Zhang Gousheng stood in a daze, not showing any particularly strong reaction.

In fact, he was completely bewildered.

Just two days ago, he had been cutting pig grass, washing clothes, and studying with the village teacher. His mother had stopped washing clothes since he was seven years old, and it had become his responsibility. The reason was that his mother had said she and his elder sister were women, and their bodies were too weak to wash clothes in the winter, as they might fall ill. So, she had sent him to do the laundry.

Of course, he only washed the outer garments.

He always went early to wash them because if he went late, the village aunts and sisters would arrive, and they would always tease him, saying things he couldn’t respond to, like asking if he would wash clothes for his future wife.

But before he could finish washing, his grandmother and father had rushed over, grabbed him without a word, and hurried him to the city. Along the way, they kept emphasizing that the Zhang family had raised him for so many years, and now it was time for him to repay their kindness.

How was he supposed to repay them?

It turned out they wanted him to die in place of the Wang family’s young master!

Of course, Zhang Gousheng was unwilling, but his father beat him, and his grandmother said that the Wang family was too powerful. If he refused, the entire Zhang family would be killed, and he wouldn’t be able to escape either.

So, he had no choice but to pretend to agree, planning to find an opportunity later to cry for justice or escape.

What happened next was strange.

First, Master Wang claimed that he was actually the Wang family’s child, that he had been switched at birth. Then, in the courtroom, his blood and Wang Fugui’s blood merged with Master Wang’s. His grandmother even said that she hadn’t switched the children back then…

Thinking of this, Zhang Gousheng glanced to his left, where the Wang couple stood.

Master Wang, still wearing yesterday’s clothes, looked at him with tears in his eyes, while Madam Wang, her hair disheveled, reached out to him with the support of her maid.

“My child, my child, you’ve suffered, you’ve suffered…”

Zhang Gousheng’s eyes welled up, and he quickly looked away to the other side.

On the other side, where the Zhang family stood.

Old lady Zhang was kowtowing to the county magistrate, her forehead bruised and purple, “Your Honor, Your Honor, please show mercy! Fugui is just a child, he didn’t mean to kill anyone, he didn’t mean to…”

Zhang’s father and mother were comforting Wang Fugui, holding him. One said, “Fugui, don’t worry, there must be a way, there must be a way to save you from death,” while the other said, “Fugui, Fugui, I’ve finally seen you, finally seen you. Call me ‘Mother,’ call me ‘Mother’…”

But Wang Fugui was ungrateful. He pushed them away fiercely.

“Get away, you old fools!”

“I am Wang Fugui, I am my father’s son, the young master of the Wang family. I’m not the spawn of you two old fools. Don’t you dare think you’re worthy of me!”

Shackled, he turned to Master Wang and reached out, “Father, save me, save me…”

Master Wang, snapped out of his thoughts, replied with a complicated expression, “…Fugui, you are not our child. You heard it just now. It was your biological grandmother, Nanny Zhang, who, in a moment of madness, switched the two children while I was away from home. You are the Zhang family’s child, not Wang Fugui, but Zhang Fugui.”

He paused, then continued, “I know you are innocent.”

Wang Fugui’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly shouted, “Yes, yes, I’m innocent! Father, save me! I’m not Wang Fugui, I’m Zhang Fugui. As long as you save me, I’ll call myself whatever you want!”

Master Wang: “…Fugui.”

He spoke with heartache, “If you hadn’t been so reckless, if you had only broken Old Liu’s leg, I would have begged on my knees to save you, even if it meant losing face, just because you’ve called me ‘Father’ for fifteen years.”

“But you killed someone. You killed someone!”

“You’ve violated the laws of the court. How can I save you? How could I?”

At this point, Zhang Gousheng averted his gaze.

Meanwhile, the murmurs of the onlookers reached his ears.

“So Wang Fugui really isn’t Master Wang’s biological son. I always wondered how such a good man like Master Wang, who donates to build bridges and roads every year, could have raised such a beast of a son.”

“Ugh, worse than a beast!”

“Even beasts know their parents. Look at him, he won’t even acknowledge his own parents.”

“Exactly, worse than a beast. His grandmother switched the children, his parents stayed silent, and they even mistreated Master Wang’s son. They’re rotten to the core.”

“Hey, my sister’s daughter’s godmother is from their village. I heard they made Master Wang’s son serve their family like a slave since he was a child, even washing their clothes.”

“Do you think the whole family is heartless?”

“Hah, it’s not just heartless, they’re downright evil!”

“It’s karma, all karma.”

…

Amid the chaos, Zhang Gousheng found himself strangely calm.

He didn’t look at Master Wang and his wife, nor did he look at Zhang’s mother, who, failing to get Wang Fugui to acknowledge her, started cursing him. He didn’t even glance at the mixed gazes of sympathy and envy behind him. Instead, he straightened his clothes and bowed to the person he now trusted the most—Magistrate Bao.

“Your Honor, this student has a question.”

Magistrate Bao, sympathetic to the unfortunate boy, signaled for silence and said, “Ask.”

Zhang Gousheng, nervous, asked, “Your Honor, earlier you said, ‘If they are father and son, their blood will merge in water,’ but then you also said, ‘Adding alum to water will cause the blood to merge, while adding clear oil will prevent it,’ and that ‘blood recognition and bone recognition are not always accurate.’ So, Your Honor, did you determine that I am Master Wang’s child just because the three members of the Zhang family protected Wang Fugui?”

“But what if I really am the Zhang family’s child?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd was stunned. Then someone whispered, “What a pitiful child. He’s afraid, afraid of being mistaken for someone else’s child again.”

“What a tragedy.”

“But is blood recognition really unreliable?”

“I heard that someone’s child was kidnapped, and they were reunited through blood recognition. Now Magistrate Bao says it’s not always accurate. Did they make a mistake? I should go talk to them about it.”

“No way, the child grew up looking just like him, like two peas in a pod.”

“But Zhang Gousheng doesn’t look like Master Wang!”

The crowd paused and took a closer look. Indeed, they didn’t look alike.

One was thin, the other fat. One had sharp features, the other a round face. No matter how you looked at it, they didn’t resemble each other.

The strange looks made Master Wang quickly explain, “He does, he does look like me. Gou—” He hesitated but didn’t say “Gousheng,” only adding, “Sheng’er looks like me when I was young.”

Madam Wang also nodded, “Yes, he looks like the master when he was young.”

But even so, some still whispered that they didn’t look alike. Maybe they had made another mistake. Hearing this, Master Wang’s face turned red. He secretly decided to stop eating meat and reduce his meals, determined to lose weight quickly so no one would say he and his long-lost son didn’t look alike.

Remembering that his son hadn’t yet called him “Father,” he quickly looked at Zhang Gousheng.

At that moment, Zhang Gousheng was waiting for an answer.

Magistrate Bao hadn’t expected him to ask such a question. After thinking for a moment, he replied, “I see that you speak clearly and with composure. Have you studied?”

Zhang Gousheng answered, “I studied with the village teacher.”

“Hmm, since you’ve studied, you should read the ‘Great Code’ of our dynasty.” Magistrate Bao said, “Judging a case requires evidence. We cannot rely on shortcuts.”

“I determined that you are the Wang family’s child based on evidence.”

“First, you and Wang Fugui were indeed born on the same year, month, and day, one earlier, one later. Although the midwife who delivered you has passed away, the one who delivered Wang Fugui is still alive. I sent someone to question her, and she said Wang Fugui has a mole on the sole of his foot. However, due to her old age and poor health, she couldn’t come here.”

“This is the witness.”

“Second, according to county records, around the time of your birth, the Zhang family sold several acres of land, while the midwife who delivered you gained several acres.”

“This is the physical evidence.”

“Third…”

Magistrate Bao slowly explained, and the crowd finally realized how much work the county office had done. They praised the magistrate for his wisdom, and no one dared to say that Master Wang and Zhang Gousheng didn’t look alike or weren’t father and son.

Finally, Magistrate Bao concluded.

“Judging a case requires evidence. Besides this, I will also have them explain everything clearly and sign their confessions. What’s true cannot be false, and what’s false cannot be true.”

Zhang Gousheng was convinced. “Thank you, Your Honor!”

Meanwhile, the Zhang family and Wang Fugui, having heard the conversation, knew there was no way out. They collapsed, their expressions a mix of despair, regret, and resentment.

In the end, Zhang Gousheng finally called his true parents.

As for the plaintiff in the murder case, Liu Hui, when she heard Magistrate Bao sentence Wang Fugui to immediate execution, tears fell from her eyes, and she kowtowed in gratitude.

Joy filled the air.

…

Having finished writing, Fu Wenyu put down his pen with satisfaction.

This script, Jiu Occupying Magpie’s Nest: The True and False Young Masters, had turned out longer than expected due to the addition of characters and plotlines, reaching 130,000 words.

But the word count wasn’t Fu Wenyu’s main concern. What pleased him was that the story was strong, with plenty of conflict and dramatic twists that would keep readers hooked, eagerly anticipating the next installment and desperate to read the conclusion in one go.

That was his goal!

With this in mind, Fu Wenyu smiled and pulled out the latter part of the manuscript, about 40,000 words, leaving the story at the “blood recognition” scene, where the blood of the three individuals merged.

He planned to submit the earlier parts to Kaiyuan Publishing House for serialization in the newspaper, while the latter part, the “grand finale,” would be printed as a book along with the earlier sections. This way, when the newspaper serialization sparked a wave of reader interest, the book would be ready for sale.

This would surely boost the script’s sales!

Just like readers who are willing to pay for “VVIP” accounts to watch web dramas or tip authors for extra chapters, there would always be some who wanted to know the ending early.

They would be the main force driving the script’s sales.

Fu Wenyu, with his wealth of experience, was confident in this.