As luck would have it, as soon as Old Man Xiao and Old Lady Xiao stepped out of the Minxin Hall, they ran into Master Cao and Cao Cheng'an, who was being carried by two servants. They were also there to see a doctor.

Old Mrs. Xiao already resented Mr. Cao's dishonesty, and now that she saw him, she immediately began to question him without any politeness.

"Master Cao, we're family by marriage, after all. What's wrong with you? You've already taken care of your own son, but you haven't done anything about Yuanhang. My daughter is your daughter-in-law. How can you be such a good in-law?"

Even Mr. Cao felt unlucky to run into Old Madam Xiao!

He originally intended to invest in Xiao Yuanhang, but after all this, he spent a lot of money, and the wife he married was not only lazy and greedy, but her brothers were also stripped of their scholar titles and did those despicable things!

If he had known that Xiao Yuanhang would drag his son into doing these things, he would never have agreed to a marriage alliance with the Xiao family, and he would have kept his son away from Xiao Yuanhang much earlier.

He was still seething with anger, but before he could even voice his grievances, Old Mrs. Xiao berated him, and he immediately forgot all about in-laws and retorted without hesitation.

"Manage? How do you manage it?"

Look at the despicable things your son has done! Do you think I can control him just because I want to?

"You're so capable! You always boast about having a general and a princess in your family, so let me see your son!"

"You, you,"

Old Mrs. Xiao hadn't expected Mr. Cao to be so impolite. He immediately exposed her shamelessness, making her tremble with anger.

Master Cao said impatiently

"What do you mean 'you'? If you're so capable, go find him yourself! That's your son, why are you bothering me? I'm busy treating my son! Get out of my way!"

After saying that, he pushed Old Mrs. Xiao aside.

Old Man Xiao was also dissatisfied with Master Cao's attitude and was about to argue with him when Old Madam Xiao, like a mad bull, headbutted Master Cao.

"You dare touch me? My son is a general, and I am the general's mother, so what!"

"If you won't save my son, then your son shouldn't be treated either. He's supposed to be the brother-in-law, and you can't even protect your own brother-in-law! How dare you live? You even acted as a witness for that guy surnamed Sun, ruining my journey! I'll strangle you!"

Grandma Xiao, who had been holding back her anger, finally found an outlet. While cursing, she grabbed Cao Cheng'an, who was lying on the stretcher, and pinched and scratched him until she knocked the stretcher over. Cao Cheng rolled to the ground, howling in pain.

Grandpa Cao got angry and ordered his servants to beat up Grandma Xiao. When Grandpa Xiao saw this, he started fighting with Grandpa Cao. The two of them kicked each other and retaliated with a stick. In the end, Liu Zhuoxuan was afraid that his shop would be smashed, so he had his employees pull them apart!

However, Liu Zhuoxuan watched the show with his arms crossed for a while. Even after they separated, both families were left with bruises and swelling.

Of course, the fight didn't end well, and they each went off to treat their sons' injuries while cursing and swearing.

After fighting for half a day, Old Man Xiao and Old Woman Xiao were already too hungry to continue, so they each ate a bowl of bone broth noodles. Old Woman Xiao felt sorry for her son and, thinking about the great suffering he had endured on her way to the prison, bought him some mutton dumplings, crucian carp soup, and other things to take with her.

When the guards in the prison saw that Old Man Xiao and Old Lady Xiao had arrived, they stopped them as usual, following the rules. Serious offenders are not allowed to visit each other in prison casually, except a few days before their exile. Death row inmates are usually allowed to visit once the day before their execution.

But seeing Xiao Yuanhang being beaten so badly, Old Man Xiao and Old Lady Xiao couldn't rest easy without going in, so they started rummaging for money like cutting off a piece of their own flesh.

But seeing that the man was just a lowly jailer, he stingily pulled out a hundred copper coins!

The jailers, seeing this, realized they were really treating him like a beggar, and they all spoke righteously and sternly.

"It's against the rules, and we can't afford the risk!"

However, every industry has a gray area. For important prisoners who don't require special monitoring, it's not actually that strict. The main concern is that someone might intercept them or kill them to cover it up. But Xiao Yuanhang's case isn't that complicated. As long as someone goes with him and keeps an eye on things, nothing bad will happen. But there's no benefit in it. Who would be willing to take such a risk?

Old Man Xiao thought that if Master Cao could pull strings for Cao Cheng'an, then of course they could too, so they must not have given Xiao Yuanhang enough money!

So they deducted another tael of silver.

"Please buy some drinks for these young men, and do us a favor!"

But when Old Mrs. Xiao initially gave them a hundred copper coins to get rid of them, several people held a grudge! They still ignored her even when she offered a tael of silver.

Old Man Xiao had no choice but to add another ounce.

Nobody paid any attention.

Add one ounce more

Still, no one paid any attention.

Having no other choice, he gritted his teeth and took out ten taels of silver before the warden waved his hand and directed two junior guards to take Old Man Xiao and Old Lady Xiao inside.

Grandma Xiao was so heartbroken she was almost in tears. She clutched her clothes to her chest as she walked, muttering to herself.

"My money! That's my money!"

Old Man Xiao was heartbroken, of course, but compared to his son whom he had doted on for over twenty years, he was willing to risk everything.

Anyway, the money was given by the princess; we can ask for more when we get to the capital.

Inside the prison, the doctor was applying medicine to each of the people who had been flogged. It was Xiao Yuanhang's turn, and he had already been revived by having his philtrum pinched.

Upon seeing this, Old Madam Xiao immediately chased the doctor away and took out the medicine she had bought at a high price to personally apply to Xiao Yuanhang.

Not long after the treatment, Xiao Yuanhang stopped crying out, saying the pain wasn't so bad anymore. Old Madam Xiao, remembering the ten taels of silver she had spent, said angrily...

"He's smart to admit he didn't lie to us, otherwise I would have smashed up his clinic!"

After applying the medicine, they fed Xiao Yuanhang a few steamed dumplings and a bowl of fish soup before reluctantly leaving.

Of course, they visited Xiao Yuanhang every day for the next few days, for a total of seven days. Xiao Yuanhang's injuries from the beating had scabbed over, and he was no longer going to die. The old couple had spent all their money before they returned to their hometown.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!