Under Fu Wenyu’s pen, Master Wang learned from the butler about the Zhang family’s child-swapping incident and was overjoyed.

On one hand, he was delighted that Zhang Gousheng was his biological son, sparing him the grief of burying his own child. On the other hand, he was relieved that Zhang Gousheng was his son and not Wang Fugui, who had dared to commit murder in broad daylight.

Master Wang harbored deep resentment toward Wang Fugui for his reckless act of killing someone. While his love for his son had initially suppressed his anger, even compelling him to plead for Wang Fugui’s case personally, the revelation of the truth caused his resentment to resurface. He immediately ordered the Zhang family members to be tied up, personally escorted them to the county office, and filed a report accusing Old lady Zhang of child-swapping, demanding the county magistrate deliver justice.

Magistrate Bao was dumbfounded.

A simple murder case had suddenly turned into a child-swapping case?

Fortunately, he had strong mental fortitude, and since the case involved Wang Fugui, he decided to first hear the child-swapping case before delving into Wang Fugui’s trial.

However, the process was not smooth.

The Wang family accused the Zhang family of child-swapping, but the Zhang family vehemently denied the allegations.

It seemed they had come prepared. Old lady Zhang steadfastly denied swapping the children, and even Father Zhang, who had previously confessed while drunk, denied on the court stand that Wang Fugui was part of the Zhang family. Both cried injustice. Even when subjected to torture, Old lady Zhang only admitted that she once entertained the idea of swapping the children but later felt scared and swapped them back.

Hence, Wang Fugui was still the biological son of Master Wang.

As for Father Zhang’s prior confession, given that he was drunk at the time, it could not be used as evidence. After all, the law required solid proof, and in their haste, Master Wang had not secured a signed confession from Father Zhang.

Even when Wang Fugui and Zhang Gousheng were summoned to court, the two were equally baffled.

Wang Fugui begged Master Wang, Madam Wang, and old lady Zhang to save him, while Zhang Gousheng, upon learning that he might not be Zhang’s biological son, showed a complex expression.

Finally, in desperation, Magistrate Bao proposed the method of “blood recognition.”

“Have you thought this through?”

“Blood ties cannot be changed. If you are father and son, your blood will mix. If not, then there is no paternal bond, and it cannot be forced.”

At that time, aside from physical resemblance, “blood recognition” was indeed a method used to determine paternity. Thus, Master Wang, filled with excitement, said, “I have thought it through. Thank you, Your Honor!”

He immediately took a dagger and, without hesitation, cut his finger, letting two drops of blood fall into a bowl. Then, he looked expectantly at Zhang Gousheng.

Zhang Gousheng hesitated before also dripping a drop of blood into the bowl.

Meanwhile, Wang Fugui, who was unwilling and kept shouting, “I’m the real Wang family son!” was forced by the bailiffs to cut his finger and drop his blood into the bowl while howling like a ghost.

Everyone watched anxiously.

Before long, everyone noticed that Zhang Gousheng’s blood indeed mixed with Master Wang’s! But before they could rejoice, they also saw that Wang Fugui’s blood seamlessly blended with Master Wang’s as well.

Everyone was stunned.

Earlier, Magistrate Bao had said that paternal bloodlines would mix in water.

In other words, if they were true father and son, their blood would mix in water, and this method could determine the true heir of the Wang family.

But why did the blood of all three mix together?

Could it be that Madam Wang had given birth to twins?

This thought crossed the minds of everyone present.

Madam Wang knew she had only given birth to one child. However, seeing this unexpected result, she was confused. She looked at Wang Fugui, whom she had loved dearly since childhood, and then at Zhang Gousheng, who now inexplicably felt familiar, and she couldn’t bear the silent torment any longer. Suddenly, she rushed forward, knelt before old lady Zhang, and cried out.

“Nanny, Nanny…”

“Nanny, I beg you, I’ll kowtow to you, just tell me the truth.”

“Who is my son? Who is my son…”

Old lady Zhang had been nervous during the blood test, but when she saw the blood of all three mix in the water, she couldn’t help but smile.

Now, hearing Madam Wang’s plea, she also knelt down, pretending to be sincere as she said to Madam Wang, “Madam, I swear everything I’ve said is true!”

She even raised her arm as if taking an oath. “If I’m lying, may I die a horrible death!”

“Master Fugui is truly your son!”

“I did consider swapping the children back then, but after a few days, I switched them back! Because the young master cried incessantly after being brought to our home. As his cries grew weaker, two of our chickens died, frightening my son and daughter-in-law. My daughter-in-law was so scared that she brought him back.”

“At the time, the old lady was ill, and you, Madam, were still recovering from childbirth and couldn’t get up, so you didn’t notice.”

“Master Fugui is truly your son!”

As if afraid Madam Wang wouldn’t believe her, old lady Zhang slapped her head and exclaimed, “Ah! Madam, do you remember? When Master Fugui was born, he had a red mole on the sole of his foot!”

“You saw it back then.”

“When Master Fugui was born, I hadn’t yet swapped the children. He was your real son, with a big red mole on his foot. You even said, ‘Why is it so red?'”

Yes, yes! Madam Wang, reminded of this, also remembered.

She quickly stood up, turned to Master Wang, and said excitedly, “Master, Master!”

“There was a red mole, I saw it with my own eyes!”

“When he was born, the midwife showed him to me. Our son indeed had a red mole on the sole of his foot, very red, as red as blood!”

So everyone hurriedly removed Wang Fugui and Zhang Gousheng’s shoes. They found that Zhang Gousheng’s foot was bare, while Wang Fugui’s foot indeed had a red mole. Although the mole wasn’t as vividly red as Madam Wang had described, it was clearly red, providing undeniable evidence.

“My son…”

Madam Wang immediately embraced Wang Fugui and wept.

So, Wang Fugui was her real son?

For a moment, Master Wang was bewildered, feeling an inexplicable emptiness in his heart. He looked at the frantic Wang Fugui, who was shouting, “I am Father’s son, Father, save me!” and then at Zhang Gousheng, who stood with clenched fists, watching the spectacle with a downcast expression. Tears suddenly streamed from Master Wang’s eyes.

…Who was his real son?

Just as Master Wang was despondent, the Zhang family was overjoyed, and the onlookers buzzed with discussion, Magistrate Bao slammed his gavel and said, “Silence!”

The bailiffs followed suit: “Order in the court!”

Once the crowd quieted down, Magistrate Bao declared, “Since the truth is now clear, and Wang Fugui is indeed the Wang family’s biological son, while Zhang Gousheng has no relation to the Wang family, I hereby rule that Master Wang has falsely accused the Zhang family. He is ordered to compensate the Zhang family with one hundred taels of silver.”

“Master Wang, do you accept this ruling?”

Master Wang, whose back had somehow hunched, looked utterly dejected. He bowed to the magistrate and said with a bitter smile, “This commoner accepts and will compensate the Zhang family. Th-thank you, Your Honor.”

The Zhang family, overjoyed, also said, “Thank you, Your Honor! Thank you, Your Honor!”

Magistrate Bao nodded.

Then he added, “Since this case is resolved and all parties are present, we might as well proceed with Wang Fugui’s trial today.”

As the evidence in this case was clear, with both the plaintiff and defendant present and Wang Fugui already in custody, Magistrate Bao handled the trial swiftly. Soon, he threw down a verdict slip: “Wang Fugui is guilty of murder, and the evidence is conclusive. He is sentenced to immediate execution! Zhang Gousheng, for attempting to take the blame for another, has violated imperial law and is sentenced to twenty lashes.”

“Carry out the sentences!”

Before anyone could react, two bailiffs stepped forward. One raised a large knife to behead Wang Fugui, while the other raised a paddle to strike Zhang Gousheng. At the same time, whether intentionally or not, the other bailiffs rushed forward to block the Wang family, leaving only the Zhang family free to move in the room.

The three members of the Zhang family—old lady Zhang, father Zhang, and mother Zhang—all turned pale and rushed toward Wang Fugui without hesitation.

Mother Zhang even screamed.

“Fugui—”

Then the scene froze.

Because the bailiffs did not kill or strike anyone. Instead, they grabbed the three Zhang family members and pinned them to the ground.

Everyone present, whether from the Wang family or among the onlookers, was startled by this turn of events. They chattered excitedly: “What’s going on? Why are they suddenly killing people?”

“What happened?”

“Why were the Zhang family arrested?”

…

At that moment, Magistrate Bao, seated above, smiled.

He explained, “Earlier, I said that paternal bloodlines would mix in water, and if they didn’t, they weren’t father and son. But in fact, that’s not always the case. Some fathers and sons’ blood doesn’t mix, but they are still father and son.”

“The Imperial Medical Academy once conducted experiments showing that adding alum to water causes blood to mix, while adding clear oil prevents it. Thus, so-called blood recognition or bone recognition methods are not always accurate.”

“Therefore, I arranged this little performance.”

His gaze fell on the stunned Zhang family members as he sternly said, “You, the Zhang family, must know the truth. When both children were in danger, who did you rush to save?”

“You all claimed that Zhang Gousheng was the Zhang family’s son, and Wang Fugui was the Wang family’s son. Old lady Zhang, your urgency to save Wang Fugui can be explained by your deep loyalty as a servant. But you two, who had barely met Wang Fugui, why did you rush to shield him from the blade?”

“Your real son was over there.”

“Confess now!”

Hearing this, the Zhang family’s expressions changed dramatically.

Indeed, over the past decade, the Zhang family might have repeatedly discussed such a scenario and prepared mentally for exposure. Apart from Zhang’s father’s drunken slip, they had shown no obvious flaws. But in the end, they couldn’t control their instinctive reactions.

When both Wang Fugui and Zhang Gousheng were in danger, they all rushed to Wang Fugui, not sparing a glance for Zhang Gousheng. Such behavior was undoubtedly abnormal.

Master Wang, now understanding, turned to the bewildered Zhang Gousheng, both laughing and crying.

“My son, you are my real son!”