Chapter 42 Daring Not to Report to the Authorities
Lu Zhaoruo bowed respectfully to Lu Bohong: "I trouble you, brother, to escort Mother to the county government office."
She raised her face, her eyes as cold as frost, "Today, your daughter has no choice but to do this disobedient thing."
Tu's body trembled violently, and her face turned deathly pale.
This wretched girl actually wants to send her own mother to the authorities!
"Mother would be better off dead..."
"I can't live like this anymore..."
She suddenly collapsed to the ground, pounding her chest and wailing.
Lu Bohong, at a loss, reached out to help her up: "Mother, please don't..."
"If you dare to take me to the yamen..."
Tu suddenly pointed to the wall, "I'll kill myself right here!"
Lu Zhaoruo stepped forward slowly, her fingertips lightly touching the mottled wall: "My mother has said she wants to bang her head against the wall seventeen times over the years."
She suddenly sneered, "But how come there isn't even a scratch on this wall?"
"Then let's find out for ourselves today."
Her voice was as soft as falling snow, yet it sent a shiver down Tu's spine.
Tu stared at the wall, her heels rooted to the spot.
The two methods taught by Shen Lingyi were completely ineffective.
This wretched girl has such a heart of stone.
"My mother is afraid of dying."
Lu Zhaoruo suddenly leaned down, "Then confess Shen Lingyi."
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Tu's voice was weak, "The eldest daughter of the Shen family treats me even better than my own daughter..."
"My own daughter?"
Lu Zhaoruo smiled bitterly: "Ever since my daughter married into the Shen family, Shen Lingyi has often given me a headache because of the poor and shabby atmosphere of my daughter's family. The reason she was suddenly so attentive to you the other day was simply because my daughter didn't give her any gambling funds, so she took advantage of you."
Tu turned her face away and let out a cold snort.
"If she were truly closer to you than your own daughter, why wouldn't she spend her own money to show her respect? Instead, she's encouraging you to steal?"
"Why did that thief insist that you ordered it, instead of saying that Shen Lingyi ordered it? Could it be that Mother found that thief? Was it really Mother who ordered it?"
Tu hurriedly said, "Nonsense, how could I have ordered it?"
Lu Zhaoruo: "Mother, you just heard what your daughter said. According to your crimes, you will be exiled for three thousand miles, have your back broken twenty times, and be sent to a labor camp for one year."
Tu broke out in a cold sweat.
Lu Zhaoruo: "If you were just instigated by someone, and you are the mother of a daughter, you would at most have to pay the price of thirteen bolts of silk. Your daughter would then speak to the magistrate and ask him to forgive you. In contrast, Shen Lingyi was exiled three thousand miles away, had twenty strokes of the cane, and was conscripted for a year."
"Mother, you can choose for yourself."
Lu Bohong knelt on the ground, his voice hoarse, and said, "Mother! How long are you going to let her deceive you? How can you collude with outsiders to bully your own family?"
Looking at her brother's red eyes, Lu Zhaoruo felt the bitterness in her chest gradually turn into a warm current.
Brother...
She called out softly in her heart.
After leaving the Shen family, I will definitely accompany him to the capital to take up his post and see him pass the imperial examination with flying colors.
And Li Nian'er...
The hand hidden in the sleeve clenched tightly.
In this life, I will never let my brother marry that wicked woman again!
Madam Tu's eyes darted around, and after a long while, she managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "It was...it was that Shen Lingyi who instigated it. I was confused for a moment and was coaxed by her sweet words..."
A short while later.
She cried and insisted on disclaiming any involvement, refusing to go to the county government to testify, fearing she would lose face.
Lu Bohong rebuked her sternly.
She countered by insisting that the thief should be the one to testify.
Lu Zhaoruo fell silent, because the thief had already escaped.
Only if she goes to the county government office to testify will the county government office post a notice and arrest the thief.
Seeing that Lu Bohong was really going to take her to the yamen, Tu suddenly rushed towards Lu's father and grabbed his sleeve tightly: "Lu Yuanming, you must persuade your good daughter! I don't want to go to the county yamen. If I go, how will I be able to hold my head up in the future?"
Mr. Lu flung his sleeves aside and said angrily, "It's one thing that you've always been harsh on Aning, but now you're even helping outsiders harm her!"
Tu fell to the ground, staring at Lu's father, and then gritted her teeth and said, "If you help me send this to the county government today, I can't guarantee what nonsense I might say."
Mr. Lu's breath hitched, and his arms trembled uncontrollably.
He suppressed his panic, quickly walked up to Lu Zhaoruo, bowed deeply, and said in a tight voice, "A'ning, your mother was just confused for a moment... For my sake, let it go."
Lu Zhaoruo was stunned. Although her father usually didn't interfere in matters, he was a reasonable man who would plead for her mother...
This was not the father she knew.
Lu Bohong spoke up: "Father, how can you plead for Mother? According to the law, you should go to the county government to testify!"
Mr. Lu said, "She was only aware of the theft and shared in the loot, but she didn't participate in it. You're the inspector, so please be lenient and let her return the stolen money."
Madam Tu hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes, I'll return the money... I'll go get it right now."
She quickly went to the room, took out the silver, and handed it to Lu Zhaoruo.
Lu Zhaoruo held the silver and said coldly, "But if Mother doesn't go, how can she testify against Shen Lingyi?"
Madam Tu pinched Lu's father hard and said, "Didn't you arrest someone for theft? He can testify against you. Also, this matter must not be reported to the authorities. It must be settled privately. After all, we are all family. If we report it to the authorities, it will be bad for both of us."
The father, in pain, suddenly roared, "If that's the case, then tie me up and take me to the county office too!"
"Father!"
Lu Bohong clenched his fists in anger.
Lu Zhaoruo took a deep breath, curtsied, and said, "Your daughter wouldn't dare."
After saying that, he turned around and said, "Since Father pleaded for it and Mother returned the money, then let it go. I just hope Mother will behave herself in the future."
She led Manager Chen and his son away quickly, and behind them came Mr. Lu's shout: "Remember to settle this privately."
Lu Bohong glared at his parents, then turned and chased after them.
"Brother."
Lu Zhaoruo lowered her voice, "We still need to send people to secretly apprehend that thief. Since he stole the cloth, he must be trying to sell it."
Lu Bohong nodded in understanding: "As long as the evidence is caught red-handed, we don't need to worry about Shen Lingyi denying it."
Lu Zhaoruo took a deep breath. Since she couldn't report it to the authorities, she would settle it privately in the ancestral hall...
At that time, no matter how much her parents tried to protect her, she would definitely put on a good show and make Shen Lingyi suffer.
Before leaving, she specifically instructed Manager Chen and his two sons: "Not a single word about what happened today must be leaked..."
He then returned the money for the three bolts of silk that Manager Chen had advanced in full.
Back at the Shen family home.
Lu Zhaoruo lay in bed unable to fall asleep, unable to understand why her father would defend her mother. And what her mother meant by saying, "I might say something nonsense."
What does that mean?
For days, she had been suffering from a splitting headache due to that troubling matter, so she simply took a few days off.
Shen Lingyi, knowing that her scheme had been exposed, was smug and could not easily alert the authorities because Lu Zhaoruo was afraid to act rashly.
Unfortunately, the money he held tightly in his hand was lost at the gambling table.
As for the thief, he has been afraid of being exposed lately, so he has been hiding his whereabouts and has not dared to sell the ten precious bolts of silk for money.
As a result, her purse remained empty.
After much thought, why not go to the treasury again and borrow some silver for the emergency?
After all, those people never stopped fawning over her.
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