Li says that the controversy brought back discussion of The Butcher's Wife and its supposedly corrupting influence on society. However, she sought out Teng herself, and got proof that Teng had never read the novel. The critics had taken Li's penetrating vision as incitement, but they'd ignored the facts and misunderstood a symptom as a cause.
李昂表示，當時輿論舊事重提，指責《殺夫》帶壞社會風氣，但經她向當事者求證，證實鄧如雯從未看過這篇小說，批評者把小說家的洞見視為教唆，是逃避現實，倒果為因。