Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu ignored Ye Lingxi's insults and pleas.
This is just impotent rage coming to life.
She could only place her last hope on Ye Zongzhi: "Father, am I not as important as those shops? Father, save me, save me!"
"Father, I am your only daughter. Are you really going to just watch me die?"
She cried out urgently, "Father, you can't do this to me! I'm your most beloved child! Father, it hurts so much! Please save me! Father, I don't want to die!"
The red-hot branding iron was about to burn Ye Lingxi's face when she suddenly fainted from fright.
Cheng Qingyan said irritably, "This is so boring. Just splash it on me until I'm awake, then scald me."
Ye Zongzhi, lying on the ground, stared at Cheng Qingyan with hatred in his eyes.
Cheng Qingyan smiled indifferently: "Ye Lingxi, remember this: all the injuries on your body are because your dear father refused to save you. It has nothing to do with us."
“We gave you different choices. It was your father who disregarded your life and death and insisted on making you suffer. You could have avoided all this suffering and harm, but your father refused to save you. He wanted you to endure it, and we were helpless.”
"So, no matter what happens next, Ye Lingxi, don't forget that those scars were branded on you by Ye Zongzhi himself."
Ye Zongzhi gritted his teeth and cursed, "You shameless!"
Cheng Qingyan didn't care about such trivial words at all. She said to the person holding the branding iron, "Hey, the branding iron is cold. Go back and heat it up a bit, so it doesn't get cold halfway through."
When the branding iron was heated to a scorching hot again and was about to be pressed against Ye Lingxi's face, Ye Lingxi screamed and dodged, calling out "Dad" over and over, hoping for a miracle.
In those few short seconds, she probably prayed to every deity she could, hoping to receive divine favor and escape this calamity.
Perhaps her prayers worked, because Ye Zongzhi called for a stop just as the branding iron was about to be applied.
Ye Lingxi's eyes were almost unfocused when she finally heard Ye Zongzhi's voice.
Cheng Qingyan also stopped the executioners: "Put the branding iron back in the charcoal brazier to keep it burning. If what Master Ye says is not what we want to hear, we won't have the chance to stop it next time."
After hearing this, Ye Lingxi focused all her attention and hopes on Ye Zongzhi.
As the saying goes, "Where there's life, there's hope." Over the years, Ye Zongzhi has opened many shops and purchased several estates, building upon the dowry shops that came with the Bai family.
He had already successfully turned his life around by relying on those assets.
Even if the dowry given by the Bai family is returned to Ye Lingyu now, the foundation of the Ye family will not be shaken.
As for Ye Zongzhi, as long as he can walk out of prison alive, he will definitely have a chance to regain his freedom.
By then, who knows who will be kneeling on the ground begging for mercy?
Right now, it's more important to back down and rescue Ye Lingxi. Everything else can be planned after they're rescued.
He still pinned his hopes on Chen Yuanze, after all, Chen Yuanze was not only related to him, but their interests were also no less intertwined than when Chen Shengsen was the county magistrate. Their fates had already become intertwined since Ye Lingxi married into the family.
If Chen Yuanze doesn't try his best to bail them out at the county government office, then he can't possibly let Chen Yuanze escape unscathed.
He agreed to Cheng Qingyan's request for the time being, hoping to suffer less physical pain. Once Chen Yuanze arrived, he would gradually take revenge on these people.
After thinking it through, Ye Zongzhi told Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu, "I've hidden the land deeds for all the shops that the Bai family gave as part of their dowry at home. If you want them, you must take me back to the Ye family with you. Otherwise, even if you kill us and search the entire Ye family compound, you won't find them."
Cheng Qingyan hates being threatened the most. At first glance, Ye Zongzhi's words seemed to agree to Cheng Qingyan and the others' request, but upon closer inspection, they didn't mean that.
Then Cheng Qingyan frowned and waved his hand impatiently: "Since Master Ye is so stubborn and refuses to help, then let's continue the execution."
Unexpectedly, Ye Lingyu smiled and stopped Cheng Qingyan: "Ayan, agree to him. Put Ye Lingxi down, and then carry them to the Ye family to get the land deed."
"Wife?"
"Ayan, don't panic. Someone, tie them both up with iron chains to prevent them from escaping. Remember, tie them up tightly."
At this moment, the yamen runner who had taken the letter of severance of kinship to the county government for stamping also returned with the letter.
With the letter severing ties in hand, Ye Lingyu coldly looked at the two people who were bound by heavy iron chains. They were almost completely chained, with only their heads remaining, and were carried onto a stretcher.
After being released from the prison, they were thrown onto a flatbed cart, which was pushed by yamen runners who banged gongs and drums as they headed toward the Ye family.
Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu walked at the back of the crowd. Ye Lingyu whispered to Cheng Qingyan, "Ayan, don't you know why I let Ye Zongzhi and the others return to the Ye family as they wished?"
"Look how many people are watching the commotion on the street! They are all key figures who accelerated the downfall of the Ye family. The Ye family, which was supposed to take two more days to completely collapse, might lose its mansion tomorrow after today."
"Those who have been suppressing the Ye family's business, and those who have cooperated with the Ye family, should have heard the news by now. Ye Zongzhi has done something that benefits us today."
Wow, it has to be her wife, that's really killing two birds with one stone.
"My wife is very insightful and far-sighted; I admire her greatly."
"You're so cheeky!"
That's true. There are countless people who can't resist kicking you while you're down.
The crowd of onlookers on the street actually pointed and commented on the people on the flatbed cart, and even followed them to see where they were going.
Before today, those people might have been hesitant about the Ye family's downfall. But after today, everyone wants a piece of the pie from the Ye family.
Among the crowd of onlookers, Shen Ziyu was holding Jiang Jiang, and Cheng Qingyan spotted her at a glance.
To avoid drawing attention, she and Ye Lingyu walked behind the yamen runners. Unsuspecting people would have thought they were just there to watch the show.
Shen Ziyu and Jiang Jiang, who were actually watching the spectacle, stood in the crowd to the side.
Cheng Qingyan turned to Ye Lingyu and whispered, "Wife, I saw Brother Shen and Jiang Jiang. They're on the left, in the crowd of onlookers."
Ye Lingyu looked in the direction Cheng Qingyan had indicated and, sure enough, spotted Shen Ziyu with her white hair at a glance, holding Jiang Jiang who was eating candied hawthorns in her arms. The two of them stood out conspicuously in the crowd.
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