Chapter 1053 - 1055 The Treacherous Scoundrel_1
After Bai Yihong said these words, tears already streamed down his face. It must have been truly heartbreaking to make a grown man cry like that.
Aside from Bai Fu and the Liu Family, everyone present felt moved, their hearts souring with emotion. Lin Ping’er and Bai Ruozhu were also shedding tears.
The first half of Bai Yihong’s life was too hard, but fortunately, he later married Lin Ping’er and had three filial children.
"Don’t listen to your mother’s nonsense; she’s confused because she’s anxious about your elder brother’s affairs. Who in the Village didn’t know when she became pregnant and gave birth to you back then?" Bai Fu coughed dryly and said, his tone actually a rare gentleness. He had forgotten how long it had been since he last spoke to Bai Yihong with such warmth.
Lin Ping’er could no longer hold back and wept, saying, "You all think my Yihong is easy to deceive, easy to fool, don’t you? He’s an honest man, who has slaved away half his life for you all. What more do you want? Do you really think nobody knows that a girl was born to my mother-in-law back then?"
The expressions of Bai Fu and the Liu Family changed drastically. Bai Fu looked directly at the Liu Family, who couldn’t remember being drugged by Bai Ruozhu and revealing the truth. She hastily shook her head at Bai Fu, signaling she hadn’t uttered a word about this.
Bai Fu also quickly figured it out because at that time, the Liu Family had already given birth to their eldest daughter, Bai Yun, and had their eldest son, Bai Yibo, so they didn’t hire a midwife and she gave birth alone in the Room. Nobody was present; how could anyone know whether it was a boy or a girl?
"Nonsense, as if you saw with your own eyes? Your mother didn’t hire a midwife when she gave birth to her second child, who’s been gossiping to you?" Bai Fu glared at Lin Ping’er and asked.
Bai Ruozhu took a deep breath, held her mother back, and after all, since it had come to this point, she’d take over from here. She was separated by a generation from the Grandpa and Grandma, so nothing really mattered to her, but her mother had just received her decree. It wouldn’t be good for her reputation to get into a conflict with the Grandpa and Grandma.
"Well, today we might as well speak frankly. I also just found out about this and was reluctant to believe it. Since my milk mentioned it, I might as well clarify it for everyone." Bai Ruozhu began to speak.
Bai Lu’s heart ached with sharp twinges at the thought that Bai Yihong might truly not belong to the Bai Family. Was the fact that the Bai Family finally produced a scholar all in vain? Would Bai Ruozhu continue to take care of the Bai Family’s children’s education in the future?
Of course, the latter question was just a passing thought. What hurt him more was the realization that Bai Yihong’s family was not part of the Bai Family after all—he had genuinely treated them like his own children.
"Ruozhu, you speak. Whatever your father’s origins are, Elder Grandpa will support you!" Bai Lu said in a serious tone after thinking it through.
Bai Ruozhu wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and bowed towards Bai Lu, saying, "Elder Grandpa, no matter what the truth is, we are descendants of the Bai Family and will not forget the nurture and kindness of the Bai Family."
Bai Lu felt touched, and his eyes couldn’t help but redden. Bai Yixiao was beside him, sniffing his souring nose.
"Back then, my grandmother gave birth to a baby girl. But not three days later, the infant passed away. Am I right?" Bai Ruozhu suddenly looked at the Liu Family and said loudly.
The Liu Family felt a jolt, her face turning grey with horror. It was unclear if she was scared by Bai Ruozhu’s accurate revelation or overwhelmed with grief at the mention of her deceased daughter.
"Utter nonsense, it’s absolutely utter nonsense!" Bai Fu bellowed, his face turning red all the way to his neck.
Unfortunately, Bai Ruozhu completely ignored him and continued, "Three nights later, the old man’s friend suddenly visited, cradling a newborn child. He had met the old man during the Imperial Examination and said his wife had passed away after giving birth. He himself was suffering from tuberculosis and wasn’t long for this world. Since he couldn’t find relatives to help, he had no choice but to seek assistance from the old man, right?"
Bai Fu couldn’t shout anymore; he stood there dumbfounded, unable to believe how thoroughly Bai Ruozhu had investigated. Could it be that Bai Yuanqing hadn’t died?
"That man was named Bai Yuanqing, which is why the old lady accidentally revealed the truth in her agitation last time, and the old master blurted out that my father is a member of the Bai Family, because his biological father was indeed surnamed Bai!" Bai Ruozhu continued.
Everyone listened in astonishment, and Bai Fu regained his composure, glaring at Bai Ruozhu, "This is completely fabricated, I don’t know any Bai Yuanqing!"
Bai Ruozhu sneered, "Is that so? But I have found evidence. You two took the exam together and even composed poems for a restaurant, inscribing both your names. Could that be wrong?"
Bai Ruozhu didn’t bluff Bai Fu with this point; she had asked Jianqi to investigate the past through the Commerce Association. Due to the long passage of time, they hadn’t found anything useful, but they did discover the poem inscribed by Bai Fu and Bai Yuanqing.
"Not only did Bai Yuanqing bring a child, but he also brought a thousand taels of silver banknotes. He pleaded with you to raise the child, offering five hundred taels for you and the other five hundred to be used for the child’s upbringing and education, hoping you would put the child through school and eventually sit the Imperial Examination. He also gave you a token, saying that if one day the child passed the Imperial Examination, the token should be returned to him so that he could claim his ancestry." Bai Ruozhu’s voice grew louder as she spoke, her anger mounting.
Bai Yihong looked at his daughter in disbelief, muttering, "Is this true? I’m worthless, how could I pass the Imperial Examination, so I shouldn’t know any of this." With that, he covered his head in agony.
Lin Ping’er sympathetically supported him, and Bai Ruozhu also approached, pulling down his hand and saying, "Dad, I know the truth is hard to bear, and I didn’t want to tell you like this, but today the old lady blurted it out and said those shameless things, so we can no longer keep it hidden!"
"Who are you calling shameless? You’re the shameless one, how can you speak to your elders like that?" The Liu Family matriarch exclaimed, so furious with Bai Ruozhu for spilling the truth that she felt like tearing Ruozhu’s mouth apart.
Bai Ruozhu laughed in extreme anger, "Elders? Do you even deserve to be called elders? Don’t think I don’t know why the old master has been hiding this all these years and didn’t want it to be known. Isn’t it because he’s afraid people will find out he’s a treacherous, insincere scoundrel?"
Bai Lu finally understood and became so angry that his beard quivered. He looked at Bai Fu and asked, "Big brother, is this true? You took a thousand taels of silver from someone, promising to raise their child, so why didn’t you let Yihong pursue his studies? You always said the family’s circumstances were limited when Yihong was a child, allowing only the boss to study. What about the thousand taels the child’s real father gave you?"
Cornered, Bai Fu’s face turned red, but he stubbornly retorted, "There’s no such thing, this lowly girl is slandering me!"
"I remember when you moved to Back Mountain Village, you didn’t have much money and built just two rooms. But not long after Yihong was born, suddenly you started building several more rooms. So that’s where the money came from!" Bai Lu recalled the past events, his thoughts becoming clearer.
"Grandpa, head of the Bai Family, it’s not just that, he not only broke his word, but he also sold Bai Yuanqing’s token for money!" Bai Ruozhu exclaimed furiously.