Whenever Bai Ruozhu thought of Xiaosi, her heart would be seized with pain. She wanted to intervene, but she knew she couldn’t. Even if she could stop it momentarily, she would never be able to prevent Xiaosi from learning the truth. Perhaps it would be better for him to face it directly rather than hearing rumours from others.
"Wan brother, can you tell Xiaosi that I am here too, so he doesn’t get scared." After some thought, worried that Xiaosi would be terrified, Bai Ruozhu reminded Wan Minglu.
"Alright, I will let him know." Wan Minglu nodded in agreement.
After Wang Luji and Wan Minglu left, officer Li moved on to question both parties. However, they both held their own ground, especially Niu Pazi, who continued to plead innocent, insisting she didn’t spread rumours or extort money from the Bai family.
"Officer, how about we send someone to Lin’an Village to inquire about Niu Pazi’s reputation? We can see what her neighbours have to say about her." Bai Ruozhu suggested after much consideration.
Officer Li thought it was a good idea and immediately dispatched someone to Lin’an Village to find out more. Hearing this, Niu Pazi’s face dropped. She had offended some people in the village and was hoping the officials wouldn’t speak to those individuals.
After a while, the officer who went to Lin’an Village returned and reported his findings. Many villagers claimed that Niu Pazi was dishonest and liked to take advantage of others. On hearing this, Niu Pazi was frustrated and cursed bitterly, denying having tarnished her reputation. Unfortunately, Officer Li wasn’t interested in her justifications. If one person says something, it could be a personal grudge, but if many people claim you lack morals, then they are likely to be right.
Soon after, Wang Luji and Wan Minglu returned with the Bai family. Bai Ruozhu looked over and realized that practically all of the Bai family had gathered, except for the third son, who was unable to leave the house due to a broken leg.
After everyone paid their respects to Officer Li, the elder Bai glared at Bai Ruozhu, his voice heavy with scorn, "What you’re causing now is pure mischief, never knowing when to take a break. You’re ruining the reputation of the Bai family! Why must we settle our affairs publicly in the court instead of resolving them privately?"
Before Bai Ruozhu could respond, Er Lang, her brother, stood protectively in front of her, saluted his grandfather, and said, "Grandpa, you misunderstand. It was I who insisted on filing a complaint in the County Government Office. Having studied books on saints and sages for many years, I just can’t tolerate people’s deceptive and dishonest ways. If I know someone is falsely accusing my aunt and extorting money from our family, I cannot watch with folded arms and let them carry on with their nonsense, possibly harming others as well."
Officer Li nodded in agreement, "Scholars should indeed uphold such ideals and should not tolerate those who act dishonestly and cause chaos."
Bai Fuzhi had met Officer Li before and also knew about Officer Li’s close friendship with Bai Zepei. At this moment, as he listened to Officer Li supporting Bai Zepei, Bai Fuzhi felt indignant and helpless. Scholars should indeed maintain their integrity, be impartial, and honest.
"Moreover, this woman has spread rumors everywhere, tarnishing my aunt’s reputation. Thus, she must be taught a lesson to prevent her from wrongly accusing people without reason in the future." Bai Zepei added.
As soon as Wang’s mother was mentioned, she trembled in fear. It was only when Bai Yibo, who was standing next to her, discreetly pinched her arm that she barely managed to calm down. It scared her more than anything to think that Niu Pazi would dare to accuse her, especially here in court!
"Wang’s mother, Niu Pazi accuses you of trickery six years ago and swapping a stillborn baby, is this true?" Officer Li turned his attention to Wang’s mother, his gaze serious and his voice authoritative.
Wang’s mother’s hands hidden under her sleeves began to tremble uncontrollably, "That is absolutely untrue. I naturally gave birth to my baby after ten months of pregnancy. How could there be any fraud? I did invite Niu Pazi to be my midwife at the time, but I don’t understand why she’s spreading such rumors."
"Yes, when my daughter-in-law was giving birth, I was right there. How could there be any switching of babies?" The elder Madam Bai spoke up as well.
Hearing this, Niu Pazi became frantic. She pointed at Wang’s mother and shouted, "It was her who told me to have her mother-in-law bring scissors and hot water halfway through the process. Her mother-in-law was the one who switched the two children when she left. Also, when she asked me for help, I said it wasn’t feasible. What if the baby that was used for switching cried? She even told me to feed the baby some wine, saying that a drunk baby wouldn’t cry. After the baby was switched, she reminded me to smear some dirt on the baby’s head and body. When her mother-in-law returned, she even complimented how well the baby was born, and how its skin wasn’t red. Well, of course, the baby wasn’t just born, how could it be red?"
The old Madam Bai’s face revealed a hint of astonishment. She had indeed left during the process, and the baby did have skin that wasn’t red. Could it be...
"Furthermore, after feeding the baby wine, it didn’t cry. Your mother-in-law even worried that the baby might be sick because it didn’t cry at birth. I then lifted up the baby’s legs and slapped its buttocks. Only after several slaps did the baby wake and start to cry loudly." Niu Pazi explained in great detail, her memory of the event still clear.
"You’re making this up! Newborns need their buttocks slapped to prompt them to cry. You were present at the birth, so you know the process. Are you accusing me of this because you’ve been bought off by somebody?" While speaking, Wang’s mother subtly hinted to Niu Pazi with her eyes, gesturing to blame Bai Ruozhu as well.
Niu Pazi’s eyes started rotating quickly. She had thought of biting back, but it was clear to her now that Officer Li was on the side of Bai Ruozhu and her siblings. Crossing over to the wrong side now would only deepen her crime.
You need to consider that accusing Wang’s mother is a minor crime of aiding Wang in deceiving her husband’s family, but if her counter-accusation fails, she could be guilty of deceiving the officer and falsely accusing the scholar, a much more significant crime that warrants a beating. She wondered why she should take the blame for Wang’s scandal. Especially considering how these past years, Wang had barely given her any money and had been incredibly rude whenever she asked for some favours. This had made Niu Pazi dislike Wang from the start. Now that Wang refused to give her any more money, she had absolutely no intention of caring about Wang’s fate.
It’s undeniable that Niu Pazi was wily, especially at such critical moments when she was exceptionally lucid.
"Nobody has bought me off. I swear on my life before this honourable judge, I haven’t told a single lie. Wang’s mother was afraid her child was stillborn and out of jealousy that her sister-in-law gave birth to two sons, she asked me to help her commit this fraud. I agreed out of pity for her at the time, but little did I know..."
Fearing that people might not believe her, Niu Pazi reported in detail how she found an abandoned baby and ran into Wang. She also mentioned the doctor who assisted in delivering Wang’s stillborn baby.
The more Wang’s mother listened, the more frightened she became, so much so, that her legs started to give out beneath her. If not for Bai Yibo’s support, she would have collapsed. As Bai Yibo saluted Officer Li, he stated, "Sir, this woman is obviously deceitful and scheming. Her words should not be trusted."
"Whether I choose to believe her isn’t up to you. I will send someone to find this Doctor Fu and bring him to court for questioning. For today, this will suffice. You all can leave and return for further questioning tomorrow." Officer Li hit the Courtroom Wooden block, signalling the dismissal of the court, before ordering for Niu Pazi to be temporarily detained in the county jail.
Looking at Xiaosi, standing off to the side in a daze, Bai Ruozhu felt her heart twist with worry once again.