"Thank you for your magistrate's decision! Thank you for your wise judgment!"
Li Zhensheng and Li Lao Er knelt on the ground, each kowtowing, their faces streaked with tears.
Li Zhensheng, in particular, felt as if a bottle of spices had been spilled in his heart, and he couldn't quite describe the feeling.
After more than a decade of injustice, the truth has finally come to light.
He was no longer Wang Xinqiu; he was Li Zhensheng, the eldest son of the Li family!
The crowd below the courtroom cheered excitedly, as if it were New Year's Day, shouting, "Well done! Well done!"
"Waaah, this is how it should be! Thank God!"
"Master Wang has become Master Li! Finally, a good outcome!"
"Recognize your ancestors and return to your roots! Recognize your ancestors and return to your roots!"
The prefect descended the steps, personally helped Li Zhensheng up, and congratulated him with a cupped-hand salute, "Master Li, congratulations, your wish has finally come true."
Wishes come true? What did the Prefect guess?
A glint flashed in Li Zhensheng's eyes, and he bowed deeply. "Thank you, sir. I have wasted more than ten years of my life, and now I have been exonerated. This is all thanks to your help, sir. I will repay you handsomely in the future."
The prefect waved his hand with a smile, "I was just doing my duty. If Master Li wants to express his gratitude, he should thank the Emperor. Without the Emperor's decree, this matter would not have gone so smoothly."
Li Zhensheng nodded, "Your Majesty's grace is boundless, and I will certainly remember it forever."
After saying this, he pulled Li Lao Er up and knelt down again in the direction of the palace, shouting loudly, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your boundless grace! Thank you, Your Majesty, for helping the Li family to reunite! Long live the Emperor!"
The two brothers kowtowed three times, then turned to the people below the hall, saying, "Thank you for your hard work and dedication over the past few days. Li Zhensheng and the Li family will remember this and will repay you handsomely in the future!"
The people quickly made way for them and returned the greeting with clasped hands.
“Master Li, this is all we should do.”
"Yes, the Wang family has committed a grave offense; no one can stand by and watch!"
"Master Li, hurry home! You'll finally see your mother again!"
"Master Li, you must get proper treatment and recover quickly!"
Ordinary people may have some minor flaws, such as being stingy or trying to take advantage of others, but they are mostly kind and honest at heart.
They witnessed Li Zhensheng's exoneration from beginning to end, and they are truly happy that he has now found his family.
Right now, everyone's saying something, one after another, all expressing their concern and care.
The atmosphere was so harmonious and wonderful, a moment when everyone was moved to tears, but there was one person who was unhappy, namely Wang E.
She was terrified.
The son-in-law was kidnapped by her father, and the two thugs were killed by his men, but it had nothing to do with her!
The only mistake she made was hiding her illness and not getting treatment for her husband. She was afraid that he would leave her after he recovered, and that he would abandon his family and children.
How can her love for her son and family not be forgiven?
Wang E rushed forward like a madwoman, grabbed the corner of Li Zhensheng's robe, and cried, "Waaah, husband, save me! I don't want to be exiled! I was wrong, I shouldn't have hidden your illness from you. I'll do anything to atone for my sins, please save me, please plead for me!"
Li Zhensheng pulled his robe back and said coldly, "The crimes you have committed are intolerable under the law. After you get to the Southwest, work hard and don't worry about the children! When I return to the Li family, I will raise them well and help them grow into upright and virtuous people."
Wang E was about to rush forward when Li Lao Er, filled with rage, kicked her aside.
If he could, Li Lao Er would love to eat the woman in front of him alive. The Li family's suffering over the past ten years was all because this woman wanted to find a son-in-law to live with her family!
And she still has the nerve to ask her older brother for forgiveness?!
Even the prefect couldn't stand it anymore and ordered the constables, "Execute him immediately!"
The constables rushed forward, grabbed benches, selected boards, and tied people up—all in one swift motion.
In the blink of an eye, Wang E and Wang Zhong were tied to a bench, facing the entire city's population, like pigs waiting to be slaughtered!
Wang Zhong's face was ashen. He raised his dim old eyes and seemed to see his timid son and his terrified grandson in the crowd.
He was startled. He had been hesitant and fearful, and wanted to shout a few words, but he immediately swallowed them back.
These were the punishments he deserved for his sins back then. If he honestly accepted the punishment, his children and grandchildren would be well-fed and clothed for the rest of their lives.
But if he says something he shouldn't, leaving his children and grandchildren without protection, and his son is a gambling addict, the family might be ruined within a few years...
"Bang, bang!" The sound of the palm-sized wooden planks hitting flesh like raindrops was chilling.
Wang E screamed repeatedly, and her clothes were quickly soaked in blood.
She desperately tried to find a member of the Wang family in the crowd, hoping someone would come to rescue her.
Unfortunately, I didn't see it until I passed out!
She was filled with rage. Her family still had 20,000 taels of silver stored with her uncle. If she had used half of that to bribe the government officials, she wouldn't have ended up like this!
Actually, she really wronged the Wang family. Old Master Wang didn't intend to embezzle the 20,000 taels of silver; he simply had family matters to attend to and was too busy to take care of himself!
In the morning, they did want to go to the government office. Even though they knew that the emperor had issued an edict instructing the prefect to handle the matter impartially, the prefect would be more lenient for the sake of the Wang family, and their niece would suffer less.
Unexpectedly, before they could even leave the house, people from the Dali Temple came looking for them.
The third brother was immediately bound up like a dumpling with iron chains and dragged away.
If he had to choose between his son and niece, Old Master Wang would naturally choose his son.
However, he waited outside the Dali Temple all morning but couldn't find out any information and had no idea what crime his son had committed.
As the sun rose directly overhead, a servant ran up and whispered, "Master, the government has given its verdict. Miss has been sentenced to thirty strokes of the cane, exiled to the southwest, and forced into twenty years of hard labor."
Old Master Wang frowned deeply. "Why such a harsh sentence? Xiao'e is just a woman; she doesn't know the inside story!"
The servant lowered his head, fearing the wrath of the mistress, and whispered, "This servant doesn't know, but Miss and Young Master are husband and wife, and there are two young masters too. I heard that Young Master has already gone to Broken Gold Beach. Should we go and speak to him on his behalf..."
"Shattered Gold Beach? You mean the Li family is in Shattered Gold Beach?" A sudden flash of inspiration struck Old Master Wang, as if he had grasped the key to the matter.
The servant grew even more frightened and cautiously replied, "Yes, sir, the son-in-law's original family was the Li family of Suijintan, the one with the hot spring resort..."
"Is Suijintan the estate of the Marquis of Xinting?" Old Master Wang asked again.
"It should be. Some people in the city were jealous before, and they were all taught a lesson. It is said that the Marquis of Xinting took a fancy to that place and registered it under his name." The servant told him everything he knew.
"So this is the Marquis of Xinting! He's the Marquis of Xinting!" Old Master Wang said through gritted teeth.
He didn't speak again, but narrowed his eyes slightly, and suddenly understood everything.
The fact that his son was arrested and brought to Dali Temple was probably the work of the Marquis of Xinting.
Lord Xinting wanted to protect the Li family and didn't want them to interfere in Wang E and her husband's affairs, so he targeted the third son!
Just then, a minor official from the Court of Judicial Review sneaked up and whispered, "Grand Secretary, I've found out that the reason the Third Master was arrested is because the assassins who were trying to assassinate the Marquis of Xinting used his vacant villa in the east of the city as a base."
Just as I expected!
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