The way people looked at Zhao had changed, and Zhao herself was not foolish; she knew exactly what everyone was whispering about. However, she refused to accept this outcome because she had truly been pushed. To let it go just like that was out of the question; she was the type of person who only let others suffer losses, never the other way around.
“Someone really pushed me tonight! If it wasn’t him, then who else could it have been?”
The clan leader observed Zhao’s expression; it didn’t seem faked. Although he had no love for someone as troublesome as Zhao, as the clan leader, he had duties to fulfill. He asked, “Tell me carefully, what exactly happened tonight?”
“Check if you missed any details.”
Zhao recalled, “I got up to use the latrine tonight. But Mother was having stomach pain and couldn’t leave the indoor facility, so I decided to come outside. I never expected that someone would suddenly jump out and shove me, throwing me straight into the latrine pit.”
“Stomach pain?” the clan leader muttered, turning to Old Madam Lin. “Why did you have stomach pain?”
Old Madam Lin explained, “The family brought some meat back from town today. It had been so long since we’d eaten meat that my stomach couldn’t handle it in the middle of the night.”
“I see.” The clan leader nodded. That didn’t seem inherently suspicious. “Has it been like this before? Do you always get diarrhea after eating something greasy?”
“Not necessarily. Most of the time it’s fine,” Old Madam Lin replied.
The clan leader said, “If that’s the case, then there’s no possibility that Lin Qu knew you would be ill and was waiting to cause trouble.” He then asked the men guarding the ancestral hall: “Did you hear any commotion tonight? Was the hall door locked the whole time?”
The couple shook their heads. “We didn’t hear a thing. The hall doors were locked before dark and were never opened until we opened them to get Qu-ge’er just now.”
Nothing in the testimonies pointed toward Lin Qu. Seeing this, Zhao insisted, “That’s impossible! He must have snuck out.”
“And the meal tonight must have been drugged by Wang with something like croton beans. Why else would Mother suddenly have diarrhea tonight? She’s never like this!”
The clan leader said impatiently, “You all ate the same food. How is it that only your mother got sick, while none of the rest of you had diarrhea?”
That was true, but Zhao had genuinely been pushed. While she wasn’t well-liked in the village, it was hard to believe anyone would wait in the middle of the night just to shove her into a latrine pit. Moreover, the neighbors around their house didn’t seem like the type to do such a thing. Aside from Lin Qu, it shouldn’t have been anyone else. Furthermore, her gut feeling told her it was definitely Lin Qu.
She remained relentless. “Maybe it wasn’t in the meat, but in something else she ate separately.”
Zhao refused to drop the matter. Unless all her concerns were addressed, the issue couldn’t be settled. The clan leader glanced around and spotted Xu Qiu. He signaled him over: “Xu Qiu, come here and help us check if she has consumed anything.”
If she had been drugged, it hadn’t been long enough for all evidence to vanish; there should still be traces. Because Xu Qiu had helped him manage his own health, the clan leader knew better than anyone in the village how skilled Xu Qiu’s medical knowledge was—it was likely even superior to his master’s.
Seeing Xu Qiu, he called him over. It was cold out, and the old doctor was quite elderly and had spent the entire day traveling to various villages to treat patients; if he could avoid disturbing the old man, he would. He knew Xu Qiu had dissolved his engagement with Zhao’s daughter, but he didn’t believe Xu Qiu would act out of spite. After all, ending the engagement with Lin Qiong was a gain for Xu Qiu.
However, Zhao was dissatisfied. Others didn’t know the bad blood between the two families, but she knew perfectly well. She had used her cunning to manipulate Lady Li behind Xu Qiu’s back, only for Lady Li to eventually snap and force the engagement to end. If Lady Li had told her son about how Zhao had treated her, she couldn’t be sure Xu Qiu would be impartial.
She didn’t dare let Xu Qiu perform the examination.
She shouted, “Not Xu Qiu! He’s just a kid; who knows how much he’s actually learned? We must fetch the old doctor!”
As soon as she finished, she remembered that the old doctor was Xu Qiu’s master, and her heart sank, but she had no choice. He was the only doctor in the village. Compared to Xu Qiu, everyone felt the old doctor was more reliable. Even if Xu Qiu handled the diagnoses and prescriptions, it was always under the old doctor’s supervision. On his own, people were still a bit hesitant.
With no other choice, the clan leader had to send someone to fetch the old doctor.
After a while, the old doctor arrived, his hair a mess. “Who’s sick?”
Old Madam Lin stepped forward. “Me.”
Someone explained, “Old Doctor, please help us check if Old Madam Lin has ingested any croton beans or other medicine that would cause her to have diarrhea all night.”
Xu Qiu brought a stool for the old doctor to sit on. After hearing the request, the old doctor grumbled with dissatisfaction, “Xu Qiu is right here. Isn’t it the same if you have him check her pulse? Why drag an old man out in the middle of the night?”
He had been exhausted after a long day and was sleeping soundly. Despite his grumbling, he didn’t refuse and sat down to take Old Madam Lin’s pulse.
After a careful examination, the old doctor announced, “There’s no problem. No medicine, no croton beans. She should be fine by tomorrow.”
Zhao urged anxiously, “That’s impossible! Is your medical skill failing you?”
The old doctor glared indignantly. “I said there’s no problem! What is this talk? Do you think croton beans and laxatives grow on trees? Nobody gets these things from me. If you don’t believe me, go to town tomorrow and see for yourself.”
Lin Qiong, standing not far away, let his eyes flicker. He knew the relationship between Lin Qu and Xu Qiu; if Lin Qu had obtained medicine from Xu Qiu, it would have been effortless. And since the old doctor was Xu Qiu’s master, it was possible they had colluded. But he had no evidence, so speaking up would be useless.
The surrounding villagers didn’t know these details, but the old doctor had treated them for a lifetime and charged very little; they had no reason to doubt him.
“Zhao,” the clan leader said sternly. “Stop being so unreasonable. Since you don’t believe the diagnosis, you can go to town tomorrow to check again. Besides, even if there was a problem, it doesn’t prove Lin Qu did it. He was locked in the ancestral hall all night and never came out. Xu Qiu, it’s cold tonight; walk the old doctor back.”
“Alright.” Xu Qiu had already intended to do so and readily agreed.
Xu Qiu left, but the Lin family farce continued.
By the time Xu Qiu returned, the crowd at the Lin house was already dispersing. Back home, he asked, “What happened?”
Lady Li said, “What else could happen? That Zhao woman is being unreasonable, and nobody is paying her any mind. She even tried to blame me, saying that since we live nearby, I must have seen her and pushed her in the middle of the night.”
“But we’ve always been on good terms. When people asked her why she thought I did it, she just stammered, not daring to repeat the things she’d said behind my back.” Lady Li scoffed.
Still, she was happy. Zhao had indeed fallen into the latrine, and the entire village had gotten to see her make a fool of herself.
Xu Qiu asked, “Did she let Lin Qu off that easily?” Given his impression of Zhao, he expected her to try to pin it on Lin Qu.
Lady Li said, “Hardly. She demanded Lin Qu take an oath, swearing that if he did it, his family would suffer consequences. It was obvious she was taking advantage of his filial nature to force his hand. Who brings up someone’s parents during a fight?”
Xu Qiu didn’t necessarily believe in oaths, but most people in this era were superstitious about them. “Did Lin Qu swear?”
Lady Li shook her head. “No. You should have seen it; that little ge’er wasn’t afraid at all. He spoke clearly and calmly, saying that even if there were any possibility, he would never involve his parents in such matters. Then, he turned the tables and asked Zhao if she dared to swear whether she was the one who instructed Third Uncle Lin to hide a snake in his room back then.”
“Zhao became incoherent and didn’t dare to take the bait. That incident back then caused such a huge uproar; the snake was even venomous—it was truly heartless. If she had dared to admit it, the Lin family would have been looking at a divorce today. Although Third Uncle didn’t blame her back then, looking at her today, it was almost certainly her doing.”
“To do something like that, whether or not she was instructed, Third Uncle Lin’s family should have been driven out of the village.”
Lady Li had originally believed Zhao’s version of events back then, and she now wanted to smack herself for being so gullible.
She finished by cautioning him, “Keep some snake repellent in your room tomorrow. Don’t let that Zhao woman pull any more tricks.”
“Alright,” Xu Qiu promised.
In truth, because there were so many snakes, insects, and mice in their region, every household kept such repellents; it was standard practice. Even if Lady Li hadn’t reminded him, it would have been fine. As for Zhao, she would likely never dare to pull a stunt like that again. That time back then had been her absolute limit.