Gu Yaoniang rushed to the clinic, while Lu Zhaoan remained leisurely waiting in the same spot.
Some of the onlookers followed Gu Yaoniang's money-making gesture and left, while others, feeling that the matter was over, lost interest and dispersed, quickly reducing the crowd by more than half.
Seeing that Gu Yaoniang was taking the woman away, and knowing he still needed to ask Lu Zhaoan for the money, the man rubbed his hands together and smiled at Lu Zhaoan, saying, "Young master, what do you think of this money?"
Lu Zhaoan gave him a half-smile: "What's the rush?"
Seeing his reaction, the man assumed he was trying to renege on his debt and shouted, "Are you trying to rob my wife and not pay me?"
Lu Zhaoan glanced at him casually and said, "Don't be impatient. I've always been a person of integrity in business, and I would never go back on my word."
Someone in the crowd said, "Boss Lu is the most kind-hearted person! We all know that!"
The man listened, and it was unclear what he was thinking. He remained silent, lost in thought.
Lu Zhaoan ignored the man's renewed interest and continued, "But when it comes to doing business, it's natural to keep clear accounts."
Since that lady just now bought that woman, and you said you would release her with a letter of divorce, we also received a letter of divorce before we were willing to give her the money.
You'll need to go to the government office and have a contract drawn up stating that you sold that woman to the lady from before, and that from then on, the two of you have no further relationship. Only then will you get the money.
The man retorted, "I took the divorce papers because a master in the manor wanted to arrange a ghost marriage for me. Now that you've bought me to be your servant, I don't need to divorce you anymore."
He's not stupid! That woman just now obviously took that stupid woman to get treatment. If she's healed, that woman will definitely get a lot of benefits working there, and he can go to her to ask for them.
If it can't be cured... then they can say that they killed their own wife, and they can extort money from her.
If we divorce that woman, where will these benefits come from?
Lu Zhaoan nodded knowingly and said understandingly, "In that case, I can't give you the silver."
The man became agitated upon hearing this: "You wealthy people have so much money, why do you insist on ruining other people's marriages?"
“How can this be considered ruining someone’s marriage? You were the one who proposed the divorce first, which is why we bought that woman. Now that you’re unwilling, we naturally won’t buy her.”
People around had already started pointing and whispering:
"Oh dear! I know this guy; he beats and scolds his wife every day!"
"That's right! Poor thing! Now that this man refuses to release her, even if his wife survives, he'll beat her to death again!"
"What do you know? He just wants money, how could we not release him!"
Sure enough, when the man heard Lu Zhaoan say he wasn't going to buy anything, he immediately became anxious: "You've already taken everyone with you, why aren't you paying?"
He wanted to act recklessly, but seeing Lu Zhaoan's cold face and imposing manner, he ultimately dared not.
Lu Zhaoan remained silent. Seeing that he was not making a sound, the man was afraid that the money he had just received would slip away. He angrily took out the divorce letter he had asked someone to write from his chest and handed it to Lu Zhaoan.
Lu Zhaoan took it, confirmed it was a letter of divorce, and then nodded.
The man thought they had agreed, but then he heard Lu Zhao'an say, "In that case, we can talk about the contract."
Upon hearing that there was a contract involved, the man cursed under his breath, "Damn pretty boy, so meddlesome! This is never going to end!"
Lu Zhaoan's face turned cold: "If you don't want the money, then forget it!"
The man immediately panicked again, slapping his own mouth and forcing a smile, "It's all because of my stupid mouth! Don't be angry, sir, I'll do whatever you want!"
As long as there's money, everything is negotiable.
Lu Zhaoan instructed Afu to borrow a pen and ink from a nearby shop, quickly wrote out a contract, and had the man sign and affix his seal.
The man then said, "I can't read! I don't know how to sign!"
Afu was also provoked: "Then I'll sign it!"
The man's eyes darted around: "Who knows what you wrote!"
A kind-hearted person read the contents to him, patted him on the shoulder and said, "This is a good thing, brother! It just says that you sold your wife, got some money, and that you'll have nothing to do with each other afterward. Her life or death has nothing to do with you! Sign it!"
The man hesitated before pressing his fingerprint on the paper.
Lu Zhaoan put the contract into his pocket. At this moment, the yamen runners from the Jingzhao Prefecture finally arrived late.
Lu Zhaoan stepped forward and greeted him politely, and the yamen runners also greeted him politely.
The man was a troublemaker, and he was a little flustered when he saw the constable. He turned around and tried to run away, but Ah Fu stopped him with his hand.
Afu grinned at him and said, "Why are you running away? Don't you want the money anymore?"
The man instinctively tried to run when he saw the constables. After being stopped, he thought carefully and concluded that he hadn't done anything wrong that day. Only then did he feel a little more at ease and stop running.
Unexpectedly, just as she stopped struggling, she overheard Lu Zhaoan and the constable talking, and her heart almost stopped beating.
Lu Zhaoan respectfully handed the contract and divorce papers to the head constable, who took them with both hands and began to read them.
He declared loudly, "This man beat his wife, sold innocent children, and even intended to sell them into a ghost marriage. May I ask, sir, according to the current laws of our Great Cheng, what crime should he be charged with?"
The constable, knowing Lu Zhaoan's identity, treated him with great respect. Upon hearing this, he looked at the man.
Upon hearing Lu Zhaoan's long list of crimes, the man collapsed to the ground.
Seeing the constable looking over, he hurriedly knelt down and crawled to the constable, his voice trembling as he said, "Sir, I'm innocent! I didn't do it, I'm innocent..."
But he just kept shouting that he was wronged, without being able to explain why.
Lu Zhaoan remained calm and said, "I ask you, was your wife beaten unconscious by you? And is she still asleep?"
The man nodded blankly.
"Are you holding a letter of divorce and selling your wife on the street, offering her up for a ghost marriage?"
Everyone around knew about the commotion, and upon hearing this, they all agreed. The man had no way to deny it, so he nodded as well.
"Did you divorce your wife and then sell her to someone else?"
The man felt increasingly uneasy as he listened, and wanted to shake his head, but then he saw Lu Zhaoan waving the contract in his hand, so he had no choice but to nod again.
Lu Zhaoan nodded firmly, turned to face the bailiffs, and bowed, saying:
"This man confessed to beating his wife, and that the trafficking of women and the buying and selling of ghost marriages all occurred after he divorced his wife. The evidence of trafficking innocent girls is conclusive."
He then raised his voice again, saying, "Your Majesty is above! Ghost marriage is a degenerate practice that our dynasty has explicitly prohibited. This person is incredibly audacious to openly commit such a vile act, which shows utter disrespect for the emperor!"
Trafficking innocent children, blinded by greed! Beating one's wife, utterly disregarding human ethics!
He bowed to the constable again: "I beg you, sir, to bring this man to justice!"
Lu Zhaoan's lavish gifts had already made the constables feel extremely uneasy.
Having learned the whole story, the constable was already filled with righteous indignation. Seeing that Lu Zhaoan had finished speaking, he quickly detained the man and took him back to the Jingzhao Prefecture government office.
Cheers erupted from the crowd.
The man routinely beat his wife without ever finding anything wrong with it. Lu Zhaoan's words led to him being taken away by the constables.
Even after walking quite a distance, I was still a little dazed.
After finishing his business here, Lu Zhaoan followed the direction Gu Yaoniang had gone.
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