Chapter 070 – This Miserable Young Master – “I was disgusted” (01/08)
Xie Chenyang swam in the sea for half a day and only caught a tiny little fish.
He held it in his palm and stared at it for a while before tossing it back into the sea. “It’s too small; it’d be gone in one bite. Dad, let’s put more fish in the sea later.”
“Dad, let’s go.”
As soon as Xie Chenyang arrived in the new world, a sharp sword slashed toward him.
His pupils contracted, and just as he was about to dodge, he felt a searing pain in his chest, and his entire body stiffened, unable to move.
Just as the sword was about to strike him, You Huang suddenly appeared in front of him and lightly knocked the man away with one palm.
The man was sent flying, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and fell to the ground, motionless.
Xie Chenyang’s vision was blurred by red. He touched his eyes and realized his forehead was injured, with blood flowing down his face and obstructing his vision.
There were still several people in front of him, all charging forward with weapons in hand.
You Huang raised his hand and lowered it again, not using any spiritual energy, but using pure physical strength to dislocate all of their arms and legs.
“Dad…” Xie Chenyang took a step forward, but his head spun. Before losing consciousness, he fell into a steady, strong embrace.
When Xie Chenyang woke up, he was lying on a rock by the sea. He was lying on a comfortable, soft bed, already dressed in clean clothes. He slowly sat up and found that although his clothes looked dusty, they felt very comfortable. “Thank you, Dad.”
You Huang: “Hmm, get up.”
After Xie Chenyang got out of bed, it disappeared into thin air. He sat down on the ground and touched his bandaged forehead. “Dad, I’m in a bit of a mess this time.”
“Check the plot first.”
“Okay.”
The original body belonged to Yang Zhou, whose parents ran a small restaurant in a coastal town. Though they weren’t wealthy, they weren’t poor either. Their lives were ordinary, but their family had a diligent mindset and lived comfortably.
With loving and kind parents and a clever, playful younger sister, Yang Zhou was content with his life.
That was until he was sixteen and a stranger entered his life–Li Chengwang, a young man from the Li family of Yizhou. He had come to Dongcheng in the border region because he had a desire to explore the lands and tribes beyond the sea.
Dongcheng faced the sea; its port had the strongest navy in the country, as well as hosted some foreign merchant fleets.
He wanted to come to Dongcheng to meet those foreign merchants and learn the languages of other countries from them. If he had the chance, he also wanted to travel the seas with them and visit their countries.
During his temporary stay in Dongcheng, Li Chengwang would go to the Yang family’s restaurant every day to eat. Naturally, he got to know Yang Zhou.
Yang Zhou had lived in Dongcheng City all his life. Though he’d seen many people from other countries, he had rarely interacted with them and had always followed his family in running their small restaurant.
Li Chengwang, a well-educated and talented young man from a distinguished family, was the first of his age that he had ever met. The few other young masters from distinguished families he’d encountered were arrogant and looked down on others, even without saying a word.
But Li Chengwang was different. He was educated and talented, yet approachable.
He frequented the restaurant and often shared his experiences with Yang Zhou, gradually sparking the young boy’s curiosity and desire to explore the outside world.
It seemed as though he knew everything.
Yang Zhou’s admiration for him grew deeper day by day. Under Li Chengwang’s deliberate teasing and guidance, Yang Zhou’s mindset gradually began to change. When someone he admired but could never hope to attain suddenly showed him affection and expressed interest, Yang Zhou simply couldn’t refuse.
Li Chengwang seemed to understand everything, including matters of intimacy.
What he brought to Yang Zhou was always beautiful and gentle. Yang Zhou felt fortunate to have encountered and gained such a wonderful person.
Then Li Chengwang was leaving to go to sea.
He was very intelligent and had learned the languages of many countries during his short time in Dongcheng. He had made an agreement with a merchant caravan from another country to take him with them.
Once he left, there was no knowing when, or if, he would return.
Yang Zhou couldn’t bear to part with him.
When Yang Zhou asked him to stay, Li Chengwang said he didn’t want to part with him either and invited Yang Zhou to go with him on an adventure to see a wider world.
Yang Zhou’s heart was moved.
The Yang family was very kind and open-minded. When they heard their son’s idea, they didn’t think it was a surprise, but were very supportive. With the money his family gave him, Yang Zhou and Li Chengwang chartered a ship and set sail with the merchant caravan.
Once out in the vast ocean, their ship fell behind the others.
Li Chengwang’s personal attendant threw him into the sea after saying, “I’m following the young master’s orders.”
He miraculously survived and was washed ashore by the waves, but encountered bandits.
He fought them to the death and eventually collapsed on the beach. The bandits assumed he was dead and did not finish him off. They took everything they could from him before dispersing.
Yang Zhou was covered in wounds, with a deep cut on his shoulder. He believed he was about to die. Even as he lost consciousness, he could not understand what he’d done wrong.
Why had Li Chengwang, whom he had admired and loved, suddenly abandoned him?
But he didn’t die. He regained consciousness.
And just in time, he encountered a ship that had docked nearby.
The people on board were all from another country. He was carried onto the ship and given medical treatment.
However, even after returning to Dongcheng, he still didn’t know who had saved him or what country they were from. He couldn’t understand what they were saying.
As soon as they arrived in Dongcheng City, he was dropped off onto the shore and everyone went their separate ways. Yang Zhou returned home in a daze and found that his family’s restaurant and house had been reduced to ruins.
His neighbors saw him and expressed their sympathy.
“On the night you left, your family’s house caught fire. The fire was so big that it burned everything down in an instant. We couldn’t save anything.”
“We only found two sets of bones inside after. Everyone guessed they were your father and mother.”
“The little girl hasn’t been seen since.”
“Everyone helped collect your parents’ bones and buried them for you.”
He’d been thrown into the sea by his lover but survived the ordeal. Upon returning home, he discovered his parents were dead and his sister was missing.
Yang Zhou nearly broke down. But he didn’t. He endured. He had to find his sister.
A month later, another group of people arrived in Dongcheng and came looking for Yang Zhou. Among them was a wealthy-looking man. Though elderly, his features bore a striking resemblance to Yang Zhou as he aged.
He was Bai Zhuang, the head of the Bai family, the most prominent clan in Yizhou.
Yang Zhou had been born during a time of war.
The Bai family, who were traveling, encountered the Yang family, who were also fleeing, while rushing back to Yizhou. They happened to give birth in the same dilapidated temple.
The next day, one group headed for the border town and the other for Yizhou, passing by one other.
Half a month ago, while the Bai matriarch was meeting a few close friends at a teahouse, she saw a talented artist’s painting titled “Border Town Scenery.”
The artist’s paintings were known for their meticulous detail.
As a result, Mrs. Bai immediately spotted Yang Zhou in the painting, standing on the pier of the border town, his eyes slightly gleaming as he gazed out at the sea.
There were dozens of people in the painting, but she spotted him at once. His build and features were identical to her husband when he was young.
The wife was deeply shaken and immediately thought of her eldest son, who bore no resemblance to her husband.
She forced herself to remain calm and returned home, where she told her husband everything.
Her husband immediately summoned all the servants who’d been with them that year, questioned them separately, and used threats and bribes to eventually pinpoint one of the wife’s maids.
The old maid couldn’t withstand the interrogation and confessed everything.
It turned out that she’d secretly climbed into Father Bai’s bed. When Father Bai rejected her and warned her not to harbor any foolish hopes and to serve the lady with all her heart, she became resentful.
She hadn’t realized that Father Bai had spared her because she was Mother Bai’s dowry, and had not sold her. Instead, he had promised her to the estate’s manager, even allowing her to continue serving Mother Bai, all out of kindness.
The manager treated her well because she was Mother Bai’s head maid. However, he was old and unattractive, and she did not like him, harboring even more resentment in her heart.
That night, when Mother Bai gave birth in a dilapidated temple, she saw both her and Mother Yang, who was dressed in rags, fall into a deep sleep. In a moment of impulse, she swapped the two newborn babies.
Although she regretted it afterward, she dared not confess. After all… who knew if Mother Yang and the others had died on the run? If that were the case, the eldest son of the Bai family would also be dead, and her fate would be sealed.
Afterward, she served Mother Bai with great diligence to ease her conscience.
Yang Zhou, of course, did not want to follow them back to claim his ancestral lineage.
In his eyes, his parents were the Yang family.
But they were a prominent family and must have a lot of influence…
He made a request: if they could help him find his sister, he would go back with them to claim his ancestral lineage.
The Bai family was the leading aristocratic family in Yizhou.
The general of the border city was willing to give them face, so they immediately sent people to search for her. Eventually, they found Yang Fushui in a brothel.
Yang Zhou brought Yang Fushui back to Yizhou with them. He returned to his ancestral home and became the eldest son of the Bai family, Bai Zhou.
The original son of the Yang family, Bai Yutao, became the adopted son of the Bai family, Yang Yutao.
Yang Yutao had enjoyed a life of luxury for over a decade, always regarding himself as a member of a prominent family. Now, he had become an adopted son—how could he possibly accept this?
He despised Bai Zhou and, by extension, looked down upon his sister Yang Fushui, who’d been a victim. Every time he saw Yang Fushui, he spoke harshly, calling her a fallen woman unworthy of living in this world.
Already depressed and unhappy due to the death of her parents and the humiliation she had endured, Yang Fushui could no longer bear the repeated humiliating glances from her “biological brother.” She eventually succumbed to her depression and took her own life.
Upon learning this, Bai Zhou approached his biological parents, Father Bai and Mother Bai, and insisted that only one of them could remain.
There was no surprise.
Yang Yutao was expelled from the Bai family and stripped of his adopted son status.
It turned out that Bai Yutao had been reborn.
In his previous life, he’d also been suddenly informed of his identity, transforming from a noble heir to an adopted son overnight.
He was reborn in a timeline when his parents had not yet discovered the truth about the baby swap.
He couldn’t let the tragedy of his previous life repeat itself.
He could’ve quietly found someone to wipe out the entire Yang family, but he wasn’t willing to do that.
Thinking of how Yang Zhou had kicked him out of his home in his previous life, he was filled with hatred. He wanted Yang Zhou to die in agony.
So he came up with a plan.
He found the now-down-and-out Li Chengwang and instructed him to seduce Yang Zhou in Dongcheng City, make Yang Zhou fall in love with him, and then abandon him at sea, ensuring he could never return home.
He also arranged for someone to burn the three Yang family members to death while they were asleep. But he didn’t expect Yang Zhou and Yang Fushui to survive.
He also didn’t know that Mother Bai only discovered the truth because of a painting. He only thought that as long as the Yang family was wiped out, even if Mother Bai and his father found out, they wouldn’t strip him of his identity.
Thus, his misfortune repeated itself.
Li Chengwang was shocked to learn that Yang Zhou was the real son of the Bai family.
And Bai Yutao, who had already been kicked out of the family, obviously couldn’t fulfill his promise to him anymore.
He knew that the truth couldn’t be revealed.
Li Chengwang killed Bai Yutao with his own hands and then arranged for an encounter with Yang Zhou.
He was overjoyed and shed tears of joy at being reunited with his lover.
He said that his servant had acted on his own and abandoned him.
He said that he had searched for him tirelessly until he collapsed from exhaustion and was forced to return by his servants, who brought him back to Yizhou.
He said that servant had been beaten to death with a stick.
He said his body had just recovered a bit, and he was preparing to return to the border city to sail out and find him, but unexpectedly encountered him.
Yang Zhou believed him.
Xie Chenyang covered his chest and took a few breaths.
[Dad, do I have a heart condition?]
You Huang: “Yes, take it easy.”
[I’m so disgusted.]
[This is too melodramatic and shameless. Li Chengwang and Bai Yutao deserve to be executed a thousand times over!]
Edited: Krone
Proofread: Choux_choux
