Gan Tao's questions were like the mournful cries of a cuckoo, filled with endless pain, helplessness, and incomprehension.
The pitiful voice reached the ears of everyone present, and those who had just been insulting her suddenly hesitated.
Although we live in a prosperous era and people's lives are much better than before, that only means they have enough to eat and wear and don't go hungry.
But once you get sick, minor illnesses are fine, but if it's a serious illness that can't be cured quickly, seeking medical treatment and medicine can empty your savings in no time.
Even for serious illnesses, many families couldn't afford medicine, so for someone like Gan Tao Niang, many simply chose not to seek treatment. After all, the medicine wasn't life-threatening, and even if she drank it, it might not cure her leg.
This means that half a tael of silver must be spent each month to fill that bottomless pit—half a tael of silver is enough for an ordinary family to eat for more than half a month.
In other words, dockworkers who carried loads and did hard labor could only earn one and a half taels of silver a month, while other ordinary jobs would earn them at most one tael a month.
One or two taels of silver could barely cover the basic needs of a family for a month, and the remaining one or two taels would be far from enough to support a patient's monthly medication.
For Gan Tao, a young girl, supporting her entire family will only be more difficult.
Even under such conditions, she still managed to scrape together half a tael of silver each month to buy medicine for her mother, to treat her leg that might never heal...
Is this girl really the selfish, unfilial, and unjust person her mother described?
Many people did the math in their minds and immediately began to have doubts about Gan Tao Niang's words.
"Is what Gan Tao said true? If it is, giving half a tael of silver every month for her mother's medicine, how is this girl unfilial? She's incredibly filial!"
"Really... Why didn't her mother say this before? It made me really think this girl was heartless and ungrateful."
"What? She said her mother's leg isn't sick at all? If that's true, wasting half a tael of silver every month just to keep her daughter a slave to this family, then this mother is truly despicable!"
"That's right, no wonder they want to go to the capital. I would have gone too!"
Some self-proclaimed clear-headed individuals firmly believe they cannot be so easily deceived. When they hear others questioning Gan Tao Niang, they appear neutral but are actually biased towards her.
"Why are you all in such a hurry? Her mother hasn't said anything yet. It's not even certain whether she'll give half a tael of silver a month to buy medicine!"
"I think so too. What kind person would waste money faking illness?"
The discussion grew more and more heated, then gradually subsided. Everyone's eyes were focused on one thing: Gan Tao Niang, waiting for her to explain.
Magistrate Lu also looked at Gan Taoniang, his gaze deep and his voice authoritative: "Is this true?"
Gan Taoniang broke out in a cold sweat and looked to Chen Danian for help.
Chen Danian's expression turned serious: "Don't be afraid, just tell the truth." As he said this, he turned his head slightly to avoid Magistrate Lu's gaze and frantically winked at her.
Gan Tao Niang understood.
Just as she was about to speak, Gan Tao seemed to have guessed what she was going to say and calmly reminded her:
“I’m not just making this up; every time I go to get medicine, the clinic keeps a record of it.”
The implication is that your denial is useless; a check-up at a medical clinic will reveal the truth.
Gan Taoniang was drenched in cold sweat. Before she could finish her sentence, she said anxiously, "When did my leg get better? I've been sick all this time!"
Upon hearing this, her mind, which had been in a state of near-tangle with anxiety, suddenly cleared up.
Yes, there is verifiable evidence that Gan Taohua paid for the medicine with silver; she can't deny it.
But whether her leg is healed or not, isn't that up to her to decide?
As long as they stick to this point, they can accuse Gan Tao of slandering her own mother in order to overturn the verdict, and then Gan Tao will still be an unfilial and unjust person!
Gan Tao Niang made up her mind, and tears immediately streamed down her face. She cried as she said:
“My leg has been damaged for years, and everyone in Yuxi Village knows that! No matter how bad I am, I would never waste money pretending to be sick!”
"Tao'er, if you're unwilling to spend money on my medicine, you can tell me. At worst, I won't take medicine anymore! But why do you have to slander me with such words?"
Upon hearing this, the others felt that Gan Tao Niang's words made some sense, and their suspicious gazes fell on Gan Tao again.
Someone shouted anxiously, "Gan Tao, you say your mother's leg is healed, but words alone are not enough. You need proof!"
"Yes, can you produce any evidence?"
Hearing this, Gan Tao's mother remained completely unfazed—it was her own body, and she was the one to decide what was good and bad. What evidence could Gan Tao possibly have?
She looked at Gan Tao triumphantly.
Little did she know, her words were exactly what Gan Tao wanted to hear.
The day before, Gan Tao received a message from Gan Li, instructing her to steer the conversation toward her mother's legs when she held court today.
Upon hearing this, Gan Tao was thrilled. She knew that Gan Li must have taken her words from that day to heart. The shopkeeper was so clever that if he had asked her to say this, he must have thought of a way to expose her mother's leg ailment!
So when she heard her mother say that, she not only wasn't angry, but she also laughed, gave her mother a meaningful look, and said, "You have a witness? What a coincidence, I have one too."
Having said that, she turned and kowtowed to Magistrate Lu, saying respectfully, "Your Honor, I wish to summon my witness to court!"
"This is the normal procedure," Magistrate Lu nodded.
Everyone curiously peered up, and soon, the constables brought two people up. Besides Gan Li, the other person was someone they had never seen before.
Chen Danian was puzzled, but he didn't have time to think about it. He turned to Magistrate Lu, cupped his hands in greeting, and said anxiously:
"My lord, this Gan Li is Gan Tao's beloved's aunt. They are related by blood, so it's inevitable that they might protect each other. How can we believe what she says!"
As soon as he said this, he glanced casually at the crowd of onlookers outside the courtroom.
Upon receiving the signal, someone immediately shouted, "That's right! They'll definitely side with their future niece-in-law. People like that can't be witnesses!"
After he finished speaking, he disappeared into the crowd. But once he started, many people immediately echoed his words.
Looking at the thorny situation before him, Magistrate Lu was momentarily at a loss for what to do.
If Ganli were to be sent away at this point, Gantao would have no chance of winning. But if Ganli were to be forcibly kept, the people would not be convinced...
Just then, Gan Li glanced at Chen Danian and said with a cool smile, "Scholar Chen, what's your hurry? I'm not here to be a witness today."
"Not here to be a witness?" Chen Danian was taken aback. "Then what are you here for?"
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