Chapter 162: Surrogacy

Chapter 162: Surrogacy

Shen Fuqing tossed the blood-soaked Wang Ge aside in one swift motion, then leisurely took a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the blood from his hands, taking his time.

The locust tree atop the stone tower swayed, its shadows casting patches of light and dark across Shen Fuqing's face. His gaze was calm and lucid, the corners of his lips curved upward, his smile both handsome and sinister.

"I looked into this before. The people of Xiaoxiang Commandery call this stone tower an 'Infant Tower,' which, as the name suggests, is a tower specifically used to get rid of infant corpses. As far as I know, there are at least a dozen such Infant Towers in Xiaoxiang Commandery, and most of the time, the ones thrown inside are baby girls who are still alive."

"Live baby girls?" Qin Jiao's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and a chill ran down his spine.

"How horrifying!"

He Zhao couldn't help but shoot another vicious glare at the groaning Wang Ge on the ground. This guy was really scum!

"I'd heard that the selection of the 'Xiaoxiang Divine Maiden' had something shady about it, so I followed that lead and dug this up." In the past few days, Shen Fuqing had been leaving early and returning late exactly to look into this.

Shen Fuqing: "As you saw earlier, families whose baby daughters were chosen as 'Xiaoxiang Divine Maidens' all received generous 'divine gifts.' Because of this, couples throughout Xiaoxiang Commandery were desperate to have daughters. But if a newborn girl wasn't chosen as a Divine Maiden, she became what her parents considered a 'financial drain,' dragging down the entire family. And that's when those dozen or so Infant Towers were put to use."

Shen Fuqing's voice dripped with scorn: "Those parents threw their baby daughters into the towers, leaving them to be devoured by insects and ants, or swallowed by the flames. One tower, ten thousand infant souls—calling these towers infant slaughterhouses is no exaggeration."

"That's absolutely sickening!"

After Shen Fuqing finished speaking, He Zhao couldn't help but turn excitedly to Hu Yuyun. "Is this what you people do too?! Having kids like crazy, then throwing them away without caring if they live or die!"

Hu Yuyun rushed to defend herself, tears welling in her eyes: "No, that's not me, that's not what I did! I never even thought of throwing Ni'er into an Infant Tower!"

"She only had kids for money..." Wang Ge on the ground spoke up through his convulsions. "She's nothing but a shameless bitch who'd stoop to anything for money!"

"Wang Ge, you're talking crap about me!" Hu Yuyun was so angry her voice cracked, tears of hurt filling her eyes.

Seeing this, Zhang Fei couldn't keep quiet and said, "Wang Ge, how dare you talk! Do you really think you have nothing to do with any of this?"

"What the hell does it have to do with me... Ah!"

As Wang Ge was cursing, Shen Fuqing turned and slashed an X into his face. Blood immediately poured down Wang Ge's cheeks. "Not your turn to talk yet."

He then glanced at Hu Yuyun again and said, "Your turn."

Hu Yuyun cowered back in fear. Zhang Fei felt sorry for her and asked Shen Fuqing on her behalf: "You, you just called yourself 'Your Excellency'... What kind of official are you? Can we trust you?"

Honestly, having spent these past few days with Shen Fuqing and the others, Zhang Fei could sense they weren't bad people. But Shen Fuqing's overly brutal actions just now made him doubt their identity.

"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself." Shen Fuqing said as he pulled a Court of Judicial Review badge out of his robes. "Court of Judicial Review—Shen Fuqing."

"You! You're that Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review who 'ate the dog meat shop owner'!" Zhang Fei suddenly exclaimed, his voice filled with astonishment.

Qin Jiao and Xie Nai, standing nearby: "..."

Qin Jiao hadn't expected Shen Fuqing's "infamous deed" from the dog-killing case to spread this far. And what did he mean by "ate the dog meat shop owner"? This rumor was totally ridiculous!

Zhang Fei seemed to realize he'd said something wrong, so he added a correction: "No! You're the one who 'got a bunch of babies to eat the dog meat shop owner'!"

Qin Jiao: "..."

You'd have been better off not correcting yourself. The way you put it makes Shen Fuqing sound like a creep.

Though to be fair, he wasn't exactly normal either.

Shen Fuqing, however, ignored Zhang Fei's nonsense and turned his gaze to Hu Yuyun's face. "Now, are you going to talk?"

Hu Yuyun hesitated, glancing at Shen Fuqing, then at Wang Ge lying on the ground like a dead dog. Her face flushed red as she struggled to speak, holding back sobs several times.

Seeing this, Shen Fuqing told He Zhao: "Go bring her child over."

He Zhao's eyes lit up, and he pretended to be excited: "Alright! I like fish, so I'll carve a fish on her face!"

With that, He Zhao went to grab Hu Yuyun's child. Qin Jiao watched the scene unfold and couldn't help but facepalm. He never expected Shen Fuqing and He Zhao to be such kindred spirits.

"No, don't take my Ni'er! I'll talk! I'll talk!" Hu Yuyun shoved He Zhao away in a panic, clutching her child protectively to her chest, then spoke through tears:

"This child is mine and Mr. Liu's. Because Ni'er wasn't chosen as the 'Xiaoxiang Divine Maiden,' Wang Ge wanted to throw her into the Infant Tower to die. I never even thought of killing Ni'er—she's my own flesh and blood after all..."

Qin Jiao looked at Hu Yuyun. No wonder her expression had been so down and lost at the Divine Maiden selection that day when her daughter wasn't chosen. She must have known from the start that if the baby wasn't selected, she might die.

Hu Yuyun held her child tightly, as if clinging to her only lifeline. At this point, she had nothing left to hide, and the words poured out like a dam breaking:

"Besides this Ni'er, I've given birth to three other Ni'ers before—with Mr. Li, Mr. Qian, and Mr. Zheng respectively. Wahhh... Those three Ni'ers were all kept until they were six months old, and because they too weren't chosen as 'Xiaoxiang Divine Maidens,' Wang Ge threw them into the Infant Tower... I've let my Ni'ers down..."

He Zhao listened and felt like something wasn't right. "You, how did you..." He wasn't sure how to ask. Mr. Li, Mr. Qian, Mr. Zheng, Mr. Liu... That was four guys she'd been with.

"You're wondering why I had children with so many men, aren't you?"

Hu Yuyun let out a bitter laugh. After a long moment, a numb expression crossed her pretty face. "So Wang Ge was right to call me a sow. He got one thing right—I had kids for money. I had kids for those rich merchants, and each one got me five hundred taels."

Hu Yuyun even laughed out loud as she spoke. "What a deal—one kid for five hundred taels. I've made two thousand taels..."

"But you don't look happy." Qin Jiao saw right through her act. "And after the children were born, why didn't the merchants keep them?"

"Because they were daughters." Hu Yuyun gazed into the distance, her eyes empty and bitter. "The merchants wanted sons to continue their family name. Daughters, after all, were just burdens."

"So you had kids for the merchants—sons were given to them, daughters went to the Divine Maiden selection, and if they weren't chosen, they were thrown into the Infant Tower. Is that right?" Shen Fuqing hit the nail on the head.

"I suppose so."

Hu Yuyun's gaze was distant and unfocused, as if all her strength had been drained away.

Qin Jiao looked at her, his feelings complicated. Surrogacy wasn't particularly unusual, but Hu Yuyun had said so much without ever mentioning the most crucial detail.

"So why did you keep having kids for the merchants? And why did you need so much money?" Qin Jiao's gaze sharpened as he locked onto Hu Yuyun.

For an ordinary family, five hundred taels was enough to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Yet Hu Yuyun had had four kids for different merchants...

There had to be something more going on here.

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