The day of the public parade arrived in no time. Wan Kongshan, dressed in prison clothes, was locked in a wooden cage and dragged from the street to be displayed to the public.

The once upright and honest man is now dressed in rags, his hair and beard are disheveled and tangled, his face is covered with a layer of black ash, and his bare hands and feet are covered with wounds of all sizes, from which blood and ash have clumped together.

Only those eyes remained clear and bright.

"bandit!"

"bandit!"

More and more people gathered around, and whenever they saw him, they would grab the dirtiest and smelliest things around them and throw them at him.

Rotten eggs, rotten vegetable leaves...

The onlookers became more and more excited as they threw the shards, and Wan Kongshan's already dirty and black face was covered with another layer of sticky grime.

The prison van rumbled past, and the Wan family members blended into the crowd, each with a complex expression.

Zhang Xiu twisted the hem of her clothes, her gaze towards Wan Kongshan filled with both heartache and helplessness. As if sensing something, Wan Kongshan turned around and immediately spotted his wife in the crowd.

With just one glance, Zhang Xiu's eyes reddened, and he involuntarily took a step forward, as if to come closer.

Wan Kongshan frowned, a rare, resolute chill rising in his eyes. He shook his head at his wife, before being swallowed up by a chorus of curses and rotten vegetable leaves.

Just as the crowd was throwing the prisoner's bag with great enthusiasm, a woman wearing a black headscarf suddenly broke through the crowd and grabbed the officer driving the prison cart without saying a word.

"I'm innocent!"

The woman cried out loudly, her voice so high that it drowned out the clamor of the crowd, who all fell silent.

In an instant, the noisy and crowded street fell silent, with only the woman's sobbing voice remaining.

In the distance, by the corner of the wall, Xiao Qi's guard held his sword to his chest and leaned against the wall, observing the scene with great interest.

This woman was a witness he had searched high and low for bandits' dens; she was one of the people he had saved when Wan Kongshan was still a bandit.

However, Wan Kongshan had helped too many people, and while this woman remembered his kindness, he himself did not.

"Where did this shrew come from? Daring to block the prison van! If you have a grievance, why don't you go to the yamen to report it!"

The officers driving the prison cart began to shout at them.

The woman clung to the wooden cage until her fingertips turned white. "Injustice! Sir!"

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

The officers impatiently kicked her, but the woman not only refused to let go, but also clung even tighter to the wooden cage and cried even more miserably.

"Sir! It's not that I, the woman, am wronged! It's that Brother Wan is wronged!"

She shouted herself hoarse, leaving everyone who heard her wondering what was going on.

Seeing that everyone's attention had turned to her, the woman simply ignored the officers' reprimands, climbed onto the prison cart, and took the place of one of the officers.

"Hey!" The officer was startled. "Get down here right now!"

The woman disregarded everything and seemed to gain unparalleled courage after climbing to a high place. A strong wind blew up and lifted the corner of her clothes, giving her an air of righteous indignation.

"Fellow villagers! Brother Wan is innocent! Although Brother Wan grew up in a bandit's den, he has never done anything immoral! On the contrary, he is kind-hearted and helps everyone without regard for his own safety. He has also saved many people who have fallen into the hands of bandits. I am one of the people Brother Wan saved!"

The woman became increasingly agitated as she spoke, even rolling up her sleeves to show everyone her scars. "Years ago, I went up the mountain to gather herbs and broke my arm. I lost too much blood and was captured by bandits. It was Brother Wan who saved me. Now some people say that Brother Wan is a villain, and I don't believe it at all! If it were just a woman like me who was wronged, I could accept it, but I can't stand to see my savior treated like this! It's true that Brother Wan has a reputation as a bandit, but I know he must have his reasons!"

As she spoke, the woman burst into tears, and her earnest and sorrowful appearance moved some of the more compassionate people to tears as well.

"Brother Wan! What's troubling you? Tell us and the villagers will stand up for you!"

Suddenly, someone shouted from the crowd.

The stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the people who were already excited were immediately drawn to it, and they all joined in the shouting. In an instant, their sense of justice was once again burning brightly in their hearts.

A cold wind blew, making Wan Kongshan's hair extremely messy. He couldn't lift it, so he could only scan the group of people in front of him with strong emotions through his dirty hair.

His hair obscured his eyes, making it impossible for people to see his expression.

But Zhang Xiu's eyes met his, and when their tearful eyes met those of hopeful ones, another wave of pain shot straight to his heart.

Meeting his wife's expectant gaze, Wan Kongshan, who was naturally taciturn and not good with words, revealed his scars in front of a crowd for the first time.

"I do have my reasons," Wan Kongshan said, his voice as if he were speaking through a needle, his few words brimming with barely suppressed pain.

Everyone quieted down and looked up at him.

The honest Wan Kongshan was somewhat at a loss when he received so many stares for the first time, but when he spoke again, his panic was overshadowed by his misery.

"My mother was kidnapped by bandits while she was pregnant with me and forced to become their wife. She endured countless humiliations to give birth to me, and taught me to read poetry, do good deeds, and help others. Later, my mother fell seriously ill and passed away. Before my mourning period was over, the bandits were all captured. Although I had the chance to reunite with my father, I could never find my mother's body again..."

At this point, many young women were already in tears, and the men who had just been shouting for the execution of the bandits also looked ashamed and lowered their heads.

The wind dried Wan Kongshan's eyes, and as if he had gained courage, he shouted, "That's right, I did live with bandits, but I, Wan, have never done anything wrong. I have been alive for more than thirty years and have always lived according to my mother's teachings. I have never harmed anyone, and I am certainly not a bandit!"

"Brother Wan is innocent!"

The woman shouted an additional sentence.

Seeing that the time was ripe, the guards also shouted from a distance, "Brother Wan is innocent! Magistrate, release him!"

"That's right! Release them!"

"Release them!"

As if struck by a revelation, everyone joined in the clamor.

Magistrate Cao couldn't help but smile, forcing himself to suppress his smile, and said with feigned helplessness, "A magistrate is supposed to be a public official, and should follow the will of the people. Since Young Master Wan has been wronged, then release him in the street. Men, untie him!"

While the guards on the prison cart were still in a daze, the key beside them was snatched away. Before they could even see who it was, Wan Kongshan was unlocked from his shackles and stripped of his prison clothes.

"Master!"

With tears in her eyes, Zhang Xiu wanted to rush forward and hug Wan Kongshan, but in front of everyone, she could only quickly run up to him and stop, carefully looking him up and down again and again before placing her hand on his face to comb his messy hair.

"You've suffered."

Zhang Xiu burst into tears before she could finish speaking, and Wan Kongshan hurriedly wiped away her tears.