Chapter 106 Giving birth to twenty children in a row, each one a boy…
Outside the government office, the onlookers whispered among themselves, speculating that the woman named He Cuilian and the man named Li Defu were an older woman and a younger man.
However, Shen Hengzhen seemed to want to refute this deduction on behalf of everyone and continued to confirm the identities of the two people. The result surprised everyone.
It turns out that He Cuilian is thirty-two years old this year, which is three years younger than Li Defu, who is thirty-five!
But why is that? He Cuilian looks to be at least thirty years older than Li Defu!
Yun Tianjiao was also filled with surprise and doubt, and secretly asked Zhiwei, "Has He Cuilian been cursed?"
Zhiwei shook her head and said, "I can't tell. It should just be ordinary aging, or perhaps she has contracted some kind of disease."
Shen Hengzhen's sinister gaze swept over the onlookers outside the government office. The Prefect of the Capital, who was sitting beside him, immediately signaled the officials inside the government office to strike the ground with their disciplinary rods to silence the crowd.
Silence returned to the hall. Shen Hengzhen then asked He Cuilian, "Now you can speak. Why did you commit suicide near the imperial tombs of the previous dynasty? Did you know that defiling the imperial tombs is a serious crime?"
He Cuilian didn't defend herself, but just kept kowtowing while crying, repeatedly saying, "This woman is guilty, this woman is guilty..."
Shen Hengzhen glanced at the Prefect of the Capital, who immediately understood and cleared his throat, saying, "He Cuilian, you were destined to live. His Majesty happened to be passing by on his army's journey and rescued you. His Majesty is benevolent, and considering that you did not actually die near the former dynasty's imperial tombs, he will not pursue the matter further. Now tell me, why did you attempt suicide in the dead of night? If you have any grievances, speak them out. His Majesty is here and will certainly uphold justice for you!"
He Cuilian shrank back, seemingly terrified, but Yun Tianjiao still keenly noticed that she seemed to secretly glance in Li Defu's direction.
So, she committed suicide because of her husband's family?
But He Cuilian remained silent, only crying. Yun Tianjiao then looked at Shen Hengzhen, thinking that he must know the reason for He Cuilian's suicide, but just wanted her to say it in public.
Li Defu finally couldn't bear it any longer and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, Your Excellency, my wife is very stupid and has lived in the inner quarters for a long time. She has probably never seen so many people before, so she dares not speak and cannot explain herself very well..."
The Prefect of the Capital glared at him and rebuked him: "You audacious commoner, did His Majesty ask you a question? How dare you speak without permission?"
Li Defu was so frightened that he immediately kowtowed and begged for mercy, daring not to utter another word.
The Prefect of the Capital looked at He Cuilian, who was still sobbing, and narrowed his eyes. "He Cuilian, His Majesty asked you why you committed suicide. If you refuse to tell the truth, it is a crime of deceiving the emperor, which is punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family. Even if you don't think about yourself, your husband's family, or your own family, you should think about your child."
Upon hearing the word "child," He Cuilian trembled violently, as if she had been stimulated by something. She immediately went mad, looking around frantically as if searching for something, crying out, "My child, my child, my child, give me back my child..."
"Quickly! Hold her down!" the Prefect of the Capital hurriedly ordered, while simultaneously moving around to protect Shen Hengzhen's desk.
Shen Hengzhen seemed to have been prepared, and specially ordered a royal physician to accompany him. Upon seeing this, the physician immediately stepped forward with his medical kit and gave He Cuilian two acupuncture treatments.
He Cuilian quickly calmed down and seemed to have returned to normal.
The Prefect of the Capital wiped the sweat from his brow before returning to his seat. Glancing at Shen Hengzhen's expression, he whispered, "Your Majesty, shall we continue the interrogation?"
Shen Hengzhen remained expressionless. "Continue."
His unwavering composure amidst the eight winds was somewhat reminiscent of the former Prime Minister Chen.
The Prefect of the Capital then continued, "He Cuilian, are you still not willing to speak?"
He Cuilian's face was expressionless; she had clearly gone through an internal struggle before finally deciding to tell the truth. She knelt on the ground, kowtowed heavily, and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty, Your Excellency, this humble woman wishes to commit suicide because she is weary of the pain of childbirth year after year..."
The Prefect of the Capital asked a series of questions: "Oh? Just because of that? Childbirth is a very ordinary thing for a woman, why would she want to die for it? But you said year after year? How many children have you had?"
He Cuilian's eyes were dull and lifeless, but her words sent chills down one's spine: "From the age of fifteen when I gave birth to my first child until this year, not counting the one I'm currently carrying, I've given birth to a total of twenty children." But even more shocking were her last words—
"Twenty of them, all sons."
The crowd erupted in disbelief.
"My God! Twenty! And all of them are sons! What kind of precious physique is this!"
"That's not right. She had her first child at fifteen, and she's only thirty-two now. How could she have twenty sons? Could she have twins too?"
"Does anyone know this family? I'm curious, how are they going to feed twenty sons?"
"Haven't you heard? This woman was brought back by His Majesty during his military campaign. The imperial mausoleum is quite a distance from the capital, so she must be a farmer from a nearby village, right?"
The Prefect of the Capital felt a chill run down his spine. With Shen Hengzhen's tacit approval, he slammed the gavel down, restoring silence to the yamen.
“He Cuilian, look at your husband’s household register. There are only three sons in the household. Where did the twenty sons come from?”
At this moment, He Cuilian's face no longer showed any fear or timidity. As if she had made up her mind, she suddenly sneered, "Because I am fertile and give birth to boys every time, I am famous in the surrounding villages. So my husband's family sold me to families who could not have sons so that I could give birth to boys for them!"
Upon hearing this, Yun Tianjiao was so startled that his two cat ears tilted back, and he almost lost his balance and fell off Zhiwei's shoulder.
Zhiwei noticed her movement and gently lifted her back onto her shoulder to help her sit up.
"You're talking nonsense!" Li Defu, pale-faced, roared in court, "You vile woman! You're... deliberately smearing me!" He then kowtowed to Shen Hengzhen and the Prefect of Jingzhao, "Your Majesty, please see the truth! Your Excellency, please see the truth! This vile woman has been having an affair and has harbored resentment towards me for a long time. She's trying to use this opportunity to frame and slander me! I beg Your Majesty and Your Excellency to do justice for me!"
The Prefect of the Capital immediately ordered his officers to pin Li Defu down and gag him.
Shen Hengzhen, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, leaning forward slightly and saying in a deep voice, "He Cuilian, you said you gave birth to twenty children, all boys, is that true?"
"Your Majesty! It is absolutely true, I would never lie! If you do not believe me, you can investigate near the village where I live. I can provide a list of the households in the village where I have given birth to male infants!"
Shen Hengzhen neither believed nor disbelieved, but simply said, "Giving birth to twenty children in a row is truly unheard of. Do you have some secret method?"
If there truly were a secret method to conceive a son in one fell swoop, there would probably be no more newborn women. Therefore, at this moment, whether it was the officials inside the yamen or the common people watching the trial outside, everyone was filled with great curiosity. Some people who desperately wanted to have a son even pushed forward to hear more clearly.
He Cuilian said, "Your Majesty, there is no secret method. I was married at the age of thirteen, and I have not been able to conceive for two years after the marriage. So I went to the Temple of the God of Yuli day and night to pray for a child."
Shen Hengzhen narrowed his eyes slightly, "So it was the God of Yuli who granted you the ability to have sons in every birth?"
He Cuilian shook her head. "For two years, I prayed in the temple of the God of Yuli, but to no avail. Later, my mother-in-law said that the God of Yuli was a goddess, and that a woman like me probably didn't have any power. So she told me to go to the temple of the God of Mobei to pray. I had no choice but to obey my mother-in-law's order and went to the temple of the God of Mobei. Unexpectedly, I met the God of Mobei who was touring the area and revealed his true form in front of me! The God of Mobei was moved by my piety and pitied my situation, so he granted me the gift of having sons in every child."
There were another round of gasps of amazement outside the government office.
It should be noted that these celestial deities often manifest themselves in front of great worshippers, who are usually top-tier royalty and nobles. For example, Yun Tianjiao was able to see whichever deity he wished to see.
But for ordinary people, the vast majority of them, even if they devoutly burn incense and pray day and night, will rarely witness a divine manifestation.
This woman, so humble and insignificant, actually managed to encounter the Divine Lord Mo Bei revealing his true form; it's hard to say whether she was incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky. But thinking about it, if she hadn't met such a heartless and treacherous husband, she could be considered fortunate.
Inside the yamen, neither Shen Hengzhen nor the Prefect of the Capital interrupted He Cuilian, who continued, "At first, I thought it was a dream and didn't take it seriously. I didn't tell my husband's family about my encounter with the Divine Mo Bei. But unexpectedly, a month later, I found out I was pregnant. In the following three years, I gave birth to three sons in succession. During a family banquet, I happily told them about this extraordinary encounter, but I never expected... I never expected... From then on, I lived a life worse than death..."
He Cuilian burst into tears again, “My husband’s family sold me to others to have children. At first, no one believed it, but after I gave birth to sons for several families, eventually, families in the neighborhood who wanted sons for a high price started vying to buy me. I gave birth to one after another, ruining my health, but that heartless bastard Li Defu still wouldn’t let me go. Last month, he sold me to someone else. I resisted desperately, but the buyer still forcibly took my body until I found out I was pregnant… I, I don’t want to live like this anymore, so I want to end it all…”
Li Defu, who was gagged and tied up like a dumpling, was still struggling and writhing on the ground, as if trying to speak up and make muffled noises.
Shen Hengzhen then summoned the imperial physician who had just administered acupuncture to He Cuilian and ordered him to take He Cuilian's pulse.
"Physician Li, how is it? Can you tell if she has given birth multiple times?"
Physician Li took He Cuilian's pulse for a moment before bowing and reporting, "Your Majesty, this woman's condition is weak and her internal organs are severely depleted. It seems she has indeed given birth multiple times. However, to be on the safe side, I suggest that a female physician be invited to conduct another internal examination."
Yun Tianjiao looked at Shen Hengzhen and saw him wave his hand. A woman dressed as a female doctor stepped forward to bow, which confirmed his suspicions. Shen Hengzhen had known the reason for the case all along and was just putting on a show for everyone.
The female doctor led He Cuilian to the back hall of the government office. After a moment, she came out again and reported, "Your Majesty, I have examined He Cuilian. Her uterus has almost prolapsed out of her body, indicating that she has given birth at least ten times. Her body is severely damaged and she can no longer endure the pain of childbirth."
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