Chapter 90: Exposure

Yes, Madame Zhu," Bai Yang said with a nod.

"Madame Zhu? So you finally believe me?" Ke Shaorong said as she rose.

"Open up! Open the door, Bai Yang. My wife is in there, isn't she? Come out at once!" Zhu Eldan banged hard on the door and shouted.

He had rushed over after hearing word from a fellow student.

"I'm leaving," Ke Shaorong said when she heard Zhu Eldan's voice, and opened the door.

"Get out here. Do you know what you're doing here?" Zhu Eldan seized her at once.

"I... I..." Ke Shaorong did not know what to say.

"What do you mean, 'I'? Come with me." Zhu Eldan dragged Ke Shaorong away in a fury from Bai Yang's Hall of Highest Benevolence.

When they reached Zhu Eldan's home, he flung off her hand angrily.

"Tell me, why did you go to Bai Yang's house?"

"I didn't do anything."

"Didn't do anything? You are a married woman and he is a bachelor. What else could you possibly have done? Speak the truth!"

Zhu Eldan roared like a volcano about to erupt.

"Only because Bai Yang thought I was his beloved, Xiaoman. I was worried he would be hurt, so I went to explain. It was that simple."

Ke Shaorong could only tell the truth.

"Very well. From this day on, you are not to step outside. Not one step beyond the threshold!"

Still unwilling to believe her, Zhu Eldan snapped furiously, then stormed out.

"Take the suspects, Zhu Eldan and Madam Zhu, into custody."

At that moment the constable came to the door, and four yamen officers moved in to restrain Zhu Eldan and Ke Shaorong.

"What are you doing?"

"What crime have we committed?"

"Hurry and let go. My wife is with child."

One after another, Zhu Eldan, Ke Shaorong, and Zhu Eldan's father protested.

"If you're arresting us, you should at least make yourselves clear. What crime have we committed?" Zhu Eldan demanded.

"Bai Yang has accused you of stealing a corpse's head," the constable said.

"Husband, what is the constable saying...?" Ke Shaorong asked in disbelief.

Hearing the constable's words, Zhu Eldan's expression changed. The secret of the exchanged heads had been exposed.

"There's no need for concern, Constable. Before we go to court, may I burn a stick of incense for my ancestors?" Zhu Eldan said, quickly regaining his composure.

The underworld.

"Things are getting messier by the moment. Who's going to help you carry this black pot?" Lord Judge Lu said, watching the flames of the netherworld and Zhu Eldan's plea for help.

In the courtroom.

Governor Zhang and Madame Zhang looked at Ke Shaorong with her head lowered, but no matter how they stared, they could not tell whether she was Zhang Xiaoman or not.

"I can't make it out," Governor Zhang murmured, signaling to the prefect.

"Madam Zhu, raise your head."

The prefect gave a subtle nod, seized the gavel, and struck the desk.

Only then did Ke Shaorong slowly lift her face. Zhu Eldan, meanwhile, glanced at Bai Yang.

"So alike."

"She must have taken our Xiaoman's head."

Governor Zhang and Madame Zhang were stunned by Ke Shaorong's features.

"Madam Zhu, did you and your husband Zhu Eldan conspire to steal the head of the deceased Zhang Xiaoman and graft it onto your own body?"

The prefect struck the desk with the gavel and asked.

"I... I... I truly do not know," Ke Shaorong said, lowering her head in fear.

"Your Honor, allow me to explain," Zhu Eldan interjected.

"Fine. Speak!"

the prefect barked.

"To answer Your Honor, the woman before you is not Zhu Eldan's lawful wife, Madam Zhu, but rather my concubine. Her surname is Jin, and her given name is Miao."

Zhu Eldan lied through his teeth, provoking an uproar from the crowd outside the courtroom.

"Silence! Silence! Silence!"

Seeing gossip beginning to spread, the prefect smashed the gavel hard against the desk.

"Then let me ask you this: why does this concubine of yours look exactly like Zhang Xiaoman?"

Bai Yang, furious that Zhu Eldan would brazenly lie, demanded.

"Ha! The world is vast. What strange things are not found in it? People resemble one another all the time; why should that be surprising?"

Zhu Eldan sneered.

"That is absolutely not mere resemblance. Madam Zhu told me herself today that she had become like this overnight. Madame Zhu, from what I can tell, you are a person of genuine sincerity as well. Please, tell the whole truth. Do not persist in error."

Bai Yang argued.

"Your Honor, I..."

"If she were not Madam Zhu, how could she have spoken with Young Master Bai in the first place?" Ke Shaorong said after a pause.

"Your Honor, there is a red ring of cracks around her neck. That is proof of the exchanged head. The flesh at her throat is split into two colors, proving that the head and neck do not belong to the same person."

Bai Yang was nearly beside himself.

"Come here! Pull down her scarf and verify it on the spot!"

The prefect hammered the desk with the gavel.

At once, two officers stepped forward and pulled at Ke Shaorong as she struggled.

"To answer Your Honor, there is no crack as Bai Yang described," the officer reported with a fist salute, then returned to his place.

Zhu Eldan turned his head and saw Lord Judge Lu. With a raised sword finger, he channeled yin energy and concealed the crack on Ke Shaorong's neck, then vanished.

Outside the courtroom, Chen Yuanwen watched the proceedings with great interest.

Ke Shaorong touched her own neck and, indeed, felt no trace of any crack.

Zhu Eldan sneered. The matter was over just like that.

"Bai Yang, you certainly know how to make a scene in court," the prefect scolded.

"No! This commoner saw it with his own eyes before. How could it possibly be gone?" Bai Yang cried, rising to his feet and trying to inspect Ke Shaorong, only to be held back by the two officers beside him.

"Bai Yang, behave yourself. This is a magistrate's office!" the prefect snapped again.

"I want Xiaoman's head!" Bai Yang struggled against the officers, crying out.

"Your Honor, in my humble opinion, Bai Yang has gone mad from longing for his wife. In truth, he is quite pitiful," Zhu Eldan said at once.

"No, I am not pitiful. Everything I say is true. Zhu Eldan, Madam Zhu, you know it in your hearts. If you continue like this, nothing good will come of it. You will reap your due punishment."

Bai Yang shouted in rage.

"Bold Bai Yang! First you wildly beat the grievance drum, then you slander Zhu Eldan. Considering your devotion to your betrothed and the confusion of your thoughts, I shall not pursue these two offenses. Go home and reflect on your conduct."

The prefect slammed the gavel down in anger.

"Court dismissed!"

He struck the gavel once more.

"Your Honor, please wait. Bai Yang may indeed be pitiable, but you must also consider the safety of others. Today he failed in his scheme; another day he may well kill someone. In my humble view, he ought to be locked up. Only then will Your Honor's wisdom truly shine."

Zhu Eldan stopped the prefect as he was about to leave and cupped his hands in salute.

The prefect glanced at Governor Zhang, who said nothing.

"Zhu Eldan makes a fair point," the prefect said after a moment's thought.

"Your Honor, please stop."

Chen Yuanwen hurried forward and had the two officers release Bai Yang, then held Bai Yang back himself.

"Who are you?" the prefect asked, looking at Chen Yuanwen.

"I am the student Chen Yuanwen. I believe Bai Yang only needs to apologize to Zhu Eldan and Madam Zhu, and pay ten taels of silver. Let the matter end there."

"Brother Bai, now that Zhu Eldan has Lord Judge Lu backing him, go back first. Once my cousin returns, we will make them pay. And your father is ill in bed now; he cannot endure any more turmoil."

Chen Yuanwen bent close to Bai Yang and spoke softly, and only then did Bai Yang calm down.

"Zhu Eldan, what do you think?" the prefect asked. He already knew Chen Yuanwen's identity, and whether to settle the matter was now for Zhu Eldan to decide.

"Very well," Zhu Eldan said darkly, unwilling to offend Li Xintian for the sake of his cousin Chen Yuanwen's help.

"Then court is dismissed!" The prefect struck the gavel and declared it so.

"At the hearing, was what Bai Yang said true? Is that really not Xiaoman's head? Did you or did you not switch heads? Why did you brazenly lie?" Ke Shaorong demanded of Zhu Eldan once they returned home. The crack on her neck appeared again the moment she got home.

"Ah Dan, stop pretending to be deaf and mute. Speak up," Zhu Eldan's father urged as well, desperate to know the truth.

"Then I shall tell you. The reason Ke Shaorong bears Zhang Xiaoman's head and face is because of... fate," Zhu Eldan said with a cold smile. In truth, his thoughts were already on having Lord Judge Lu kill Bai Yang, along with anyone who stood against him.

"So you finally admit it. You used sorcery to change my head. You're going too far. You never even asked my consent!"

Ke Shaorong shouted angrily, flinging her sleeves.

"Shut up. If it weren't for me, Zhu Eldan, becoming clever, you would still be as hideously ugly as ever today."

"And you too. If it weren't for me becoming clever, you would still be clutching your useless son to your chest and wailing over him."

After rebuking Ke Shaorong, Zhu Eldan turned on his own father, patting his chest as he spoke.

"Father, I truly do not want to live anymore. Look at your son—he has become a heartless wretch who values beauty over loyalty!"

Ke Shaorong could no longer bear Zhu Eldan's words.

"What man in this world does not desire beauty? Only fools and penniless men can endure an ugly wife!"

Zhu Eldan said with a twisted face.

"You are no longer the husband I once knew. Did that Lord Judge Lu turn you into this?" Ke Shaorong asked, pointing at the statue of Lord Judge Lu.

"I would rather have a useless son," Zhu Eldan's father added.

"He has become utterly heartless, and now leaves no path to life for anyone," Ke Shaorong went on.

"Tsk, tsk. What's wrong with you two? No matter what, we're still family. Sugarcane has only one sweet end. Right now we're biting the sweet end, so don't go stirring up trouble with outsiders!"

Zhu Eldan laughed coldly.

"Then you should not have wrongfully accused Bai Yang and tried to have him imprisoned."

"Wrongfully accuse Bai Yang? Then should the two of us be the ones in prison? And add your unborn child too, so the whole family is locked up together? I see. You miss him, don't you?"

"I just don't want him to be wronged!"

"Then do you want me to go to prison?"

"If I had wanted you in prison, I would not have lied for you in court."

"You were the one who said I took you as a concubine; you were the one who wanted to help me cover up the lie, weren't you?"

"You... shut up. If you still take me for your father, then apologize to Shaorong at once."

Even Zhu Eldan's father could not bear it any longer and roared at him.

"Father, I was not wrong."

After calling out to his father, Zhu Eldan burst into wild laughter.

"Fine. I have nothing more to say. I can no longer stay in this house. I am leaving!"

Ke Shaorong turned to go.

"You cannot leave."

Zhu Eldan grabbed her.

"With your intelligence now, finding a great beauty to be your wife should not be difficult."

Ke Shaorong did not look back.

"What you say is true. But now you are carrying my flesh and blood. You cannot simply leave whenever you please."

Zhu Eldan turned her around.

"You can't stop me!"

"Ha! I dare to exchange even your head, let alone take everything else from you. Be good and obey me, and bear the child. When the time comes, if you still wish to leave, I will let you go."

Seeing Ke Shaorong tremble with rage all over, Zhu Eldan laughed madly and walked away.

"Father!"

Ke Shaorong looked at Zhu Eldan's father and began to cry.