Chapter 120 The Scholar Who Favored His Concubine Over His Wife (Part 12) Taking Pure Love to...

Liu Xinhui opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Cold sweat instantly soaked through her clothes. Even though she was usually on good terms with Wang Yuran and Wang Hechuan, she had offended their father in front of so many scholars and literati today. How could she ever face marrying into the Wang family again?

Looking at the water chestnut in Wang Sushou's hand, she could no longer hold back. With a "thump," she knelt down before him, trembling with fear, and said, "Lord Wang... I was confused for a moment and offended you. I... I beg you to forgive me! I... I didn't mean to, but... it was an accident, and I hurt you by mistake..."

As she spoke, her voice trembled, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, making her look extremely pitiful.

"A momentary lapse?" Wang Sushou's voice was indifferent, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Yes..." Liu Xinhui finally found her voice and cried out, "It's all...it's all this person! He offended me with his rude words, and I was filled with resentment, so...I beg you, sir, to investigate!" As she spoke, she raised her hand and pointed directly at Song Ce, her eyes filled with hatred.

Song Ce remained calm. He stepped forward and bowed to Wang Sushou, saying, "My lord, everyone in the garden witnessed Miss Liu verbally abusing this woman first, pressing her relentlessly, showing no regard for her advanced age and frail health. This woman, seeking forgiveness, apologized and offered money, but Miss Liu ignored her completely." Instead, she threw the copper coins her sister-in-law had worked so hard for to the ground. Despite my kind words of persuasion, Miss Liu remained unyielding, and in her anger and embarrassment, she resorted to the undignified act of throwing water chestnuts. Such arrogant and unreasonable behavior not only lacked the decorum of a well-bred lady but also chilled the hearts of everyone present! This is an elegant place in Qizhou, attracting countless scholars and poets from afar, yet Miss Liu completely disregards the solemnity of this place and the dignity of Your Excellency presiding over the poetry gathering! Her accidental injury to Your Excellency is no accident but rather the result of her habitual arrogance. If Your Excellency does not warn her today, who knows how many more troubles she will cause in the future! I urge Your Excellency to investigate thoroughly and rectify the atmosphere in Qizhou! His voice was not loud, but each word was like a hammer blow, sending a shiver down the spines of everyone present.

Wang Hechuan, who was standing to the side, suddenly became serious. As Wang Sushou's son, he could naturally sense that his father was on the verge of exploding in rage.

Upon hearing this, Liu Xinhui grew even more terrified. She crawled forward two steps on her knees, tears streaming down her face, pleading incessantly, "My lord... my lord, please forgive me! It was an unintentional mistake, not... not as this person says! This person harbors resentment towards me, which is why he kicked me when I was down in public! My lord! Please, for my father's sake, forgive me this time!"

Upon hearing this, the young ladies at the women's table came together.

The women all turned their faces away as they watched Liu Xinhui kneeling on the ground, crying and pleading. They had all witnessed Miss Liu's true colors at the banquet, and naturally none of them were willing to speak up for her now.

Wang Yuran stood beside Xia Xiangjun, her gaze complex as she looked at the weeping Liu Xinhui. She had initially befriended Liu Xinhui because she was highly likely to become Hechuan's wife, which was why she had taken the initiative to befriend her. But now? Knowing her father's temperament, he would absolutely not agree to this woman marrying into the Wang family. Her lips moved, but in the end, she didn't utter a word of pleading for her.

After a long silence, Wang Hechuan sighed softly and mustered his courage to step forward. "Father, Miss Liu may have acted unintentionally today. I hope you will be lenient."

"Unintentional?" Wang Sushou sneered, glancing at his son before addressing him by his full name: "Wang Hechuan, open your eyes and take a good look. Everyone here witnessed her attitude towards that old woman. This woman is so arrogant; if she hadn't hit me today, do you think she would be kneeling on the ground obediently admitting her mistake like this?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xinhui's body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground.

Seeing Wang Hechuan lower his head in shame, Wang Sushou ignored him and turned to the anxious woman beside him, asking gently, "Sister-in-law, are you injured?"

Upon hearing this, the woman quickly shook her head and said cautiously, "Reporting to Your Honor, I am fine, but this young lady's hairpin..."

Wang Sushou smiled and waved his hand, "It's alright, it's alright. I will return the hairpin to her for you. You don't need to worry."

"Oh! Thank you so much, Your Honor! Thank you so much, Your Honor!" The woman's eyes reddened with emotion upon hearing this, and she hurriedly bowed as if to pay her respects. Wang Sushou quickly had a maidservant beside him support her.

“Sister-in-law, you don’t need to do this. While it’s still early, go to the back room to tidy up and hurry home!” Wang Sushou said.

"Oh, alright...alright..." the woman said, looking at the water chestnuts scattered all over the ground with heartache, and carefully asked, "Your Honor, may I tidy up these water chestnuts and take them home?"

Wang Sushou was taken aback upon hearing this, and slowly replied, "Of course."

Upon hearing this, the woman bowed in gratitude again. Seeing this, the others quickly stepped back a few paces, afraid of stepping on the woman's water chestnuts. Song Ce sighed and squatted down to help the woman pick them up.

At the same time, Liu Wanyao used a handkerchief to hold a handful of the picked water chestnuts and put them into the woman's bamboo basket. The couple smiled at each other. Seeing this, the other women also helped to pick them up, and soon the basket was full of water chestnuts.

"Thank you... thank you, young master, thank you, ladies." The woman said gratefully.

"Sister-in-law," Song Ce called out to the woman who was about to leave, and asked gently, "How much are your water chestnuts?"

The woman was taken aback, then quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe the dirt off the water chestnuts. She wanted to hand them to the group, but was afraid of soiling their clothes. Liu Wanyao noticed the woman's hesitation and immediately smiled and took a handful.

"Such a large and fresh water chestnut should fetch two coins!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned.

Xia Xiangjun's outstretched hand froze in place. She looked at Liu Wanyao and asked uncertainly, "Miss Liu, are you saying that such a big water chestnut is only two coins each?"

Now it was Liu Wanyao's turn to be stunned. She glanced at Song Ce cautiously and saw that he had a gentle expression and looked like he was encouraging her to continue. She then felt a little relieved and smiled and said, "Miss Xia misunderstood. I meant that the water chestnuts cost two coins a pound."

"What? A pound of water chestnuts only costs two coins?" Xia Xiangjun asked in surprise.

All those present were scholars and literati from Qizhou, including some from impoverished families, yet none of them knew the exact price of water chestnuts. The reason for this was simply that the women in their families feared that such mundane matters would disturb their studies, and therefore had never brought it up.

Upon hearing this, Wang Sushou sighed deeply, for there is no greater hardship than this for the people.

Seeing everyone deep in thought, the woman said somewhat embarrassedly, "Madam, that was the price two years ago! This year, water chestnuts cost three coins a pound."

"In that case, things will be a bit easier for you at home, sister-in-law," Liu Wanyao said with a smile.

Unexpectedly, the woman hesitated upon hearing this, then cautiously glanced at Wang Sushou beside her and said nothing more.

“My lady, you may not know this, but since last year, all the rivers in Qizhou have been subject to a tax on water chestnuts. If I remember correctly, it’s about 3 dou of water chestnuts per mu… Sister-in-law, am I right?” Song Ce asked in a low voice.

"What this young master said is absolutely correct!" Seeing someone say it so openly, the woman assumed that everyone knew about it, and said with a wry smile, "Last year it was three dou, but this year it has risen to five dou!"

Unbeknownst to those present, this conversation was nothing short of a blow to Wang Sushou, the magistrate of Qizhou!

Wang Sushou's face instantly turned ashen, and his hand holding the water chestnut trembled slightly. Since the establishment of the new dynasty, the palace had never issued an edict to levy any taxes on the river. As the local official, he was completely unaware that someone under his jurisdiction was so audacious as to secretly carry out this capital offense behind the backs of the government!

Lingdangyin! Lingdangyin!

If this matter reaches the ears of the emperor, it's a small matter that he, as the local official, will lose his official position; what's more likely is that his entire family will suffer because of it!

Wang Sushou stared at the water chestnut in his hand, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Sister-in-law, do you know who is behind this water chestnut levy and silver levy?"

The woman was startled by his sudden stern gaze and took a small step back. After a long while, she clutched the hem of her clothes and stammered, "Your Honor, I only know that it was an officer from the yamen who came to arrest us, but the person behind it... isn't..."

The woman didn't continue speaking, but everyone present gradually realized something was wrong. Judging from Lord Wang's expression, he seemed completely unaware of the matter of the Lingdang Silver.

Upon hearing this, Wang Sushou's temples throbbed with anger. He suppressed his rage and said loudly to the woman, "Sister-in-law, rest assured. I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and give you justice."

"Yes, yes, thank you very much, Your Honor!"

Liu Xinhui slumped to the ground, her face, previously streaked with tears, now completely drained of color. She suddenly realized that this farce, which she had caused, seemed to... uncover a huge secret. She secretly glanced at Wang Hechuan, only to see him standing to the side with his back to her, completely ignoring her.

After a moment, Wang Sushou, forcing himself to remain calm, gave a slight bow to the crowd and said, "Gentlemen, today's Poetry Gathering will have to end here for now. I have other important matters to attend to. I will invite you all to gather here again another day when I have more free time." Before he finished speaking, he hurriedly left Baohua Temple with Wang Hechuan and Wang Yuran.

Now that the organizers of the poetry gathering have all left, the participants naturally parted ways in twos and threes.

Seeing Liu Xinhui's extremely disheveled appearance, Miss Qu sighed and stepped forward to help her up, but was unexpectedly pushed away by Liu Xinhui, who screamed, "Don't touch me!"

Seeing this, Xia Xiangjun quickly pulled Miss Qu aside and snorted coldly, "Sister Qu, why are you bothering with her? She probably hates us to the core right now and wants to get rid of us as soon as possible!"

Liu Xinhui staggered to her feet, glaring at Song Ce and Liu Wanyao with gritted teeth, and said hatefully, "You just wait!" After saying this, she turned around and ran away, stumbling.

Outside Baohua Temple, Caiyu and Fangshu, who were waiting by the carriage, exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Liu Xinhui's flustered and disheveled appearance: "Miss? What... what happened to you?"

"Shut up! Hurry up and go home!" Liu Xinhui snapped.

After she was settled, the carriage sped along, and soon the group returned to the Liu family home.

"Father! Father! Daughter...daughter may have gotten into trouble! Please, Father, save me!" Liu Xinhui stumbled into the front hall, knelt before Master Liu, and cried bitterly.

"Hui'er, what are you doing? Come, come, sit down and tell your father slowly." Master Liu hurriedly got up and stepped forward, reaching out to help her up.

"Father, today..." Liu Xinhui dared not hide anything and told Master Liu in detail what had just happened.

After hearing this, Master Liu's face turned ashen. His hand, which was about to help Liu Xinhui up, suddenly stopped. Then he raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face.

"You wicked girl!"

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Author's note: I'm currently sick [crying emoji]. My little darlings, please take care of yourselves!