Chapter 215 An Unexpectedly Generous Gift
"Miss!" Xie Wanniang was worrying about money when Haitang suddenly ran in happily.
Her eyes sparkled. "Girl, the guards Old Hong sent to escort the child have returned!"
Xie Wanniang sat up abruptly. "Really? Where are they?"
"I'm waiting to report to you in the front courtyard flower hall." Haitang pulled her up from the low couch and then quickly looked her up and down.
Upon noticing that she was well-dressed, Haitang immediately pulled her towards the front yard.
Xie Wanniang let her pull her towards the front yard. The two walked quickly, and soon the guards who were drinking tea in the flower hall saw their master walking over one after the other with Haitang.
"Miss." The group put down their teacups and bowed respectfully with loud voices.
Xie Wanniang looked around and found that everyone had returned unharmed, with no one missing or broken. She couldn't help but smile from the bottom of her heart.
"It's good to see you back." Sitting down in the main seat, she smiled and looked around at everyone. "Everyone, sit down and let's talk."
Everyone responded with a "yes" and sat down in the chairs next to them with great poise.
Xie Wanniang asked, "Was your trip smooth? Did you encounter any danger or trouble along the way?"
The leader nodded, "We did encounter a little trouble, but fortunately, we escaped unscathed each time. We have successfully delivered the child to his mother, and his mother and uncle were overjoyed. They insisted that we deliver a thank-you gift to you."
At this point, he pulled out a long gift list from his sleeve, which was tightly wrapped in oiled paper. "These are the thank-you gifts and local specialties that his mother and uncle prepared for you. They filled an entire cart."
Xie Wanniang looked surprised.
Although from the child's account, she had guessed that his mother and uncle were probably quite well-off, and that they could easily support their own child to adulthood.
But she always felt that since they had also experienced war, their family wealth could not possibly be so abundant that they could live a life of luxury and spend money lavishly.
Based on the above speculation, Xie Wanniang didn't actually have any hope of how much of a thank-you gift this family would give her.
Seeing this long list of gifts and the long list of valuable items on it, Xie Wanniang was completely dumbfounded.
No, the child's mother and uncle are actually that wealthy?
She was very curious, so she stared at the guards and began to ask them questions with great interest.
Several guards told her that the child's mother was indeed only moderately wealthy, but his uncles were different. They had inherited the child's maternal grandfather's talent for making money and had a unique insight into accumulating wealth that was hard for ordinary people to match.
Unlike those powerful and wealthy people who either rely on their ancestral property or dirty money to maintain their extravagant lifestyles, these two brothers earned the vast majority of their family's wealth through legitimate means.
The head guard told Xie Wanniang, "Those two brothers are now both fifth-rank officials, one in the Ministry of Revenue and the other in the Ministry of War. Their futures are very bright."
After the others had eaten some snacks and tea to appease their hunger, they also started sharing with Xie Wanniang.
From their account, Xie Wanniang learned that the child's scumbag father and stepmother only announced to the public that the child had sneaked out of the mansion and gotten lost after more than three days of the child's disappearance.
They sent people to look for it for two days as a formality, and then just pretended it never happened.
However, the child's mother and uncle, upon hearing the news of the child's "disappearance," not only immediately reported it to the Jingzhao Prefecture, but also dispatched a large number of people to inquire everywhere whether anyone had seen the child.
They even came to the child's door, demanding that the child's scumbag father hand over the servants who served the child and guarded the gate, threatening to send them to the Jingzhao Prefecture.
Of course, the child's scumbag father wouldn't agree. He's not really blind; he can see that his second wife wouldn't tolerate his eldest son.
Although there was no evidence, he had long believed that the disappearance of his eldest son was definitely related to his second wife.
At first, he was angry, but his anger was short-lived and powerless. His second wife held their son and cried a couple of times, and he automatically changed his tune and stopped questioning her about the matter.
He thought that since he already had other sons, and his eldest son would only cause trouble if he stayed at home, it might actually be a good thing for the family if he were gone.
As for whether his ex-wife's family would come to cause trouble for them after they learned that the child was missing, the child's scumbag father said that without any evidence, how could they possibly cause any trouble?
However, to his surprise, his ex-wife's two brothers, upon learning of this, did not immediately confront him, but instead promptly went to the Jingzhao Prefecture to report the matter to the authorities.
They came with constables from the Jingzhao Prefecture demanding the person back from him, but how could he dare to actually hand them over?
So on that day, two of his servants who were responsible for taking care of the child committed suicide out of fear of punishment after the officials came to his door.
As for the servants guarding the second gate and the gates of various mansions, these servants really knew nothing. Even if the government took them back for questioning, they couldn't give any coherent explanation.
The charade he and his second wife pulled off has caused widespread suspicion among the officials of the capital and even the child's uncles. But as the saying goes, a case requires evidence, not speculation and doubt.
When Xie Wanniang had the child sent back, his uncles and his scumbag father were arguing over his disappearance.
His uncles insisted that his scumbag father and stepmother had premeditatedly murdered him, while his scumbag father defiantly shouted at his uncles in court, "I am his father! Even tigers don't eat their cubs, how could I possibly harm my own son?"
As for his stepmother, his scumbag father insisted that his stepmother was kind-hearted, timid, virtuous, and gentle. She had always cared for him and taught him carefully since she married into the family, and would never have deliberately harmed him.
Because of etiquette and customs, people nowadays have always valued a woman's reputation. Therefore, in the absence of conclusive evidence, the court would generally not bring the female relatives involved in the case to court or directly imprison them, but would instead send officials to question them at their homes.
The child's stepmother was thus able to remain hidden behind her husband, pretending to be an innocent innocent victim.
While casting a wide net and searching diligently for the child, the child's uncles, who were trying to get the perpetrator to confess and reveal some real clues through the Jingzhao Prefecture, and his mother, who had been constantly weeping and praying for the child's safety, never dreamed that just when they were about to give up hope, the child would be returned safe and sound.
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