Chapter 139 Escape

When Prefect Liu saw that Xu Mingchuan dared to threaten people in court and even resort to violence, he immediately ordered the officers to separate the two.

Xu Mingchuan was forced to kneel on the ground by two constables. He felt embarrassed. He had thought that Prefect Liu would give him some face, but he did not expect that he would be pinned to the ground and unable to move after kicking the servant.

"Mingchuan! Your Honor! My husband is also furious at that wicked servant's baseless accusations. Please release him! Once this matter is over, the Xu family will surely reward you handsomely!" Liu Yue panicked when she saw that even Xu Mingchuan was being treated like this. She disregarded the fact that the trial was still ongoing and directly bribed Prefect Liu in court.

Prefect Liu's face grew increasingly grim, and he angrily rebuked, "You two seem determined to face the consequences! How dare you disregard the court and offer bribes in court! You have no regard for the law! Guards, drag these two away and give them twenty strokes of the cane. Once they have repented and come to their senses, we will proceed with a thorough trial in court!"

Liu Yue and Xu Mingchuan were stunned when they heard this. Although they were not highly regarded in the Xu family, Xu Mingchuan was still the son of Master Xu and a prominent figure in the prefectural city. They did not expect that Prefect Liu would not care about such things at all and directly ordered them to be dragged away and flogged.

"My lord! We were wrong! Please spare us this time for the sake of the Xu family!"

Unfortunately, Prefect Liu was determined to punish them, and Liu Yue and her husband were given a full twenty strokes of the cane.

After years of pampered living, their bodies could not withstand it. After being given twenty strokes of the cane, they were too weak to even speak. Their faces were pale, and they lay on the courtroom, sweating profusely from the pain.

Seeing the couple's miserable state, Song Yushu felt a surge of satisfaction and was also glad that Master Liu and the others hadn't come over. Otherwise, seeing Liu Yue in this state would have been incredibly distressing.

Just as Prefect Liu was about to continue interrogating the two, the Xu family also sent people.

"This old servant greets Your Excellency the Prefect. I have come on behalf of my master to express my apologies. My master said that he had failed to discipline his son properly. If the Second Young Master has truly made a mistake, he should be punished without regard for his reputation!"

"How could this be..." Upon hearing this, Liu Yue actually believed that Old Master Xu had abandoned her and her husband, and almost burst into tears on the spot.

"Shut up! You idiot, don't argue with anything Butler Sun says later!"

Xu Mingchuan was a bit more astute. He knew that if his father really didn't intend to care about him, he wouldn't have sent anyone over. He had been too arrogant this time. He thought that Xu Mingchuan was just a restaurant owner with no power or influence, and assumed that Prefect Liu wouldn't go against the Xu family, so he didn't take him seriously. Who knew that he would suffer such a big setback this time?

Seeing that this Steward Sun had exonerated Xu Mingchuan with just a few words, claiming that he was only guilty of not disciplining his servants properly, and that Steward Sun had even managed to persuade Xu Mingchuan to personally apologize to Song Yushu.

“Madam Wei, although my young master has a bad temper, he is still a good person. It was this servant who misunderstood and acted against your wishes, which caused you to suffer this imprisonment. This matter is indeed my young master’s fault, and it is only right that he apologizes to you. When we return, we will definitely give you reasonable compensation!”

Butler Sun's attitude was sincere at this moment, but Song Yushu knew that even if she didn't forgive Xu Mingchuan, there was nothing she could do about it.

As expected, the servant's previous testimony was overturned. The steward, Sun, produced evidence that the servant had long harbored resentment towards Xu Mingchuan and wanted to take the opportunity to harm him. At this point, the servant's defense was useless. Considering his family members still in the Xu family, he confessed in court and took all the blame.

With both witnesses and physical evidence, even if the Xu family was involved, given the confident attitude of Butler Sun, they have probably already cleaned up the mess.

Looking at the old woman Li's tearful appearance, Song Yushu thought of the lonely corpse wrapped in the straw mat. So much time had passed, he was afraid that the child's family could no longer be found.

The child, who should have been pampered by his family, was killed by that cruel old woman because of a single sentence from Xu Mingchuan. And the real murderer can still go unpunished. It is truly an injustice of the world.

Song Yushu was acquitted and released. Zhou Chengzhu and Zhou Chengyu, as well as the two elderly people from the Liu family, were waiting for her at the door.

"Slap! You beast! How could I have given birth to such a scoundrel! From now on, whether you, Liu Yue, live or die has nothing to do with the Liu family!" When Old Madam Gu saw Liu Yue being carried out, she showed no mercy. She would rather Liu Yue and Xu Mingchuan confess their crimes and be punished than see them come out unharmed after taking a life.

Grandpa Liu watched expressionlessly, and Song Yushu knew that he had tacitly approved of it.

"Mother! Isn't this what you forced us to do? If you hadn't refused to cooperate with Mingchuan back then, would we have done this? You want to sever ties with me? Fine, I don't want parents like you anyway!" Liu Yue showed no remorse, only regret that she hadn't dragged Song Yushu into this mess.

"That was a living, breathing human life! Is your heart made of stone?" Old Mrs. Gu looked at her daughter, who was now unrecognizable, with a heart full of grief.

"So what? This kind of person's life is worthless. Dying is a relief for them," Liu Yue said nonchalantly, ordering someone to take her back quickly. She had been beaten twenty times and was still in pain!

"Let's ask the prefect if the child's relatives haven't been found yet. Let's find a place to properly bury the child," Song Yushu suggested.

Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Gu quickly wiped away her tears, feeling both guilty and heartbroken: "Yes! We can't let this child stay alone in the mortuary. We should bury him as soon as possible and find a monk to perform a ritual for him so that he can be reborn into a good family in his next life!"

The government was happy to have someone help with this matter. After Song Yushu inquired and found that the child's relatives could not be found, he and the Liu family buried him in a beautiful place with clear waters and green mountains, and even invited a monk to chant sutras for him for a few days.

Several days passed, and Song Yushu remained depressed, unable to muster the energy to do anything.

Seeing that she was distracted, Xiong Erni suggested that she go back and rest. Now that she was there, Song Yushu didn't need to watch over the restaurant all the time.

Song Yushu planned to go shopping with Zhou Chengzhu, otherwise his mind would wander when he was idle.

"How's the shop you and Qingyao opened going?" Song Yushu asked after seeing Zhou Chengzhu skillfully negotiating and finalizing the orders with the merchants.

"Fortunately, I can earn more than seventy taels of profit a month now," Zhou Chengzhu said, but his face was full of pride.

Song Yushu didn't want to spoil the fun, so he praised her several times, making Zhou Chengzhu feel embarrassed.

“Mother, Qingyao said that Master Xue was originally going to come to the prefectural city for this matter, but he was held up by other things and could only send a letter to Prefect Liu asking him to take care of you. It’s not that he didn’t want to come and keep you company.”

“I know. He said in his letter that even if he comes, he still has to follow the prefectural government’s procedures. Prefect Liu is capable of handling cases, so what’s there to worry about? It’s better to finish his business first.”

Song Yushu didn't expect anyone to shield her from the wind and rain. She wasn't weak-willed, so she didn't care that Xue Huai'an hadn't come. After all, everyone had their own things to do, and she couldn't expect Xue Huai'an to revolve around her every day; that was too unrealistic.