Old Lady Xu sighed, "What a blessing it is to be related to the eldest princess. Not only will the status of my second son's family be elevated, but our entire family's status will also be elevated. Now that we've become royal relatives, I hope my son will have a bright future. It's all because of you, you old fool. You're stingy, greedy, and talkative. Now you've caused a big disaster and have even cursed the entire royal family." Then she said to Xu Dashi, "Let's go to the second house and apologize for your grandfather so that the second son's wife won't hate him..."
Before she could finish her words, she heard the door being slammed shut and someone outside yelled, "Open the door, open the door, it's the government office!"
When the servant heard that he was on errand, he did not dare to delay and quickly opened the door.
As the door opened, a group of constables rushed in. Two of them knew Old Man Xu and were amused. They said, "You're so careless again, old fellow! It seems I didn't teach you a lesson last time. You actually dared to offend the princess this time."
No matter what, Old Man Xu has a son who is a fourth-rank martial artist. The constable directly calls him "old guy", but it seems that he is ignoring his son.
Xu Dashi hurriedly said, "Gentlemen, is there any misunderstanding? No matter how brave I am, I would not dare to offend the eldest princess."
The head constable said, "Someone went to the prefectural government office and complained that Mr. Xu had referred to the Nanyang Princess's residence as 'louzi'. The prefect was furious and ordered us to bring the man to justice."
After saying that, he waved his hand, and several constables tied up Old Man Xu with a rope.
Old man Xu was so scared that he was paralyzed. He kept shouting "It's unfair" and let the police tie him up.
Old Mrs. Xu, Mrs. Gu, Mrs. Li, and the two children were so scared that they burst into tears.
Xu Qingming said in a trembling voice, "How could that little girl send her own father to jail? She is so unfilial..."
Xu Dashi hurriedly pulled out two ingots of silver from his pocket and stuffed them into the head constable's pocket, saying, "My master is old, please be merciful."
The head constable put the silver in his pocket, his attitude softened, and he spoke frankly, "Your old man is too bold. He said that, and he dared to say it loudly. A neighboring craftsman heard it and ran to the government office to report it and got a reward. You don't know that the prefect is related to the Nanyang Princess's Mansion. If this news gets to the Princess's Mansion, the prefect will lose face. Humph, if your old man is not strictly disciplined, not only will your family be doomed, but even General Xu in the capital will be implicated."
Old Lady Xu cried even louder after hearing this. So, Qin was also related to the prefect. Oh my god, if only the old man hadn't said those outrageous words, it would have been better. The county magistrate should be in charge now. Their family is not only related to the emperor, but also to the great judge.
Xu Dashi asked Xu Qingming to accompany the old man to the government office, and he drove the mule cart to the second branch of the Xu family to ask for help.
When we arrived at the second room, it was already dark.
Ding Gu refused to allow Xu Dashi to enter the inner courtyard, saying that the lady was furious and still not fully awake. The eldest daughter, the second young master, and the second daughter surrounded the lady and cried, not daring to leave her side for even a moment...
It was Xu Lanyin's idea to take Old Man Xu to the yamen. She had Yang Yong disguise himself as a furniture craftsman working for the Zhao family and go to the yamen to expose Old Man Xu. She was at her wit's end; openly arguing with Old Man Xu was considered unfilial. She didn't dare do anything else, so she had to use Qin Che to teach the old man a lesson. Furthermore, they couldn't just go in for a quickie like last time; this time, they had to scare the old man hard.
In the past, no matter how angry Qin was, she would not dare to let the old man go to jail and be tortured, but this time she was extremely angry.
I was scolded so harshly for wearing a gold hairpin left by my mother. Then I thought about how the old man had been constantly stirring up trouble between me and Lan Zhou just because of a few dozen taels of silver. If he knew I had tens of thousands of taels of silver, he would definitely try to steal it.
As a family, if he treated himself and his children well, it would be fine if he was a little more filial. But it was the second wife who supported them, yet he still bullied her like this.
That old man must be taught a lesson. And Xu Qingyan, this family, she is truly heartbroken...
Xu Lanyin and Qin sat in the house, and no matter how good Xu Dashi said things in the outer courtyard, they refused to show up.
Not long after, Zhao Wu returned home from the yamen and listened to Li Luo quietly tell him what had happened.
Xu Dashi went to ask Zhao Wu again.
Zhao Wuxian rebuked Old Man Xu for his disrespect. He said that if the matter were handled impartially, he could have been sentenced to death based on that statement. He also said that it was already dark and that he would have the old man imprisoned for trial tomorrow. He also said that he was a low-ranking official in the Censorate, unable to reach the government office and help.
Xu Dashi had no choice but to go home. Xu Qingming had already returned and said that Old Man Xu had been taken directly to jail and would be retried tomorrow.
Early the next morning, Xu Qingming went to the government office, and Xu Dashi came to ask Xu Lanyin again.
Ding Gu said that his wife's illness had not yet recovered, and the eldest daughter took the second daughter to the temple to pray for her and was not at home.
Xu Dashi had no choice but to go back to the yamen. It seemed an officer was waiting for him and took him directly to the jail. He also said that this matter concerned the dignity of the imperial family and that it was not appropriate to conduct a public trial. Instead, the prefect would conduct the trial in secret.
Secret interrogation, still in prison, no torture, right? Xu Dashi's legs were weak with fear.
In an interrogation room, Qin Che, with an air of authority, sat at the head of the table, his lawyer standing beside him, along with two fierce-looking yamen runners. Old Man Xu knelt on the ground, accompanied by Xu Qingming, and Xu Dashi also knelt on the other side of the old man.
Qin Che had heard from Xu Lanyin and Xu Lanting about how Old Man Xu had bullied the Qin family, and he had long wanted to punish him. After what happened today, of course he wasn't going to let him go. If it weren't for his age and inability to withstand a beating, he would have beaten him until his skin was torn and flesh was bruised.
Qin Che righteously rebuked him, saying he was disrespectful, openly defying the imperial authority, and challenging the imperial might. According to the law, the most serious punishment was the death penalty. Then, he had the yamen runners parade various torture instruments in front of Old Man Xu.
Old man Xu was a coward. He was so scared that he peed his pants and kowtowed like crazy. He didn't dare to argue at all. He said that he didn't know that Qin was the eldest princess's adopted daughter and that he was just talking nonsense.
After struggling for a long time, Qin Che saw that the old man was about to faint from fright, so he slammed the gavel and said that the prisoner would remain in prison and would be sentenced tomorrow.
Xu Qingming and Xu Dashi returned home and told the old lady what had happened. Old Mrs. Xu was almost crying and took her children and grandchildren to the second house.
Xu Lanyin had not returned from the temple yet, and Qin was lying on the bed. The servants did not allow them to enter the room to avoid disturbing her.
Xu Dashi kowtowed to the door again and apologized on behalf of Old Man Xu.
Old Mrs. Xu cried through the door, "Second daughter-in-law, the old man is wrong. He shouldn't have said that. But he is your father-in-law after all. Can you just watch him suffer and go to jail? This is extremely unfilial."
Qin was supported by Lu and walked out tremblingly. Her eyes were red as she said, "The old man ruined my reputation and insulted my family. Outsiders couldn't stand it and went to the authorities to report him. How come it's my fault now? I'm unfilial?"
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