Who Knows Whose Wild Child This Is?

The clerk led Zhou Wanwan to the backyard and said, "Please wait here for a moment. I'll go and inform them that there's another case in court."

Zhou Wanwan nodded, and the advisor instructed his Zhou Wanwan tea, snacks, watermelon, and grapes.

The subordinate lowered his voice and said, "Master, who is this person? I feel like you treat her better than you treat the adults."

The advisor coughed and said, "Little devil, I can't afford to offend you, and neither can any of us adults. Sigh! Serve him well."

After quite a while, the clerk finally came to summon Zhou Wanwan.

Cheng Xiao was sitting calmly in the courtroom, dressed in an official robe, looking quite respectable.

Cheng Xiao slammed the gavel and asked, "Who is there in the hall?"

Lady Fang was so frightened that she knelt down on the ground. Zhou Wanwan said:

"This is Fang Taohua who is filing this complaint on her behalf."

After marrying Fang Taohua, the defendant Chen Fugui first seized all of her dowry, then secretly took away their son, and also kept a mistress outside the marriage.

Finally, he kicked Fang Taohua out of the house without leaving her a single penny, and even managed to take over the restaurant that Fang Taohua had brought with her.

Today, I humbly request Your Honor to uphold justice and order Chen Fugui to return all of Fang Taohua's dowry.

Return the restaurant to Fang Taohua, return the child, and compensate Fang Taohua for all the losses she has suffered over the years.

Chen Fugui, his face full of dissatisfaction, shouted:

"Nonsense! Utter nonsense! I was the one who managed and built that restaurant from scratch, so why should it be Fang Taohua's property?"

It's clearly because she can't have children, and she's also jealous by nature, constantly being sarcastic, mean-spirited, and making trouble out of nothing.

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I divorced her and left the house!

Since we've already divorced, the dowry naturally belongs to the husband's family. There's no reason for her to ask for it back! She's deliberately trying to frame me!

Zhou Wanwan stepped to the side, raised her hand, and said loudly, "Bring the child up."

A boy of about ten years old was led up and stood timidly in the hall.

Zhou Wanwan looked at Chen Fugui and said, "Chen Fugui, take a closer look, whose child is this?"

Chen Fugui's expression changed drastically, but he forced himself to remain calm and shouted, "Who knows whose wild child this is! I don't know him at all!"

Zhou Wanwan immediately rebuked him sternly:

"Don't you recognize him? This is your own son! When Fang Taohua had just given birth, you secretly took him away and left him with your mistress's family to be raised! You abused him in every way."

Look at those eyebrows, those eyes, that nose—it looks exactly like yours! Are you still trying to deny it?

You heartless, rotten thing, how could you do such a beastly thing!

Zhou Wanwan turned to the hall and continued:

"My lord, Chen Fugui's accusations that Lady Fang was jealous and infertile are completely fabricated and utter nonsense!"

He couldn't provide any concrete evidence as to why Lady Fang was so jealous.

They say she can't have children, but this living, breathing child right in front of you is the best proof!

Today, I've invited all the neighbors here. Everyone has watched Fang Taohua grow up; let's all speak fairly about what kind of person she is!

The neighbors who had gathered below the hall all stepped forward, each offering their opinions:

"Sir, we are all neighbors, and we grew up watching the Taohua bloom."

This girl is cheerful, honest, hardworking, filial to her parents-in-law, and kind to her neighbors. Everyone in our neighborhood praises her!

"Yes, she helps anyone in need whenever she can, and she's always straightforward in her words and actions."

He's not some jealous and shrewish person at all! It's all Chen Fugui talking nonsense!

"He only makes up these lies because he despises his own wife and dotes on other women, trying to seize their property!"

Zhou Wanwan said loudly:

"My lord, according to the laws of our Great Xia, Chen Fugui's actions are called favoring his concubine over his wife."

The woman outside him wasn't even a concubine; she was just a mistress without any status or title.

For this mistress, he seized his wife's dowry and took away his own son.

He drove his wife out of the house and then falsely accused her of being jealous and childless, violating the law in every single way.

In my opinion, the conclusion should be as follows:

First, all the dowry and restaurant that Chen Fugui had seized should be returned to Fang Taohua.

Secondly, he favored his concubine over his wife and abandoned his wife and children. He should be punished according to the law, and justice should be served for Lady Fang.

Third, since this child was abandoned by them, he has nothing to do with them anymore and they don't need to support Chen Fugui in his old age.

Chen Fugui was enraged:

Who do you think you are! The adults haven't even spoken yet, who gave you the right to interrupt?

You just wait, once we get out of here, I'll kill you!

Cheng Xiao grabbed the gavel and slammed it down, saying, "You audacious scoundrel! How dare you roar and cause trouble in court, threatening the lawyer! You have no respect for the law!"

Then the verdict was pronounced in court:

"Chen Fugui favored his concubine over his wife, seized his wife's dowry and restaurant, abandoned his wife and children, and fabricated charges against her. The facts are clear and the evidence is conclusive."

The judgment is as follows:

First, all of Fang Taohua's dowry shall be returned to Fang Taohua.

Second, Chen Fugui shall compensate Fang Taohua with one hundred taels of silver.

Third, Fang Taohua will raise her biological son.

Fourth, Chen Fugui, who disregarded the law, was punished with twenty strokes of the cane.

Fifth, Lady Zhao concubine, who disobeyed her duties and disrupted someone else's marriage, shall also be punished with twenty strokes of the cane as a warning!

The officers immediately stepped forward and dragged the two away to be executed.

Chen Fugui cried out, "I'm innocent! Sir, spare my life!"

Cheng Xiao looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "Is this alright?"

Zhou Wanwan nodded slightly and said, "The handling was fairly fair, but the restaurant clearly belongs to the Fang Family, so why did you award it to Chen Fugui?"

Cheng Xiao said calmly:

"This restaurant wasn't this big before; it was Chen Fugui expanded it little by little over the years through hard work."

She's done a great job, and Lady Fang has absolutely no idea how to run a restaurant. Giving her one hundred taels of silver is quite generous.

Zhou Wanwan rolled her eyes. That old geezer was wicked; he must have secretly accepted bribes.

Zhou Wanwan didn't argue with him and continued, "Then you should give Lady Fang's dowry back to her!"

Chen Fugui clutched his backside and wailed, "When Lady Fang married into our family, she didn't have any dowry! Just a few quilts, and she took them all with her."

Zhou Wanwan scoffed and said, "Look, what's this?"

Zhou Wanwan took out the dowry list, which was a detailed list of her bridal gifts, and it was written down clearly, totaling more than ten pages.

Chen Fugui's vision went black as he exclaimed, "Impossible! I tore up that dowry list back then!"

Lady Fang wiped away her tears and said:

"You tore up your family's copy. There were three copies of this dowry list in total."

One portion is for you, one for me, and one for our Lady Fang.

Zhou Wanwan directly summoned the Lady Fang clan, and the clan leader said calmly:

"That really happened back then. Your Chen Family has gone too far!"

This dowry list has your family's fingerprints on it; it's in black and white, there's no denying it.