After the legendary physician was taken to the government office, the Jingzhao Prefecture quickly convened a court hearing due to the wide-ranging implications of the case, and reached a conclusion within two hours.
The legendary doctor Qihuang was a charlatan who used to travel all over Jiangnan. Recently, he went north to the capital. In Jiangnan, he also used to rely on strong medicines to swindle people and kill them.
Therefore, Song Ruoan may not have known about the drugging, but she cannot deny that she lied about her medical skills and implicated the ladies.
The conclusion, along with the more than one thousand taels of silver notes given by Song Ruoan, was sent to the Marquis of Anding's residence and ended up in Song Xizhi's hands.
So Song Xizhi directly deposited the more than one thousand taels of silver into the Marquis's public account and distributed it to all the servants in the Marquis's mansion whose monthly allowance had been halved.
When the servants suddenly received the silver from Song Xizhi, they understood what was going on. Everyone was grateful to Song Xizhi, and their resentment towards Song Ruoan grew even stronger.
Before Song Ruoan took over the household, he boasted that he would increase their monthly allowance, but not only did he not receive any extra money, his allowance was even reduced by half.
Although the compensation was ostensibly double the amount of grain, what they received were mostly rotten vegetables, worth no money at all, so they had no choice but to eat them themselves.
Previously, it was thought that the Marquis's mansion was short of funds and that Song Ruo'an had no choice but to do this, so although the servants were dissatisfied, they endured it.
But who knew, it wasn't that they didn't have money at all!
Song Ruoan was rich, but unwilling to give the money to them. In fact, she gave several thousand taels of silver notes to a swindler!
Who knows where those several thousand taels of silver came from? Perhaps they were embezzled from the Marquis's official accounts!
That's all their hard-earned money!
The servants of the Marquis's mansion felt increasingly resentful towards Song Ruo'an. With He Yunze not by her side, it was clear that he disliked her, so their deliberate harassment became even more obvious.
At that time, Song Ruoan had been kneeling in the ancestral hall for two whole hours. Her face turned pale, she felt dizzy, and her lower body was completely numb. She could only feel waves of stinging pain.
She swayed and nearly fell to the ground.
At that moment, an elderly nanny walked in with a gloomy face, her words full of stern reprimand: "The old lady told you to kneel, but you slack off. Someone, remove the cushion under her knees."
Song Ruoan, her back hunched, painfully raised her head, her disheveled hair hanging down, sticking haphazardly to her forehead with sweat: "I wasn't slacking off, my knees just hurt so much..."
The old woman sneered, "You made a mistake and are kneeling in the ancestral hall, yet you still dare to talk back? Guards, bring out the family rules, and give him twenty lashes!"
She was a servant born into the Marquis's household and managed the ancestral hall for decades, supporting her large family with her monthly allowance. But who knew that half of her allowance would be deducted when she was halfway to the grave.
She was already resentful watching her grandson eat rotten vegetables every day, looking like a little beggar.
Unexpectedly, it turned out that Song Ruoan had embezzled the money!
Feeling the nanny's deliberate targeting, Song Ruoan's face drained of color, and her lips trembled slightly: "I am the young mistress of the Marquis's mansion, the steward's wife! What right do you have to hit me?"
The old nanny sneered, her face full of bitterness and malice: "It's not my decision to punish you, but the government's verdict has been issued, confirming your guilt. The old lady has ordered you to be whipped twenty times."
"You still dare to call yourself the steward's wife? You've embezzled a lot of money from the Marquis's public accounts. Did any of the servants hear that? They should be severely punished, without any leniency!"
Twenty lashes as a family punishment?
He Yunze had fainted after being lashed fifteen times, so how could she possibly endure twenty solid lashes?
Song Ruoan's mind went blank for a moment: "I never embezzled... I spent all my dowry on the Marquis's mansion!"
Behind her, Granny Hu hurriedly stepped forward to plead for mercy: "Granny, you can't really hit her! This could really kill someone!"
The old nanny seemed unfazed: "If she faints, splash her with cold water to wake her up, and if she wakes up, continue beating her!"
Ah Lian, with her dark eyes, stood in front of Song Ruoan, looking very anxious.
"If the Second Young Master finds out that you have been mistreating the Madam in private, he will definitely not let you off! Old nanny, you should know who is the future head of the Marquis's mansion now!"
Upon hearing this, the old nanny gave a sharp, sarcastic laugh: "Second Young Master? You've been kneeling for so long, has the Second Young Master even shown up once?"
"You embarrassed him so much at today's flower-viewing banquet, and even ruined his career path. He has long been disgusted with you."
"Our attitude is exactly what he wants, so why would we be afraid of him blaming us later?"
Just what he wanted?
Upon hearing this, Song Ruoan stared blankly at the candlelight on the table, her gaze gradually becoming unfocused.
But the old nanny didn't give her time to react. With a wave of her hand, she directly summoned the family law.
Song Ruoan was about to struggle, but several strong men restrained her, making her unable to move.
Snap, snap—
It was the sound of a silver whip cutting through the wind and striking Song Ruoan's back.
Song Ruoan let out a muffled groan. With just one lash, her face turned ashen, and she collapsed to the ground in unbearable pain.
The clothes on her back were torn to shreds by the whip, revealing crisscrossing bloody welts on her skin, from which beads of blood seeped out and clung to the tattered fabric.
Seeing this, Granny Hu covered her mouth tightly, and couldn't help but sob out of heartache.
...
He was whipped twenty times in total, without any reduction, causing Song Ruoan to faint three times.
After she was woken up by Ah Lian pinching her philtrum, the servants in the ancestral hall were unwilling to carry her back to Guanyunxuan on a stretcher, but instead let her walk on her own.
The long road from the ancestral hall to Guanyun Pavilion was traversed with difficulty by Song Ruoan, who was supported by Granny Hu and Alian, as they staggered back step by step.
Her eyes were swollen, her face was pale, and every movement took all her strength. She looked like a rag doll, almost teetering on the verge of collapse.
Blood dripped from his back onto the ground, leaving a long trail, but the maids and servants around him watched coldly.
Ah Lian's voice came from beside her ear: "The son-in-law is really too cruel. Those servants are opportunistic. If it weren't for the son-in-law's attitude, they would never be so harsh."
Upon hearing this, Song Ruoan felt her body go limp and almost collapsed to the ground, the words of the executioner's maid echoing in her ears.
But A-Lian's voice continued:
"My lady, I truly plead for you. Everything you did was clearly for the sake of your son-in-law. Even using your medical skills to treat the nobleman was his idea. You helped him climb to the position of a sixth-rank remonstrating physician, yet he harbors such resentment towards you and is clearly trying to embarrass you!"
Upon hearing this, Song Ruoan could no longer hold back her tears, which streamed down her face, and her whole body trembled.
"He's the one who got the benefits and the promotion, but now he's pushing all the blame onto me, letting himself be swept off the hook, and even ignoring me completely."
"He's really ruthless!"
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