Zhao Yuzhi strained her neck to look, and finally, in the dim candlelight, she could see clearly who had entered.
Butler Qi? How did Butler Qi get in here?
Moreover, he was shackled on his hands and feet, looked haggard, and numbly followed the constable's guidance into the cell.
First published on: Tower > Read Novels
Zhao Yuzhi had a lot of questions in her mind, but seeing that the officials had not yet left, she dared not ask.
After waiting for a while, the officers finally left. Zhao Yuzhi rushed to the other side of the cell and started hitting the shackles on her hands.
"Butler Qi, Butler Qi."
The man sitting against the wall raised his head blankly, and Zhao Yuzhi quickly asked, "How did you get in? What happened to the Qi family? Where is Qi Shi? How is Qi Shi?"
Zhao Yuzhi was extremely anxious, but Butler Qi seemed to have no reaction. He glanced at her, then leaned his head against the wall, closed his eyes, and remained silent.
"Butler Qi!" No matter how Zhao Yuzhi called out, Butler Qi remained silent.
Zhao Yuzhi wished she could turn into a tiny insect right now, squeeze through the gap in the railing, and ask what was going on.
Because she was thinking about Qi Shi, Zhao Yuzhi couldn't help but ask him a question when the jailer brought her lunch at noon.
"Officer, why is the Qi family's steward locked up? What did he do wrong?"
The jailer glared at her. "Mind your own business."
Zhao Yuzhi couldn't feel at ease until she got to the bottom of things. She gritted her teeth, took something out of her sleeve, and secretly handed it to the jailer.
“Brother officer, please have mercy. My cousin is the manager of Xuanhe Cloth Shop. When he comes to visit me again in a couple of days, I will definitely make him thank you handsomely.”
Manager Chen would visit Zhao Yuzhi every few days, and each time he would give the prison guards some money for tea.
The jailer hid the loose silver coins that Zhao Yuzhi had given him in his waistband, and while he was getting Zhao Yuzhi her meal, he spoke succinctly.
"Butler Qi murdered Master Qi and his family of three, and also poisoned Young Master Qi. When he was arrested, he set fire to the Qi family's backyard."
The Qi family's backyard? Isn't that where Qi Shi lives?
"How is Qi Shi?" Zhao Yuzhi suddenly felt a pang of anxiety.
"She's been rescued." The jailer didn't know much either. After saying that, he picked up the food bucket and left, leaving the stunned Zhao Yuzhi to slowly digest these earth-shattering news.
She couldn't understand it at all. Didn't Qi Shi tell her that Butler Qi was one of their own? How could he poison Qi Shi and even set him on fire?
All of this left Zhao Yuzhi completely bewildered. She sat on the ground, utterly lost and confused.
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After an unknown amount of time, a jailer called out at the door, "Zhao Yuzhi, someone has come to see you."
Zhao Yuzhi raised her head blankly, thinking it was her cousin, Manager Chen, coming to see her. She didn't move at all, but the footsteps grew closer.
The person who came was not Steward Chen, but Qi Shi, whom she had not seen for a long time.
"Qi~" Zhao Yuzhi couldn't believe her eyes. She rushed to the door in shock, but Qi Shi gestured for her to be quiet.
The living person was standing right in front of her. Zhao Yuzhi was so happy that she didn't know what to say, and tears welled up in her eyes.
However, compared to her excitement, Qi Shi was much more indifferent. He only glanced at Zhao Yuzhi before his eyes fell on Steward Qi in the next cell.
Like Zhao Yuzhi, Steward Qi was also very excited to see Qi Shi.
He moved his body, which hadn't moved at all, and slowly walked towards Zhao Yuzhi.
But the look in his eyes as he looked at Qi Shi was extremely complicated. "You, why are you here?" After a long while, he uttered these words from his hoarse throat.
Hearing him speak, Zhao Yuzhi looked at him with disgust, "Of course I'm condemning you for being such a vicious person. Qi Shi trusted you so much, and you actually stabbed him in the back."
First published on: Tower > Read Novels
"A vicious person like you should be dragged out and beheaded right now." Zhao Yuzhi wished she could give Steward Qi a couple of slaps right then and there.
When she visited the Qi family before, she thought that Butler Qi was quite capable, but when she thought about how such a wolfish ambition was hidden under his smiling face, Zhao Yuzhi felt a chill.
"Brother Qi Shi, you must have a good talk with the county magistrate. This kind of person needs to be thoroughly investigated, lest he come up with some bad tricks to harm you again."
Zhao Yuzhi was still feeling indignant for Qi Shi, but she didn't notice the strange emotions between the two men.
"Yuzhi, I'd like to have a private conversation with Steward Qi," Qi Shi said.
“There’s no reasoning with someone like that. He should be forced to kowtow and beg for forgiveness,” Zhao Yuzhi said indignantly.
It wasn't until Qi Shi glanced at her that Zhao Yuzhi reluctantly walked to the other side. She wanted to listen carefully to what Qi Shi and Steward Qi were saying, but the voices were too soft for her to hear clearly.
"Uncle Qi, you've suffered." In just a few days, Qi Shi not only looked much more haggard, but also aged considerably, and his once chubby face sagged.
"Young Master, as long as you are well, it's all worth it for me to suffer any amount of hardship." Butler Qi looked at Qi Shi with burning eyes. "Now, you can live a good life in the Qi family."
"Uncle Qi, we can take it slowly." Qi Shi gripped the doorpost tightly with one hand, veins bulging, showing how volatile his emotions were.
"I didn't have any relatives left, only you, and now even you are gone..." Qi Shi's voice was choked with sobs.
Butler Qi's throat tightened, and his eyes reddened. He hurriedly lowered his head and said, "Young Master, you've grown up. I... I'm relieved."
"I did the work anyway, so I deserve it. I'm not at a loss."
"We can't afford to delay. The longer it drags on, the clearer their investigation will become. So, young master, it's worth it."
If both of them were to be loaded into the car, wouldn't that be a case of losing more than you gain?
Looking at Steward Qi, Qi Shi's Adam's apple bobbed. He didn't know what to say. Steward Qi had never informed Qi Shi about being arrested and thrown into jail, which was why Qi Shi was so shocked when he found out.
Qi Shi lowered his head in anguish. He had no idea that Steward Qi would use this as a pretext to have the government officials arrest him in order to protect him.
Indeed, when the bearded man who was rumored to have poisoned the young master of the Qi family appeared in town, Butler Qi felt something was wrong, not to mention that he had already sent the poison out of town.
Something that had been going on for a long time suddenly came out, and it caused such a big stir.
What puzzled him even more was the government's attitude. The government officials actually believed the man when he said he had picked up the beard, without any suspicion, and released him.
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This is because, unless the authorities truly know that this person wasn't the one who poisoned the body.
By then, Steward Qi understood that the government officials had already suspected the Qi family, but they didn't know whether they suspected him or Qi Shi.
Furthermore, the authorities also discovered that the deaths of the Qi family of three were suspicious. With this breakthrough, the authorities will definitely continue their investigation relentlessly.
Steward Qi knew that if you don't want others to know, you shouldn't do it in the first place. As long as the government kept investigating, they would eventually find out.
But if the truth is ever revealed, both he and Qi Shi will face imprisonment.
Moreover, all those things were done so that Qi Shi could smoothly inherit the Qi family's fortune, but in the end, he had nothing left.
What else is there to gain?
Therefore, even after knowing that the bearded man might be part of a trap, Butler Qi still chose to join in.
If he were arrested by the authorities, he would accept it, as it would give him a legitimate reason to take the blame for those crimes.
So he deliberately set a trap by burning down the backyard, so that he could completely absolve Qi Shi of any involvement.
The original text comes from Tower & Read Novels~&
The officials will only see him as a victim and will no longer suspect him.
If it wasn't a setup, that would be perfect. He would force that person to write a confession admitting to poisoning Qi Shi, and then stage it as a suicide.
By then, there will be no way to verify the truth, and even if the government wants to investigate further, there will be nowhere to do so.
It has to be said that Steward Qi is a very shrewd and calculating person. For Qi Shi's sake, he has thought through every possible possibility.
That's why Qi Shi felt so bad. Seeing Steward Qi's haggard and worn-out appearance, his hatred for Master Qi intensified.
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