Niu Ling was forced to watch Zhong Li.
Zhong Li curved her lips and said, "Didn't Mrs. Niu just say that torture is coercion?"
Niu Ling's calves were already starting to feel weak.
"The Southern Yue Kingdom has cruel officials, so torture is legal. Do you think I should be afraid?" Zhong Li asked.
Niu Ling swallowed several times, thought for a moment, and said, "I... I'm pregnant... I..."
"Then there's even less to be afraid of!" Zhong Li's smile grew wider. "I forgot to tell you, Madam, I am a forensic examiner, and also a physician. I am well aware of your body's limits. If you really can't take it, the worst that can happen is a Caesarean section to deliver the child."
Upon hearing this, Niu Ling completely went limp. She stumbled and fell onto the bed in front of her.
Zhong Li looked down at her reaction. Normally, she would feel some sympathy for female prisoners in such special circumstances, like Wei Fu before. But for some reason, this time, remembering Youyou's tragic death, she couldn't suppress her anger. Especially since Niu Ling was also a woman about to become a mother, how could she be so cruel to a child? httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"Niu Ling!" she decided not to give her a chance to breathe.
Zhong Li picked up the blood-stained cloth from the bed and forced Niu Ling to look at it, saying, "Tell me, what is this? Youyou was only six or seven years old, not yet of age. Tell me, where did this blood come from?"
Niu Ling was already flustered by fear, her eyes filling with tears, shaking her head repeatedly, wanting to escape.
"Niu Ling!" Zhong Li roared again, "You are also a woman, and so is Youyou. If you had experienced this in your childhood, how would you feel?"
"No... no... I..." Niu Ling shook her head, unwilling to face it.
Zhong Li continued, "The small room in your house is filled with boys' items, but are you sure the infant in your belly is a boy? Even if traditional Chinese medicine practitioners or fortune-tellers have examined you, how many of them have you seen to be accurate in all your years?"
Niu Ling froze. She had lived in this small fishing village for more than ten to twenty years, and she knew clearly that whether it was a boy or a girl could only be known after birth. As for those traditional Chinese medicine practitioners or itinerant fortune-tellers, they were just providing comfort to others.
Zhong Li looked at Niu Ling's expression and knew she was starting to be moved. She softened her voice slightly and said, "Even if you don't think for yourself, you should think for the child in your belly. If he is born and knows what kind of person his mother is, how will his future be? Will he be able to hold his head up in front of others?
You understand karma and retribution, don't you? If... I'm just saying if... you were to pass away like Youyou's mother, and your child encountered a stepmother like you, what would you do?
Moreover, even if you don't admit it, since I was able to find you here, it proves that I have found evidence of your and Kang Ji's crimes on Youyou's body. The child you give birth to is destined to be taken away from you. If not for yourself, you should at least accumulate some good deeds for your child's future, shouldn't you?"
As Niu Ling listened, the tears that had gathered in her eyes finally rolled down. She looked at the dirt-stained cloth in front of her, then at the moldy bowl on the floor, and could no longer hold back, bursting into tears.
Zhong Li released her grip on Niu Ling's hand and stood there watching her vent.
Fierce fighting sounds began to erupt outside the woodshed. She didn't look, knowing that Lu Wuxie's actions just now meant he could handle it.
"I... I really didn't kill her! Woo woo..." Niu Ling covered her face, her voice trembling, "It was Kang Ji, Kang Ji beat Youyou to death!"
As she spoke, Niu Ling pulled open her collar to show Zhong Li.
Zhong Li looked under the candlelight and saw several old scars on Niu Ling's neck, some even burns that bore a resemblance to Youyou's injuries.
"These are..." she said, thinking for a moment, "done by Kang Ji?"
Niu Ling nodded emphatically. She slowly fastened the buttons of her collar and said, "I married Kang Ji three years ago. Youyou was only a little over three years old then."
She sighed softly, as if wanting to exhale all the suppressed anger from the past few years. "At first, I really wanted to be a good stepmother. Even though I initially thought Youyou didn't dare to approach me because she disliked me."
"Initially thought?" Zhong Li seized on Niu Ling's words and asked.
Niu Ling gave a bitter smile. "Yes, at first Youyou avoided me. I thought she was afraid of me. Until not long after I came to the house, while taking care of her daily life, I discovered she had injuries all over her body. That's when I realized it was all Kang Ji's doing."
"So you tried to question him and resist?" Zhong Li inferred from Niu Ling's wounds.
Niu Ling nodded. "Yes. I asked Kang Ji. At first, I thought he would give me an explanation or two. Who knew, before I could even speak, he started beating me, and even humiliated me in front of Youyou..."
As she spoke, recalling events from three years ago, she began to tremble uncontrollably from fear.
"So, for self-preservation, you learned to flatter Kang Ji and even started abusing Youyou like him?" Zhong Li guessed, observing her intense reaction.
Niu Ling nodded, then frantically began to shake her head again. "I didn't want to! I really didn't want to! I have a child, I don't want to die, I don't want to... Woo woo..."
Zhong Li frowned, recalling Niu Ling's hysterical behavior by the dry well yesterday. Kang Ji stood beside her then. That man, who appeared silent, was in fact giving his consent to every word and action of Niu Ling.
She stared intently at Niu Ling, who was still shaking her head and trying to absolve herself of guilt. Suddenly, she remembered a case she encountered when living in modern society, a case later known as 'The Vanishing Family'.
It told the story of a man who used mental and psychological control over people, causing a family to kill each other and eventually annihilate themselves.
And now, Niu Ling was a person controlled by Kang Ji through violent mental manipulation.
"I still remember..." Niu Ling, her belly protruding, had curled up in a corner. Her mind on the verge of collapse, she stared blankly at the bed and said faintly, "A month ago, Kang Ji got drunk and barged into the woodshed where Youyou lived, and then... woo woo..."
She started crying again, her emotions becoming more agitated. "Then Youyou wailed all night. I was so scared, so scared she would disappear. If she disappeared, wouldn't it be my turn? Fortunately, Youyou... she... she didn't die, she didn't die..."
Zhong Li closed her eyes, truly unable to imagine what had happened in the large woodshed, this place that was more like hell than hell itself!
"How did Youyou die?" she asked the final question, taking a deep breath, even though she knew that Niu Ling was very likely to have a mental breakdown at this point.