Upon hearing the familiar voice, Xu Mingjuan immediately burst into tears.
She wasn’t in disbelief, but caught between the woman who gave birth to him and raised him—his own mother—and his wife, he was torn, unable to side with either.
Yet, the next moment, Deputy Regiment Commander Lei thudded to his knees before Auntie Lei.
Auntie Lei’s mind went blank. "Second Son! What are you doing?"
"Mother," Deputy Regiment Commander Lei straightened his back, his voice heavy. "Today, your son will kowtow to you three times."
Auntie Lei wasn’t well-educated, but she was far from foolish.
"What do you mean by this? Are you choosing this woman over your own mother?"
As soon as she finished speaking—thud!
Deputy Regiment Commander Lei’s forehead struck the ground with force. "First, I thank you for giving me life."
Thud!
When he raised his head again, his eyes were red. "Second, I thank you for raising me all these years."
She may have been biased, but at least he had a family.
Thud—
By the third kowtow, his forehead was bruised and swollen.
"Mother, all these years, you’ve been both father and mother to us siblings."
"I know how hard it’s been for you."
"That’s why, no matter how much money you demanded from me over the years, I never refused."
"I thought, after all, we’re family. If I ate less, my siblings could eat more."
"But Mingjuan has never wronged you in any way."
At this point, Deputy Regiment Commander Lei looked up. "Mother, when you pushed her down the stairs, did you ever think—even for a second—that she was carrying my child?"
"Did you?"
They say men don’t shed tears easily, but as he asked this, his composure visibly cracked.
Yet, after a long silence, the answer he hoped for never came.
Taking a deep breath, Deputy Regiment Commander Lei continued.
"Mother, since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety are hard to balance. From today onward, our bond as mother and son ends here."
Hearing this, Auntie Lei staggered back.
Before she could speak, Deputy Regiment Commander Lei added, "But Mingjuan’s suffering won’t be in vain. The wrong you’ve done can’t be erased. Right and wrong will be settled at the police station—"
"How could I have raised such an ungrateful wolf!"
Auntie Lei, enraged, rushed forward and struck him several times. "I’m your birth mother! And now you’re sending me to jail? Are you trying to kill me?"
No amount of crying or tantrums helped. Half an hour later, the group was taken to the police station near the military district.
Given the military involvement, the local police were unsure how to proceed and had to consult the county authorities.
By the time officers from the county police arrived, it was already noon.
With only one interrogation room in the town’s station, Auntie Lei was taken inside first, leaving the others to wait in the hallway.
Deputy Regiment Commander Lei was later called aside by the Division Political Commissar, who had just arrived.
Seeing the Division Political Commissar lecture him nonstop for half an hour, Jiang Si couldn’t help but ask, "Is the Division Political Commissar always this long-winded?"
At this rate, it would take at least another hour.
Hu Meili sighed deeply.
"Old Lei was already stuck in his rank because of his family mess. After today’s scene, he’ll be stuck for at least five more years."
"Five years?" Jiang Si was shocked.
Hu Meili nodded. "No way around it. Filial piety weighs heavier than heaven."
In the military, filial duty was part of the "ideological consciousness" assessment, especially during promotions—where it held veto power.
Deputy Regiment Commander Lei’s three kowtows had just cost him five years of progress.
No wonder the Division Political Commissar was so furious.
At heart, he valued talent.
Still, it was rare for a man to go this far.
Hu Meili mused, "I never expected Old Lei to be so decisive. When he was slamming his head on the ground, it gave me a fright."
Xu Mingjuan hadn’t expected it either, but her mind was on something else.
"Jiang Si, that last thing you said earlier—were you bluffing, or…?"
Before Jiang Si could answer, the interrogation room door swung open.
The officer scanned the three. "Which one of you is Comrade Xu Mingjuan?"
Xu Mingjuan stood. "That’s me."
The officer nodded. "We’ve checked. That child is Auntie Lei’s biological grandson. She said since you two have been married for years without children, she wanted to bring him over for adoption. The boy’s parents knew and didn’t object."
"Of course they didn’t object," Xu Mingjuan scoffed.
"They don’t want to raise their own child, so they dump him on us. Once we’re attached, they’ll come back to claim him."
"If we can’t bear to let go, we’ll have to pay to support their whole family. What a brilliant scheme."
The officer hesitated.
Even the fairest judge struggles with family disputes. Given Auntie Lei’s age and the lack of kidnapping or abandonment, there wasn’t much they could do.
As for spreading superstitions, the most they could do was reprimand her.
After a pause, the officer said, "About the push down the stairs—Auntie Lei keeps pleading innocence. Do you have any other evidence? If not, we’ll have to let her go after a warning."
At this, Xu Mingjuan looked at Jiang Si.
Jiang Si stood. "Officer, could you give us two minutes?"
"Sure. You can go in after."
With that, the officer led Auntie Lei out.
As she passed the three, Auntie Lei suddenly smirked at Xu Mingjuan.
She said nothing, but the smugness on her face was a knife to everyone’s hearts.
Xu Mingjuan trembled with anger.
How could someone be so cruel?
Then, Deputy Regiment Commander Lei wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Whether we have children or not, our life stays the same. Whatever others say, just treat it as nonsense."
Auntie Lei’s face twisted, ready to curse, but the officer quickly ushered her away.
Once she was gone, the couple turned to Jiang Si.
Jiang Si cut straight to the point. "Even without eyewitnesses, the truth from years ago can still be uncovered with time—"
Before she could finish, Deputy Regiment Commander Lei made his decision.
"Jiang Si, I understand. I’ve done my filial duty. All these years, my conscience is clear."
"Now, I just want the truth—for my wife’s sake."
"Understood."
Jiang Si nodded and entered the interrogation room.
Back in Capital City, she’d noticed how investigations here relied heavily on witness statements or physical evidence, often overlooking crime reconstruction and reasoning.
So when questioned, Jiang Si kept it concise.
"No eyewitnesses? Then pull her medical records from the military hospital from that year."
However, unlike a forensic doctor, a regular physician wouldn’t meticulously document the exact locations and sizes of every wound.
After a pause, Jiang Si added, "If the medical records don’t include these details, we’ll have to simulate the incident—analyzing the posture of the fall and the wound positions to determine whether she was pushed or accidentally slipped."
After all, the two scenarios would result in entirely different landing postures and injury patterns.
The officer replied, "That’s possible, but what do you mean by ‘simulate the incident’? Are we supposed to have the victim fall again?"
Jiang Si shook her head—that was out of the question!
If this were fifteen years later, the entire simulation could be done on a computer.
But for now, they’d have to create a life-sized dummy using clay or silicone.
That’s why she said the truth could be uncovered—it would just take some time.
Of course, if the medical records contained more detailed information, they could skip the reenactment altogether.
The officer immediately nodded. "We’ll send someone right away to check Comrade Xu’s medical records. But Comrade Jiang, where exactly can we buy this dummy you mentioned?"
The farthest they’d ever been was the provincial capital, and they had no idea if department stores even carried such a thing.
Seeing their confusion, Jiang Si answered honestly, "Nowhere. Not even in Capital City."
The officer was taken aback. "Huh?"
Jiang Si pressed her lips together. "But I can try making one myself."
At this, the officer’s eyes widened slightly. "…"
