After the few people left, only the county magistrate and the yamen runners in the room were left staring at Zhao Jiagu coldly.
The gentleness on their faces was no longer there. They looked at him sharply, which scared him so much that he almost wet his pants.
The county magistrate said coldly: "It is only natural to pay back debts. Do you acknowledge this debt or not?"
Zhao Jiagu nodded repeatedly, "I recognize it."
“Can you pay it back now?”
"I can pay it back, I can pay it back."
Zhao Jiagu was sweating profusely. Does he dare to say that he can't return it now?
What's the difference between that and asking to go to jail?
"Very good, since you are willing to repay the money, you can escape the death penalty, but you can't avoid the punishment of life imprisonment. Take him down and give him 20 lashes of the cane as a warning to others!" The county magistrate said in an official manner, "Also, since the debt has been delayed for a year and has not been repaid, the interest must be repaid together. The principal plus interest is a total of six taels of silver. Do you have any objection?"
"No, no." Zhao Jiagu shook his head quickly, fearing that he was too late and would have to suffer other punishments.
The county magistrate waved his hand in disdain: "Go call his family and release him when they pay back the money."
"yes!"
The bailiff pulled the trembling Zhao Jiagu out.
Soon his heart-wrenching cries echoed in the yard.
At this time, Liu Hong was holding the child, standing outside the county government office, looking inside anxiously.
In the end, I didn't see anyone, but I heard this familiar shouting.
It sounds particularly terrifying.
The child in her arms was also frightened and started crying.
Liu Hong couldn't help but tremble, fearing that such shouts would happen to her.
Fortunately, the screaming inside stopped after a while, leaving only the groaning sounds.
The bailiff also came out. He said in a cold voice, "Are you the family member of Zhao Jiagu?"
Although Liu Hong didn't want to admit it at this moment, she was more afraid that the county magistrate would charge her with lying, so she had to grit her teeth and admit it.
"Yes, yes, yes."
She held her breath, fearing that she would be dragged in and beaten by the bailiffs, but fortunately, this matter did not involve her.
The bailiff just said in a cold voice: "The total amount of silver, including the principal and interest, is six taels. When you hand it over, I will release you. Of course, I advise you not to play tricks. It is better to pay the money quickly, otherwise it is hard to say whether you will be charged with the crime of accomplice."
"No, no, I'll go get the silver right away." Although Liu Hong was full of complaints, she didn't dare to show any of it in front of the yamen runners.
"That's good, go quickly!" The bailiff looked at her happy answer and held the child in his arms, and his voice finally became softer.
After returning home, Liu Hong rummaged through all the boxes and drawers and finally found the money she had saved with great difficulty.
She counted it carefully over and over again, there were only ten taels, and she took away six taels at once.
How should I spend the days after this?
But she did not dare to delay. Although she was confused, she quickly took the silver and redeemed the person.
But she didn't expect that there would be more places to spend money waiting for her later.
The person she met at the gate of the county government office was Zhao Jiagu, who was covered in blood and looked particularly terrifying.
By this time he had already passed out, and they had to hire two people to carry him back home.
Seeing that the injury was becoming more and more serious, Liu Hong knew that she had to call a doctor, so she had to grit her teeth and go find a doctor.
After all this, all the remaining money in the house was gone, leaving only a few hundred coins for living.
At this time, she comforted herself that it didn't matter, as long as she felt better, she could earn it back.
However, because of his injury, Zhao Jiagu forgot to ask for leave and did not go to work for more than half a month.
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