TGCFNM -Chapter 190 The Person Reporting the Case Is Mrs. Si

When Chu Ling went to meet the person who had reported the case, the lady was sitting upright in her chair, accompanied only by an older woman.

“Sir, you’ve arrived,” the woman said, helping her lady to stand, and bowed slightly to Chu Ling in respect.

Chu Ling nodded slightly and, curious, examined the exquisitely dressed lady before him. She asked, “Are you the one reporting the case?”

The lady nodded and introduced herself: “My surname is Cheng, given name Yunshu. I am now Mrs. Si, married to the eldest son of the main branch of the Si family, Si Qing. I have a son and a daughter—my son is twelve, and my daughter just turned ten.”

Chu Ling scrutinized her once more and said, “It’s hard to tell that you’ve given birth to two children; you still look very young.”

“Perhaps I married rather early,” Cheng Yunshu said with a bitter smile.

Chu Ling gestured for her to sit and asked, “Mrs. Si, as a member of the Si family, is there anything that the Si family cannot handle?”

Cheng Yunshu nodded heavily. “Exactly. That is why I have come to seek your help.”

Chu Ling raised a hand. “Please, speak.”

Cheng Yunshu took a deep breath, tears welling in her eyes. “I want you to investigate my father’s case. Even after thirteen years, I still want to understand why my father suddenly died.”

Chu Ling narrowed her eyes at her. “You have suspicions, don’t you? And thirteen years ago… your son is twelve this year…” According to the pregnancy timeline, her father must have just passed away when she became pregnant.

Cheng Yunshu closed her eyes, letting tears slide down her cheeks. “Yes, I have my suspicions, because I was forced into pregnancy and then married into the Si family. My father died of anger and worry, and fearing that I would be mistreated in the Si household, he left all his estate to me as my dowry.”

“But over all these years, much of my dowry has been schemed away. There’s little left now, and their supervision of me has relaxed. That is why I have come today to report the case and uncover the truth of my father’s death. I am willing to give you all the remaining dowry I have.”

Chu Ling listened in disbelief. This was basically another form of absolute exploitation.

“Since you were forced back then, why did you still marry him?” Chu Ling asked sincerely.

Cheng Yunshu gave a bitter smile. “Sir, I already had a relationship with him. If I hadn’t married him, what else could I do?”

“What? Do you have a rule in Dongle City that a woman wronged by a brute must marry him, or else be thrown into the pig cage?” Chu Ling countered sharply.

Cheng Yunshu froze, but the older woman beside her spoke up: “Sir, I am her nanny. Perhaps you don’t know, but back then the incident caused a huge stir. The young lady had no choice in the matter.”

“Nanny Wang,” Cheng Yunshu grabbed her nanny’s hand, breaking down in tears.

She still remembered every scene clearly. Every time she recalled it, she felt disgusted, yet she dared not resist. She feared being gossiped about, and even more, feared that her children would hate her for this stain.

Chu Ling’s expression darkened. “The stir was clearly orchestrated by the Si family. They targeted you to seize your Cheng family wealth. Your father probably had only one daughter, which is why you were singled out.”

“Rumors are terrifying. I understand why you made your choice back then, but I cannot approve. You’ve been in the Si household for over a decade. If only you had given that brute husband some poison and ended it, it would have been better than sitting here crying, weak and easily bullied.”

Cheng Yunshu paused her crying and whispered, “After all, he is the father of my children…”

“Do the children know that their father is a scoundrel?” Chu Ling asked.

Cheng Yunshu pressed her lips tightly, unsure how to answer.

Even the wet nurse, Nanny Wang, was taken aback, glancing at Chu Ling several times, yet inwardly thinking that what the official said made sense.

Cheng Yunshu clenched her handkerchief and said, “Sir, the rumors truly overwhelmed me, and they promised to take me in as a legitimate wife, so…”

“So you were clinging to a hopeful delusion,” Chu Ling said, folding her arms and looking at her with a ‘you’re hopeless’ expression. “Why would you believe that a man who deliberately set you up would suddenly behave better after marriage? Haven’t you heard the saying: ‘A tiger’s nature cannot be changed’?”

Cheng Yunshu fell completely silent this time.

Chu Ling frowned, exhaling, and continued questioning about the case: “When your father died, were you by his side? Was there anyone around who could serve as a witness?”

Cheng Yunshu shook her head. “I had fallen and lost consciousness. When I woke up, I learned my father had passed away. All the servants of the Cheng household had taken money and fled. It was he—he, the Si family—who arranged my father’s descendants and handed the Cheng family estate into my hands.”

Chu Ling felt her chest tighten with anger. “That was your family’s money to begin with! If he didn’t give it to you, did he think he could steal it? People who care about a woman’s dowry are just useless trash!”

Nanny Wang couldn’t help but speak: “Sir, you are right. The master treated the household servants well, so I don’t believe for a word that they took the money and ran. But sir, now it’s only Miss and me—how could we possibly confront the Si family?”

Chu Ling suddenly turned to Nanny Wang: “Has that Si Qing recently set his sights on a new target—a new lover?”

Nanny Wang nodded in shock. “How did you know, sir? The eldest young master wanted to take that person as a secondary wife, but Miss didn’t agree.”

Cheng Yunshu trembled with anger. “I absolutely will not agree! I will never let a courtesan stand on equal footing with me. How would outsiders view my children then?”

Chu Ling asked, puzzled, “You could get a divorce, right?”

Cheng Yunshu retorted, “Sir, I have children. How could I divorce? And how would outsiders view them?”

Chu Ling pinched her forehead, frowning as she continued, “Your husband takes a courtesan as a secondary wife without considering your children—so what do you need to worry about? Moreover, if your father’s death truly has something to do with your husband, what will you do then?”

Cheng Yunshu froze in place, silent for a long moment.

Just when Chu Ling thought Cheng Yunshu was about to give up investigating, she said firmly, “Please, sir, investigate the case. If the murderer truly is the Si family, I will make them pay!”

Chu Ling finally exhaled in relief. Good—there was still hope.

“I need to know how you and Si Qing first met, how you were harmed, whether there was anything unusual before your father’s death, and to locate the old Cheng family servants. We need both witness testimony and physical evidence. Also, where your father was buried—I need to conduct a post-mortem.”

Nanny Wang couldn’t help but ask, “Sir, if the old servants come to testify, what if the Si family harms them?”

“Your Miss is the daughter of the Cheng family. The old servants come because they trust her. If they are harmed, it will be because your Miss is incompetent, and in the future no one from the Cheng family will help her,” Chu Ling said directly to Cheng Yunshu.

Cheng Yunshu stood up. “Sir, rest assured. After all these years, I am not entirely helpless.”