The man who saved Shen Qing was named Qi Zhenheng, and he was the prefect of Jiangzhou.

Gao Laosan and a group of his servants involved in the case were all arrested.

Shen Qing was taken to a side courtyard of the prefectural government office to rest for a while.

Qi Zhenheng ordered someone to bring her clean clothes. When she changed, she found that the wound was bleeding heavily, so she could only use her undergarments to tie it up and apply pressure to stop the bleeding.

After dealing with all of this, she was so exhausted that she could barely stand and had to sit down to rest.

The door opened, and Qi Zhenheng walked in.

She quickly stood up and bowed slightly to him: "Thank you for saving me today, Lord Qi!"

Qi Zhenheng quickly helped her up, saying, "Madam, you don't need to be so polite."

Shen Qing reiterated, "The person who orchestrated this was Gao Laosan of the third branch of the Gao family. He originally wanted to kill off the Gao family line, which had ended. Because I refused to let his grandson enter the Gao family, he conspired with other members of the Gao family to murder me..."

Qi Zhenheng frowned and pondered, "But these are only your side of the story, without any substantial physical evidence."

Shen Qing exclaimed excitedly, "But you saw him drown me in a pig cage!"

"That's true, but since this kind of private punishment has always existed in the community, there has never been a case in which the person who used this private punishment was convicted. Moreover, you are still alive, so it is really difficult to convict Gao Laosan and imprison him."

Shen Qing knew that this time it wouldn't be so easy to deal with Gao Laosan. Even if he was arrested, he would be released quickly, which wouldn't solve the problem.

She calmed down, and a bold plan took shape in her mind.

...

Shen Qing decided to go back to the Gao family.

On the way, they encountered Chunju, who was crying uncontrollably.

Upon seeing her, Chunju immediately knelt down before her with a thud: "Young Madam, it's all my fault! I failed to take good care of you! I deserve to die!"

She helped Chunju up and whispered, "You've come at the perfect time. Come with me back to the Gao family."

Chunju cried, "The Gao family treated you like this, why do you still want to go back to that home?"

She didn't explain, but silently walked towards the Gao family's house.

The wound was hurting more and more, but she gritted her teeth and endured it.

The gatekeeper of the Gao family wouldn't let her in, so she asked a servant to tell Gao Liu that she would take some clothes and leave, and from then on, she had nothing to do with the Gao family.

Gao Liu agreed to let her in.

Shen Qing returned to her room, but instead of taking her clothes, she found the agreement she had signed with everyone.

With Chunju's help, she arrived at the Gao family ancestral hall and asked Chunju to inform all the Gao family members to come over.

All the members of the Gao family came, and everyone pointed and whispered about her.

She wasn't angry at all; her pale face made her look like a living dead.

Chunju was very worried and stayed close by.

Shen Qing was waiting for Gao Laosan to appear.

She and Qi Zhenheng had agreed that Gao Laosan could be released immediately.

An hour later, Gao Laosan appeared at the Gao family ancestral hall.

As soon as he entered, he looked at her smugly, his eyes seeming to say—Look! Even the prefect can't do anything to me! I'm still alive, and I'll continue to kill you!

Shen Qing didn't look at him, but stared blankly at the blue sky outside the door.

Once everyone had arrived, she stood up, unfolded a sheet of Xuan paper, and read aloud: "This is the adoption agreement I signed with Third Master. I agree to the Gao family adopting Third Master's grandson, Gao Che, as the Gao family's heir. From this day forward, Gao Che may live in the mansion, and from now on, the Gao family will have an heir! As for me, Shen Qing, I am leaving the Gao family from this day forward, and I am no longer a member of the Gao family! Everything about the Gao family is no longer related to me!"

Upon hearing this, Gao Liu burst into tears.

She stood up slightly, and with the help of her maid, walked to the ancestral tablets. She offered incense to each tablet, murmuring prayers for the ancestors to bless Gao Che to grow up safely and healthily.

They didn't mention at all the daughter-in-law who had worked tirelessly for the Gao family and almost lost her life in court.

Shen Qinghan kept his thoughts to himself, but his face remained calm.

Everyone was very satisfied and congratulated Gao Liushi with smiles.

Old Gao swaggered up to Shen Qing and said smugly, "That's right! If you had figured it out earlier, why would I have had to drag you to the pig cage?"

Shen Qing looked at him without showing any emotion and said calmly, "I thought we had agreed before that Gao Che would be brought to my side after the Gao family's debts were settled. I didn't expect you to be in such a hurry."

Old Master Gao laughed loudly: "One hundred thousand taels! I can pay it back, it's nothing! But only when you're gone can Gao Che rightfully inherit the second branch's business!"

Shen Qing sneered: "I think you're the one who wants to inherit it, aren't you?"

After saying that, she took out several silver notes from her sleeve pocket, tossed them up, tore up the various stock-to-bond agreements she had signed, and then left the Gao family ancestral hall without looking back.

Chunju followed closely behind.

Shen Qing's strength only lasted until she left the Gao family's house; she soon collapsed on the street.

When I woke up again, I was still in the same inn room.

Cheng Zhiwen sat on a stool by the round table, staring intently at something, while Chunju dozed off by the bedside.

Shen Qing rolled her eyes, and Cheng Zhiwen happened to turn around at that moment. Seeing that she was awake, she immediately stepped forward and asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Shen Qing frowned and pressed her chest: "My head hurts, and my wound hurts."

Cheng Zhiwen lifted the quilt, gently unbuttoned her coat, and checked her wounds.

“It’s infected,” he said softly. “The river water is very dirty, and the wound got infected, which caused the fever. I’ve already sent Lao Xu to Shanghai to get medicine.”

As Shen Qing recalled the history of penicillin, the first antibiotic, he suddenly realized that he was in big trouble.

Penicillin was only invented in 1928, and it was 1887 at the time. Even if Cheng Zhiwen had extraordinary connections, he couldn't obtain the drug to treat the infection.

At times like this, she can only rely on her own immune system to fight off the infection.

Shen Qing prayed that her immune system would work its magic.

Cheng Zhiwen instructed Chunju to go downstairs and make a bowl of lean meat porridge, while she herself sat by the bed to clean Shen Qing's wounds.

With life and death looming before them, Shen Qing no longer cared whether her body was naked or not, and let Cheng Zhiwen do as she pleased.

In a daze, he remembered what happened after Grandpa Gao called him away and asked, "What did the eldest son of the Gao family say to you?"

"They want me to help them export the Gao family's silk, and I'll split the profits 50/50."

"Is it the batch I took to Shanghai last time?"

Cheng Zhiwen looked at her and nodded.

Shen Qing suddenly realized that Grandpa Gao was also coveting the second wife's property.

The easiest way to cash out is to sell the silk inventory discreetly first, and then deal with the more troublesome house.

Like Gao Laosan, he also wanted to take advantage of the second wife's childlessness, but he was more subtle in his methods.

Remembering that Cheng Zhiwen was called away and she was immediately dragged to be drowned in a pig cage, Shen Qing couldn't help but feel wronged and complained, "They really killed two birds with one stone. By sending you away, they could talk business with you and hurt me at the same time. You are so naive. You just left when they told you to."

The cotton swabs that were being used to clean the wound paused. Cheng Zhiwen looked up at her and said, "When we left the inn, I had already sent Old Xu to inform Brother Zhenheng, knowing that he could save you. That's why I went with the eldest son. But he was too late, and you were thrown into the river."

Shen Qing was surprised: "So the prefect is acquainted with you? No wonder he came to save me."

Cheng Zhiwen stopped talking and focused on cleaning her wounds.

Looking at him, Shen Qing felt increasingly at ease.

Guns were unusable, but connections were still an option. With someone like Cheng Zhiwen as her backer, she could be relatively safe in the Qing Dynasty, right?

So should I try to be nice to him?

Just then, he suddenly asked, "Would you like to come to Shanghai with me to do business?"