sun was bringing it up now, wasn't he pointing the finger of suspicion at Yi Qing?
Sure enough, Old Man Sun said, "On the day the military rations were burned, the lady asked me for leave and went out. She never came back. I suspected her at that time, but then I thought that as a woman, she shouldn't have had the ability to set the fire. I was afraid that if you knew that a woman had entered the military camp, you would punish her without asking any questions, so I kept this matter to myself."
"Later, when you investigated for a long time but couldn't find any results, I began to wonder if I had let the culprit go. But since I wasn't sure and thought that it was impossible to catch her again, I didn't mention it anymore."
"Just now, when I saw her outside the door, I thought it was her. That's why I asked Lu Tianzuo to call you out."
"It really is her…" Old Man Sun murmured. "According to the time when Baozi was born, she should have met you later. Over the years, she was able to raise the child all by herself. Then, after waiting for your 'death', she came to recognize her kin. I just can't help but think that there are too many coincidences in this matter. It seems rather strange."
"So I couldn't wait to tell you this."
Xiao Tian frowned and didn't say a word for a long time.
Could it have been Yi Qing who burned the military rations?
In terms of ability, he didn't doubt that Yi Qing had such ability at all.
After getting along with her for these days, Xiao Tian had developed a deep admiration for her.
She was so smart, witty, calm, and generous. She far exceeded any woman he had ever met before.
But he didn't believe that Yi Qing would do such a thing.
He had seen with his own eyes how Yi Qing had protected Xiao Jinghan. He remembered it clearly.
Even though she was an unqualified wife and didn't show much grief over Xiao Jinghan's "death", the respect she had shown was beyond doubt.
How could such a person burn the military rations and defect to the enemy?
"Old Man Sun, it mustn't be her," Xiao Tian said firmly. "If she really wanted to cause chaos for us, she wouldn't have gone to so much trouble to save me."
As long as he died, the Xiao Family Army would surely be in chaos.
Old Man Sun said, "I used to tell myself the same thing. After all, we were all at our wits' end at that time. But there are still some doubts about this matter. It has been weighing heavily on my mind for many years."
He never thought that he would see Yi Qing again in his lifetime, and it was in the Xiao Mansion.
"Now I've told you everything. You can decide what to do," Old Man Sun said. "I've finally handed this heavy burden in my heart over to you."
Xiao Tian said in a deep voice, "I understand. You mustn't mention this to anyone else."
"This is a very important matter. I know what I'm doing," Old Man Sun said. "But you should also be more careful. By the way, there's one thing I don't understand. Since you and she even had a child together, how could she not recognize you?"
Who could be closer than a pillowmate?
Even if no one else could recognize him, Yi Qing should have been able to.
Xiao Tian awkwardly covered his lips with his fist. After clearing his throat for a long time, he said, "We didn't have much contact back then."
"A one-night stand?"
Old Man Sun's straightforward words made Xiao Tian choke on his own saliva. He couldn't help but cough.
Who would have thought that Old Man Sun would take this as a tacit admission. "I see. I never thought you would fall for her."
Xiao Tian said with difficulty, "Don't mention this again. I'll investigate this matter carefully. There's no problem if you want to recognize the lady."
"Just don't mention what happened after she left," Old Man Sun said. "This way, we can also see if she feels guilty. Maybe it's all just a coincidence."
Xiao Tian also told Old Man Sun that Yi Qing had gone to Li City to look for medicinal herbs for the King of Qi. Old Man Sun stroked his beard. "It doesn't seem to have any flaws."
After they finished talking, Xiao Tian went back.
Yi Qing asked him, "Have you entertained the people outside well? You should take good care of them. If they need anything, just tell me. Don't come back and say that I didn't do my best to take care of Xiao Jinghan's subordinates."
"Lu Tianzuo and Chang Yuanzhi are outside. There won't be any problems."
"Did you find out?" Yi Qing squinted at him. "Why did they suddenly come to the capital? To do something or to cause trouble?"
Xiao Tian was taken aback by her sharp question. Then he said, "I haven't asked yet."
Yi Qing said, "… Then what did you go out for?"
"Do you know Old Man Sun?" Xiao Tian stared into her eyes and asked.
Yi Qing said, "Is he here too?"
She didn't deny it. Xiao Tian inexplicably felt relieved. It was as if the fact that she had answered without hesitation or lying meant that she had never lied at all.
He nodded.
"Did he recognize me just now?" Yi Qing asked with a smile on her lips.
Xiao Tian felt even more relaxed. He said, "Yes. So he insisted that Lu Tianzuo call me over to confirm."
"This old man still hasn't changed a bit," Yi Qing said with a raised eyebrow and a smile. "You didn't expect that I was once so close to you, did you?"