The prefect frowned, glanced at the frowning Lord Li, and asked again, "Who is Liu Sanzi? Why did he send the Gong family's daughter to the Li family... to attract Lord Li?"
He was about to say it when he abruptly changed the word, since the word "seduce" sounded too offensive.
Gong Wu hesitated for a moment, and the constables immediately began to strike the water and fire sticks.
Gong Wu reached out to protect his injured buttocks and readily confessed, "Liu Sanzi is the cousin of Manager Bao of Siji Ruyi Gambling House. Manager Bao found Liu Sanzi, and Liu Sanzi then found me."
"They said they couldn't stand seeing these bumpkins from the Li family making so much money, so they wanted to find someone to cause trouble for the Li family. Ideally, she would marry Lord Li and become his wife, then the Li family would be at their mercy!"
Everyone, both inside and outside the hall, dared not utter a sound.
This so-called "Guan Guan Shi" has quite the appetite, actually wanting to control the Li family?!
The prefect was at a loss for words, so he turned to Li Yusheng, "Um, Lord, what do you think..."
Li Yusheng's expression was very bad, as if he had just learned about it, with three parts surprise and seven parts anger.
He asked Gong Yunshu directly, "Are you aware of their schemes?"
Gong Yunshu immediately kowtowed to the ground, crying as she said, "I beg you, Lord and Magistrate, to see the truth. Our Gong family is a scholarly family. I have been strictly taught since childhood to distinguish right from wrong. I would never harm anyone!"
“I did know about their plot, but my grandmother was captured by them, so I had to become an accomplice. But my brother and I were almost beaten to death before, and it was the Earl who saved us. Everyone in the Earl's mansion has taken good care of my brother and me.”
“How could we betray our conscience and repay kindness with enmity? We were originally in a dilemma, but the night before last, my grandmother appeared to me in a dream, and I guessed that she had been murdered. That’s why we’re here to file a complaint and avenge her!”
Gong Yu, who had been holding the old lady, choked up as he cried out, "We must avenge Grandma!"
Gong Wu hated the two sisters for their misdeeds, but he was even more afraid of being sentenced to a heavy prison term. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Your old lady is no good either. She agreed to send her granddaughter out to seduce men. I am guilty, but the old lady of the Gong family is no good either!"
Gong Yu couldn't stand it and, dragging his broken leg, tried to pounce on the person, causing a huge commotion in the courtroom.
The prefect slammed his hand on the wooden clapper and looked at Li Yusheng, "Lord, do you have anything to say about this matter?"
Li Yusheng shook his head, "Since this matter involves my family, I cannot get involved. I leave everything to you, sir, to uphold the law impartially!"
The prefect was very satisfied and said, "Gong Wu and others killed Old Lady Gong. There are witnesses and physical evidence, and they have confessed without hesitation. They will now be severely punished with twenty strokes of the cane and imprisoned. The trial will continue after Liu Sanzi and Steward Bao are arrested."
"The Gong family’s old house, land, and all their property, if seized, must be returned in full by all members of the Gong family. If anyone hides any of them, they will be convicted of robbery."
Gong Yunshu and her brother immediately kowtowed while crying, "Thank you so much, Your Honor! Thank you so much, Your Honor!"
Finally, someone stood up for them!
Now that they had their property back, no one coveted it anymore, so they were no longer afraid of anything.
The prefect waved his hand and said, "I will send two constables to escort you back and supervise the return of your property. However, you are not allowed to leave the vicinity of Xindu for two months. If any case requires your cooperation, you are guaranteed to be available at any time."
"Yes, thank you, sir."
Gong Yunshu and her brother thanked him again, and then turned to thank Li Yusheng, but Li Yusheng flicked his sleeve and avoided them, clearly not liking the siblings.
Although they did not harm the Li family, they kindly saved people, but the people they rescued turned out to be people with ulterior motives. Anyone who knew this would not be happy.
Gong Yu was somewhat apprehensive, but Gong Yunshu's half-closed eyes remained calm.
Today, the Li family stepped in to help file a complaint, and even the mayor of Qingmu Town went beyond the county seat to send Grandma's body to the capital's government office. It was all thanks to the Li family's efforts that she was truly grateful.
But she also knew that the siblings' connection with the Li family had come to an end, and the Li family would no longer help them...
This lively event has now come to a temporary end.
The government sent many constables to arrest Liu Sanzi and Steward Bao, but unfortunately, Steward Bao and Liu Sanzi seemed to have vanished into thin air, neither alive nor dead!
The yamen runners searched for two days but couldn't find even a single hair.
As a result, teahouses and restaurants throughout Xindu were buzzing with speculation about who was behind the plot to harm the Li family.
Also, Liu Sanzi and Manager Bao have not been found. Were they silenced by the person behind them?
Some say that perhaps Gong Wu deliberately implicated someone behind the scenes in order to exonerate himself.
Gong Wu can lie, but the Gong family girl can't lie too!
Therefore, the key to everything fell on the cousins, Manager Bao and Liu Sanzi!
Because the manager was the manager of the Four Seasons Wish Casino, the Huo family was also among those suspected.
But the Huo family has kept a low profile for two years. Apart from secretly meeting with the young widow, Huo Ming has no other bad deeds and has no connection with the Li family whatsoever. No matter how you look at it, it can't be him.
Moreover, the Huo family is also looking for a steward, as they've heard that the casino's winnings that night were all stolen by the steward...
Of course, in such a large new capital, it's impossible for everyone to be unaware of the truth, including the Wang family.
The night was dark, but the lights were on in Old Master Wang's study.
Old Master Wang paced back and forth in the room, his face shifting between anger and malice, muttering, "Damn things, utterly useless! They can't even handle such a small matter! What's the point of keeping them? Even dogs know how to guard the house..."
When Old Master Wang heard his son's words getting increasingly harsh, he frowned and stopped him, saying, "Alright, don't worry too much. The only person in our household who has contact with those people is the second steward. We sent him back to his hometown a long time ago, so no one can find you."
Old Master Wang forced himself to sit down, but his hand holding the teacup trembled uncontrollably. His lips were deathly pale, and he looked as terrified as a sparrow that had not built a nest in the dead of winter. "No, no, Father! You don't know, the Li family is too cunning. Liu Sanzi and Steward Bao must have been captured by them."
"They're just waiting, waiting for a good opportunity to release them, then implicate me and throw me in jail!"
Seeing his son like this, Old Master Wang felt a pang of heartache.
He guessed that his son had suffered too much in prison last time for harboring an assassin, and that this had left him with a mental illness.
He quickly reassured them, "No, those two just heard the news and were afraid of being implicated, so they ran away with the money. We can't find them at home, and we certainly can't find them at the government office!"
"Even if the government officials come looking for us, and the second steward is nowhere to be found, our family can simply say that the second steward acted on his own initiative, and it certainly won't implicate you!"
"Don't worry, go back and have a drink, get a good night's sleep, and you'll be fine when you wake up tomorrow morning."
Wang Sanye's personal attendant quickly stepped forward to help his master and led him to the backyard.
The third wife was worried and had finally waited for her husband to return. She was about to go forward to serve him when Wang Sanye pushed her away and went straight to his study.
The Third Madam felt wronged and was about to speak when her attendant advised, "Madam, the Third Master seems unwell. There's no use having you by his side right now. You should go back and rest. We will take good care of him and report to you if anything happens."
The third wife listened to the advice and led her people back.
The servant quickly called out to the people in the courtyard, "Quickly boil water! Bring two more quilts! Also, tell the kitchen staff to start cooking and prepare plenty of food, and bring it over immediately!"
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