The Shaoqing of Dali Temple and Gongsun Lei both opened their eyes wide.
They looked at He Tiantian in disbelief, trying to discern any clues from her face.
Incredible!
It's just incredible.
There is such thing as child exchange in folk legends.
But such a situation also occurs in the inner courtyard of a wealthy family's deep house, which is simply too challenging for people's cognition.
The young minister of Dali Temple originally thought that it was just a simple "prisoner exchange" incident, but unexpectedly it actually revealed a secret about a wealthy family.
Ahem, yes.
"Changing Prisoners"!
Staying in Dali Temple all year round, the young minister of Dali Temple saw many grudges, hatreds, evil spirits and monsters.
There are those who are high and powerful, and they are reduced to prisoners in one day. There are those who add insult to injury, and there are also those who give trouble when it is time.
Originally, the young minister of Dali Temple thought that Gongsun Lei was a "righteous man" who would sacrifice his own son for the sake of his savior's only remaining legitimate son.
Although such things are rare, they are not unheard of.
A few years ago, there was a loyal servant. When her master's family died, she directly replaced the only seedling of the master's family with her own son.
Later, the master's family made a comeback, and the young man directly regarded her as his benefactor and elder.
Even after the government heard about this loyal servant's righteous deeds, they also wrote a letter for her, asking for her seal.
Her deeds were also included in "The Legend of the Martyred Woman".
When I just heard that Gongsun Lei came to "cry out injustice", the young minister of Dali Temple was still thinking to himself: Oh, there is another righteous man who repays his kindness with kindness and courage?!
The Young Minister of Dali Temple never expected that he would hear such a bizarre but more humane story——
In fact, not only the young ministers of Dali Temple, but also ordinary people believe in "human beings are inherently evil" more than "human beings are inherently good".
Because that's the truth, selfishness is nature.
The reason why righteous men and loyal servants are praised and regarded as role models is mainly because they are rare, so they are extremely precious.
More people will still be selfish and greedy when faced with profit choices.
A hero who is willing to sacrifice his son for the sake of his benefactor, and a villain who is greedy for the wealth of his master and is willing to secretly exchange children.
The Shaoqing of Dali Temple even believed that Gongsun Lei was the latter.
Without him, this is the most consistent with human nature.
Another point is that adults can lie and make up stories for the sake of planning.
But children don’t.
The little boy kneeling in the hall looked like he was less than ten years old.
With a childish face and clear eyes, when faced with the questioning from an official like the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, although he was afraid, his eyes did not dodge.
Therefore, he should not lie!
The Shaoqing of Dali Temple has interrogated prisoners for more than ten years and is the best at observing their behavior.
He is quite confident in distinguishing whether the plaintiff and defendant are lying.
He Tiantian:......
Of course, in order to make you believe it, I believed the story I made up.
"Nonsense! You little brat, what are you talking about?"
Gongsun Lei finally came to his senses. If he hadn't been worried about being in the court of Dali Temple, he would have rushed to his son and whipped him severely.
He pointed at He Tiantian angrily and shouted loudly, "What are you greedy for wealth? I, my Gongsun Lei, have been deeply favored by the general. It's too late to repay the favor, so how can I -"
Before Gongsun Lei could finish speaking, He Tiantian asked lightly, "So, dad, I'm not Yu Yan?"
Ga!
Gongsun Lei was choked.
Just now, he told the young minister of Dali Temple that his son was Yu Yan, the eldest son of the Yong'an Marquis Mansion.
The words were still ringing in his ears. Even though he was thick-skinned and eager to refute what his unfortunate son had said, he couldn't say the word "no" at this moment.
Furthermore, why did he come to Dali Temple?
Isn't it just to save Yu Yan?
If he denies it at this moment, wouldn't the plan he and Madam Hou made come to nothing?
If he doesn't do it right, Dali Temple will punish him for deceiving the emperor and shielding the prisoners.
He is not from the Yu family, and there is no noble person in the palace to help him intercede.
If he is really convicted of deceiving the government, exile will be a light punishment, but a serious penalty will be the loss of his life.
"I, I...you, you..."
Gongsun Lei's mind was in confusion and he had no idea what to say.
He Tiantian said in a clear and coherent manner, "Dad, I know that the Hou Mansion is in trouble and the whole family will be sent to the northwest border town."
"You couldn't bear to let go of your biological son, so you had to tell the secret of that year."
"But you can't deliberately let me lie for the sake of your reputation."
"You want me to admit that I am Yu Yan, but you still don't allow me to tell the truth about that year. Isn't this going too far?"
The young minister of Dali Temple nodded, right? This is in line with ordinary people——
For the sake of wealth, he does not hesitate to exchange his sons.
The prince's family was convicted and his wealth was gone. Naturally, he had to rescue his own son.
"No! I-I didn't!"
No change!
I am the righteous and well-known Gongsun Daxia.
I didn’t change my son back then, and I have no regrets now!
Me, I just want to use my son to repay a favor and achieve my reputation as a hero. Why is it so difficult?
It was obviously planned before.
My son also made sense.
Why is it that in court, this guy is talking nonsense?
The key point was to pinch his lifeline at once, making him admit that it was not the case and denying it was not the case!
If he admits to exchanging children, then Gongsun Lei is an ungrateful, greedy, and capricious shameless villain.
If he denies the exchange of sons, then Gongsun Lei will be suspected of deceiving the government, or even deceiving the emperor. He will be exiled at the least, and beheaded at the worst.
...Troubled and entangled, Gongsun Lei was completely passive.
"You are bold and unruly, why don't you just recruit them from the ground?"
Seeing that Gongsun Lei looked defeated but still refused to confess, the young minister of Dali Temple also became angry.
He slapped the gavel hard and yelled loudly.
Gongsun Lei:......
I recruit?
What the hell is my special girl doing?!
Gongsun Lei was filled with sorrow, anger and depression.
The high spirits before entering Dali Temple disappeared instantly.
He looked at He Tiantian with a very unkind look: What a heartless little white-eyed wolf, how dare you talk such nonsense.
Directly putting him as a father into a quagmire that is difficult to escape!
[I really looked down on you in the past! You have the same virtues as that cunning bitch of yours!]
Gongsun Lei couldn't help but think of his first wife Zheng who died young.
This damn woman is almost dying of illness, yet she is still thinking about her family's money.
At that time, Gongsun Lei did not expect that Mrs. Zheng would be so cunning, and he did not pay attention to a sickly woman.
After he finished the funeral and married his stepmother, he discovered that all the family's belongings had been hidden by the Zheng family.
Those who sold them in shops and pawned gold and silver jewelry had all turned into silver notes and hid them secretly.
Gongsun Lei and his second wife knew exactly why Zheng did this.
It is nothing more than worrying that after her death, her husband will remarry.
And if you have a stepmother, you will have a stepfather. She hid most of the family's property and left it to her only son.
The step-mother has been treating Dalang harshly in the past few years, and Gongsun Lei knows it.
What's more, he secretly supported it.
Because he also wanted to force his son to see if he knew the whereabouts of the money and would obediently use it to supplement the family income.
As for the son, he was raised thin and weak by his stepmother, and was timid.
It doesn't look like he can obey his mother's words and hide a large amount of money.
Just when Gongsun Lei and his stepmother thought that Gongsun Li was a loser and were no longer wary of him, this wolf bastard actually bit him back!
【Wow! In the past, you have always deliberately acted like a coward.】
There was no need to ask whether this kid knew the whereabouts of the money. Just seeing how neatly he made up lies today, and how rigorously and logically he told them, you knew that this bastard was definitely not a kind person.
The more Gongsun Lei thought about it, the angrier he became, and his two rows of teeth chattered loudly.
Perhaps thanks to his first wife's magical skills, Gongsun Lei thought that his son was as cunning as his own mother, so he didn't think much of it at all.
For one thing, I don’t doubt that someone is instigating or inducing me behind my back;
Secondly, there was no doubt that his son had already had his core changed.
"Gongsun Lei, are you still unwilling to confess? Do you have to let me punish you?"
The young minister of Dali Temple was too lazy to tangle with a shameless troublemaker, and he didn't have the patience either.
With a strong slap on the gavel, the young minister of Dali Temple shouted loudly that he was going to be "served with great punishment".
"I, I'll do it!"
Gongsun Lei was so frightened that he trembled.
He doesn't want to be tortured once, oh oh, it will kill him.
In desperation, Gongsun Lei quickly made a choice between "reputation" and "life".
"...Back then, the villain really coveted the wealth of the Hou family, and secretly colluded with Cuixia, who was serving Mrs. Hou, oh, that is, the villain's current wife, Mrs. Zhou..."
After speaking the first sentence, Gongsun Lei completely gave up hope.
He simply broke the jar and made up a story in the shortest possible time.
In order to make his story sound reasonable and flawless, he also dragged his second wife, Zhou, into trouble.
He Tiantian raised her eyebrows, oh well, originally she was just thinking that Gongsun Lei's first wife was Mrs. Hou's eldest maid, and she had some connections in the Hou Mansion.
Even if you are married, you still have a certain path.
Furthermore, Zheng is already dead, and there is no evidence of his death, so He Tiantian can freely talk nonsense.
However, He Tiantian did not expect that Gongsun Lei could be called "shameless" if he was so "awesome".
Humph, in order to prevent himself from being beaten, he actually got his current wife involved.
What He Tiantian didn't expect was that Gongsun Lei's current wife was actually Mrs. Hou's maid.
...Tsk!
No wonder Gongsun Lei said that the Yu family was very kind to him, but it was not a kind thing. Giving him one wife was not enough, so he actually gave him another one!
It's a pity that Gongsun Lei is not the hero he advertises himself to be, but a complete villain.
No, for his own sake, he did not hesitate to follow He Tiantian's lies and fabricate a lie that could kill everyone in the Yu family——
Slandering the real prince into a fake civet cat has completely confused the bloodline of the Yu family.
Of course, He Tiantian knew that Gongsun Lei had probably made excuses for his selfishness and was taking chances:
Although I admitted the crime of "swapping", I still "rescued" Yu Yan.
When things calm down later, I will tell the real truth and let Yu Yan regain his identity.
Ahem, although it was different from the original plan, the purpose of saving people was finally achieved.
Furthermore, in the original plan, Gongsun Li was also prepared to replace Yu Yan.
They are both replacements and rescuers...the difference is not that big!
He Tiantian:...Humph! The difference is huge.
If you tell a lie once, you will break someone's trust.
Not to mention, Mrs. Hou was probably the one who made the original plan.
So of course she knew that Gongsun Lei's "lie" was a last resort.
But if Madam Hou knew about the "son exchange", Madam Hou would not only doubt Gongsun Lei, but also question Yu Yan's true identity.
As the saying goes, people who are inherently evil are more marketable than people who are inherently good, and are more in line with how ordinary people behave.
And Gongsun Lei is a selfish villain who is greedy for wealth and honor. He is more credible than Gongsun Lei, a hero who is righteous and willing to sacrifice!
Perhaps Mrs. Hou would not beat Gongsun Lei to death with a stick.
Even if it wasn't for Gongsun Lei, Mrs. Hou would still feel distressed and not let go of Yu Yan, the child she had raised for more than ten years.
However, no matter how Mrs. Hou decides, the matter of "swapping sons" will plant a seed of doubt in her heart.
And no matter how hard He Tiantian works at the right time, as time goes by, the fake will become real.
Many times, the truth is not important; the overall situation, interests, etc. are what matters most.
…
In the prison, all the female members of the Yu family looked haggard and huddled on the ground in a miserable state.
Yu Yan was still young and was taken care of by the palace. He was not held in solitary confinement, but stayed with his mother.
Snuggled next to Mrs. Hou, Yu Yan whispered, "Auntie, do you really want this?"
"This is not good. The eldest son of the Gongsun family is innocent after all!"
There was a little pity in Yu Yan's tone.
"Nothing bad!"
Mrs. Hou's face was pale and her body was thin, but she was in unusually good spirits.
A sharp light flashed in her eyes, and she said in a deep voice: "The Gongsun family has been greatly favored by our Yu family. Now that the Yu family is in trouble, the Gongsun family cannot stand idly by!"
"Besides, it's not like he's going to die. He's just being exiled in my son's place. What's the big deal!"
"...Not to mention he is a pariah, even I, your second aunt, third aunt, etc. are all going to the northwest border city."
"We are going, why can't Gongsun Dalang go?"
Yu Yan seemed to be convinced, or perhaps Mrs. Hou's words gave him an excuse.
He did not continue to talk about the unlucky guy who wanted to be exiled for him, but instead began to feel sorry for his mother, "Mom, I can't let you go!"
"Chengsi, I can't bear to leave you!"
When Mrs. Hou said this, her eyes were no longer sharp, but full of love and reluctance.
She stretched out her hand to rub her son's soft hair and whispered, "Son, after you follow Gongsun Lei out of the prison, you will go back to his hometown with him."
"My mother has made arrangements. The secret guards and troops your father left for you will also protect you secretly!"
"...You have to study hard and practice martial arts hard. Grandma is still waiting for you in the northwest to make achievements and revive the Yu family..."
Mrs. Hou spoke sincerely, with tears oozing from the corners of her eyes.
"Auntie! Don't worry, my child. My child will study hard, practice martial arts, and revive the Yu family as soon as possible."
Yu Yan also started crying. He was full of reluctance for his mother and confusion about the future.
As for the poor man who was going to be exiled in his place, he was thrown out of the sky...
