Chapter 164 They were tricked
Wu Lianzhen trembled as she listened to him rhythmically tapping the table, her heart sinking deeper and deeper.
Damn Xu Yiyuan, could he be hiding something from her?!
"Don't you have any other explanation?"
Xu Jiajie's sudden words startled Wu Lianzhen.
What are you going to explain?
She really doesn't know anything!
"For example, how did you find out about the secret passage in Yuan Shijie's mansion?"
Wu Lianzhen's mind went blank for a moment.
How could she know that there was a secret passage in the Yuan residence?
"My lord, I... I don't know! That day, the magistrate was tricked out of medicinal herbs by my former niece. I said one extra word..."
She was severely beaten by Luo Qing and locked in the woodshed. What they did afterward in An County, the woman had no idea!
"Your former niece?"
Xu Jiajie frowned as he looked at her, recalling the little baby who would cry as soon as he opened his mouth.
"The one who came along?"
"No, no, that's Prince Jin's biological daughter. Prince Jin and the child of the Marquis of Dingyuan's family were mistakenly identified as one."
The one who deceived Magistrate Yuan was the daughter of the Marquis of Dingyuan, oh right, the third son of the Xu family.
He seems to know a little about mechanisms and such; he's enjoyed tinkering with carpentry and embroidery in the backyard since he was a child.
When the woman got married that year, he even gave her a set of mortise and tenon mechanisms that he had made himself.
That was all carpentry work, which infuriated my mother-in-law. Perhaps he was the one who discovered it?
Wu Lianzhen thought of Xu Yiyan and immediately couldn't wait to drag him into the mess.
Wasn't Yun Zhao just trying to freeload off us?
Aren't the Xu brothers spoiling that brat?
Let's enjoy it together!
"The third son of the Xu family? Is he the one who was injured?"
On the day we entered the city, it was said that an injured man was being pushed in on a wooden cart.
"Yes, yes, yes, that day they said there was a fire at the Yuan residence, it must have been him who started it!"
Yun Zhao squatted in the corner, listening to their conversation with a mocking smile on his face.
Wu Lianzhen is really something, managing to drag her third uncle into this!
Xu Jiajie was silent for a moment, then asked, "Besides these, didn't Xu Yiyuan tell you anything else about Jiangnan?"
Wu Lianzhen's heart sank. Why did she have to ask that?
"No, sir! We've only been married for three years. He came to Jiangnan to study last year."
"I'm still in the capital resting during my pregnancy! I really know nothing about this!"
Xu Jiajie glanced at Xu Zhiqian, who was being held in the arms of the officer, then suddenly stood up and went to the child's side.
"Your son is one year old?"
"Yes, it just turned one year old this year!"
Wu Lianzhen watched nervously, afraid that he would hurt the child.
"It's such a pity. He lost his father at such a young age. Do you think he could have survived the exile if his mother had also passed away?"
Xu Jiajie smiled and looked down at her, his hand already touching the child's delicate neck.
"No, no! My lord, I am a prisoner exiled by the imperial court!"
You brought me out from the officials of the Court of Judicial Review with official documents in hand!
Wu Lianzhen's face turned deathly pale, her lips trembled, and she dared not utter the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
Xu Yiyuan once said that once these words were uttered, it would mean the end of his entire family!
"Yes, I dare not kill you here, but isn't this child only one year old?"
Isn't it normal for a one-year-old child to fall ill and die on the way to exile?
Xu Jiajie had a smile on his lips. The light from the brazier in the room shone on his face, flickering like a vengeful ghost.
He applied a little force, and Xu Zhiqian's sobs were choked up.
"No! Don't hurt my son! I'll tell you everything!"
Wu Lianzhen immediately shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Xu Jiajie then let go, and Xu Zhiqian cried even louder.
The sound gradually carried to the courtyard not far away.
Xu Qingshi's hand trembled, and she knocked over the teacup.
"Mother, did you hear something?"
"What?"
As Madam Xu gets older, her hearing isn't as sharp anymore.
The two of them composed themselves and listened intently, and that's when they heard the child crying.
"Is Qian'er crying? That bitch, does she even know how to take care of a child?! She can't even comfort my grandson who's crying like that?"
After saying that, Madam Xu stood up angrily and walked out.
"Bang!"
"Huh? Why can't this door be opened?"
She tried to pull on the door, but found that it seemed to be locked from the outside.
"I'll do it!"
Xu Qingshi had drunk too much tea and, thinking she needed to use the restroom, went to pull on the door.
"Clang! Clang!"
The door made only a knocking sound, showing no sign of being opened.
Is anyone there?
"What happened?"
Xu Qingshi rushed to the window and pulled hard, but found that the window could not be opened!
"Mother, we seem to be trapped!"
She panicked instantly, and suddenly realized that the sounds coming from not far away seemed to include a woman's shrill screams.
"Mother, could it be that Xu Sihu is torturing Wu Lianzhen?"
"What? That's impossible! Your brother did Xu Sihu a favor!"
For a moment, Madam Xu lost her confidence.
Madam Xu knew very well what kind of person her son was.
Xu Qingshi swallowed nervously: "Mother, could it be that my brother humiliated someone back then?"
Given her brother's personality, if Xu Jiajie had really just been a poor kid back then, he might have actually bullied her!
"How dare you talk like that, you brat! Your brother is dead, and you're still making things up about him!"
Madam Xu pinched her daughter's arm in displeasure.
"Hurry, find a way to break the window and get out!"
The main door was bolted, but the window was easier to break.
Xu Qingshi touched her hand, somewhat unhappy, but she could only look for tools to break the window.
In the courtyard not far away, Wu Lianzhen was just huddled in a corner, her arm burned twice more.
"My lord, it's true, Xu Yiyuan only said that he knew a few sons of noble families in Jiangnan."
This included Lin Changbo's son, who was said to be involved in some shady business.
He told the woman to secretly give him money to invest in the business, but he didn't explain anything else!
Xu Jiajie scoffed. This woman was actually hiding something from him.
"Several thousand taels of silver, you just take it like that? Your General's Mansion is really generous! Do you think I'm stupid?"
"I see you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin! Guards, get a branding iron and scald her son! A child's skin is delicate, let's see how long he can withstand it!"
"Ah! No, don't burn my son!"
Wu Lianzhen panicked completely.
These officials in front of me are not good people at all.
All this talk of repaying kindness is fake!
With a husband like that, it's a miracle he doesn't bully others; he would never help a poor scholar!
Xu Yiyuan actually lied to her!
He told me that the Queen and the Prince of Yue were also involved in this business, so nothing bad would happen.
I secretly took the family heirloom bracelet from the general's mansion and asked my mother to pawn it for me!
That's where the silver came from! It's absolutely true, I wouldn't dare lie to you!
Wu Lianzhen, in a fit of desperation, revealed everything she knew.
Xu Jiajie immediately raised his hand to stop his men and narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.
"Your mother, are you going to pawn your bracelet?"
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