Chapter 8
Edward Quan ·
I made him hide in the woodshed in the back courtyard for half a day before allowing him to sneak into the main residence.
Men who drowned themselves in wine and women loved this sort of sordid secret game.
Sure enough, Wei Jing found it exciting. Like a rabid dog, he pounced on me in a frenzy.
And Liu Yingying, just as I had predicted, walked right into my trap, like a fish in a jar.
8.
Wei Jing, dressed in the groom’s rough clothes and wearing a shameless look on his face, was caught right at the doorway. Embarrassment and fury were written all over him.
The heir of Marquis Mingyuan had been seen in such a humiliating state. How could he possibly save face?
Liu Yingying still had no idea how serious things had become. She was relying on the fact that she had once switched the babies, and pointed straight at me as she shouted, “Someone saw Madam carrying on with another man! He also said the Wei family’s eldest young master isn’t the marquis’s son at all!”
The courtyard erupted in an uproar.
The veins on Wei Jing’s forehead stood out. His eyes seemed ready to burn as he glared at Liu Yingying.
“You wretched woman! How dare you slander her again?”
He shouted, “Guards! Drag this shameless woman away, give her thirty strokes, and sell her off at once!”
Liu Yingying collapsed to her knees and cried for mercy.
“Marquis, spare my life! I’m not making this up! I have proof… Madam really did have an affair with another man!”
She spoke through clenched teeth, as though she had resolved to fight to the bitter end, even if it meant mutual destruction.
This concerned the Wei family’s reputation. Wei Jing could not let such filthy rumors spread.
He gave a cold snort. “If that’s the case, we’ll settle this here and now, so the world can see you’re the one making false accusations!”
He ordered someone to bring a bowl of clear water and have Wei Jin brought in. Then he pricked the child and let a drop of his blood fall into the bowl.
The drops of Wei Jin’s blood and Wei Jing’s mingled in the water, never separating.
The onlookers whispered among themselves.
“Sure enough, the boy is the marquis’s own flesh and blood!”
Liu Yingying looked as if she had been struck by lightning. Her face drained of color.
“That’s impossible! This child can’t be the marquis’s son!”
When she refused to believe it, I lowered my eyes with a faint smile and ordered someone to bring in a man.
His clothes were ragged and his face haggard. He was A-Fu—the street doctor Liu Yingying had once used to conceive a child.
The moment she saw him, Liu’s legs went weak. She nearly collapsed.
I spoke calmly. “Liu, years ago, you tried to have A-Fu killed. I secretly rescued him and kept him alive until this day. If you still don’t believe me, let’s test Wei Jie’s blood.”
The wet nurse carried Wei Jie over, and they repeated the test.
Wei Jie’s blood mingled with A-Fu’s, but separated clearly from Wei Jing’s, like oil and water.
Liu Yingying broke down completely and screamed herself hoarse.
“How can this be? I… I clearly switched the babies with you!”
The courtyard erupted. The Wei matriarch was so furious that even the hand holding her cane trembled.
As for me, I remained perfectly composed and summoned Liu’s former trusted servant, the maid Little Cui, to testify.
Little Cui trembled as she presented a baby’s bib, embroidered with mandarin ducks in a pattern Liu Yingying herself had stitched.
She knelt and said, “That day, Concubine Liu ordered me to switch the babies. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I secretly informed Madam. Madam was kind enough to keep this bib as evidence until today, when the truth could be revealed.”
The truth was out. Tears streamed down Liu Yingying’s face.
For years, she had beaten and scolded Wei Jie without mercy, thinking she was tormenting my child. She never knew the one she had been abusing was her own son.
The Wei matriarch trembled with rage.
“You vicious woman! Not only did you defile the inner chambers, you tried to switch the family’s bloodline and ruin the Wei name!”
Wei Jing’s eyes were bloodshot with fury. He slapped Liu Yingying again, splitting the corner of her mouth.
“I was blind to trust someone as despicable as you!”