Chapter 539: Lies

The people in the village looked timidly at Huang Dawai being taken away, and no one dared to stop it.

They tightly clutched the gold, silver, and jewels in their hands, feeling that today's events were like a dream.

Along the way.

Lin An spoke while walking in the team voice chat, and also checked to patch up any loopholes.

"The cause of the matter is like this."

"The son of the Barren Village Village Head, Huang Youwei, brought back a woman named Ying Ying when he went out two years ago."

"Contrary to what he said, Ying Ying was something he picked up in the ice and snow, not resembling a living person."

"In fact, Ying Ying's identity is that of a 'pledged wife', a genuine living person."

Xiong Hanzi was stunned upon hearing this, and instinctively asked:

"Captain Lin, what is a pledged wife?"

"Ying Ying isn't a ghost? Then Huang Youwei didn't deceive us?! And how come you previously said he didn't deceive us?"

Lin An slightly slowed his steps and directly began to explain:

"Let's talk about the pledged wife first."

"A pledged wife actually refers to a practice where poor families lend their wives to outsiders for childbearing."

"Just like pawning goods, women with reproductive ability are treated as commodities to be traded."

"This bad custom existed in many places in the real world not long ago."

Lin An shook his head slightly; logically, he shouldn't know about this.

As a person born in modern times, this term has long been swept into the trash heap of history.

However, during the Apocalypse in my past life, this ancient 'custom' resurfaced.

After a brief pause, he continued:

"The reason I speculate this way is based on a piece of information provided by the villagers."

"An outsider with leprosy once went to Huang Youwei to reclaim the 'pledged wife', but nothing came of it."

"As for why I said Huang Youwei didn't deceive us and why he did that, you'll understand after listening."

"First."

"After bringing back Ying Ying, Huang Youwei quickly had relations with her, hoping she would bear him a son."

"But to save face and avoid embarrassing Huang's wife, he couldn't tell the villagers that Ying Ying was a pledged wife."

"Otherwise, this would undoubtedly drive Huang's wife to death."

"In ancient times, a woman who could not bear a son was considered guilty of a heinous crime."

"If the husband's wife cannot bear children and yet a pledged wife is used to do so, this is undoubtedly a disgrace."

"This is also what the villagers mentioned: Huang's wife had previously given birth only to daughters, and she had once returned to her natal home, indicating that Huang Youwei and his wife had experienced a conflict."

Xiong Hanzi muttered gloomily after hearing this:

"What's wrong with giving birth to a daughter? Why insist on a son? That said, Huang Youwei seems to still be looking out for his wife's dignity."

Lin An glanced at him and shook his head slightly:

"In a sense, that's about right."

"But in reality, Huang Youwei did this so that the child born to Ying Ying would become his own."

"That year, after he brought back Ying Ying, both Huang's wife and Ying Ying became pregnant."

"His thinking was simple."

"If Ying Ying gave birth to a son while Huang's wife gave birth to a daughter, he would swap the babies and claim outwardly that the boy was born to Huang's wife."

"The girl would then be drowned to death."

"Or perhaps Huang's wife was never truly pregnant; if Ying Ying gave birth to a girl, she would be drowned, and if she gave birth to a boy, he would still claim it was Huang's wife's child."

"In this way, the child would grow up viewing him as his biological parents, and the Huang family would thus have an 'heir'."

"Fortunately or unfortunately..."

Lin An said this, then paused, his gaze sweeping over the somewhat dazed Huang's wife:

"Ying Ying gave birth to a son."

"This should have been a good thing."

"Huang Youwei achieved his goal, but he neglected Huang's wife's mental state."

"In this era... there was no such thing as concern to speak of."

"Under constant psychological pressure, Huang's wife was actually in a state of postpartum depression."

"Seeing that Ying Ying could bear a son was a huge blow to her."

"Moreover, she even sensed that Huang Youwei intended to keep Ying Ying."

"Thus, tragedy struck."

Zhang Tie's eyes widened at this:

"Captain Lin! I understand!"

"So... did Huang's wife hold a grudge, kill Ying Ying, and push her into the well?!"

"And then claim outwardly that Ying Ying was a ghost?"

"But why would she say that Ying Ying was a ghost?"

Lin An nodded, indicating that Zhang Tie had guessed correctly.

It was a simple deduction, which is why he felt he had overcomplicated things at first.

"Mm, what you said is basically correct."

"Huang's wife indeed pushed Ying Ying into the well, but it also had to do with Ying Ying."

Both women actually have miserable fates, or rather, women in this environment are all tragic.

As a concubine, Yingying herself is already half-mad, and Madame Huang is too.

Therefore, Madame Huang, in her jealous and twisted emotions, saw the equally mentally deranged Yingying sitting by the well singing a little tune...

I cannot bear a son, but you can.

I have lost favor, you gain favor...

This is undoubtedly a terror for her.

In her breakdown, she regarded Yingying as a ghost and shoved her down.

So, she actually did not lie.

In her heart and mind, Yingying is indeed the "destroyer" ghost of her life.

After a brief silence, Lin An sighed and continued speaking:

Soon afterward, Huang Youwei discovered this matter.

He knew Yingying was unlikely to be a ghost, but he could not say that Madame Huang had killed someone.

Kill a life for a life, debt must be repaid.

He cannot lose Madame Huang, because losing her would mean that the child born of Yingying would no longer be considered the legitimate wife's offspring.

He must protect Madame Huang, and moreover secure an "heir".

But after Yingying died in the well, the villagers still needed water.

One reason is interest, another is that everyone also suspected whether Madame Huang had committed murder.

In desperation, Huang Youwei simply fabricated the story that he had picked up Yingying, and hinted that Yingying was actually a ghost.

After all, killing a ghost requires no life-for-life retribution!

Having said that, Lin An stopped his further speculation and asked Xiong Hanzi:

So, if you were Huang Youwei, how would you handle what comes next?

Seeing Lin An ask him, Zhang Tie couldn't help but quickly rack his brain.

After a moment, his thoughts stirred and he recalled the matter of the Daoist priest.

Carefully, afraid of saying something wrong:

Captain Lin, if I were Huang Youwei, I would certainly want to silence the villagers.

Merely fabricating that Yingying is a ghost isn't enough; I need to find someone to testify for me!

So Huang Youwei found a Daoist and had him put on a show!

Eyes shining, Xiong Hanzi felt for the first time that he himself was actually quite formidable:

As long as we let the Daoist priest go down the well to fish out the corpse, if he can't retrieve it! Then that proves Yingying is a ghost!

Anyway, everyone is afraid, so the task of going down the well to retrieve the corpse will certainly be done by the Daoist himself!

After the Daoist finishes his act, Huang Youwei will surely still be uneasy, fearing someone might scrutinize it. So he has the Daoist say: we must build a Buddhist pagoda to suppress Yingying's vicious ghost!

Well done! This is now completely foolproof, after all, who the hell would open a pagoda to inspect the corpse!

Speaking rapidly, Xiong Hanzi finished, gave a hehe smile, and his eyes shifted:

Then Captain Lin, if that's what you're saying, it's not right either.

You said Huang Youwei didn't deceive anyone, didn't you? Then why did the child fall to his death? Isn't he very concerned about this child?

Lin An nodded approvingly, indicating that Zhang Tie's earlier line of thought was correct.

As for Xiong Hanzi's question...

His tone was calm, but the words he spoke made Zhang Tie feel a chill run down his spine.

It's very simple.

Huang Youwei saw a ghost.

Yingying truly became a ghost.