When it comes to his biological father, Qiao Yujing can’t help but feel a mix of bitterness and sighs. His fate in his past life was already tragic enough, but his father’s was even worse—one could only describe it as a complete tragedy.

To understand all of this, we have to go back to the grudges and grievances of the previous generation in the Bo family.

In his youth, the old lord of Yongchang was a remarkably handsome and talented man, with a character as gentle as jade. In the capital, both men and women praised him highly. Such a man naturally became the object of admiration for countless young ladies. Even the royal princess at the time secretly harbored feelings for him, waiting for the day she could ask the emperor for a marriage after coming of age.

But alas.

To everyone’s disappointment, after returning from a distant trip, the old lord announced that he would marry the daughter of a local governor. This news was shocking!

After all, in a capital where even a random signboard could crush a third-rank official, a daughter of a local governor was considered a high climb even to be a concubine in the Bo family, let alone being made the main wife. How could this not astonish everyone?

Moreover, this governor’s daughter was merely of fair appearance and had no other talents to speak of. Everyone was baffled as to why such an outstanding heir of the Bo family would give up a royal princess for her. It was truly strange, indeed…

As a child, Qiao Yujing also found his grandparents’ stories puzzling. But after his death, he learned the truth!

The reason his grandfather married his grandmother was entirely due to being schemed against with traditional medicine, which accidentally ruined his grandmother’s purity and harmed her health, leading the doctor to determine that having children in the future would be difficult.

Thus, whether out of responsibility or for the child in his grandmother’s womb, he had to bring her home as his wife. But what his grandfather didn’t know was that the scheme was actually concocted by his grandmother’s family…

As a result, his grandfather, unaware of the truth, treated his grandmother very well for a long time after their marriage, feeling guilty for ruining her purity, and they lived happily as a couple.

Until one day, when his grandfather discovered the truth about the scheme, he and his grandmother had a furious argument. From then on, their relationship soured, and his grandfather began to take concubines and indulge in the pleasures of the flower garden.

However, due to the damage caused by the traditional medicine, although his grandfather took many concubines later, he had very few children, and they were all daughters.

The Bo family didn’t have a royal heir, but they did have a viscount heir to inherit. How could they manage without a son?

So, the family was in a state of anxiety.

At this time, his grandmother decided to pull a risky move. To win back her husband’s heart and solidify her position in the family, she decided to fake a pregnancy!

Meanwhile, there was also a concubine in the back courtyard who was pregnant.

His grandmother was furious, but since the Bo family had so few heirs, his grandfather placed great importance on the concubine’s pregnancy, and during that time, she couldn’t harm anyone.

But the back courtyard was the domain of the main wife, and his grandfather underestimated the means of women.

So, unsurprisingly, that concubine ended up in a tragic situation…

During childbirth, she was harmed and bled to death. Although the child survived thanks to a kind maid, he was abandoned and left in the wild.

Meanwhile, his grandmother successfully faked her pregnancy and used a fake son brought in from outside to secure her position as the main wife.

—

But the story doesn’t end there.

The son of that concubine, who survived thanks to the maid’s kindness, was Qiao Yujing’s biological father. After being abandoned in the wild, he was fortunate enough to encounter a kind farming couple who took him in and named him Wang Cheng’an, raising him with care.

Wang Cheng’an inherited the good looks and scholarly talent of the old lord, growing up to be a remarkable young man. As a farmer’s son from a remote area, he gradually made his way back to the capital through the imperial examination.

On his way to the capital for the examination, he met and fell in love with a wealthy young lady, Zou Shihui, who had come from Jiangnan to visit relatives, and she is now the current lady of the Bo family.

Unfortunately, Zou Shihui didn’t have feelings for Wang Cheng’an; she was infatuated with the fake young master of the Bo family at the time.

Since the young lady had no interest in him, Wang Cheng’an, though regretful, didn’t force the issue and chose to cut off his feelings and focus on preparing for the civil service examination.

Who would have thought!

After marrying, Zou Shihui was not happy; her husband had feelings for another woman and married her only for her substantial dowry.

Thus, resentment grew in Zou Shihui’s heart, and she decided to take revenge on her husband.

Her method of revenge was to cheat on him, and her lover, unsurprisingly, was Wang Cheng’an.

Wang Cheng’an was a proper scholar and would never stoop to the disgraceful act of sleeping with another man’s wife, even if that woman was his former crush.

But Zou Shihui was quite the vengeful woman.

Determined to get back at her husband and not wanting to just find any man, when she saw that Wang Cheng’an was unwilling, she became furious and inherited her mother-in-law’s excellent tradition of drugging him.

This was also one of the reasons she despised Qiao Yujing.

After all, Wang Cheng’an was so easily swayed; he had once liked her so much, yet after she married, he seemed to disdain her. She offered herself, but he didn’t want her—how ungrateful!

So, as Wang Cheng’an’s son, Qiao Yujing naturally bore the brunt of his mother’s misplaced anger…

But I digress.

Back to the point.

After Zou Shihui and Wang Cheng’an had their affair, her resentment towards her husband turned into fear of betrayal.

So, the next day, she hurriedly ran away, leaving no words behind.

Wang Cheng’an, no matter how good-tempered he was, couldn’t remain indifferent after being forced by a woman. Moreover, as a scholar, if word got out that he had an affair with another man’s wife, his career would be over!

Who knew if this was all part of a scheme?

Wang Cheng’an certainly had to find Zou Shihui, who had run away after their encounter, to get some answers.

But unexpectedly, when he went, he stepped right into hell.

He accidentally encountered the old lady of the house, and because he resembled her late husband, she quickly realized who he was and confirmed that he was the son of that concubine.

This was serious!

The Bo family had very few heirs, and so far, there was only her fake son as a male heir. If Wang Cheng’an was discovered by the old lord, it would be a small matter if the real young master returned home; the fact that she had harmed the concubine and faked a pregnancy would be exposed, and she would be finished.

So, the old lady immediately decided to silence him.

Not only Wang Cheng’an, but even his adoptive parents, who lived a thousand miles away, suffered misfortune!

However, Wang Cheng’an still had some luck on his side; he survived once again.

But upon learning that his adoptive parents had been killed and that he was being hunted down, he was injured and could no longer be a man, leading him to darken his heart.

To uncover the truth and to seek revenge while avoiding being hunted, Wang Cheng’an made a ruthless decision to enter the palace as a eunuch. Then, relying on his intelligence, he gradually became a trusted eunuch by the emperor’s side.

Unfortunately, years passed, and the old lady had cleaned up her tracks well; the truth remained hidden.

On the contrary, Zou Shihui, upon learning that he had become the emperor’s trusted eunuch, conspired with the Bo family to lie, allowing her second son to take the place of her youngest son, deceiving and using Wang Cheng’an to participate in the power struggle.

Wang Cheng’an, for the sake of his only son, naturally did his utmost to help.

In the end, he only learned the truth upon his death, along with the deaths of his adoptive parents and his own origins!

……

To avoid the tragedy of his past life, the first thing Qiao Yujing did after his rebirth was to contact his biological father in the palace.

Finally, he received a response.

The next day, Qiao Yujing could hardly wait to sneak out again and head to Yipinxiang Restaurant for their meeting.

This time, he didn’t use any makeup to disguise himself but revealed his true appearance.

He inherited the genes of the Qiao family completely; both his grandfather and father were exceptionally handsome men in their youth, and his biological mother was not bad-looking either.

That’s why he had such a stunningly beautiful face.

As for the several married aunts of the Bo family, each one was as beautiful as a flower.

Only the current lord of Yongchang, because he was a fake brought in by his grandmother, looked much less impressive, which led to the eldest son’s ordinary appearance as well.

The second brother was somewhat more handsome, but that was also due to his mother’s good looks.

So, when Wang Cheng’an, with a sinister expression, came out of the palace for the meeting and saw Qiao Yujing’s face, his expression changed dramatically.

“You, who are you…”

Wang Cheng’an’s pupils constricted, and he felt a surge of fear and unease.

The young man before him looked almost exactly like him when he was young!

Only, the other was a young man, with softer features, while he himself was more masculine and rugged.

“Father…”

Seeing his biological father again, Qiao Yujing couldn’t suppress the grievances in his heart, and tears fell instantly.

He truly felt wronged.

From childhood to adulthood, the Bo family had shown him no warmth, and his mother insulted and belittled him daily.

He wanted to live a better life, but he had to fight for it himself, while his elder brother and second brother could enjoy their mother’s care and affection without lifting a finger.

In the end, his mother even killed him to silence him for the sake of her rival’s son. It was truly heartbreaking.

In his past life, he had never spent time with his biological father.

But after he died and became a ghost, he witnessed how well Wang Cheng’an treated his second brother when he learned that he was his “son.”

And all of that was the fatherly love that belonged to him!

The only relative in this world who treated him well!

“Father, do you still remember what happened eighteen years ago between you and the lady of Yongchang…”

Qiao Yujing’s voice choked as he recounted his past life experiences without any concealment.

His father was the emperor’s trusted eunuch, wielding power in the court for many years, and his knowledge, means, and wisdom were not something a 20-year-old young man who died early in the back courtyard could compare to.

Rather than hiding and arousing suspicion, it was better to lay everything out from his past life.

He was his father’s only son, and once the other knew the truth, he wouldn’t harbor any misgivings but would only think of ways to protect him.

So there was nothing to hide.

Moreover, if he didn’t let his father know about his mother’s ruthlessness, how could he show mercy when seeking revenge?

That mother of his was too deranged and would only drag his father down.