尾行3通关图片

Chapter 65: Revealing the Truth

Mrs. Wang was indeed lying in her room resting, just as Han Lin had said, but it wasn’t because she was feeling physically unwell, rather, she was emotionally distressed, feeling guilty and nervous, afraid that others might suspect her, so she simply hid in her room.

Mrs. Wang was also feeling stifled. Hurting her mother-in-law wasn’t her intention at all. She had carefully planned everything. At that time, no one was home, and once her elder brother took the items and left, everyone would assume a thief had broken into the home. No one would suspect him, and even if they did, there would be no evidence to hold against her brother.

Little did she know that things would take such an unexpected turn. Her mother-in-law had suddenly returned home at that exact time. She was caught off-guard by the ensuing chaos, and in a moment of panic, her brother accidentally knocked their mother-in-law down. Watching the fresh blood streaming down her mother-in-law’s forehead, Mrs. Wang was so frightened she nearly passed out and hurriedly ran to call for help.

“How is it? Mother isn’t seriously hurt, is she? I heard it was the Fourth child who came back, right? What did he say when he found out?” As soon as Han Lin returned to the room, Mrs. Wang couldn’t wait to ask. She wasn’t truly concerned about Mrs. Yang’s well-being; she only hoped that Mrs. Yang was fine so that the matter could be dropped, lessening the guilt she felt inside. After all, Mrs. Yang was Han Lin’s birth mother.

Han Lin didn’t fully understand his wife just yet, but seeing Mrs. Wang acting this way made him even more certain that she was involved in the incident. Otherwise, she might have been sitting back and enjoying the turmoil rather than behaving with such affectation. He felt a mixture of irritation and unease.

“Mother’s injuries aren’t serious. The Fourth child brought back a doctor from the county town, who prescribed a few remedies. She just needs to rest and recover. Wife, this incident is quite strange, though. How does the thief know so much about our household, choosing that exact moment? You were at home at the time, did you really not hear anything? This situation wouldn’t be related to you as the Fourth child suggested, would it?”

“Han Lin, what nonsense are you spouting? How could it be related to me? The Fourth son and his wife are up to no good, you can’t listen to his nonsense. His wife has always been against me, it’s only natural that he would target me,” Mrs. Wang tried to remain calm, keeping her composure without revealing anything, although she did feel somewhat guilty towards Han Lin. He had always been good to her, but she genuinely didn’t do it on purpose, and she couldn’t tell the truth.

“It’s good if it has nothing to do with you. The Fourth daughter-in-law has come back as well. She’s proposed reporting the matter to the authorities, letting the government track down the thief. Father and the others have agreed. I was worried that you were involved, so I argued with them and tried to prevent it from happening. But since you say it’s not related, I won’t get involved anymore. After all, it’s not our concern, and the Fourth daughter-in-law will bear any expenses,” Han Lin said, revealing the plan to report to the authorities partly to see how Mrs. Wang would react.

“What did you say? Have they gone mad? They’re actually reporting this to the

authorities? Don’t they know what kind of place that is? It’s not somewhere that we commoners should be going to. And besides, Mother is alright now, the thief didn’t even steal anything. There’s no need to make such a big deal out of this,” Mrs. Wang had never expected the Han family would go to the authorities. The thief was her own elder brother. The government could be harsh, and if they discovered the truth, it could mean prison. The more she spoke, the more agitated she got.

“If you say it has nothing to do with you, then it is as it is. Anyway, if the authorities demand silver for bribes, the Fourth daughter-in-law said she’d pay it. It’s none of our business. We just have to watch,” Han Lin said, his expression growing cold.

Only then did Mrs. Wang sense that the situation was becoming dire. Regardless, Mrs. Yang was still Han Lin’s birth mother. If she disclosed the truth, she didn’t know what Han Lin would think. But if she kept silent and the matter escalated to the involvement of the government, things could be much worse. Either way, it was a dilemma. Mrs. Wang’s forehead started to sweat with anxiety.

Seeing her like this, Han Lin could hardly fail to see the truth, although he was angry. There was also the matter of the baby Mrs. Wang was carrying, “Aren’t you going to tell me the truth? Don’t think I don’t know it’s about your brother. You’ve been scheming about how to meddle with the Fourth daughter-in-law’s dowry. Now trouble has come. If you don’t speak up, I’m really going to stop meddling.”

With no other option left, Mrs. Wang knew she had to confess, relying on Han Lin to devise a solution, “Don’t be like that, Husband. I’ll tell you. This indeed has something to do with me, but I truly never intended for Mother to get hurt. It wasn’t on purpose. Actually, it was my brother who went into the Fourth house that day. Suddenly, Mother came back, and my brother, afraid of being caught, accidentally knocked Mother over. It really wasn’t deliberate.”

“Mrs. Wang, do you even regard me as your husband? I let it slide when you caused a scene with your mother’s family last time. But this is about my birth mother! Thankfully she wasn’t badly injured this time, but what if something serious had happened? And you never think to discuss things with me. Have I ever opposed you dealing with the Fourth son and his wife? If I had known about today’s plan earlier, I would have stopped Mother from coming back, preventing it from reaching this point.”

If it weren’t for the baby in Mrs. Wang’s belly, Han Lin might have been contemplating divorcing her; he recalled Su Wenyue’s offer of fifty taels of silver to fund another marriage.

“Husband, I know I was wrong. I didn’t mean to deceive you; I was just afraid you’d be angry. After all, the Fourth child is your younger brother, and I didn’t want to make things difficult for you. Please forgive me this one time,” Mrs. Wang looked at Han Lin with tears in her eyes, pleading earnestly.

Han Lin felt a surge of pity. Thinking back over the years he and Mrs. Wang had been together, their relationship had been good. She was tender and considerate towards him, and he did have affection for her, but she had changed a lot recently, especially since the Fourth daughter-in-law entered their household. Ultimately, the blame lay with the Fourth daughter-in-law.

“Enough, no more crying. What if you harm the baby inside you? We’ve been looking forward to our precious son for so long; we can’t afford any mishaps. As for this incident, I’ll give it some more thought to see if there’s a way out. If there isn’t, we’ll just have to be honest. Fortunately, Mother doesn’t have any serious injuries right now. With a baby on the way, our parents might not be too hard on you, in consideration of the child. Apologize to the Fourth daughter-in-law, and maybe things can be smoothed over. We certainly can’t

let them report this to the authorities, waiting for the constables to come and

investigate our home. That would be a real problem.”

“But, but I’ve made a lot of mistakes before. If everyone finds out that this incident is related to me, I’m afraid it won’t be so easy to be forgiven,” Mrs. Wang knew well that she had wronged the Han family many times, and while they might forgive once or twice, could they do it a third time? Besides, she had caused Mrs. Yang’s injury, which was her mother-in-law, and such wrongdoing could brand her spine with infamy.

“Right now, this is the only option. Otherwise, once the Fourth son and his wife go to the authorities, we won’t be able to keep it a secret. By then, it wouldn’t just be a private matter for the Han family, and you and your brother might both be taken by the government. Fortunately, you’re carrying a child, and our Father and Mother would be lenient for the baby’s sake,” Han Lin said, trying to calm her..