What the astute old lady could guess, how could she not?
"Meng'er, your mother passed away early. I cherished her as my only sister. I couldn't bear to see you alone in the Fu mansion, so I brought you here. Whatever my children have, you will surely have. Even if they don't have something that you do, thinking of your pitiable state, losing your mother at such a young age, who else would treat you better if not me?" The old lady's voice grew sad as she recalled her sister's untimely death.
She continued, "For the sake of raising you all these years, tell me honestly, how did my eldest and second grandsons die?"
"Aunt, you jest. I haven't returned to the mansion in years and don't even know who the younger generation is. You must have the wrong person," Fu Meng replied with a smile.
"What is done in the dark will come to light. Since you refuse to admit it, you will stay with us for a few more days. Once I have investigated thoroughly, I will let you go." Without giving her a chance to explain, the old lady had her taken away and placed under guard day and night.
After some thought, she went to her daughter's home. When she saw the child, she thought she was looking at her long-deceased daughter-in-law. What else could she not understand?
Recalling the news the steward had gathered from the neighbors, this child was diligent and kind since childhood, yet Fu Meng treated her with beatings and scoldings, giving her the most work and the least food.
That was not all. At marriageable age, she was married off to such a man. She heard that the girl had begged and cried in despair, but Fu Meng was heartless. The old lady's heart ached thinking of her suffering. As the only daughter of the Li family, she should have been pampered and cherished, but she had become this way.
Her eyes were vacant. Though not yet thirty, she looked as old as forty or fifty. The clothes, already too large for her, hung on her like stolen garments, empty and hollow.
The old lady could not bear to look any further and left the matter to Li Quan to handle.
Returning to the mansion, she was furious. She sought out the midwife who had delivered her daughter-in-law's baby. The midwife, over sixty and in poor health, was nearing her end. Decades had passed, and no one had investigated. She thought the matter would fade away with her death. Now that people from the Li mansion had come, she deeply regretted it. Her own death was of no consequence, but what if the Li family harmed her young grandchildren?
"May I ask why the old lady seeks out this old woman?" Despite her fear, the midwife tried to remain calm.
"Do not feign ignorance. My two grandsons died with your assistance in their cruelty. Our Li family almost became heirless. I will settle this score with you. Whether you admit it or not today, you will taste my heart-wrenching pain." Old Madam Li hated the old woman before her. If her health were not so poor that she couldn't endure hardship, she would have had her beaten severely to vent her anger.
"How can the old lady harm an innocent person?" The midwife was truly frightened. They were just ordinary townspeople, facing the formidable Li mansion, like striking a stone with an egg.
"Harm an innocent? Were my grandsons not innocent? If you confess now, perhaps I can be lenient. But once I have investigated myself, you know the consequences without me having to say them." Old Madam Li no longer cared about her image, resorting to overt threats. Thinking of her unfortunate grandchildren, she felt these people deserved their fate.
"I will speak, I will speak. I beg the old lady to spare my family. They truly knew nothing of this." The midwife got up from the ground and trembled as she kowtowed to the old lady, begging for mercy.
"This matter goes back thirty years. At that time, I had only recently arrived in the city and had no fixed abode. I wanted to settle down. Fortunately, my midwifery skills were decent enough to support my family, but buying property in the city was incredibly difficult. It was then that I met a girl with a bulging belly. She wove a very tragic tale for me." The midwife paused here. At the time, she knew the story might be embellished, but she was moved. Ignoring the truth or falsehood of the tale, she agreed to help.
She continued, "She told me that she and the young master of the Li mansion were deeply in love, childhood sweethearts. But her family's fortunes had declined, and the Li family disdained her family background, wanting someone of equal standing. Now she was pregnant and couldn't enter the Li mansion. The young mistress of the Li mansion was a shrew, and the child would surely die if born. She asked me to help her switch the child. When the matter was revealed, out of gratitude for her years of upbringing, the young mistress would surely spare the child, thus saving its life." The midwife's recollection of the woman's heartbroken demeanor was still vivid.
"You likely received benefits as well, didn't you?" The old lady looked at her sharply.
"Yes, she gave me five hundred taels of silver," the midwife replied uncomfortably.
The old lady ordered Fu Meng to be brought in. The moment Fu Meng saw the midwife, she knew the truth had been exposed.
"At this point, do you still refuse to admit it? She has told me everything. The second young master of the mansion is your child. Under your tutelage, he harbored a hostile attitude towards us, which is why he turned the mansion upside down, just like your temperament back then." Old Madam Li was filled with regret. She should have realized earlier that with her personality, she wouldn't have committed self-immolation. Su Dan Novel Network.
"If only you had fulfilled my wish back then, none of this would have happened. Alas, my son died without a complete corpse." Fu Meng, thinking of her son who died prematurely, couldn't help but shed tears, despite her cruel nature.
"But your cousin did not love you. He only saw you as a sister. If I am not mistaken, you used some means to have the second child, didn't you? Otherwise, knowing my son, he would have been unwilling to have any connection with you, nor would he have wanted this child to be born," the old lady stated with certainty.
Speaking of this, Fu Meng felt as if her heart were being gouged out. She had been so good to him, yet he pretended not to see, even threatening to die, and he never turned back. In a fit of anger, she set herself on fire to fake her death, hoping to see if he would grieve after her departure. The result disappointed her.
Later, unwilling to accept it, she appeared before him of her own accord, wanting to talk. She drugged his soup, and thus their son was conceived. Even then, he wouldn't spare her a second glance, only giving her some money and telling her to live well.
After switching the children, she began to contact the child within a few years, distorting the facts, bribing servants in the Li mansion, and drugging the third one. By chance, she also learned of Liu Qianhe's identity. Who knew the eldest, being shrewd, saw through the scheme. She wanted to strike first by having a snake bite him. Little did she expect that even in death, he was not at peace and had made arrangements long ago.
As for her daughter, sometimes she wondered, if only she were her own child, how filial and obedient she would be. But seeing her increasingly resemble that woman's face, she couldn't feel close to her. Sometimes, seeing her weep uncontrollably, she even felt a sense of pleasure.