Chapter 724: It’s Just a Switched Child!

Chapter 724: It Was Only a Switched Child!

Jiao Shi instinctively turned to glance at Yu Mingzhu.

Yu Mingzhu gazed back at Jiao Shi, teary-eyed.

Countless memories flashed through Jiao Shi's mind in an instant.

When Yu Mingzhu was babbling her first words and taking wobbly steps as a child... she was so adorable, calling out "Mama" in her tiny, lisping voice, stumbling toward her.

In the opulent room, plush wool carpets covered the floor, with several maids hovering protectively, fearing Yu Mingzhu might fall and hurt herself.

Jiao Shi crouched at the other end of the carpet, cooing Yu Mingzhu’s nickname, coaxing her to walk over.

But this memory only flashed briefly in Jiao Shi's mind before another scene emerged—though imagined, it was so vivid and real, as if it had truly happened in the past!

—While Yu Mingzhu was doted on as she learned to walk by everyone, Xingxing was huddled in a shadowy corner, her tiny body trembling. She wore tattered rags, her arms and legs covered in bruises, her small face filled with terror, trembling as she pleaded with the person opposite her to stop hitting her...

Jiao Shi shuddered in pain.

It was as if she had only now realized how much suffering her trueborn daughter had endured, how much hardship she had faced, to finally stand before her.

Jiao Shi shook even more violently.

She couldn’t take it anymore. She shook off Yu Mingzhu's grasp on her sleeve and staggered toward Xingxing.

Yu Mingzhu's face turned ghostly pale. She cried out, "Mother!... I really, truly didn’t know... Please don’t abandon me... Mother!"

Her sobs were heartbreaking.

Jiao Shi's heart ached sharply.

But she could no longer embrace Yu Mingzhu without a second thought.

With a trembling voice, she asked Yu Mingzhu, "Zhu Zhu, tell me the truth... Did you give Zou Wan Shi that money because you knew she was your birth mother...?"

Yu Mingzhu fell to her knees, her voice shaking violently as she clung to Jiao Shi's legs, weeping, "Mother, yes... That woman said she was my real mother. I was so scared... scared you wouldn’t acknowledge me anymore, so I gave her the money..."

Jiao Shi was too numb to feel anything.

She allowed Yu Mingzhu to cling to her legs, her body rocked by Yu Mingzhu’s sobs.

Yu Chongting suddenly spoke up, questioning Zou Wan Shi, "So, it was you who bribed someone to switch your daughter with my sister, and later tried to throw my sister into the raging river, wasn’t it?"

Zou Wan Shi slowly turned her gaze to Yu Chongting. "Haven’t you already figured everything out?"

Her eyes were bloodshot as she gritted her teeth and shrieked, "You killed my son and tried to burn my whole family alive! You must have known all along! Why pretend now?!"

She screamed hatefully, "I just switched a child, that’s all! And now that girl is living well, even given a princess’s title! Why must you persecute us like this? Trying to burn my whole family to death!"

Yu Chongting's expression darkened.

He’d almost forgotten about Zou Wan Shi's crimes.

—Of course, he knew the Duke of Xinguo's household would never do such a thing.

Neither would Xingxing.

—Which meant...

Yu Chongting turned his gaze toward Yu Mingzhu.

No, Yu Chongting subconsciously shook his head again.

Although Zhu Zhu had grown somewhat wayward, she was a girl raised in the inner chambers—how could she dare to do something as heinous as slaughtering an entire family?

Yu Chongting frowned deeply.

Jiao Shi was already weeping bitterly, but upon hearing Zou Wan Shi's words, her anguish flared even more intensely: "What do you mean by 'just' swapped a child?!... That was my daughter... the daughter I bore after ten months! If there was any decency left in you after taking her, you should have at least taken care of her properly! Even if life was hard, at least keeping her alive would’ve been something... But you threw her into the river—she was so little..."

Jiao Shi shook violently, her voice fracturing into sobs.

Dowager Duchess of Xin felt her heart twisted tighter with every word.

At this moment, she wanted to rip Zou Wan Shi limb from limb!

Though everyone knew Xingxing was now noble and lived an extremely privileged life, the suffering she endured as a child was all too real.

Xingxing handed Dowager Duchess of Xin a handkerchief.

The Dowager Duchess, her vision blurred by tears, looked at Xingxing.

The Yu family raised Xingxing exceptionally well.

The Yu family was her great benefactor.

If the Yu family hadn’t found Xingxing back then, perhaps...

The Dowager Duchess rose on trembling legs.

She approached Li Chunhua and Bai Xiaofeng, then bowed deeply.

Li Chunhua and Bai Xiaofeng startled at this.

The two wiped their tears and quickly stepped aside: "Dowager Duchess, you mustn’t—!"

Dowager Duchess of Xin’s voice was hoarse: "Had the Yu family not saved Xingxing with their pure kindness, we might have been forever separated by life and death!"

Li Chunhua and Bai Xiaofeng froze briefly, hurriedly drying their tears and forcing a smile: "Dowager Duchess, you’re too kind..."

But Li Chunhua couldn’t help adding: "When my mother-in-law brought Xingxing home from the rocks, she was so tiny, thin and frail. She was too scared to eat her fill when we offered her food... I kept thinking, who could be so heartless as to abandon such an adorable little girl? Who’d have guessed the truth was this monstrous?"

The more she spoke, the harder it became to hold back, her voice breaking with sobs: "But Xingxing never should’ve suffered this way! She should have had a much better life!"

Xingxing stepped forward and embraced Li Chunhua: "Alright, Eldest Aunt, don’t get upset. Sure, the first three years were hard—every year after that in the Yu family, I’ve been so happy."

Xingxing rubbed Li Chunhua’s back soothingly.

Seeing how close Xingxing was with the Yu family, Jiao Shi’s heart shattered.

This was her daughter!

Her daughter!

The one who should have been this close to Xingxing—was her!

"Daughter..." Jiao Shi suddenly cried out, overwhelmed with emotion, but her body weakened, and she fainted.

Yu Mingzhu screamed through tears, "Mother! MOTHER!"

The Shuntian Prefecture court abruptly adjourned again.

Yet the Prefect of Shuntian wasn't the slightest bit annoyed.

What had initially been a false accusation case had now provided him with major leads to several cold cases. It seemed certain that his year-end review would be stellar, and there was an eighty percent chance he would be promoted due to this achievement.

Were it not for the somber atmosphere at hand, the Prefect would be grinning from ear to ear.

A quick recess was no big deal.

The Prefect of Shuntian swiftly took custody of the criminal woman delivered by someone claiming to be from Chaoyang Tower. All evidence and confessions were urgently sent for cross-referencing with the unresolved case files from past years.

Seizing the opportunity while the wife of the heir apparent of the Duke of Xinguo had fainted and the court was temporarily adjourned, the Prefect approached the person from Chaoyang Tower for some polite conversation.

The Prefect was exceedingly courteous, but as soon as he addressed the man as "good sir," the Chaoyang Tower representative grinned and raised a hand to stop the small talk, merely cupping his fists in salute. "This was ordered by our young master of the tower. There’s no need for formalities, Your Honor. I’m just a messenger... Now that this matter has reached a pause, I’ll take my leave." With that, he walked off casually.