A few police officers arrived following Old Brother Niu's report.
Although the body had already been cremated, the officers obtained records from the South City Police Station about prior reports filed by the wife of Old Brother Niu's younger brother, the late Sister-in-law Niu.
These records included evidence from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital that could prove Sister-in-law Niu's maternal family had delayed her treatment.
Sister-in-law Niu's maternal family naturally denied this, claiming they were only trying to save money and had no idea that delaying treatment would lead to such a consequence.
Old Brother Niu presented the evidence of Sister-in-law Niu's maternal family stopping the funeral procession and threatening his mother to transfer the family property to their newborn grandson, who was only a month old. He argued that it was unreasonable for outsiders to pressure an elder, who was still alive, to divide the family assets.
Sister-in-law Niu's mother pulled her son-in-law aside and told him to fight for himself:
"For whom are we doing this? For you and your son. Now you're being sued by your elder brother. Go and testify quickly."
Young Brother Niu had been in a daze for days. He couldn't understand how a mere incision could cause a person's death.
It wasn't an illness, not cancer, just an incision, a fever, and then she was gone.
He agreed with his father-in-law's decision to report to the police. He had strong reservations about the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and felt they should be held responsible.
Since they couldn't get anything from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, he didn't want to give up on what was his:
"Elder Brother, Mother promised..."
Old Brother Niu looked coldly at his younger brother. This brother, having lived half his life, was still so foolish.
"Officers, I have further evidence proving that my sister-in-law's family conspired to murder for profit, solely to inherit her assets."
The officers turned to Old Brother Niu, the one who had reported the crime, and asked him to present his evidence.
Old Brother Niu scanned the faces of Sister-in-law Niu's maternal family, his own mother, and his younger brother, then dropped a bombshell:
"My sister-in-law was carrying a baby girl. Both the county hospital and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital's ultrasound scans confirmed it was a girl, yet they brought back a baby boy."
"She wanted to use the boy to claim family property, and her maternal family colluded with her in this baby-switching scheme."
"To execute this plan, and for the baby boy born prematurely to her maternal relatives, she feigned labor and was in a car accident on her way to the hospital."
"She got into Captain Tian's passing car and insisted that Captain Tian take her to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital... That's why she had a C-section, which led to all the subsequent events, and ultimately, her death."
A gasp!
All the villagers attending the funeral collectively erupted in an uproar.
A scheme of "substituting the dragon for the phoenix," something only seen in plays, was actually happening among them.
That Sister-in-law Niu would dare to do anything for the sake of property.
Sister-in-law Niu's maternal family was rendered speechless.
Sister-in-law Niu's mother and elder sister-in-law were even more terrified. How did it get exposed?
Old Mother Niu suddenly stood up, "Eldest son?"
Old Brother Niu nodded.
Young Brother Niu lunged at Old Brother Niu like a madman, "You're lying, you're lying! My wife gave birth to a son, a son!"
Old Brother Niu pushed his lunging brother away. "Don't you see Mother is merely surprised? You fool, how long will you continue to deceive yourself?"
Young Brother Niu, pushed to the ground, looked up at his mother.
Old Mother Niu shed tears and sighed, "Second son, you and I both held and saw the baby when it came out of the operating room."
She had harbored doubts, but dared not delve deeper, which was also why she hadn't rushed to re-divide the family assets.
Now that the truth was out, her heart ached. The boy she had cherished for over a month was from her younger daughter-in-law's maternal side, a pawn used by her younger daughter-in-law to seize family wealth.
Young Brother Niu slumped to the ground, his body lifeless. Not a son... not a son...
Even though the baby didn't quite resemble the one they'd first held, he hadn't suspected anything.
He had always trusted his wife, always trusted his in-laws. Even when his in-laws were now clamoring for family assets, he had acquiesced. And now this...
Wail! Young Brother Niu beat the ground, weeping uncontrollably.
The villagers, who had been waiting to witness the drama unfold, were now overcome with sorrow.
To be in their fifties and yearn for a son to care for them in their old age, only for such a tragic and unacceptable event to occur, alas!
Old Mother Niu walked over to her younger son, knelt down, and patted his back, "Cry, it will pass after you cry. After the hundredth day memorial, you can remarry and have another child."
Silence! Utter silence!
Old Mother Niu's words stunned everyone, more so than the revelation of Sister-in-law Niu's scheme.
Sister-in-law Niu wasn't even buried yet!
In the midst of this profound silence, Sister-in-law Niu's mother suddenly stood up and pointed at Old Mother Niu:
"It was you! It must have been you! You wicked mother-in-law, you must have killed my daughter after noticing the baby didn't resemble them."
"Otherwise, how could the incision suddenly become infected when she was almost a month postpartum?"
"And you!" Sister-in-law Niu's mother then pointed at Tian Jing. "You must have known all along that my daughter was carrying a girl."
"You deliberately caused my son-in-law's car accident, deliberately drove slowly on the way to the hospital, delaying my daughter so she could only have a C-section."
"And you had my son-in-law and his mother look at the newborn girl outside the operating room."
"All of this was because my daughter wanted to use the baby boy to get money from her elder sister-in-law, so you took revenge on her, and even dragged the entire village into it."
Tian Jing shook her head helplessly, "No wonder Sister-in-law Niu could come up with the 'substituting the dragon for the phoenix' scheme. Your imaginations are indeed rich."
"I don't expect praise for saving a life, but don't try to pin this on me. You can sue me, and when the evidence is insufficient, I will counter-sue you."
However, Sister-in-law Niu's mother's words indirectly confirmed the fact of the baby swap as stated by Old Brother Niu.
The police escorted all of Sister-in-law Niu's maternal family away.
Sister-in-law Niu's burial continued, even though it was late and already afternoon.
After the villagers helped with the burial, they returned home.
Old Brother Niu and Old Sister-in-law Niu also departed, unwilling to help their younger brother and mother clean up the mess.
...
Such a major event quickly spread throughout the surrounding ten villages.
Zhangshan Village, Zhonghe Village, and Villages One and Two were abuzz with gossip, while the Ku Mountain area remained exceptionally quiet.
Except for the occasional roaring sounds from Young Brother Niu's house.
A few days later, two police officers arrived at Young Brother Niu's house with a baby girl, swapping out the baby boy.
Old Mother Niu looked at the baby girl and sighed inwardly. It was Tian Jing who had told her to hold this baby beforehand. It was Tian Jing who pointed out the baby's eyebrows and mouth shape...
Old Sister-in-law Niu couldn't stand idly by. Every day, she went to her younger brother-in-law's house on the west side to help her mother-in-law. She helped when the boy was there, and she maintained the same attitude after the girl was brought back.
It was for her mother-in-law, for this niece, simply because they were family.
Her younger brother-in-law was ruined, constantly clinging to a wine bottle, roaring and shouting when drunk.
Old Sister-in-law Niu was touched that her elder daughter-in-law was still there. "Eldest daughter-in-law, once the second one recovers a bit, we can find him another wife, and once things here return to normal, it will be fine."
"Mother~" Old Sister-in-law Niu frowned. "Have you thought about Niu Niu?"
For over a year, her eldest niece had also been under considerable pressure.
"What does it have to do with her?" Old Mother Niu said indifferently. "She's unwilling to marry out. After taking a son-in-law and getting the shop, she's already more fortunate than many girls."
"And this one?" Old Sister-in-law Niu pointed at the baby girl in her mother-in-law's arms. "What about a stepmother?"
"She'll grow up with a bit of help," Old Mother Niu remained unconcerned. "She'll get married when she's older."
Looking at her heartless mother-in-law, Old Sister-in-law Niu questioned her, and the deceased younger sister-in-law, "If you hadn't said that as long as a boy was born, all the scenic area dividends would go to the second family, would the second family have even considered a baby-swapping scheme?"
"You already suspected it, yet you pretended to be oblivious, just wanting to muddle through, didn't you? Now that you can't muddle through anymore, you're rushing to find a new wife for the second one."
"You make everyone afraid..."
With that, Old Sister-in-law Niu left. She didn't want to act benevolent anymore, just like Tian Jing and Li Zheng Guo, who had dedicated themselves for over twenty years, received no praise but instead were suppressed.
Staring blankly at her elder daughter-in-law's determined back, tears welled up in Old Mother Niu's eyes. Without a son, who would care for her in her old age? A son-in-law was ultimately an outsider.
She hadn't expected things to escalate to this point!