Chapter 96 Reporting the Crime
Inside the shop, when no one was around, Tao's mother took a rag and wiped and cleaned everything up.
Suddenly, I saw a long box in the corner of the wooden shelf. The style looked unfamiliar and it didn't seem to be something I had in the shop.
Around noon, a batch of goods arrived in Dengzhou. My daughter had ordered them in advance, as she had mentioned.
Could this have been bought by her as well?
Tao's mother thought about it in confusion, but how could there be dust on it?
She took the things down, and they were quite heavy to hold in one hand. She cried out "Ouch!" and almost tipped them over.
She was slightly flustered and quickly held the contents in her hands, afraid of breaking them.
Without thinking much, I wiped the dust off with a cloth.
As she wiped, she smelled a foul stench mixed with a sour, rotten smell, very familiar, like the smell of a dead person.
Although she had never seen it, Tao Tao sometimes carried that smell when she came back.
Even her missing husband, when he went out to prepare bodies for burials, would come back with this smell on him, which is why she knew it was the smell of the dead.
She put down the box and looked around, trying to figure out where it had come from.
I searched inside and out, but still couldn't find the source of the smell.
Tao's mother frowned in confusion, then reached out and picked up the long box again. Suddenly, a strong stench hit her nose.
She looked down at the box in her hands in astonishment, slowly opened it, and screamed the next second. Her hands slipped, and the box crashed to the ground with a loud bang.
The contents then rolled out.
Her eyes widened in terror, her face turned pale, and she frantically covered her mouth with both hands, retreating hastily.
"Mother? I'm back."
She heard her daughter's voice outside. She turned her head and tried to go out, but her legs went weak and she almost fell over.
Yu Shan went to park the carriage, Tao Tao walked in front, and the other two followed behind.
She didn't see her mother at the door, so she called out, but there was no response from inside, which made her feel a little strange.
As soon as I went in, I saw my mother leaning against the wall, looking unwell, so I quickly went over to support her.
"Mother?! What's wrong?"
Tao Tao followed her gaze and thought to herself, "Oh no, how did she find this?"
Tao's mother's eyes were filled with fear, and she said in a trembling voice, "Tao'er, that...that box has..."
Xi Xin peeked out from behind and asked, "Did something fall on the ground?"
She quickly turned around to block the things on the ground and said to them, "Please help my mother outside. She may have suffered a relapse of her old illness."
Xi Xin, without suspecting anything, quickly agreed and took Tao's mother from her arms, helping her out.
Yu Shan sensed something was wrong and walked over to inspect the ground: "Boss."
Tao Tao moved her feet, blocking his view, but he still saw something that looked like a bundle on the ground.
"What's this?"
He bent down to turn the "bundle" around and pick it up, when suddenly his pupils dilated in shock. Startled, he lost his grip and threw the bundle out like a parabola.
She quickly hugged him tightly, and after holding him securely, she breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to comfort him, she heard him speaking.
"Boss! Is this...is this real or fake?!"
Yu Shan stared at the dead baby in her arms with a look of fear, so afraid that he wanted to get away.
She pulled the loose swaddling clothes around her to cover the frightening pale face and his strange gaze.
“This is what I brought back from Liang Yongsheng’s shop. I’m going to report this to the government office now, and then bring the child back for burial.”
"Is it...is it Liang Yongsheng's child? Wasn't Liang Yongsheng dead?"
"I don't know either. In any case, the child died right after birth, and he was innocent."
The umbilical cord was still on her belly, and she was thin and small. She even wondered if she was not a month old.
Tao Tao put the dead baby back into the box, then took the box out and looked at her mother, who was still in shock sitting at the door. She squatted down and held her cold hands.
"Mother, it was all fake just now. You saw it wrong."
"I have to go out now. Can I talk to you when I get back?"
Tao's mother looked very frightened, her expression was dazed, and her eyes were lifeless. When she heard her voice, she slowly looked up at her.
"Xi Xin, I'm entrusting my mother to you."
Just as she was about to turn and leave, someone grabbed the hem of her clothes.
She turned around in confusion and saw Xixin staring at her pitifully.
"Boss, where are you going? Can you take me with you?"
"Xixin, the shop needs you now. I'll take you next time, okay?"
Tao Tao reached out and patted her shoulder, then turned and walked out.
Yu Shan, being very perceptive, pulled the carriage over. Seeing that his younger brother also wanted to go, he said, "Xiao He, you stay here too."
The two boarded the carriage and headed towards the government office.
The government office.
Tao Tao stood in front of the government office, holding the box in her arms, waiting for the people inside to come out.
Yu Shan hesitated for a moment, then said, "Boss, why don't we go back? Liang Yongsheng is dead anyway, so we won't be able to find out where this dead baby is."
"Let's not get into trouble."
“Liang Yongsheng is dead, but since we have seen this dead baby, we can’t just ignore it. Besides, it won’t take much trouble to report it to the police.”
Half an incense stick later, the messenger came out and told them to follow him.
Gao Shaoguang sat in the courtroom, while the chief clerk sat beside him, preparing to take notes.
Seeing the person who arrived, he stood up in surprise: "What, it's you again?!"
Tao Tao smiled helplessly: "Take a look at this box first."
"What is it?"
The bailiff respectfully presented the items in her hands.
He frowned, opened the box with a puzzled look, and was immediately shocked.
"What?! Where did you get this?"
She recounted the discovery of the stillborn baby, but she didn't mention how the shop came to be.
"I came here to discuss this matter. Lord Gao, do you think we should keep the child, or can I take him with me?"
"The child must stay, and you must stay too. I will summon Liang Yongle first."
He then ordered someone to bring Liang Yongle and the coroner over.
Tao Tao looked puzzled: "What am I supposed to do staying here?"
No, Liang Yongle doesn't know that the shop is in her hands yet. If he did find out, judging from his irritable appearance, he would probably go berserk.
"Don't worry, let's see what Liang Yongle has to say."
What Liang Yongle said is none of her business.
She crossed her arms impatiently, glanced at the dead baby on the table, and walked over to put the lid back on.
Gao Shaoguang thought she wanted to take it, so he lifted it high.
She looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "Lord Gao, what do you mean by this?"
"This child needs to stay here."
"I know, I just wanted to close the lid. Even if he's a child, you have to respect that, right?"
Hearing this, he gave an awkward laugh.
It turns out he misunderstood.
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