Chapter 17: It was my uncle who harmed the Wei family army; it has nothing to do with us!

"There are many Wei family members behind us. As long as you hand over the Shen family to us, we promise not to cause trouble!" The man shouted, and the others raised their farm tools again.

"Yes, it wasn't your relatives who died. My brother was only fifteen. If I hadn't been born lame, my poor brother wouldn't have gone to the battlefield in my place. When he died, he wasn't even as tall as my shoulder..."

“My father’s term of service is coming to an end this year, and he will be coming home to reunite with us. I have never seen him since I was born. I have repaired the house and my mother has made new clothes for my father. He will not be coming back. I want to tell him that I am getting married and that he will have a grandson…” The man who was speaking knelt on the ground and wept uncontrollably.

"It's all because of the Shen family. If the Shen family hadn't embezzled the Wei family's army's supplies, our relatives wouldn't have starved to death!"

"They didn't die at the hands of the enemy, but at the hands of our own people. What's the point of defending our homeland!"

"Hand over the Shen family!"

"Hand over the Shen family!"

In the blink of an eye, Wei Jiajun's relatives united as one, and the exiled prisoners were all terrified.

“Sir, it has nothing to do with us. It was the Shen family who killed the Wei family army. As long as we hand over the Shen family, we can settle this matter.”

"My lord, hand over the Shen family! They killed hundreds of thousands of Wei family soldiers; they deserved to die! So many Wei family soldiers' families are involved; even if we kill the Shen family, the court certainly won't blame us!"

The exiled prisoners had long disliked the Shen family, and now that they were implicated by them, they wished they could be beaten to death by the Wei family's relatives.

They killed so many people and still got to eat and drink well, pshaw!

Liu Laohu gripped the hilt of his knife tightly, glanced around, and realized that these people were not to be feared. What he was afraid of was the implication that there were others behind them!

Wei's army has been guarding the northwest for many years. It is because of them that the barbarians dare not invade the Great Zhou. Liu Laohu admires them.

The Shen family deserved to die, but the court sentenced them to exile. These constables were just following orders. If they handed the Shen family over, and the court blamed them, they would have no way to survive.

"Sir, why don't we send a few members of the Shen family out? Anyway, a few people always die during each exile," Liu Laohu's subordinate whispered.

Liu Laohu stared grimly in the direction of the Shen family, weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

The Shen family members were terrified and huddled together. The women covered their mouths and cried, while the men's legs trembled uncontrollably.

"Quickly tell them we're not from the Shen family, they don't know us." Old Mrs. Shen pushed her fourth son.

"Mother, if we say this now, wouldn't it be tantamount to admitting guilt without being asked?"

"What should we do? They won't kill us all, will they? Fourth brother, you're quick-witted, think of something!" Shen Conglian urged.

Shen Congyi's eyes flashed: "This whole mess was caused by my elder brother, it has nothing to do with us. As long as we push my elder brother out, those people will definitely let us go!"

Old Master Shen immediately became furious: "Shut up, that's your older brother!"

Shen Congyi curled his lip: "Father, if it weren't for my eldest brother, our whole family wouldn't have been exiled. Who knows if he embezzled that money and hid it away!"

Madam Shen punched Shen Congyi twice and said angrily, "How could you say that about your elder brother? If it weren't for your elder brother, we would still be farming in our hometown, and the whole family would not have enough to eat."

Shen Congyi said unhappily, "You're the ones who asked me to come up with a solution, what can I do? I can only save the majority and sacrifice the minority. We can't all die!"

Grandma Shen couldn't continue pounding, and covered her face, weeping bitterly.

"What sins has our Shen family committed..."

The families of Wei Jiajun are getting impatient.

"Have you thought it through? Do you want to hand them over?"

The exiled prisoner, who had long disliked the Shen family, immediately pointed to where the Shen family was and shouted.

"They are members of the Shen family, the murderers who killed Wei Jiajun!"

Liu Laohu glared fiercely at the person making the noise, then remained silent and did not refute.

"I told you the Shen family was here! Let's fight them! Let's kill the Shen family and avenge our unjustly killed relatives!"

"I can't let my loved ones die unjustly. Killing one will vent my anger, but if I kill them all, my loved ones can die in peace..."

Shen Congli's illegitimate son suddenly stood up and shouted, "It was my uncle who harmed the Wei family army. It has nothing to do with us. We were just implicated. If you want to find someone, go find my uncle!"

Shen Congwen looked in the direction of the shout, his vision went black, and he staggered back two steps.

“Father…” Shen Yuanjing and his siblings quickly helped Shen Congwen up.

Shen Yuanjing immediately retorted, "When you were enjoying the good life with our family, why didn't you say you weren't related to us? Now that you're in trouble, you come here to blame us. Do you even know what propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame are?"

Zhou Xinrou and her daughter quickly helped Shen Congwen sit down to rest.

Chunxue and Qiushuang had quietly infiltrated the Wei family's family members, and while they were demanding people from Liu Laohu, they slowly made their way toward the troublemakers.

Seize the opportunity, grab the troublemaker, and shut him up!

Shen Lanxi walked over with Wang's mother and her son!

"Lord Liu!" He clasped his hands in a salute.

Liu Laohu already hated the Shen family to the core, and he also gave Shen Lanxi a cold shoulder!

Shen Lanxi turned around: "Bring the person over here!"

Spring Snow and Autumn Frost escorted the bound man out of the crowd and kicked him to his knees!

"Young master, we've found the person who stirred up trouble!"

Shen Lanxi: "Mother Li!"

Li's mother unfolded the cloth in her hand.

Just as Wei Jiajun's family members were about to shout, they heard Shen Lanxi say, "Do you know what the pattern on this is?"

The Wei family members glanced at the pattern, then looked at Shen Lanxi.

"Where did you come from? What do you want? Are you trying to stop us from killing the Shen family?"

Shen Lanxi smiled calmly: "I have no relation to the Shen family, nor do I know any members of the Shen family. But I know the Wei family army, and I know your relatives!"

Wei Jiajun's family members all fell silent.

"This is the flag of the Wei family army! You don't even recognize the flag of the Wei family army?"

The person being held captive by Chunxiao and Qiushuang struggled to speak, but was pinned to the ground by the two women, each holding one of their arms by one foot.

“I recognize it. It’s the flag of the Wei family army. My brother told me about it!”

“I know him too, my brother told me about him!”

The responses continued.

Madam Li suddenly tilted her head and glanced at him: "Oh dear, young master, this old servant accidentally took the wrong thing, I took out the loincloth I embroidered for the child!"

Silence fell instantly.

Li's son unfolded the cloth in his hand: "Mom, you've picked up the wrong one. The Wei family army's flag is shaped like this flame."

Li's mother leaned forward and took a look: "These two patterns are so similar, I must have mistaken them!"

A member of Wei Jiajun's family immediately shouted, "Yes, yes, the two patterns are too similar. We mistook them for each other!"

One person shouted this, and the rest of them shouted it too!

Shen Lanxi asked loudly, "Are you sure?"

"Yes...yes, this is it!"

(End of this chapter)