Chapter 76 The Prodigal Brother (Sixteen): A Merchant's Son's Counterattack Against a King of a Different Surname...

"My son." After hearing the message from Junping through Li Mama, Lu Wuniang called Song Ce over and said calmly, "Your father was taken away by the yamen officials today."

"Does Mother know why?" Song Ce asked with great curiosity.

"Young Master, right after you sold that shop today, Master Song came to the bookstore himself, making a scene and demanding to see you. The new owner of the bookstore isn't a good-tempered person; he immediately called the yamen runners to restrain Master Song and take him to the yamen." Mama Li helped Lu Wu Niang up and continued, quite pleased with herself.

Upon hearing this, Song Ce immediately realized that Lu Wu Niang truly possessed a keen mind and understood Master Song very well. He paused for a moment, then said, "Perfect timing. I'm going out tomorrow, and I should be able to catch the three criminal brothers being interrogated around noon. I'll go and see them then!"

Lu Wuniang put down her needlework, angrily pounded the bedpost, and shouted, "Were they the three thieves who kidnapped Yu'er?"

“That’s right, Mother. Yu’er is only a little more alert now, so I’m thinking that I’ll go to the yamen by myself tomorrow. You can stay home with Yu’er and wait for me to come back, okay? I’m worried that when he sees you, he might say something nonsense and upset you for no reason,” Song Ce said.

"Alright, then I'll leave this matter to my son. Please be careful," Lu Wu Niang earnestly instructed.

"Don't worry, Mother."

...

The next morning, Song Ce got up early and went straight to Yongyang Taoist Temple.

Gu Tingxuan had taken the medicine for three days as instructed by Song Ce. He felt the itching in his throat getting worse each day. Today, he had to expend a lot of effort to suppress the itching and prevent himself from coughing.

Just then, Guan Mao, who was ordered to guard the mountain gate, saw Song Ce's figure in the distance and waved to him. When Song Ce reached the mountain gate, Guan Mao immediately went up to him: "Young Master Song."

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries with him, Song Ce and Gu Tingxuan arrived at the small courtyard where Gu Tingxuan was.

As soon as Gu Tingxuan saw Song Ce, he pointed to his throat, picked up a pen and wrote the character "itch" on a piece of paper. At the end, he felt that it was not enough to express his meaning, so he added the character "very".

Upon hearing this, Song Ce nodded and explained, "It's itchy, that's right. Please sit down, young master."

After Gu Tingxuan sat down, Song Ce carefully washed his hands and gently rubbed the pills he had prepared earlier in his hands. After rubbing them, he applied the pills to Gu Tingxuan's throat. Then, he took out a packet of prepared medicine and said to Guan Mao, "Please mix this medicine with six bowls of water and boil it down to half a bowl."

"Yes, Young Master Song."

At this moment, Song Ce had Gu Tingxuan clean the remaining medicine from his throat, and then he took out the golden needles from last time and steadily inserted them into acupoints that were completely different from the last time. After about fifteen minutes, the first three golden needles that Song Ce inserted actually began to tremble slightly.

Gu Tingxuan, as the person involved, naturally felt it too. A few beads of sweat slowly seeped from his forehead. Seeing this, Song Ce couldn't help but relax his brows and whispered, "Don't be nervous, this is normal, relax."

The golden needle trembled for half an hour before slowly stopping.

After the golden needles stopped, Song Ce inserted three more needles into Gu Tingxuan's throat. It wasn't until nearly an hour later that Song Ce carefully removed all the golden needles. Just then, Guan Mao's medicine was ready.

"Young master, drink the medicine as soon as possible, quickly."

Upon hearing this, Gu Tingxuan promptly drank half a bowl of medicine. Song Ce then soaked a clean cotton handkerchief in warm water and placed it on Gu Tingxuan's throat. "Young Master, please try to say something."

"May I ask, Young Master Song, how long will it take for my stutter to improve?"

Gu Tingxuan spoke in a steady voice and fluently, although he stuttered slightly at the end. However, if someone who did not know him well, they would never associate him with stuttering.

He was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then an incredulous look of surprise appeared in his eyes.

Guan Mao, who was waiting to the side, dropped the empty medicine bowl he had just taken from Gu Tingxuan with a "clatter" to the ground. He opened his mouth, "M-Master, you seem to be able to speak...it's alright!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Tingxuan stood up abruptly, his eyes slightly reddening. At this moment, he, who had been tense and had never relaxed for a moment, somewhat lost control and touched his throat, "Young Master Song, this is too, too unbelievable!"

Since he could remember, he had suffered strange looks from the palace servants because of his stutter. He thought he would never be able to speak fluently in his life, but unexpectedly today, he was able to speak a whole sentence properly!

“Young Master, please calm down. This is only the first course of treatment. Although we have seen initial results, you will need another course of treatment to fully recover and be indistinguishable from an ordinary person. Please take good care of your throat for the next three days. I will come back in three days.” Song Ce said with a gentle smile.

Guan Mao then came to his senses. He hurriedly bowed to Song Ce, his voice choked with emotion, and said, "Young Master Song, I am so sorry! I shouldn't have doubted your abilities before! Your medical skills are simply divine! From now on, my master... will finally no longer have to worry about this illness!"

Upon hearing this, Song Ce calmly waved his hand, "You don't need to be like that. Just remember to keep your diet light for the next three days, and avoid spicy and greasy foods, so as not to irritate your throat. Otherwise, you might have to add another course of treatment. There is a packet of throat-soothing tea that I made on the table. Just brew it with hot water and give your son three pots every day. Do you understand?"

"Don't worry, Young Master Song! I've remembered everything!" Guan Mao said excitedly.

"That's good, young master. You must speak as little as possible these three days. Only after the second course of treatment will you be able to act like a normal person," Song Ce carefully instructed.

Gu Tingxuan immediately shut his mouth and nodded solemnly, indicating that he understood. Seeing this, Song Ce smiled and said, "Then I'll take my leave first. Young Master, please rest."

"Is Young Master Song heading back to his residence? Let me escort you!" Guan Mao unconsciously used a respectful form of address when addressing the boy, who was more than ten years younger than him.

"No need," Song Ce said, bowing slightly before quickly leaving the courtyard. "I've already rented a carriage, and it's waiting for me at the mountain gate. There's no need to see me off."

"Go." Gu Tingxuan only said one word, and Guan Mao immediately understood his meaning. He carefully went out the door and followed behind Song Ce all the way to the county town with him.

After arriving in the county town, Song Ce paid the driver and hurried towards the yamen (government office). When he reached the yamen, he happened to arrive just as the county magistrate, Rong Chuying, was holding his midday audience.

Wenyuan County, under Rong Chuying's jurisdiction, was a peaceful and prosperous place with excellent governance and the people living in peace and contentment. Therefore, when such a major case of abducting a young girl occurred, Rong Chuying naturally decided to try it in the main hall of the county government, and all the yamen runners from the three shifts and six departments were on duty as usual.

Generally speaking, the original intention of a court trial was to publicly try a serious case and use this opportunity to inform the public that they should not knowingly break the law, in order to deter and educate them. Therefore, as soon as the sign announcing a trial in the main hall of the government office was put up, many people who had heard the news came to watch. Within a quarter of an hour, no less than several hundred people who had come to watch the spectacle had gathered outside the hall.

In the courtroom, Ah Da, Ah Er, and Ah San were brought in by the bailiffs. Rong Chuying paused upon seeing this and asked the clerk beside her, "Why are there only three prisoners today? Where is the aggrieved party?"

"Reporting to your question, sir, it seems the aggrieved party has not come today," the clerk immediately stepped forward to reply.

"Your Excellency, please allow me to report." Lu Bantou strode forward and said in a deep voice, "This aggrieved party was arrested by my subordinates yesterday for causing trouble in someone else's shop. At present, this aggrieved party only has a legitimate son, but he is still young and has not yet come of age, so he has not been taken into consideration."

"Oh?" Rong Chuying stroked his beard. "Why is the aggrieved party causing trouble?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Bantou hurriedly recounted the whole story to the magistrate. After listening, Rong Chuying snorted coldly: "This aggrieved party doesn't seem like a kind person. Go and temporarily take him out of the prison. I want to question him carefully."

"Yes, sir!" Chief Lu immediately bowed and accepted the order.

When Master Song was brought to the court, his knees buckled and he knelt on the ground, shouting that he was innocent.

Upon seeing this, Rong Chuying immediately slammed her gavel and shouted, "Everyone in the hall, be quiet!" With just one sentence, Master Song was so frightened that he opened his mouth but dared not utter another word, like a duck with its throat being choked.

Seeing that she had stopped Master Song, Rong Chuying immediately cleared her throat and said to the three prisoners kneeling with their heads bowed, "What are the names of the prisoners kneeling below? Where are they from? Quickly state your names!"

Upon hearing this, Ah Da, Ah Er, and Ah San immediately knelt down and stammered their answers to Rong Chuying's questions.

"Please come forward, sir, and explain the details of this case," Rong Chuying said.

"Yes, sir!"

Upon hearing Rong Chuying's words, the clerk immediately took out a prepared statement and read it aloud in the main hall. When Rong Chuying heard the statement from A-Da, indicating a good attitude in admitting his guilt, her brows immediately relaxed.

“Ah, I have heard from your signed statement that you have a good attitude in admitting your guilt. Now I will ask you again: when you broke into the home of an innocent person and kidnapped the young girl, were you acting under someone’s orders?”

Upon hearing this, A-Da unconsciously looked towards Wang Le, who was at the end of the yamen. Upon seeing this, Wang Le immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

"I am asking you a question! Why are you not answering?" Rong Chuying shouted.

"Your Honor, please forgive us! We were just being foolish and wanted to extort some money to spend. We would never dare to do anything harmful! Even if the magistrates of the county government hadn't come, we wouldn't have dared to act recklessly!"

"How dare you, Ah Da! That's not what you said when you came here! Quickly tell me the truth! If you dare to conceal anything or spout nonsense, don't blame me for punishing you!" As she spoke, Rong Chuying gestured towards the tally bucket.

"I...I didn't say anything wrong, sir, please investigate!" Ah Da knelt down and cried.

Just as A-Da vehemently denied being instructed by anyone, a commotion suddenly arose outside the courtroom. Song Ce pushed through the crowd and happened to overhear the conversation between the two men in the courtroom. He immediately stepped forward and loudly proclaimed, "Your Honor, this humble subject, Song Ce, has something to ask of you!"

Rong Chuying looked up and saw a handsome young man standing outside the courtroom, his expression calm and composed. Rong Chuying couldn't help but admire the young man. He immediately waved his hand, signaling the constables at the door to bring Song Ce in, and coincidentally, they selected Wang Le.

Upon hearing Rong Chuying's instructions, Wang Le strode out, his face grim, and brought Song Ce back in, then glared at him fiercely. Song Ce completely ignored this clown; he immediately stepped forward and respectfully bowed to Rong Chuying.

Rong Chuying slammed her gavel and asked loudly, "Who are you? And why do you request an audience at this time?"

“Sir, I am the son of the aggrieved party, Song Sanzhi, and the person who has been kidnapped is my younger sister. Just now, I heard outside the hall that this prisoner refused to confess, and there seems to be some hidden reason. I have some medical knowledge and may be able to help you.”

Upon hearing this, Rong Chuying's eyes flashed with surprise. "Medical skills? How could medical skills help me? This is a criminal, not a patient."

Upon hearing this, Song Ce cupped his hands and said, "Grandpa, this is a long-lost art of medicine called 'Invoking Dreams.' I am fortunate to have learned a little bit of it, which allows people to reveal their true thoughts under certain conditions."

Whether it was the county and prefectural officials in the courtroom or the onlookers outside, everyone immediately started discussing it upon hearing this.

"quiet!"

"Grandpa, please don't listen to my son's outrageous words in court. He's incredibly unruly, disobedient to his father, and..." Before Master Song could finish, a square-holed coin suddenly appeared before his eyes, drawing his gaze involuntarily to it. As the coin swayed faster and faster in front of him, Master Song's eyes began to glaze over, and his previously angry and tense expression gradually relaxed.

“Grandpa, you may begin your questioning now,” Song Ce said respectfully, taking a step back.

“Song Sanzhi, tell me the truth, why did you go to that bookstore to look for your son and cause a disturbance?” Rong Chuying frowned slightly and asked Master Song.

Master Song opened his mouth, and said in a daze, "Because I owe nearly ten thousand taels of silver, if I can't repay it, I'm afraid the creditors will break my legs."

Rong Chuying was taken aback by his words, "Then why do you owe such a huge debt?"

"Five years ago, I met a man in the city named Wang Yong. Because he had a disease on his head, everyone called him Wang the Leper. At the time, I was bored, and he came up to me and said that he had a good place to go and have some fun to relax. So I had the idea and went with him to a gambling den. At first, I won some money, but later I don't know why, I kept losing, and my gambling debts kept piling up. Until today, I owe more than 10,000 taels."

Upon hearing this, the courtroom erupted in uproar. Could this be a miracle? Such a bizarre medical technique was truly astounding.

Seeing this, Ah Er could no longer bear it. He gritted his teeth and pointed at Song Ce fiercely, shouting, "Grandpa! Arrest him! This man must be a sorcerer! He used this evil magic to bewitch my elder brother that day! My elder brother was acting very strangely when he was arrested, and it must have been this kid's doing!"

"Silence, prisoners!" Rong Chuying shouted.

"mighty……"

Just then, Ah San, who had already turned pale with fright, suddenly went weak in the knees and knelt down with a thud, crying out, "Grandpa, I confess! I confess everything! We three brothers usually just swindle food and drink, but a few years ago, this Wang Laizi approached us and told us about a job that could make money. At the time, we brothers were starving, and in a moment of confusion, we listened to him. Grandpa, please investigate!"

"You!" Upon hearing this, Ah Da suddenly stood up, but was quickly pushed to the ground by the constables beside him. He couldn't help but shout angrily, "Fool!"

"Big brother, second brother! Stop resisting! We three brothers are just mortals, how can we withstand such demonic magic! It's not too late to confess now! If we wait for this person to use his magic on us, then it will be too late! Big brother! Second brother!"

Ah San's kneeling and crying immediately caused a stir in the courtroom. Ah Da and Ah Er were so angry that their faces turned red, and they cursed and swore, wishing they could rush over and tear Ah San's mouth apart.

Upon hearing this, Rong Chuying's expression turned solemn. He slammed his gavel heavily, "How dare you make such a racket in the courtroom!" Immediately, some bailiffs stepped forward and covered the mouths of Ah Da and Ah Er. For a moment, only Ah San's low sobs could be heard in the courtroom.

"Ah San, tell me in detail. What exactly did Wang Laizi tell you about making money? Tell me the truth! If you utter even a single lie, I will not let you off easily!"

Upon hearing this, Ah San trembled with fear and kowtowed several times before saying, "My lord, please forgive me. I remember it was around the Mid-Autumn Festival. I was only about ten years old at the time. Wang Laizi approached my eldest brother and said that if we brothers helped him keep an eye on the wealthy gentlemen in the county, he would give us money. And then..." Ah San paused, his eyes secretly glancing at Ah Da and Ah Er beside him. Seeing his two brothers glaring at him fiercely, he shuddered and continued, "And then, Wang Laizi asked us to secretly kidnap the children of those wealthy gentlemen. Every time we succeeded, he would give us a sum of money and assure us that... that nothing would happen, and that we could do it without worry."

These words immediately caused an uproar in the courtroom.

The man continued, “Just a few days ago, Wang Laizi came to us brothers and asked us to kidnap Master Song’s two children. But Master Song is old, and we dared not act rashly. We only kidnapped his daughter and threatened his servants… Your Honor, we brothers have never killed anyone. We always release the children safely. Please, Your Honor, investigate this matter!”

At this moment, everyone's eyes turned to the upright young man and the dazed Master Song.

Upon hearing this, Rong Chuying was furious. "Just who is this Wang Laizi? How dare he commit such a heinous act under my jurisdiction! All constables, listen to my command! Immediately arrest this Wang Laizi and bring him to court! I will interrogate him personally!"

Upon hearing the magistrate's order, the constables responded in unison, "Yes, sir!"

Seeing this, Wang Le turned pale and took a step back. Just then, the Indian man kneeling and begging for mercy saw his action.

"Grandpa! There's another person here!" As he spoke, Ah San turned around, suddenly raised his hand, and pointed at Wang Le, who was standing to the side.

Ah San's identification was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating ripples. All eyes in the courtroom turned to Wang Le, who felt as if his blood had frozen, his face turning deathly pale.

Upon hearing this, Rong Chuying's face darkened so much it seemed like water could drip from it. His gaze was like a knife, shooting straight at Wang Le, and he shouted at the Indian man, "Insider, you're accusing someone from the government with mere words, but what proof do you have?"

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Author's Note: Ah Da & Ah Er: What to do when our younger brother is too stupid? Waiting for answers online, it's urgent! [frightened]

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement, little angels! (shaking with tears in her eyes) (pounding the ground in emotion) [droopy-eared bunny head] I'll be even fatter tomorrow! [starry-eyed]