Several constables immediately stepped forward and seized Erfu. Erfu was able to break free, but there was a circle of soldiers with bows and arrows standing on the wall. He was afraid that if he resisted, they would shoot wildly and they would all die.
"You corrupt official, dare to chop one of your own hands and see what happens?" Zhou Sifu roared in fury, rushing forward and nearly grabbing the prefect by the collar. Unfortunately, the prefect had two highly skilled constables by his side who managed to subdue Zhou Sifu.
The prefect frowned and said coldly, "Chop off this brat's hands as well, chop off both of them."
"Erfu, Sifu!" Zhao Guihua cried out hoarsely.
"Anyone who dares to say another word will have their feet chopped off by me." The prefect declared with a sinister expression. He had been a cruel and ruthless man since childhood, and had privately tortured and killed countless cats and dogs, as well as many servants who had offended him. However, he concealed it very well, and apart from those close to him, no one knew his true nature.
He was a distant relative of Consort Duan's family. He was quite talented in his studies, passing the imperial examination at the age of fifteen, becoming a scholar at the age of twenty, and a provincial graduate at the age of twenty-six. Unfortunately, he failed the metropolitan examination repeatedly and is now thirty-six years old.
He was quite depressed for a while afterward and had long given up on the idea of taking the imperial examination again. If it weren't for Consort Duan's intervention, he wouldn't have become the prefect of Nanyang Prefecture. Having received a favor from the Consort, he naturally had to do things for her.
Perhaps Consort Duan knew his character and was attracted to his ruthlessness.
At this moment, several yamen runners held down Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu, while two other yamen runners raised their knives to strike.
Zhou Erfu shouted with his eyes closed, "Fourth brother, don't be afraid. Your second brother is with you. At worst, you'll be a hero again in eighteen years."
Zhou Sifu's eyes reddened, and he choked up a little. "Second brother, I'm not afraid. I'm just not reconciled. We came here to save people. How did it turn into everyone being unable to escape?"
"You're about to die and you still have so much to say? Stop dawdling and get to work."
"ah."
"ah."
With two screams, two bodies crashed to the ground with a thud.
Erfu and Sifu looked up at the same time and saw that the two yamen runners with knives were already dead, lying motionless on the ground with their eyes wide open.
"Where did this corrupt official come from, daring to harm my parents and brother? If I had arrived any later, the entire Zhou family would have died unjustly under your blade!" With a delicate shout, a white-clad youth in flowing robes descended from the sky, embracing a purple-clad girl.
Everyone felt a blur before their eyes, and the scent of fresh grass and flowers seemed to waft past their noses on the evening breeze. When they looked at the young man and woman who had suddenly appeared in front of them, they were truly pure and otherworldly, with elegant and noble temperament.
But the new prefect didn't care how otherworldly or refined the newcomers were. Anyone who interfered with his work deserved to die. "Who are you? How dare you obstruct the government's handling of a case? Guards, seize these two men for me!"
Before the officials could react, the young man in white had already made his move. A surge of internal energy caused all the officials surrounding him to be injured and fall to the ground.
Surprisingly, the Zhou family was unharmed, as if a special barrier was protecting them, separating them from the officials. The prefect and his confidants, who were closest to the boy, were directly stunned into unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, the officials standing on the wall with bows and arrows aimed at the Zhou family were also taken down by Zhu Qiuyu and his group. In the past few days, Xingxing and the seven people from Xianwu Island rushed to Nanyang Prefecture with all their might and finally rescued the people at the critical moment.
"Dad, Mom, are you alright?" Xingxing walked up to Zhao Guihua and Zhou Laoda, her big eyes were wet, and her small nose was red.
“My daughter, my Xingxing is back,” Zhao Guihua said, tears streaming down her face, as she hugged Xingxing tightly. “You’re finally back! You’ve grown so tall; I almost didn’t recognize you.”
"Mom, Xingxing misses you, Dad, and my brothers very much." Xingxing couldn't stop crying.
"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back. Honey, don't cry. Let's leave here quickly and go back to wash up. You've been wearing this prison uniform for so many days. Don't let the smell bother our daughter." Zhou Laoda was clearly swaying when he stood up and needed someone to support him to stand steadily, but at this moment he pretended to be nonchalant and was even in the mood to joke.
Xingxing left Zhao Guihua's embrace and went to hug Zhou Laoda, calling out, "Dad."
Old Master Zhou turned around slightly and waved his hand, "Daughter, Daddy won't hug you. Daddy is too dirty. I'll talk to you properly after I take a bath."
At this moment, Qingyan walked over and said, "No need to leave. Just rest for the night at the government office. This newly appointed prefect is no longer a prefect from now on. His Majesty has issued an edict to remove him from office and demote him to a commoner. This person, in his capacity as a local official..."
Falsely accusing a candidate of cheating, arresting the entire Zhou family without any evidence, and even implicating the whole clan—this is an extremely heinous crime. He should be imprisoned first, and we'll deal with him properly later.
"Father, Mother, and Brother, you've suffered so much. I'm so sorry that Xingxing dragged you into this mess." Xingxing felt very guilty. If it weren't for her, her brothers wouldn't have clashed with the First Prince and the Third Prince, which would have led to all these subsequent events.
"Silly child, how can this be your fault? If you hadn't arrived in time, our whole family would have been harmed by that corrupt official. Alright, let's not talk about this upsetting matter anymore. Let's go take a bath first, and we can talk about it later." Zhao Guihua also smelled the sour odor on herself at this moment, and didn't want to hug Xingxing anymore.
Half an hour later, the Zhou family members came out after bathing. On the octagonal table in the main hall of the yamen's backyard, there was a table full of fish and meat.
"Let's eat first. You must be starving. I had someone make a lot of your favorite dishes. Eat as much as you like," Xingxing said with a smile, her eyes crinkling.
Zhou and his men were truly starving. They had been imprisoned by the newly appointed prefect for over a month, without a single day of proper food. Sometimes, they were even denied food altogether, deliberately tormenting them.
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