Zong Chengping did not resist, but just kept sneering at Zong Houzhao. Zong Houzhao's anger rose even higher. He gritted his teeth and looked at his son who was sneering at him. He had been a father for so many years, and this was the first time his son had talked back to him like this. He felt that his dignity had been challenged, a very serious challenge. In order to calm down his anger, it was imperative to beat his son in front of him. Only by seeing the person who had talked back to him punished could Zong Houzhao feel that he could pick up the dignity that had been thrown on the ground.

A servant carried in a bench from outside. Zong Chengping was forced to lie face down on the bench, with one person pressing down on his shoulders and another on his legs. A servant held up a thick jujube wood stick, glanced at Zong Houzhao's face, and then gritted his teeth and angrily smashed it down on Zong Chengping's buttocks.

Zong Chengping went from being in unbearable pain to becoming numb from the pain, and then to fainting from the pain. When he woke up, he had already been thrown onto the cold ground of the ancestral hall.

In late July, the evening breeze outside already carried a hint of chill. The ancestral hall, devoid of sunlight all day, was even more gloomy and cold. The floor of the ancestral hall was paved with marble transported from the south, which looked clean and tidy, but was unusually cold.

Zong Chengping lay prostrate on the cold ground, feeling dizzy and disoriented. He thought of Zheng Yuanyuan's happy smiling face. He felt that going like this would be a relief for him, but he was also somewhat unwilling. Would his beloved girl be sad and heartbroken if he just left like this?

Zong Chengping had the will to resist, but no ability to do so. He tried to turn over by supporting himself with his arms, but couldn't get up for a long time. Only two lines of clear tears remained, dripping one by one onto the clean but filthy ground.

Time passed slowly, and the sky outside grew darker and darker. The ancestral hall was filled with the family's elders, and a candle was lit in front of each tablet. With a gust of wind, the candlelight flickered, making the light in the room wander. Zong Chengping thought, "So be it. Rather than living like this without hope, it would be cleaner to die like this."

Suddenly, Zong Chengping felt someone supporting him. He opened his eyes and saw a man dressed in black squatting beside his shop. Seeing that Zong Chengping was awake, the man asked in a low voice, "Madam sent me to ask you, do you want a change?"

Zong Chengping suddenly thought of Madam Zheng, whom he had met at the bamboo paper shop that afternoon. The light in his eyes slowly gathered, and he nodded weakly, saying, "Yes, I want to change. As long as I can get out, I must change."

The man in black nodded and said, "In that case, let's settle things here."

Zong Chengping, supported by the man in black, slowly stood up and moved step by step to the altar where the memorial tablets were placed. He sneered at the dark tablets, "These are all hypocrites. Keeping these things is useless. We might as well burn them all." After saying that, he pulled the tablecloth off the altar, and the candlesticks on the altar collapsed and slowly began to burn.

Without saying a word, the man in black carried the unconscious Zong Chengping out of the back window. As the fire started in the ancestral hall, someone took advantage of the chaos to throw a male corpse out of the window.

Zong Chengping felt as if he were in a dream. He smelled a pungent medicinal odor, which was quite unpleasant, but then he heard a gentle voice say, "Haven't you heard that good medicine tastes bitter? So does ointment."

Immediately afterwards, a somewhat familiar voice said in a coquettish tone, "Mother, can't you add some nice-smelling flowers to these ointments? That way, we could sell them as skin moisturizers."

The gentle voice said reproachfully, "I'm a doctor, not a cosmetics seller. As long as my medicine can cure diseases and save lives, I don't care if it smells good or bad."

Zong Chengping pondered deeply, trying to figure out who this somewhat familiar voice belonged to. After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't recall it. Then, someone gently tilted his head to the side, and a thin, slightly warm metal tube was inserted into his mouth. The gentle voice said, "I know you can hear me now. This is medicine to cure your illness. Drink your medicine properly so your injury can heal faster."

Upon hearing this, Zong Chengping realized that he was being fed medicine with a pickaxe. The medicine tasted terrible, but he was incredibly lucky to have escaped this predicament and wanted to live well. Only by living well could he have a chance to repay Madam Zheng for saving his life. So, he tried his best to swallow the medicine. Because he was lying face down, it was difficult to swallow the medicine down, and it would reflux. Zong Chengping felt the bed he was lying on being gently lifted, and the head of the bed was raised much higher. This way, the medicine could be swallowed smoothly.

After taking the medicine, Zong Chengping drifted off to sleep again. When he woke up, he felt a cool sensation on his buttocks, which quickly turned into a burning sensation. Zong Chengping knew that if he didn't take good care of himself this time, those thirty lashes would leave him with a chronic illness. He gritted his teeth and endured the torment of his wounds, thinking to himself that if no one came to the ancestral hall to rescue him, he probably wouldn't make it to dawn.

The thought that he had severed ties with that family made Zong Chengping feel like a caged bird being released. The longing for freedom and the ambition to realize his aspirations made him ignore the pain from his waist to his thighs. He wanted to see Madam Zheng and thank her properly.

Xu Zhi was surprised that Zong Chengping woke up so quickly. After entering, she saw Zong Chengping staring calmly at the doorway with his eyes open. She smiled and said, "You're awake. I didn't expect you to wake up so quickly. My mother said you would wake up at noon at the earliest."

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