Then he saw in the book that the crowd took off Wang Fugui and Zhang Gousheng’s shoes. Wang Fugui’s shoes were made of silk, not only matching his clothes perfectly, but also adorned with exquisite patterns on the uppers. The soles showed no obvious signs of wear, clearly indicating they were new. However, the owner of these shoes had first killed someone and then been imprisoned, living in fear, so now the shoes, like their owner, were in a sorry state.

As for Zhang Gousheng, he wore a pair of old shoes.

The uppers were pieced together from several patches of similarly colored cloth, with a patch over the big toe, obviously worn through from long use. The soles were even worse, worn down to a thin layer from too much walking.

But these shoes were clean, aside from the inevitable dust, there were no grass clippings, no mud, no obvious stains. Clearly, the owner cherished them and avoided walking on muddy roads.

Seeing these shoes, tears welled up in Mr. Wang’s eyes.

“My child, my child…”

“Good child, you’ve suffered so much…”

Outside the book, Liu Changmiao also felt a pang of sadness.

He murmured, “The Zhang family is truly despicable. The book says Zhang Gousheng never wore a good pair of shoes in his life. These shoes were made by him after consulting the teacher’s wife, tearing up old clothes to make them.”

In Liu Changmiao’s view, washing clothes and making shoes were tasks for women. So, when the book depicted Zhang Gousheng washing clothes, cooking, making shoes, and mending clothes, he and many classmates who had read the story cursed the Zhang family vehemently.

Just as the Zhang family never gave Zhang Gousheng a proper name, always calling him ‘Gousheng’ (dog’s leftovers), it was a humiliation to Zhang Gousheng!

In his indignation, Liu Changmiao glanced over and saw that after taking off their shoes, Wang Fugui had a red mole on the sole of his foot, but Zhang Gousheng did not!

Zhang Gousheng had no red mole!!!

Liu Changmiao: “…?”

Liu Changmiao: “…!!!”

He widened his eyes in disbelief and shouted, “Impossible, impossible! Wang Fugui is clearly not Mr. Wang’s son, clearly not!”

The one with the red mole on the sole was Wang Fugui. Mrs. Wang had given birth to a child with a red mole on the sole. So, what about the Baby swap? Or was it as nanny Zhang said in the book, that she swapped them back later?

Is that possible?

Liu Changmiao felt something was wrong!

While Liu Changmiao was reading, his servant was not idle either.

The servant knew his master’s concerns. Seeing him stop muttering about ‘illegitimate sons’ and such, he relaxed and curiously asked, “Master, what happens next? What does the storybook say? Why did their blood mix together?”

“Did the Zhang family do something evil?!”

Liu Changmiao came back to his senses and waved his hand, “Don’t disturb, don’t disturb, I haven’t finished reading yet.”

Liu Changmiao, who was engrossed in reading, didn’t want to talk to anyone. He lowered his head and continued reading, occasionally slapping his thigh or the table, having sudden realizations.

“So that’s how it is!”

“I knew it, someone as vicious as Wang Fugui couldn’t possibly be Mr. Wang’s real son.”

“So that’s where the red mole came from.”

“No wonder…”

Liu Changmiao sighed, “Zhang Gousheng is so pitiful…”

Meanwhile, the servant who was listening began to scratch his head, feeling somewhat restless.

At that moment, his peripheral vision caught sight of a tabloid on the ground, which thrilled him, and he immediately picked it up. Today’s Liuzhou Tabloid also had new content!

Although not much, it was better than nothing.

So he also lowered his head to read.

As he read, he gasped in shock!

Because today’s Liuzhou Tabloid not only wrote about the follow-up of the ‘blood recognition’ but also the first half of the ‘red mole’ story, ending right at the scene where after taking off the shoes, Wang Fugui had a red mole on the sole of his foot, while Zhang Gousheng did not!

Servant: “…!!”

He instinctively turned to look at the book in his master’s hand, which cost ten taels of silver, and felt an impulse to take out his savings to buy one too!

No, no, it costs ten taels of silver.

He tried hard to control himself, constantly muttering in his heart:

‘Too expensive, can’t buy it, can’t buy it!’

—’But you can read it early.’

‘No it’s expensive, it’s most of my savings!’

—’But you can read it early.’

‘Expensive, can’t afford it, buy a cheaper one, you can still read it.’

—’But the expensive one lets you read it early.’

Just as the servant was hesitating whether to drain his savings and go to Kaiyuan Bookstore to buy a copy right away, he suddenly heard the young master burst into laughter.

“Ha ha ha ha ha…”

“Delightful!”

“The Zhang family is so despicable, they deserve this end!”

“Magistrate Bao is truly a just official!”

The master had finished reading!

Realizing this, the servant immediately became excited and eagerly asked, “Master, have you finished reading?”

“Could you let me have a look too?” He rubbed his hands together and asked urgently, “I’m really curious. The Tabloid today printed that Wang Fugui has a red mole on the sole of his foot, but Zhang Gousheng does not.”

“Could it be that what the old nanny said was true, that she secretly swapped them back later, and Wang Fugui is actually Mr. Wang’s real son, and we’ve all wronged her?”

Having read the entire ending, Liu Changmiao scoffed, feeling a sense of superiority knowing the truth, “Fake, you’ve all been deceived by her!”

“This despicable old nanny, upon learning that Mrs. Wang was about to give birth, sent a message back to have her own daughter-in-law drink a labor-inducing decoction to give birth to Wang Fugui first!”

“Then Wang Fugui was brought to the Wang family. She saw that Wang Fugui had a red mole on the sole of his foot, so after Mrs. Wang gave birth to Zhang Gousheng, she secretly used blood to mark a red dot on the sole of Zhang Gousheng’s foot!”

“Thus deceiving Mrs. Wang!”

The servant was shocked, “So that’s how it was!”

Seeing the servant’s stunned expression, Liu Changmiao said proudly, “It’s all thanks to ‘Magistrate Bao’. If it weren’t for his keen insight, Mr. Wang and Zhang Gousheng would never have been reunited.”

“The Zhang family is extremely malicious. To ensure the success of their child-swapping scheme, not only did they swap the children, but they also covered up the ‘red mole’ loophole. Wang Fugui’s birth mother even endured not seeing her own son for over a decade, fearing that any slip-up would reveal the truth.”

“If it weren’t for Magistrate Bao, the Zhang family would have succeeded!”

The servant was dumbfounded, “Magistrate Bao is amazing!”

“Indeed!” Liu Changmiao looked as if he knew a secret.

After the initial shock, the servant hurriedly approached Liu Changmiao and flatteringly smiled, “Master, I’m also very curious about the later content. Could you let me have a look at the book?”

“Take it, take it, I guarantee you’ll admire Magistrate Bao as much as I do after reading it.” Liu Changmiao waved his hand, but then reminded, “Be careful not to damage it. I plan to show it to Big Brother Sun and others to surprise them, as none of them have bought it!”

The servant nodded repeatedly, “Yes, master.”

He carefully took it and started reading.

However, not everyone had someone nearby who had bought the deluxe edition, so very few people had the same opportunity as this one. More people were puzzled by the content in today’s Liuzhou Tabloid.

They couldn’t be bothered to read the other two new stories, focusing all their attention on today’s ‘True and False Young Master’ plot.

First, the blood of three people mixed, then there was the red mole on the sole. Could it be that what Nanny Zhang said was true, that she intended to swap them but didn’t succeed?

Some disagreed, pointing to a part of the Tabloid, “Impossible, look, you see, it’s written here that Nanny Zhang’s mouth corners turned up when no one was paying attention. There must be something fishy!”

“I don’t believe it!”

“But there’s the mixed blood and the red mole as evidence,” someone retorted, “This was witnessed by Mrs. Wang herself. She even kowtowed to her servants to find her son. Could her words also be wrong?”

“Impossible…”

“Yes, yes, when the child was just born, there was no swap. What happened then is the truest and clearest.”

“The blood mixed, and Wang Fugui has a red mole on the sole of his foot, so Wang Fugui is Mr. Wang’s real son.”

“But Zhang Gousheng’s blood also mixed!”

“How do you explain that?!”

Everyone: “…”

Yes, how to explain it, it doesn’t make sense, no matter how you think about it.

Finally, the first speaker slammed the table and resolutely said, “I don’t believe it!”

“There must be something fishy here!”

He said excitedly, “It’s just ten taels of silver. The clerk at the bookstore said that if you order the so-called ‘deluxe edition’, you can get it today. I was reluctant to spend the money before, thinking it would be better to tip Riniang, so I only ordered the regular one. Now it seems that spending the money early is better. I’ll go buy it now!”

“I want to see who is really Mr. Wang’s son! Saying it’s Wang Fugui, I don’t believe it!”

As soon as he said this, a group of people cheered, “Brother You is a wise man!”

“Let’s go together.”

“Brother You, we’ve been friends for many years, can you lend it to me after you buy it?”

“Let’s go, let’s check it out.”

“Brother You, wait for me!”

“Brother You, I have a carriage at home, I’ll give you a ride, as long as you lend me the book after you buy it. Hehehe, it’s not that I’m stingy, but ten taels of silver is too expensive. If I buy it, my wife at home will make a scene.”

“Ha ha ha…”

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

…