Chapter 48: Apologize
Song Yu was very moved, and felt both touched and guilty.
What moved me was that my brother-in-law returned evil with kindness, and I blamed myself for my previous actions. He explained: "In fact, I didn't target you before. I just felt that you were not worthy of the beauty at that time, so I was a little too harsh on you. I hope you don't blame me..."
Li Nuo could understand Song Yu. If it were him, if his family wanted to marry his sister to a fool, he would probably do something even more extreme.
He waved his hand generously and said, "We are all family, there is no need to mention the past..."
Song Yu said gratefully: "Thank you, brother-in-law!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two figures hurried into the county government office.
Song Yu turned around and said in surprise, "Dad, brother-in-law, why are you here!"
The thin young man stepped forward and asked with concern: "Xiaoyu, are you okay?"
Song Yu smiled and said, "Fortunately, my brother-in-law is here, otherwise I would have suffered a great loss today."
After Song Yu and others were taken away by the Chang'an County Magistrate, Chen Ling rushed back to the Song Mansion and informed Song Lian of the matter. Since the matter involved the government, it was not something they could handle.
Worried that Song Yu might be at fault, the two men hurried over, only to see that Song Yu was fine and was chatting and laughing with Li Nuo.
After listening to Song Yu's story, Song Lian breathed a sigh of relief, glared at him fiercely, and said, "You bastard, I'll settle the score with you when I get back!"
Song Yu retracted his neck and dared not say anything more.
Afterwards, Song Lian looked at Li Nuo again and said apologetically, "I'm so sorry that this bastard has caused you trouble."
Li Nuo smiled and said, "Uncle, you don't have to be polite. We are a family after all, and this is what we should do."
Facing the thanks from Song Yu and his son, Li Nuo felt a little embarrassed.
After all, his original intention was not to save Song Yu.
Although he is his wife's cousin and one of his brothers-in-law, Li Nuo has no friendship with him and there is some conflict between them.
However, since Song Yu apologized so sincerely, Li Nuo was not a petty person. After all, he was doing it for the good of his wife. Li Nuo could tell the difference. It was clear whether he should say it or not. There was still a lot of love between the Song family members.
After a while, several people left Chang'an County Government together.
Li Nuo originally wanted to go home directly, but Song Yu grabbed his arm and insisted that he go back to the Song family with him. Li Nuo couldn't persuade him, and with the invitation from his second uncle Song Lian, he agreed.
When he returned to Li's house, he was alone guarding the yard again.
With Mu'er chattering around, the Song Mansion was much more lively. Perhaps because he had never experienced such liveliness in his two lifetimes, Li Nuo liked the atmosphere of the Song Family very much.
Before getting on the carriage, Li Nuo remembered something, looked at Song Lian, and asked, "Second uncle, has the thief who stole the birthday gift last time been caught?"
Song Lian shook his head and said, "I have checked all the servants of the Song family, but still can't find any clues. It seems that we can't find Ruyi anymore."
At that time, the Song family had prepared many birthday gifts that were more valuable than the pair of Ruyi. However, the other party only took away the pair of Ruyi. It was obvious that this was aimed at his wife or Li Nuo, so Li Nuo paid special attention to it.
After all, no one wants to be secretly thought of by others.
The servants of the Song family probably don't have the courage to do this.
Li Nuo had suspected Song Yu and Song Qian. After all, in the entire Song family, only these two people had conflicts with him and his wife. Now it seems that it should not be Song Yu. After a deeper understanding, Li Nuo knew that he was not the kind of person who would do such a thing.
As for Song Qian, although she always targets his wife, Li Nuo's intuition tells him that she did not do this.
But if it’s not Song Yu and Song Qian, who else could it be?
At the gate of Chang'an County Government, two horse-drawn carriages started and drove slowly towards the Song Mansion.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the Zhou family was extremely solemn.
The two brothers Zhou Yu and Zhou Tao knelt on the ground. Even though their buttocks were still aching, they did not dare to make a sound.
In front of the two men, their father, the doctor of the Imperial Guard, frowned and asked, "You mean, you and Song Yu had a fight inside the academy because of a prostitute, and then you had another fight outside the academy. Just as the fight started, the people from the Chang'an County Court showed up?"
Zhou Yu defended himself: "Dad, Miss Yuanyang is not an ordinary brothel girl..."
"That's still a whore!"
The doctor glared at him and said angrily, "You treat a prostitute who has been ridden by thousands of men as a treasure. You have brought shame to the Zhou family's eighteen generations of ancestors!"
Zhou Yu wanted to refute, but when he saw his father's eyes, he shuddered and dared not speak.
The doctor in the Jiabu Department continued to ask: "Besides fighting over women, is there nothing else to do?"
Zhou Yu immediately said, "No more."
Upon hearing this, the doctor of the Jiabu Department relaxed his brows a little. He was really afraid that the two boys had done something that violated the law and ruined the family tradition. Such things could be big or small, and most of the time they were trivial matters. The Zhou family had some influence in Chang'an and could settle some minor matters.
But once you have even the slightest connection with Li Xuanjing, a small matter may become a big deal.
Now it seems that Li Xuanjing probably didn't want to touch him.
Otherwise, just ninety strokes of the cane would be enough to make these two bastards pass out, without a chance to kneel here and reply.
At this time, Zhou Tao, who was kneeling, seemed to remember something and looked up and said, "I remember that the teacher who taught the law said that the direct relatives of officials above the seventh rank in the court could redeem their sins with silver. Ninety strokes of the cane only cost ninety taels of silver..."
In the law class, he didn't remember anything else, but he remembered this one very clearly.
After all, his father was a Langzhong of the Imperial Guards, a fifth-rank official in the court. As long as he committed a crime punishable by exile, he could use silver instead of punishment.
Just now at the Chang'an County Government Office, he was so nervous that he actually forgot such a big thing.
Zhou Yu's entire butt was still burning. Hearing this, he glared at his brother and said angrily, "Why didn't you say anything just now!"
As soon as the words fell, the two brothers' buttocks, which had just been punished, were kicked hard again. The doctor in the driving department said angrily: "You bastards, you don't learn good things, but only learn bad things!"
The kick landed on Zhou Tao's injured buttocks, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He defended himself by saying, "Dad, why are you being unreasonable? This is what Mr. Law taught in the Daxia Law class. You beat me when I didn't listen carefully, and you beat me when I listened carefully..."
The doctor of the Jiabu Department took a look at his two sons and said in a deep voice, "Fools, not everyone in this world will reason with you. There was once an official who used the money to redeem his son who committed adultery. He only spent three hundred taels of silver. As a result, a month later, he was dismissed from office for other crimes. His property was confiscated by the state treasury. Including himself, all the male descendants in his family were beheaded, and the collateral descendants were exiled. The female relatives became official servants..."
In Daxia, county offices, prefectural offices, the Ministry of Justice and other government offices in various places can use the method of redeeming sentences.
Only the Dali Temple cannot do that.
Li Xuanjing is a cruel, ruthless and stubborn person. If he sentences you to three years in prison, you'd better plead guilty and serve the full three years in prison. After serving your sentence, you can live in peace. As long as you don't commit new crimes, you can rest assured from then on.
If silver is used to pardon the crime, Li Xuanjing will not object, after all, the laws of Daxia do have such provisions.
But since you disobeyed him this time, you have to be careful next time. You'd better hope that you have never done anything against the law before, and you won't do it in the future. Not only you won't do it, your family members and relatives shouldn't do it either, otherwise you will soon know Li Xuanjing's methods.
Not only was he the Minister of Dali Temple, he also controlled the court's largest secret agency, the 'Mingjingsi'. There were indeed many people in the court whom he could not touch, but there was no one who could be touched without the approval of His Majesty, including those princes who hated him to the core.
The magistrate of Chang'an County was Li Xuanjing's man, and the Chang'an County Government naturally became the sphere of influence of the Dali Temple. This was the reason why the Minister of Examination, although he could have been exempted from punishment with three hundred taels of silver, still chose to give up his son, resigned from his post, and donated all his property.
He must have known that some of his things would not stand up to scrutiny, and that all he did was just to save his life.
The doctor of the Ministry of Civil Affairs glared at them again and said coldly, "Let's not talk about the distant past. Let's talk about the recent past. The doctor of the Ministry of Personnel has more power than your father. His son committed adultery and the Dali Temple found out. Do you know what the result was? The doctor of the Ministry of Civil Affairs personally tied up his son and handed him over to the government. He donated all his property and resigned to return home. It happened a few days ago..."
After hearing these things from their father, the Zhou brothers turned pale, their bodies trembled like sieves, and they said in a trembling voice: "Dad, you must save us!"
Seeing their expressions, the doctor of the Imperial Guard knew that the purpose of the intimidation and admonition had been achieved. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, you don't have to worry. This is just an ordinary fight. It has nothing to do with the Dali Temple. However, for the sake of caution, you still have to prepare a generous gift and come with me to the Song Mansion to apologize..."
(End of this chapter)
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