Chapter 48

Chapter 48

## The True and False Heiresses 18

The veins on the man’s forehead pulsed. He suddenly reached out and clamped both hands around her throat. “Tang Ying, you filthy whore! You dared sleep with another man! How could you do this to me?! Whenever I had so much as a bite to eat, I saved it for you first. I obeyed your every word and waited on you like a goddess. And this is how you repay me?!”

“Who was that man? When did the two of you start sleeping together?!”

Li Dalang’s face twisted as he roared, “How could you do this to me? How could you do it to our two children?!”

Lady Tang panicked when he gave the truth away without prompting. With all her strength, she shoved aside the hands gripping her throat. Coughing, she cursed, “Do you have no brain?! You believe whatever other people tell you, but cannot trust your own wife? What nonsense are you shouting?!”

Li Dalang seized her by the shoulders and threw her violently to the ground, looking half mad. “Stop pretending! What is the point of pretending now? For that little bitch you bore another man, you disregarded the lives of our entire family! You lied to me and said you could not bear to lose the child. You said poverty had frightened you and you wanted to give her a better path! Tell me, who was that man?!”

Once he had said so much, keeping the secret hidden became impossible. Lady Tang lay on the ground without a word, her face utterly devoid of blood.

Shock, fury, and hatred nearly overflowed from Li Dalang’s expression. All his former tenderness vanished. He kicked Lady Tang again and again. “Speak! Have you gone mute now?!”

“What a splendid show of dogs tearing at each other.”

Watching from the window, Lady Bai sneered. She immediately ordered, “Do not let Lady Tang die. I still have questions for her. Take Li Dalang away and interrogate him. I want his confession. We will compare it with Lady Tang’s afterward. If the two accounts contain no gaps, the matter will be settled.”

When it came to torture, the King of Wu was the greatest expert in the entire realm. Naturally, his residence lacked no skilled interrogators. Using them against a rustic villager like Li Dalang was truly employing an ox cleaver to kill a chicken.

As for Lady Tang, Li Dalang had already opened his mouth. How could she possibly hold out now?

Once Lady Bai confirmed that the babies truly had been switched in secret eleven years earlier, she no longer treated Lady Tang with the slightest courtesy. After Li Dalang was taken away, the woman, who had endured several vicious kicks, was dragged back into the room like a dead dog.

Lady Bai signaled for the attendants to record the testimony, then asked, “How exactly did you switch the two babies all those years ago?”

Lady Tang opened her eyes and glanced at her, then closed them again, resistance covering her face.

Lady Bai sneered. “Do you truly care nothing for the lives of your other two children?”

Of course she cared.

In Lady Tang’s heart, the older son and daughter might not compare to her youngest, but they were still flesh that had fallen from her body. How could she not love them?

Yet making her speak would not be so easy.

She opened her eyes, calculation flickering between her brows, and began to bargain. “If I speak, I die. If I remain silent, I also die. Why, then, should I speak?”

Anger appeared on the faces of the surrounding maidservants. One matron bowed and said, “Allow this servant to interrogate her. I guarantee this vile woman will speak!”

Lady Tang was afraid after all. She forced the corner of her mouth to move and proposed, “Unless my lady promises to spare my children’s lives and release our family after I speak, I will say nothing.”

The moment those words landed, not only the servants but even Lady Wang, a woman born to an aristocratic family and listening from the inner room, wanted to spit in Lady Tang’s face and have the vile woman dragged outside for thirty strokes to clear her head.

Only Lady Bai showed no anger. She smiled and shook her head as if the demand were deeply amusing.

Then her smile vanished. Her face turned cold as she ordered the attendants, “Go. Chop off one of her son’s arms.”

The servants left to obey. Lady Tang’s expression changed in an instant. She sat up and pleaded in a shrill voice, “No!”

She hastily knelt and kowtowed to Lady Bai several times in succession. “Please show mercy, my lady! Do not hurt my son! He studies well and writes a beautiful hand. He knew nothing about what happened back then. He is innocent. You cannot do this to him!”

“No,” Lady Bai said with a raised brow. “I can.”

“Whether he studies well or writes beautifully has nothing to do with me. Whether he knew what happened all those years ago has even less to do with me.”

She said indifferently, “Your son is innocent, but is the girl from my family not innocent? She was born into this household and should have grown up in silk and splendor, cherished beyond measure. What happened instead? You, a shameless wretch, switched her away and left her to suffer untold hardship outside. Meanwhile, the bastard you bore through adultery brazenly occupied her place and enjoyed every wealth and privilege! If anyone is innocent, it is our girl. My entire family is innocent. What right do you have to wail before me about how pitiful your son is?!”

Lady Tang was left speechless. Her face flushed crimson, and no words came for a long time. In the end, she still had no answer. Gritting her teeth, she said fiercely, “If you dare hurt my son, I will not tell you a single word!”

“Good. Such courage. I admire people with backbone.”

Lady Bai clapped once in approval, then turned to those around her and ordered coldly, “Pass on another instruction. While they are at it, have them cut off her daughter’s ear and bring it here. Move quickly. We must not leave her waiting.”
Lady Tang let out a piercing scream. “How can you be so vicious? Do you not have children of your own? How can you be this cruel and maim someone else’s children?!”

Lady Bai laughed. “I would think a woman who secretly switched two babies, then not only failed to treat the girl whose fate she stole with kindness but tormented her in every possible way and finally tried to exchange her for a daughter-in-law, has no right to say such a thing.”

Lady Tang had been struck by two thunderbolts in succession. Her eyes burned, her throat ached, and her frightened heart pounded uneasily inside her chest. Her panic was impossible to conceal.

At that moment, an attendant entered carrying a tray. Resting upon it were precisely the two items Lady Bai had ordered earlier.

Lady Tang shrieked. Tears streamed down her face, and her reddened eyes fixed on Lady Bai with bitter hatred. “You actually did it. You truly…”

“Of course I was not joking with you. Are we so close that we would exchange jokes?”

Lady Bai extended one index finger and pointed coldly at her. “Lady Tang, I will tell you the truth. You corrupted my family’s bloodline and abused our flesh and blood so terribly. You and the Li Family are certainly going to die. Stop struggling. It is useless. The only difference is that you have an opportunity to change how you and the Li Family die. Confess everything honestly, and your death will be easier. Refuse to speak to the bitter end, and I promise the servants in my family’s torture chamber will make you regret ever being born.”

Lady Tang had lived most of her life, yet the highest-ranking noblewoman she had ever encountered was the county magistrate’s wife, and that had been a single glimpse from far away. Now, meeting Lady Bai for the first time and hearing her speak with such ruthless decisiveness and cutting force, how could she not tremble in terror?

“My… my lady.” She was frightened now. Forcing a trembling smile, she pleaded, “I will confess everything. I only beg you to spare me and my family…”

“I have no desire to deceive you.”

Lady Bai said bluntly, “There is no path to survival. You will die. Your only choice is whether to make the death less ugly. Besides, forgiving you is not my decision to make. My niece has parents above her, and above them, the old man is still alive. How could I overstep everyone and decide the matter? Still, I sincerely advise you of one thing…”

She smiled meaningfully. “While I am the one questioning you, confess as quickly as you can. If the old man learns of this and becomes angry enough to interrogate you himself, I fear you will not even have the opportunity to kneel.”

There was not a trace of falsehood in that warning.

If the old man learned that the family had spent such effort raising someone else’s bastard while their own flesh and blood suffered outside, and that the girl looked so much like his late wife, he would probably order the entire Li Family flayed without a second thought, the complete family-sized package.

Compared with the old man, Lady Bai’s methods were as warm and gentle as a spring breeze and fine rain.

Lady Wang laughed silently. Li Hui’er looked at her second aunt’s expression, then at her third aunt’s reaction, and knew the warning was true.

Since childhood, she had often seen Old Man Li’s shameless favoritism. The figure that now formed in her imagination possessed ten thousand times his majesty and cold severity. A little afraid, she tugged on her third aunt’s hand and asked softly, “Is Grandfather very imposing?”

“Do not be afraid,” Lady Wang reassured her with a smile. “The old man likes sensible children. As long as you make no mistakes, he is very loving. Besides…”

She looked at the girl’s face, so similar to her mother-in-law’s, and said warmly, “He will certainly like you very much.”

Confusion flashed across Li Hui’er’s face. Lady Wang did not hide the reason and explained in a low voice, “You greatly resemble your grandmother. The old lady passed away many years ago, but the old man still misses her. When he sees you, his love for her will surely extend to you, and he will cherish you.”

Lady Tang was beautiful, and the daughter she bore was pretty as well. Li Hui’er alone had always seemed plainer.

She had once assumed she resembled her father and always felt some disappointment. She had never imagined she was not a member of the Li Family at all, but the child Lady Tang had switched away. She did not resemble her father. She resembled the grandmother whose blood flowed in her veins.

Long years of oppression and poverty had honed her instinct for reading faces. Though Li Hui’er had only just arrived, a map of the family’s relationships rapidly took shape in her mind.

Her father was the family’s eldest son. Her mother was his principal wife, born to a scholarly family and once a talented young lady of some renown before her marriage.

Her father had two brothers. Both aunts were kind, and their words suggested that the three men were full brothers born of the same mother.

Above them, Grandmother had already passed away, while Grandfather still lived. The old man held the greatest authority in the family. Even someone as formidable as her second aunt spoke of him with respect, proving he was a fearsome figure.

She was a daughter of this family, merely switched away by Lady Tang all those years ago. Surely her return was a major event. Yet her father and mother had not appeared, leaving her second and third aunts to handle the matter. Were her parents afraid that seeing her would overwhelm them with emotion?

Judging from her second aunt’s words, Grandfather was not at home and seemed to have traveled far away. Had Father left with him?

Li Hui’er drew what conclusions she could from the facts she knew. When Lady Wang said that she resembled her late grandmother and that her grandfather had loved the old lady deeply, she relaxed somewhat.

Newly arrived, she understood far too little about this place. Securing the old man’s protection and favor would be the best possible beginning.

Even if she merely borrowed the tiger’s might while standing beneath its banner, it would help her survive the most difficult period of adapting to her new life.
As Li Hui’er calculated inwardly, Lady Tang began answering through broken sobs in the hall. “When that lady arrived at the relay station, I had given birth to the child two days earlier. I say two days, but it was really only a little more than one. My husband was away while I was pregnant, and the dates did not match. I feared someone would discover the truth. Before my belly grew too large, I covered my face and secretly obtained a labor-inducing medicine from an apothecary. I told the family my term was two months farther along than it truly was. After a little more than seven months, I secretly drank the medicine to force the birth. But I was afraid something would go wrong, so I brewed only half a dose. Perhaps the medicine was not strong enough, because the labor was exceptionally difficult. The baby was born after barely seven months, no larger than a kitten, red and purple all over, with a pitifully weak cry. Compared with my first two children, something was clearly wrong…”

The hall was utterly silent, broken only by Lady Tang’s intermittent sobs. “I know a little basic medicine. One look told me the baby was in a bad way, and I wanted money to obtain treatment. But my father-in-law was cruel and refused. He said that if the child had been a boy, that would be one thing, but why throw silver into the water for a worthless girl? Hearing that felt like a knife through my heart. This was my child with Young Master Meng, the only flesh and blood he left in the world. How could I watch her die?”

Perhaps she was remembering the misery of that year, or perhaps the tender hours she had shared with Young Master Meng. Lady Tang’s expression grew distant, her gaze full of recollection.

Lady Bai asked, “This Young Master Meng was your lover and the bastard’s father? Who was he?”

Lady Tang was plainly displeased by that description. Resentment flashed in her eyes as she replied bitterly, “He was once my father’s student and my senior schoolmate. He was supposed to marry me, but my mother despised his family’s decline from its former prosperity. He could offer very little money, so she ultimately promised me to the Li Family. After I married, he fell gravely ill. When he recovered, he secretly came to the gates of the Li residence several times to see me. I longed for him, and he loved me, so…”

Lady Bai frowned. “So the two of you committed adultery and conceived a child?”

“No.” Lady Tang’s gaze turned adoring and her face tender. “That was love.”

“…” Lady Bai: “?????”

Lady Tang looked at her with faint disdain and spoke with deep emotion. “You do not understand. He lived in my heart, and I lived in his. We were a pair of ill-fated lovers, the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd torn apart by fate.”

“…” Lady Bai: “?????”

Lady Bai asked, “Where is your Young Master Meng now?”

The light in Lady Tang’s eyes faded. She said sadly, “He is gone. Young Master Meng was always frail. That autumn, he caught a chill after exposure to the wind and died soon afterward. It was only after his death that I discovered I was pregnant.”

A maternal radiance appeared on her face. She declared firmly, “She was my child with Young Master Meng, the only bloodline he left in this world. I had to keep her alive. I had to!”

“…” Lady Bai: “?????”

Lady Bai said, “Have you ever considered one question?”

Lady Tang asked, “What question?”

Lady Bai replied, “From what you have said, you and that man surnamed Meng lived in the same area. You are also quite certain that your first two children truly belonged to your husband. In other words, Meng watched eagerly as you bore Li Dalang two children, then waited several years until his health recovered. Only then did his old passion conveniently reignite, sending him to crouch outside the Li residence in the hope of glimpsing you?”

The question stopped Lady Tang short. The tender affection on her face froze instantly. Only after a long silence did she answer angrily, “Young Master Meng was a man of propriety. He knew I was another man’s wife and therefore suppressed his feelings with bitter effort…”

Lady Bai asked in confusion, “Then why did he fail to suppress them in the end?”

Lady Tang: “…”

Lady Tang’s face chilled. “You merely wish to deny the love between Young Master Meng and me. My lady, you are neither me nor him. Naturally, you could never understand us!”

Lady Bai thought that if she could understand the two of them, she would truly be finished. If the old man found out, he would probably depose her on the spot.

She raised a brow and stopped concerning herself with the man surnamed Meng. “Tell me what happened at the relay station.”

Lady Tang sighed sorrowfully. “Young Master Meng was gone, but the child in my belly was the fruit of our love. I had to protect her. Yet she was born weak after barely seven months in the womb, and I had used labor-inducing medicine. It was plain that she would not live long. I had no money for treatment. I could only listen as her cries grew weaker and her face turned bluer. Just when I had exhausted every possibility, that lady arrived outside the relay station with several servants.”

“I had given birth several times myself. One look at her belly told me she was seven or eight months along. Then I saw that she was finely dressed and plainly wealthy, with only two or three male attendants and several maids beside her. A thought entered my mind…”

“The Li Family had managed the relay station for generations, including through periods of warfare. Some ancestor, no one knew which, had left a secret passage in the innermost room that led outside. Heaven itself seemed to help me, for that lady entered precisely that room.”

“I thought Heaven was on my side and made my decision. I secretly brewed the remaining half dose of medicine and added it to her soup. Before long, she went into labor, just as I expected. There was no village or shop for miles around the relay station. The male attendants dared not approach, while the maids guarding her had never seen a birth and panicked completely. I hid my baby in the secret chamber and volunteered to deliver hers. Later, I found an opportunity to send everyone else out. Amid the confusion, I switched the two babies. By sheer coincidence, both were girls…”
Lady Tang drew a deep breath. “That lady was not at full term either. When she saw that the baby was blue and purple and so very small, she assumed the child had been born prematurely after the journey disturbed her pregnancy. She cherished the baby greatly. The servants accompanying her saw that the delivery had ended safely, with mother and daughter both alive, and thought no further. They merely assumed the lady’s weakness and the hardships of travel had caused the premature birth.”

Her eyes grew wet, and she choked out, “My own daughter, my child with Young Master Meng! I held her for only one day before we were forced apart. Do you think I have not suffered all these years?”

After listening to the long tale, Lady Bai turned to ensure the attendants had recorded the confession. Then she heard Lady Tang spout such nonsense and immediately sneered. “Indeed. She was the bastard you conceived through adultery with Young Master Meng. Perhaps her parents had accumulated so little virtue that she was born with scarcely a breath in her body. Fortunately, she had a heartless mother who switched her with the daughter of a wealthy family, allowing her to survive and shamelessly enjoy every luxury and privilege!”

“You were separated from your daughter? You suffered? Were we the ones who told you to drug another woman and switch the babies? Were we the ones who told you to cast aside all shame, commit adultery, and bear your lover’s child?!”

Lady Bai snatched up the teacup at hand and hurled it at Lady Tang’s head. “Even now, all you can think of is your own child. Have you ever thought of the girl from my family? What did she do wrong? You forcibly changed her fate, made her endure so much hardship and pain, and in the end, you even meant to exchange her for a wife for your son!”

Tea remained in the cup and splashed hot across Lady Tang’s face. She cried out in pain, clutching her head as she moaned.

Lady Bai had never met anyone so shameless. Her anger remained unabated. She struck the table heavily and demanded, “If you had possessed even the slightest conscience, you should have treated her better and offered some compensation. What did you do instead?! And what wrong did my eldest sister-in-law commit? Before she had reached full term, you tricked her into drinking labor-inducing medicine, damaging her health so badly that she never conceived again. If something had gone wrong and both mother and child had died, could your worthless life have repaid both of theirs?!”

The surrounding servants hurriedly said, “That vile woman has no shame. Why anger yourself so badly over her? Please take care not to hurt your hand.”

Lady Tang had been struck hard on the head, and blood now flowed from the wound. Knowing herself in the wrong and powerless to contend with Lady Bai, she lowered her head guiltily and said nothing.

An attendant brought the written confession forward. Lady Bai lowered her eyes and examined it for a long while. Finding no errors or omissions, she ordered Lady Tang to sign and press her fingerprint to it. Another attendant then entered from outside with Li Dalang’s confession.

The child was his daughter, after all. Li Dalang knew what she looked like. When he returned home and saw that the baby’s appearance had changed, she was still tiny, but the red and blue marks had vanished from her skin.

He had already fathered two children and knew how quickly infants grew. Li Dalang immediately realized the baby had been switched. Then he remembered everything that had happened during the day and the room where the lady had given birth. How could he fail to understand?

Lady Tang gently reassured him. “I did it for our daughter. What else could I do? Could we, as her parents, be so cruel as to watch her breathe her last? Do not worry. They will rest here for a few days and then leave. No one was in the room when I made the switch. Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, and I know. As long as we both keep our mouths shut, they will never notice anything wrong.”

From the clothing and speech of the lady’s servants, Li Dalang knew she came from a wealthy family and was deeply afraid. The following day, soldiers even came to find the party, deepening his unease. But matters had already come this far. They could hardly rush over and switch the children back.

He tacitly accepted the outcome.

Before long, war erupted in the surrounding region and the relay station could no longer operate. Li Dalang and Lady Tang remained haunted by what they had done, fearing that someone might uncover the truth and come for them. They therefore persuaded Old Man Li to leave and seek refuge with relatives in another province. Who could have imagined that after more than ten years away, they would still be found?

Once the two confessions had been compared, no doubts remained. Lady Bai carefully put away both documents and ordered coolly, “The other members of the Li Family knew nothing of this, so their guilt may be reduced by one degree. Imprison them and await the old man’s judgment. As for Lady Tang and her husband, drag them out and give each thirty strokes to vent some anger on behalf of our girl. Remember not to let them die. After ruining our child like this, allowing them to die so easily would be far too merciful!”

The servants obeyed and moved forward to drag them away. Lady Tang opened her mouth to beg for mercy, but someone gagged her and hauled her directly outside.

After the scene of punishment, the smell of blood inevitably lingered in the hall. The teacup Lady Bai had thrown still lay on the carpet, and spilled tea had soaked a large patch.

The servants silently stepped forward to clean. Lady Wang led Li Hui’er from the inner room, patted her shoulder lovingly, and said with a smile, “You truly are a daughter of our family. No wonder we felt close to you the moment we met.”

Li Hui’er had cried for so long that her eyes remained swollen and red beneath the lids. Lady Bai comforted her gently. “Hui’er, I will continue calling you that for now. The matter was too important for your aunts to risk leaking any word before we confirmed the truth. Your parents still know nothing. Rest here for a while and eat something. Your third aunt and I will tell you about the family. Once your father returns from the government offices, we will go together to tell your parents what happened…”

Li Hui’er felt equal parts excitement and apprehension. “Will Father and Mother like me? Will they think I am some wild girl?”

“Do not speak nonsense. You are their own flesh and blood. How could they not love you?”
Lady Wang gently chided her, then said warmly, “And there is nothing wrong with being a wild girl. The old man and old lady of our family both came from hardship. Even your second aunt, who looks so graceful and noble now, was a wild girl in her youth. She rode horses and trained with a blade beside General Bai, getting tanned darker than you can imagine…”

Lady Bai laughed. “You had not married into the family then and did not even know me. Where did you hear that?”

Lady Wang grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the fruit tray and cracked them as she answered, “Madam Bai told me. She visited the residence a few days ago to see our little girl and mentioned it then.”

As Li Hui’er listened to her two aunts, the lingering unease in her heart gradually faded. Their words suggested that the old man was an extraordinary figure, and she could not help asking curiously, “Who exactly is my grandfather?”

“Oh, we were so busy chatting that we forgot the most important matter.”

Lady Bai laughed. “Your grandfather is an extraordinary man indeed. He is the King of Wu, who now commands more than half the realm. The old man began with nothing, and today almost all under Heaven is in his grasp. Would you not call him extraordinary?”

Li Hui’er had never imagined her birth could be so illustrious, much less that her grandfather was the renowned King of Wu. Her lips parted, and she remained stunned for a long time. Then she remembered all she had endured and the life stolen from her. Her heart grew still more desolate, and her hatred for Lady Tang and the daughter who had usurped her nest deepened.

Servants brought tea and pastries. Lady Wang urged Li Hui’er to eat and drink while explaining the family: how many children the old man had, how many male and female cousins Hui’er possessed, and finally, the children of the eldest branch.

Li Hui’er nibbled slowly at a pastry, not daring to let her attention wander for a moment. When she learned she had an elder brother, her face lit up. “What is Brother like?”

Lady Wang considered the question. “He is tall, an excellent horseman, and writes a fine hand. He is also remarkably handsome…”

Longing filled Li Hui’er’s face. After a moment’s thought, she asked eagerly, “What about Second Brother?”

Lady Wang paused, then gently smoothed the hair at her temple. “Your second brother has passed away. When you meet your father and mother, do not mention him. It will cause them pain.”

Li Hui’er was startled and saddened. She nodded. “I will remember.”

Lady Wang smiled faintly. After hesitating for a while, she said, “Below them came the one Lady Tang conceived through adultery… Never mind. We need not speak of her.”

Li Hui’er remembered the residence she had seen upon arrival, a place whose magnificence and splendor defied description. Then she thought of her wonderful parents and distinguished brother, and her heart ached terribly.

All of it should have belonged to her. Yet someone had forcibly stolen it and made it another person’s: silk and delicacies, wealth and comfort, and endless affection. Meanwhile, she had struggled in the mire, unable to see daylight for more than ten years.

Now she had returned. She wanted to go to her parents and have her brother hold her. Yet apprehension and fear filled her heart. What if she could not fit into their world? What if they disliked her?

But all of this should have been hers from the beginning!

What had she done wrong?!

Li Hui’er clenched her fists without realizing it. “What is her name?”

Lady Wang replied, “Baozhu.”

“Baozhu. Baozhu.” Li Hui’er murmured the name several times. Yearning and grief filled her expression. “Father and Mother must love her very much.”

Lady Wang did not know what to say. After hesitating for a few moments, she sighed and patted the girl’s shoulder in what little comfort she could offer.

Li Hui’er raised her head to look at her two aunts. She bit her lip, then suddenly raised her voice and asked uneasily, “Now that I am back, will Father and Mother drive her away?!”

Lady Bai froze briefly, then smiled. “Silly child, what nonsense are you thinking? She is not flesh and blood of the Ma Family, only the bastard Lady Tang conceived with her lover. How could she remain in the Ma Family?”

Lady Wang added, “The old man has already entered the capital and will soon sit on that throne. How could he tolerate someone corrupting the Ma Family’s bloodline? Still less when Lady Tang deliberately arranged the switch and the child who entered our household was the bastard she conceived through adultery.”

There was one further consideration the sisters-in-law were too embarrassed to tell Li Hui’er.

The old man was a miser, and the old lady had been much the same.

When Ma Baozhu was born, the old man had been campaigning with an army. He had talked himself hoarse trying to raise money everywhere, and the family was far from wealthy. Yet the baby was their own legitimate granddaughter. They could not simply watch her die. The old couple tightened their belts and scraped together enough resources to obtain treatment for Ma Baozhu.

If the old man learned that after tightening their belts and scrimping so painfully, this was what they had saved, and that all their money had been spent on another family’s bastard…

Neither Lady Bai nor Lady Wang dared imagine the outcome.

Suffice it to say, it was the sort of outcome that would get censored.