He Chuwei's voice was as hoarse as if he hadn't drunk water for ten days.

His eyes were bloodshot.

There was also a scab on the corner of his mouth.

It looked as if he had been beaten so badly that he vomited blood and hadn't wiped it clean.

"What exactly happened, Chu Wei? Tell your grandfather quickly. There's not much time left. Your father and I will be leaving in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

He Shanhu saw that his grandson was still alive.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

He pushed his son aside, stood directly opposite He Chuwei, and asked him.

"Grandfather, I didn't do anything! I've been framed! But they won't believe me and they're going to beat me! Grandfather, please get me out of here! I'm in so much pain! I'm going to die! I can't take it anymore!"

He Chuwei wept bitterly, and he, who used to be very concerned about his image, didn't care that snot was running down his chest.

"You child, speak up! If you don't explain yourself, how can your grandfather save you!"

He Wanjiang was so anxious that he kept stamping his feet.

He only has one son, and if something happens to him, he will have no descendants.

Who will take care of him in his final days and support him in his old age?

"Here's the thing, the batch of candles I received were made with corpse oil..."

He Chuwei weakly explained the situation.

"Alright, Grandfather understands. Chuwei, don't be afraid, Grandfather will rescue you, don't worry!" After He Chuwei finished speaking, the time it takes for an incense stick to burn was almost up.

He Shanhu could only calm him down before quickly leaving with his son.

As they walked back along the same path, the hairs on their bodies stood on end.

They dared not look around and ran out quickly with their heads down.

As I climbed the stairs, I could still faintly hear the screams of the prisoners behind me.

"Why are you all so slow! Are you deaf? You said you'd wait a stick of ink, and you're still here! Get out of here right now!"

As soon as he stepped out, he was berated by the official who had led the way.

Although He Shanhu was very angry, he dared not talk back.

Merchants had a low social status.

If you offend these officials, you won't even know how you lost your life.

They can easily find a pretext to cause him a lot of trouble.

"I'm so sorry, sir. It was too dark inside, and I tripped and fell. Here, take this little bit of money as a token of my respect, and please use it to have some drinks."

He Shanhu took out his last two taels of silver and handed them to the officer.

Only then did I receive a smile.

"Alright, alright, since you're so understanding, I won't hold it against you. Hurry up and go, or I won't be able to explain myself if we drag this out any longer."

The official tucked the silver into his chest and led the He family father and son away.

On the road.

He Shanhu subtly inquired about the matter with the official.

They wanted to find out how they would deal with their grandson.

But the officials refused to reveal a single word.

With no other option, the two had to leave first. They walked all the way to the shop, only to find it had been sealed off, and then went home.

"What should we do! Chu Wei has been arrested, and the shop has been shut down. It seems that we'll have to bleed a little to get these officials to talk. Wan Jiang, go! Take out all the valuables from your house and have Liu sell her jewelry and clothes. I'll go tell your mother and Wan Shi to prepare as well. We must raise the money today. If we delay any longer, Chu Wei won't be able to hold on."

After giving instructions to his son, He Shanhu went to Madam Lu's room.

Two hours later, he and He Wanjiang left the pawnshop with ninety taels of silver and headed straight for the county government office. As for the gatekeeper and maid who carried the chest, they returned to the He family on their own.

This time, the father and son did not go inside.

Instead, they waited in a corner outside the county government office.

Once the officials finished their shift, they approached them and, under the guise of inviting them to a meal, led the ten officials to a nearby restaurant.

Including the father and son, there were twelve people in total, sitting at two tables. Each table was filled with dishes, and there was plenty of alcohol.

Such a generous gesture made the officials' smiles seem much more genuine.

Before long, they started calling each other brothers, and after eating and drinking their fill, He Shanhu finally managed to get some information out of them.

It turned out that the county magistrate himself had ordered the severe torture.

It would have been better if he hadn't asked; once he did, He Shanhu's body went limp.

The county magistrate has already intervened; how can he possibly save the situation?

How to save them?

It's over, it's all over.

It wasn't until the officials finished eating and were about to leave that he came to his senses. Trembling, He Shanhu took out silver from his purse and gave each of them five taels, hoping they would show mercy to his grandson.

The official gave a perfunctory reply.

After they left, He Shanhu also left with his son.

The remaining forty taels were used to pay for the meal.

Not a single copper coin remained.

"Father, grandfather, how is my husband? Has he been rescued?" As soon as they arrived at the door, they saw Madam Wan anxiously waiting outside. Seeing them return, she lifted her skirt and ran over to ask them.

"There's no way to save him. The county magistrate personally ordered a severe punishment, and the officials are just following orders; there's nothing they can do. I heard that this afternoon, someone else went to the county office to accuse Chu Wei, saying that their child developed a high fever after smelling the corpse oil candles. Tell me, why did this kid have to mess around with those lousy candles? Why couldn't he just sell the candles he was selling? Now look what's happened; he's in deep trouble. Sigh!"

He Wanjiang shook his head in frustration.

He didn't sleep well last night.

I came back early this morning thinking I'd go back to sleep.

Unexpectedly, they encountered their son being arrested on the way.

He had been busy all day, and had just drunk a lot of wine with those officials. He was smelling of alcohol and was tired and sleepy.

"This afternoon I told you to take out your dowry and sell it to save Chu Wei, but you refused. Why ask so many questions now! He's your husband! If something happens to Chu Wei, you won't be any better off! If I had known you were this kind of person, I shouldn't have agreed to let Chu Wei marry you in the first place! You've been married into the He family for so long, and you haven't even laid a single egg. You're also incredibly stingy, not spending a single penny. What, do you want to spend your whole life with money? Then I'll divorce you in Chu Wei's place!"

He Shanhu, intoxicated, pointed at Wan Shi.

He voiced all his grievances.

“Grandfather, I didn’t. My husband took all my dowry. Those candles, they were all bought with my dowry, a total of more than three hundred taels!”

Wan felt extremely wronged.

In the afternoon, she was embroidering a handkerchief in the house.

Grandfather suddenly burst in.

She was asked to use her dowry to save Chu Wei. Wan was completely unaware of this matter and had been warned by her husband not to tell anyone. As a result, she didn't dare to tell her grandfather that her dowry had already been given to her husband.

This led He Shanhu to misunderstand.

They believed that Wan was deliberately unwilling to hand over her dowry.

"Well, you two have been up to something big behind my back! I knew it! Where did Chu Wei get the money to buy corpse oil candles? It was all your doing! You jinx!"

He Shanhu had nowhere to vent his anger.

Hearing that it was Wan who paid for it, which led to his grandson going to buy that damn corpse oil candle, he was shocked.

He then vented his anger on Madam Wan.