Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Being overly sentimental isn't exactly a flattering word these days.

But being overly sentimental is a luxury only those with smooth, fulfilling lives can afford.

Xiang Lian had been kicked around by life before. Rather than indulge a moment of emotional satisfaction, she'd swallow her grievances and pick the path that best served her future.

Take when she became Kang Zhanxun's concubine—once she had power and status, she could even swallow her hatred for the "natal family" that had mistreated her and keep up perfect outward courtesy.

Now, reconciling with the Han family did her more good than harm. For her own and her son's future, she wouldn't fight for that "pride."

If the Han family was only after her current status, then they could use each other, each getting what they wanted;

If the Han family truly wanted to make amends and treat her well, she'd repay them with sincerity in kind.

She craved family affection, but she wouldn't force it.

Bonds between people should just take their natural course—no need to cling or obsess.

Without parents or kin, she still had her husband and son.

Xiang Lian reassured herself.

Still... she couldn't help but wonder what the Han family would do.

She wanted to know if the Han family would give up the fake daughter they'd cherished for thirty years for her sake.

Isn't there a saying: 'Blood is thicker than water, but nurture beats nature'?

Sometimes, blood ties really can't compare to the bond built through years of daily companionship.

...

Honestly, Xiang Lian's worry was perfectly natural.

Anyone who'd poured thirty years of love and care into someone couldn't just cut it off overnight.

But things were different now.

Because Han Zhenzhen, after learning the truth about her origins, had sided completely with the Liu family. Not only did she make zero effort to keep ties with the Han family, she came running back every few days to cause scenes, throw tantrums, and demand handouts—long since draining that family affection dry.

The Han elders weren't fools. In recent years, they'd already stopped subsidizing Han Zhenzhen as much. The only reason they still let her come back now and then to "scrounge" was out of regard for that nominal blood tie.

The name "Zhenzhen" had once been their term of endearment for their youngest daughter, but now it just sounded like bitter irony.

Now the truth was out—

Liu's mother had deliberately switched the babies, and Han Zhenzhen had known all along.

What stung most was that their own flesh and blood had been treated so cruelly!

No normal person could keep harboring affection for their enemy's daughter after that. Now, the Han elders' hearts were filled with nothing but blazing fury and hatred.

So, after getting Xiang Lian's stance,

Grandpa Han slammed the table on the spot, his voice dripping with hatred as he barked: "Go fetch the clan chief and all the elders, bring all the evidence—we're going to the yamen to beat the drum and demand justice!"

This matter enraged not just Grandpa Han and the others—when Clan Chief Han and the rest heard about it, they were all red-faced with fury too.

In ancient times, bloodlines and ancestral legacy were held in the highest esteem. Switching a child, to put it bluntly, was like digging up the very foundation of the Han clan.

This time it was a daughter who got switched—what if next time it was a son?

A son could inherit the family estate. The consequences... were too horrifying to even think about.

Such a despicable act of stealing another's place absolutely couldn't be forgiven lightly! Otherwise, the ancestors underground would be spinning in their graves.

"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"

"Just filing a lawsuit isn't enough! We've got to make this big! Everyone in the clan who can spare the time, come with me to the yamen. Even if we can't help directly, we need to show our numbers! Otherwise, the daughters and sons of our Han family will be pushed around freely in the future!"

Clan Chief Han mulled it over briefly and made the call on the spot.

There was genuine intent to vent his anger for his niece Xiang Lian, but also a calculated show of solidarity toward her.

Because although Xiang Lian was just a concubine of the Dingbei Marquis Estate, she'd borne Kang Zhanxun's only son, and the boy had now been made the heir. Barring any surprises, Xiang Lian would eventually become the old madam of the marquis estate.

By taking this stance, the Han family wasn't expecting Xiang Lian to do much for her natal family—they just hoped she wouldn't hold a grudge.

Besides, this was also a good chance to strengthen unity among the Han clan's younger generation.

"The clan chief makes sense!"

The other elders nodded in agreement one by one.

Grandma Han wiped her tears and kept thanking them: "Thank you, clan chief, thank you all elders, for seeking justice for my poor Fifth Girl..."

She couldn't care about anything else right now—she just wanted those who'd harmed her daughter to pay.

The entire Han clan united as one and immediately marched out in full force, looking formidable.

The sight gave the other villagers of Shangpo Village quite a shock.

The village head, sweating buckets with anxiety, hurried over to stop them and ask: "Clan Chief Han, what's happened? What could possibly warrant such a big mobilization of your whole clan?"

What earth-shattering matter could cause such a ruckus?

Last time the Han family stood up for their married daughters and sons, it hadn't been this big.

The Han family wanted to make this public anyway, so they didn't hold anything back.

Grandpa Han stepped forward and told the villagers the whole story of the child-switching, his voice choking up several times.

"...That poisonous woman treated my own flesh and blood like livestock, beating and cursing her at will, making her sleep in the pigsty in the dead of winter! And her own daughter—she ate and drank well in our Han household, cherished like a pearl for twenty or thirty years!"

The gathered villagers burst into an uproar.

"Switching children? Good heavens, how black must that woman's heart be?"

"No wonder the Han family's youngest daughter has gotten more and more insufferable over the years—she was never really a Han to begin with!"

Grandpa Han wiped his tears and went on: "...Village head, fellow villagers, you be the judges. Such an act of corrupting bloodlines and cutting off ancestral legacy—if our Han family swallows this humiliation, then in the future, anyone who can't afford to raise a child might copy this trick of stealing another's nest. How could that be allowed?"

"Today, our Han family will go to court to demand justice and seek the harshest punishment from the officials!"

At first, the villagers had only treated it as the Han family's drama—they were just the hype crew, throwing in a few curses.

But now that it could affect them personally, no one could sit idly by anymore.

"That's right!" someone immediately shouted in agreement. "If we don't come down hard on such vicious behavior, everyone will follow suit and it'll be total chaos!"

"Liu Family Village again! Out of all the villages around here, theirs is the one with the most drama..."

"Come on! Let's go show some support for Sixth Grandpa! Even if it ain't our kid, we're still from the same village..."

In an instant, the crowd was fired up.

The villagers of Shangpo Village, whether genuinely outraged or just eager for excitement, anyone who wasn't busy tagged along.

With such a commotion, and in a small town where everybody's related somehow—even if Liu Family Village had a bad reputation, there were still kinfolk through some roundabout connection here—sure enough, word got back to Liu Family Village fast.

When the headman of Liu Family Village heard the news, he nearly blacked out, and all he could think was:

We're screwed!

The villagers of Liu Family Village were also stunned, their eyes bugging out in shock.

"What? Siyu ain't really a Liu kid? Third Liu's old lady swapped the kids? Good lord, no wonder out of all four girls, Wang (Old Mrs. Liu) only treated Siyu like dirt—so she wasn't even her real kid after all..."

"That goddamn Wang! She pulls a stunt like this, and now our whole village is gonna be known for the wrong reasons!"

"Wang's just Third Liu's wife, a girl married in from Wang Family Village—what's that got to do with us? We ain't takin' the blame for this bad name! Headman, you gotta figure somethin' out!"

Once the shock wore off, the villagers couldn't sit still, their hearts racing with panic.

Sure, Liu Family Village had a bad rep to begin with, but they sure as hell didn't want this kind of stink on their name.

The Liu family felt like the world had come crashing down.

Eldest Sister-in-law Liu and Second Sister-in-law Liu slapped their thighs and started howling: "We always said Third Sister-in-law was bad news! She acted like such a poor put-upon thing all day, and look what happened? Not only did she use someone else's kid as a shield, she treated her like dirt—why don't lightning just strike her dead!"

"With such a poisonous woman in the family, how's my daughter supposed to show her face at her in-laws' place now? How's my grandson ever gonna find a wife now?"

Old Mrs. Liu plopped down on the ground, beating her chest and stomping her feet: "What a curse! What did the Liu family ever do to deserve marrying in such a jinx!"

Back then, one person's crime meant the whole family paid, the whole clan was disgraced.

Moreover, Siyu was now a concubine in the earl's household, with money and power.

Before, with that blood tie, even if she got rich and powerful, she might've held back from going after the Lius. Now that the truth's out, you think she's gonna let the Lius off easy?

They knew damn well what Siyu had gone through in that house all these years.

That girl, she holds a grudge!

"Wang, you'll be struck by lightning..."

Old Mrs. Liu and the two sisters-in-law, the more they thought, the more they figured they were done for, and crying and cursing, they jumped on Mother Liu, scratching and wrestling her.

The Liu men just stood there watching coldly.

Old Third Liu grabbed a stick and joined in, bringing it down hard on Mother Liu's back while cursing:

"You rotten bitch, you've ruined me... She was just a girl, so what if she died, but you dared to swap someone else's child—you poisonous bitch..."

After all, these men never reflected on how their own actions had contributed to the situation; they only thought, "Indeed, the sting of a wasp's tail is nothing compared to the venom of a woman's heart."

And Mother Liu?

She had been able to use someone else's child as a scapegoat and then abuse that child—she was naturally someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong, twisted inside.

Now, beaten by the whole family, resentment surged within her—

Why had she swapped the child? Because this family had driven her to it!

If they hadn't resented her for not bearing a son, if they hadn't tried to kill her own flesh and blood, would she have done such a heartless thing?

As for abusing Siyu...

She hadn't been without guilt, but every time she thought of how well her own daughter was living in the Han family, how Han's mother was cherished by the whole family even after giving birth to a girl, she went mad with jealousy.

Both were women, both had given birth to daughters—why was one in heaven and the other in hell?

She hated, she resented, and she took it all out on Siyu.

In abusing Siyu, she found relief, found an outlet for her twisted emotions.

But now the truth was out, and everything was ruined.

Mother Liu endured the blows, hearing her husband and in-laws curse her as "rotten bitch," "poisonous woman," "slut."

Even her son, born from her own womb after ten months of pregnancy and doted on since childhood, pointed at her and blamed her...

Mother Liu's darkness consumed her again.

She had come to this because of these people's pressure, and now that disaster had struck, the Liu family should die with her!

So.

When the government officers escorted Mother Liu and the midwife to the court.

Mother Liu knew there was no point in resisting, so she confessed to her crimes without hesitation.

But then she added another line:

"I admit my guilt. But as for the baby swap—my husband's family—knew—every—last—bit—of—it!"