Chapter 65: Chapter 65: An Old and Dusty Affair

Xiao Chun returned to the eatery, still fuming with indignation.

"Miss, is there really no other way to handle this?" Xiao Chun knew she wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but her Miss was different!

In Xiao Chun’s eyes, her Miss was an incredibly capable person. It was her Miss who had helped come up with a plan for Yao Niang to divorce the eldest son of the Chai Family.

No one else possessed her Miss’s kind of ability!

Shi Mingyue had also been by Ming Lingyi’s side and had heard what Aunt Gui and the others said. She remained silent.

’It’s just too difficult for commoners to fight against officials.’

When her family was ruined, it hadn’t actually reached the point where she had to sell herself to pay for her father’s burial. Unfortunately, only she and her younger sister were left. A powerful member of the gentry had coveted her family’s escort agency residence. That man had a rather good relationship with an official, and with silver coins changing hands, her family’s home was inexplicably confiscated. When she went to the government office to argue her case, she was beaten black and blue and thrown out.

Ming Lingyi said, "It is difficult, but not entirely without a solution."

The moment she spoke, both Xiao Chun and Shi Mingyue looked up at her in unison.

"If Landlord Liu and his ’distant cousin’ had been together long before, hiding their affair from Lady Wu, then this cousin must have been his mistress, kept in a separate residence."

Most people, when trying to determine if a child is illegitimate, immediately want to use a blood test to prove kinship.

But the practice of ’kinship verification by blood’ was proven unreliable years ago.

Ming Lingyi believed that everything a person does leaves a trail; it’s just a matter of finding it.

"If she was kept as a mistress, there must have been neighbors around. I heard Granny Wang’s daughter was married into the Liu Family for about five or six years, and when the ’heir’ was brought back, he was already four or five. That means for all those years, that man Liu was having an affair and keeping a mistress on the side. It’s impossible that no one noticed over such a long period. Therefore, instead of focusing on the blood-tie between the boy and Liu, it would be better to start with the current Madam Liu. We should find someone to investigate where she lived before entering the Liu Mansion, who she associated with, and also track down the midwife from that time. Once we do that, the truth will be plain to see."

After Ming Lingyi finished speaking, Shi Mingyue couldn’t help but ask, "But wouldn’t that be very difficult to uncover?"

"The Liu Mansion has plenty of servants. It’s always possible to get some information from them," Ming Lingyi said.

"But we don’t know anyone from the Liu Mansion," Xiao Chun said with a frown. "We wouldn’t even know who to ask."

’In the past, if I wanted to know something, I only needed to give the order, and someone would naturally take care of it for me.’

In truth, she had no reason to get involved in this old affair of Granny Wang’s family. Even Granny Wang herself had never breathed a word of her past sorrows to her.

But Ming Lingyi recalled what Aunt Gui had whispered to her on the way back. "Miss Ming, don’t think Old Aunt Wang dislikes you for opening an eatery next to her tailor shop. That’s just her way. She actually can’t bear to see a young woman like you working so hard out here. Years ago, our Wu Niang was famously capable around these parts. She could do absolutely anything; one look and you knew she was competent and hardworking."

"Back then, many suitors came to Aunt Wang’s house to propose. Wu Niang’s reputation for being a virtuous and capable wife spread far and wide; all the neighbors knew about it. Aunt Wang was so proud, and she arranged the marriage to the Liu Family. After the wedding, even the Liu Family said Wu Niang knew how to run a household. She took such good care of her parents-in-law and her husband that they lived in complete comfort. But what was the result for someone like her? Not two years after she married into that family, she fell ill. And do you know how? She was worked to death..."

"When a girl works at her own home, her parents might see it and feel for her, telling her to take a break. But when she marries into her husband’s family, and they find they have such a capable daughter-in-law, won’t they just work her like a beast of burden? They’d want to wring out every last drop of her value."

"If you ask me, Wu Niang’s illness and her untimely death were all caused by her being *too* capable. After she joined the Liu Family, they dismissed their hired hands, their kitchen maids, and their laundry women. Wu Niang did all of that work by herself. Aunt Wang eventually figured it out and was overcome with regret. For a while after that, whenever she saw us neighbors—especially those with daughters—she couldn’t help but lecture us, saying things like, ’Don’t raise your girls to be too skilled; a lazy wife is perfectly fine.’ Sigh, I practically hid from her whenever I saw her coming during that period!"

Hearing this, Ming Lingyi finally understood. She now knew why Granny Wang had been so cold and sharp with her when she first moved in and learned she was opening a business—an eatery, the most exhausting kind of all.

Her feelings were complicated.

’No wonder it’s often said, "The difficulty in persuasion lies not in the speaking, but in knowing the heart of the listener."’

Granny Wang’s attempts to dissuade her stemmed from her own painful experience; she didn’t want a young woman who had just arrived to suffer the same fate as her own daughter.

At the very least, she hadn’t been acting out of disdain for her. That alone was enough to content Ming Lingyi.

She and Granny Wang were merely strangers who had met by chance, becoming neighbors by a twist of fate. To Granny Wang, she was a nobody. For the old woman to risk being seen as a nuisance just to dissuade her from opening the eatery—that could be seen as a form of kindness in itself.

And the kindness of a stranger was a rare thing in this world.

Even if that sincerity was buried beneath words that were hard to comprehend.

"It’s not as difficult as you think," Ming Lingyi said suddenly.

’In the past, having people do my bidding was a matter of authority. But in this world, besides the powerful, there are countless ordinary folk. I used to have authority, but now, people themselves are also a precious resource.’

Ming Lingyi continued, "Huaide Fang is full of neighbors. If everyone asks around a little, there’s strength in numbers. We’re bound to find out something."

’Information in this world works like that. The elite have their methods, and the common people have their own channels.’

Xiao Chun’s eyes lit up. "That’s right! The Liu Mansion has to employ servants, and the ones who go out to run errands are bound to let a word or two slip. The current Madam Liu must have friends and relatives, too. If we’re determined to find out, we can piece together all the little scraps of information."

Ming Lingyi smiled. "Precisely."

They didn’t even need to go out of their way to ask the neighbors to gather information. Since Xiao Chun went to the medical clinic every day to deliver meals, she could just mention it in passing. The news would naturally spread from person to person.

Ming Lingyi had originally thought it would take about ten days to get any results. To her surprise, she had an answer just two days later.

It turned out that Landlord Liu had installed his "distant cousin" in a residence on Xinghua Alley. The area was known for its unlicensed brothels, and the people who frequented it were a motley crew from all walks of life. Hiding her there among such a chaotic crowd was actually quite clever.

The population there was highly transient, so very few people would have paid any mind to the courtyard of Landlord Liu’s supposed cousin.