Now Xingxing is a ten-year-old girl with a slender figure, fair skin, delicate hands, a face like a peach blossom, and lips like cherries. The little girl, who is starting to grow taller, is becoming more and more charming and lovely. Although she has not yet fully matured, it is already clear that she will definitely be a stunning beauty in the future.
Three years ago, she originally said she was going back to Nanyang Prefecture, but who could have predicted that she would be busy with disaster relief in various places, and it would be three years later. Now that things have finally settled down in various places, she can finally go to Nanyang Prefecture to see her parents and brothers.
She plans to stay in the south for a while longer this time, and also take her parents and brothers to the capital. Her father and mother miss her dearly, and she wants to return to the capital as soon as possible.
At this moment, in the prison of the Nanyang Prefecture government, Dafu and Sanfu, wearing blood-stained prison clothes, were locked in the prison, with shackles on their hands and feet.
"Cough cough cough." Boss Zhou clutched his chest and coughed violently, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
In the cell across the way were Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua, as well as Zhao Guizhi and Chen Shunping, and Li Quan's family.
At this moment, Zhao Guizhi was glad that she had been quick-witted and had entrusted her son to Erfu and Sifu to take away. Erfu and Sifu were strong and fast, and the constables were unable to catch them. She could only hope that they could escape from Nanyang Prefecture safely.
"It's all my fault. I caused everyone to be arrested. The jailer even tortured us. How could the newly appointed prefect sentence us without even conducting an interrogation?" Zhou Dafu was completely baffled.
Zhou Sanfu remained silent for a long time with his handsome face cold and his eyes lowered. He was always very perceptive. At first, he might not have understood the key to this matter, but at this moment, he fully understood what was going on.
Last month, he and Dafu took the county examination together. After the results were announced, he ranked first and Dafu ranked tenth. This should have been a happy occasion, but a few days later, yamen runners suddenly came and arrested him and his elder brother.
They were taken directly to the prefectural government office, but the prefect did not interrogate them. He insisted that the two Fu brothers had cheated in the provincial examination. The evidence was conclusive, so their provincial examination results were invalidated, and they were imprisoned and executed in the autumn.
Although the Great Jin Dynasty had zero tolerance for cheating in the imperial examinations, it did not punish such crimes with death. At most, those who committed serious offenses would be imprisoned for a few years or exiled for a few years. Dafu and Sanfu did not even have a chance to overturn their convictions and were directly sentenced to death, which clearly indicates that someone framed them.
Framed for cheating on the imperial examinations, but on the same day, incidents occurred in restaurants in both the prefectural and county towns, resulting in deaths. It was said that the victims were poisoned by mulberry wine served at the restaurants. The deceased's family members vandalized the restaurants and reported the incidents to the authorities. Li Quan's family, Zhao Guizhi, and Chen Shunping were all imprisoned.
“Brother, why blame yourself? It’s not our fault. Someone is deliberately trying to kill us. We can’t escape it even if we want to. Right now, we can only wait for Second Brother and Fourth Brother to find Xingxing before we can be saved. Otherwise, we’ll probably lose our heads soon.” Zhou Sanfu closed his eyes, his tone wistful.
We were careless. This matter must be related to the two concubines in the palace. They offended the First Prince and the Third Prince in the capital. After they returned to the south, nothing happened, so we thought the matter was over. Who knew those wicked people were plotting such a big move?
They must have been busy with disaster relief efforts in various places and had no energy to deal with other matters, which is why they dared to target the Zhou family. However, these people are truly ruthless; once they make a move, they intend to wipe out the entire Zhou family.
I heard that the Zhou family members were also imprisoned in the county jail, and even Zhou Dahua's family, who had married out, were not spared. To be honest, there's nothing to feel sorry for the Zhou family members being imprisoned. Sanfu just feels sorry for his second uncle's family.
My cousin Dafa had finally recovered his health in the past three years, and my second uncle's family had opened a tavern at the town's dock. Their lives had just started to improve, and they were about to turn their hardships into happiness when they were implicated by their eldest son's family and suffered an undeserved disaster.
Yegou Village.
Erfu, carrying two-and-a-half-year-old Chen Yuting, crouched low and stealthily crept to the village entrance in the darkness, with Zhou Sifu following closely behind them, holding an axe in his hand.
In the darkness, the two men glared fiercely at the constables at the village entrance with eyes as vicious as wolf cubs. These people were leaving them no way out and were trying to kill them all.
They should be thankful that the person behind it all didn't harm the villagers, otherwise they would have been condemned as sinners for all time.
Zhou Sifu gritted his teeth and swung his axe, "I'll kill them all."
Zhou Erfu grabbed him, shook his head and whispered admonishingly, "Fourth brother, don't be impulsive. Saving people is the priority right now. It's not time to risk your life yet. We still have Yuting with us. Don't scare him."
Although Chen Yuting was only two and a half years old, the little guy was very precocious and exceptionally sensible. Although he was too young to know exactly what had happened, he remembered his mother's words and told her to listen to his second and fourth brothers and go with them to find his sister. Finding his sister would save his parents and his aunt's family.
Although he was very scared, he had been running around with his two older brothers for days and had to go hungry. He missed his father and mother, but his mother had told him that Yu Ting had to be good and not cry so that his mother and father could come back as soon as possible, so he could not cry.
Zhou Sifu sighed heavily with a somber face, and said unwillingly, "What should we do now? There are yamen runners guarding the village gate, and there are probably officials in the village as well. We can't go back to the village, otherwise we'll definitely implicate the whole village."
They can't even get out of the city gates. There are wanted posters of the two brothers everywhere. They'll be recognized as soon as they go out. If it were just the two brothers, they could manage to sneak out, but it's more troublesome with Xiao Yuting in tow.
Zhou Erfu was also filled with hatred, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. They were hungry and tired, with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. He thought for a moment and said, "Let's go up the mountain. We'll wade across the stream, go around to the end of the village, and then go up the mountain. The terrain on the mountain is complicated, but we know it well even with our eyes closed. Even if the officials come up the mountain, they won't be able to catch us. Let's stay on the mountain for a while and think of a way to leave when things calm down."
"Alright, that's the only way. Let's go now." Zhou Sifu said, rubbing Xiao Yuting's head to comfort him.
"Don't be afraid, Yu Ting, don't cry," Zhou Erfu coaxed softly. "Once we get to the mountain, your second and fourth brothers will catch wild rabbits and pheasants for you to eat. We definitely won't let you go hungry anymore."
Yu Ting nodded her little head vigorously and said in a childish voice, "Yu Ting is not afraid, Yu Ting will be good and not cry, Yu Ting will listen to her brother."
The two men felt a pang of sadness, their noses tingled, and tears welled up in their eyes. Fortunately, it was dark and they couldn't see the tears welling up in their eyes.
In recent years, the Zhou family has been living a prosperous and thriving life. Both the eldest aunt's and cousin's families are getting better and better. Everyone in the village envies them. The fruit trees they bought on the mountain have been able to sell fruit and earn money since last year. They also raise a lot of pigs, chickens, ducks and geese on the mountain.
Now it all belongs to someone else. Their whole family has been imprisoned, and that damned prefect even said he would execute them in the autumn. What a damned corrupt official!
As the two brothers walked, they cursed the officials in their hearts, while also worrying about Wu Fu. That boy's medical skills had improved considerably in recent years. The other day, when the officials came to arrest people, he sprinkled some medicinal powder, incapacitating the officials and allowing him to escape. But he escaped alone, not with Er Fu and Si Fu, and now they had no idea where he was. They hoped he wouldn't be caught.
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