Liu was shocked.

Slavery?

How could this be possible? The Liu family had produced scholars from generation to generation, and people from generation to generation had served as officials. They were a family of scholars that had been passed down for more than a hundred years. How could they not be enslaved?

Absolutely not!

"Master." Liu grabbed Sheng Xing'an's sleeve and begged, "I asked my eldest brother to come and apologize and kowtow to Sister Yan to make amends. Please forgive him. Master, please forgive him for the sake of me giving birth to Ying'er for you."

She cried so much that her tears and snot were all over her face, and all the makeup was melted away.

Sheng Xingan kicked her away and said coldly: "I have treated you Liu family well!"

He was filled with hatred and annoyance.

After marrying Liu, he had mentioned Liu Cheng and the Liu family several times. He originally thought that since they were all in-laws, it was just a matter of favors and no big deal. However, the Liu family was getting more and more shameless. Sometimes, when Liu Cheng made trouble, he actually wanted to ignore it. It was only after Liu begged him again and again, and because Liu gave birth to Sheng Ying for him, he did not want Sheng Ying to feel embarrassed about her uncle's family when she grew up, so he helped her.

"But what about Liu Cheng?" He stood up angrily, pacing back and forth, and scolded Liu, "Last month, Liu Cheng seized farmland in the name of Yan Jie'er's uncle. I scolded him, and he was not convinced, so he wanted to take action against Yan Jie'er, right!?"

The court has been in chaos recently, and Sister Yan has told him several times not to stand out and not to cause trouble, and he has always remembered it.

Unexpectedly, he did not cause any trouble, but Liu, who had nothing to do with Sister Yan, used Sister Yan's name to show off his power.

When he found out about this, he was completely dumbfounded.

Sister Yan is now relying on Xiao Shuo's favoritism. Xiao Shuo has always been a moody person. If he knew that someone from the Sheng family was using his name to do something shameful, and that he was doing something as shameless as seizing farmland, he would probably think that Sister Yan was embarrassing him and would never pay any attention to her again!

When Sheng Xingan found out, he scolded Liu Cheng and, as a warning, had Liu Cheng's son's enrollment in the Imperial College cancelled. Originally, he was the one who recommended him for the school, so it's okay if he doesn't want to recommend him now, right?

Sheng Xingan originally thought that the Liu family could understand the current situation and be more obedient, but he didn't expect that human greed is the root of all evil!

Everything the Liu family has now is due to him, but what about them? They caused his wife and children to leave him.

If Liu Chen had not been too greedy and wanted to take action against Yan Jie'er, I am afraid that until his death, the Liu family would still be laughing at his stupidity behind his back, laughing at him for being deceived all his life!

How abominable!

Chu Yuanchen asked casually, "What do you think, uncle?"

Sheng Xingan came back to his senses: "Okay!"

Being a slave is good. They wanted to sell his son into slavery, so they let his whole family become slaves and experience the feeling of never being able to turn over a new leaf.

Sheng Xing'an would never think that the other members of the Liu family were implicated. If it weren't for the Sheng family, the Liu family would have declined years ago.

Everything the Liu family has now was obtained by selling his son and killing his original wife!

The Liu family enjoyed it all, but now it is time to pay the price.

The Liu family was an official, and they had not committed any unforgivable crime. According to the "Da Rong Law", anyone who abducted a good person would be punished with 100 strokes of the cane and three years' imprisonment. It was Nanny Sun who did it. If Liu Cheng had denied knowledge, he might have been acquitted, and at most fined some silver to keep his official position. Liu Cheng's descendants could continue to become officials through imperial examinations in the future. Sheng Xing'an felt upset just thinking about it.

Now, Chu Yuanchen is willing to take action, which is simply the best!

Sheng Xingan didn't even look at him, and just said, "My Lord, I'm sorry to trouble you."

Liu's face turned paler and she trembled.

The Liu family is finished, what will happen to her? !

Liu knelt down and begged, "Master...Master!"

Sheng Xingan thought about it again and again, took a deep breath and said, "Ms. Liu, I will give you a divorce letter today. You can take your dowry and go home."

Although Liu did not intervene in this matter, and even she herself was kept in the dark, everything Liu has now is due to the Liu family's plan.

She got her position as the legal wife because of the death of his first wife.

She doesn't deserve it!

Liu shuddered and raised her head in disbelief.

"No, no, sir, you can't divorce me." Liu crawled to his legs on her knees, tears streaming down her face. "I gave birth to two children for you, you can't divorce me."

"That's right!" Mrs. Liu was startled. "One who has a wife but no place to go will never divorce her. The Liu family is almost gone. If you divorce me, I will have nowhere to go. You can't divorce me. You can't..."

Sheng Xiyan did not interrupt and let Sheng Xingan make his own decision.

Sheng Xingan said coldly: "It's okay if you don't want to divorce me, you can just be my concubine. This marriage certificate was obtained by trickery from the Liu family. I will go to Jingzhao Prefecture and have the marriage certificate declared invalid even if I lose my reputation."

Demoting a wife to become a concubine is against the law, and even more against etiquette.

However, if the marriage certificate could be declared invalid, then Liu would no longer be his wife.

It was a small matter which he could accomplish by spending some money and using some favors.

Liu: “…”

Her face turned even worse. If she was divorced, although her son Ying'er had an awkward status, he was still a legitimate son. If she became a concubine, then Ying'er would become a bastard, and a bastard who was not favored by his biological mother. What should she do?

Her mind was a mess.

Sheng Xingan said without any emotion: "You choose."

"I...I choose the divorce."

After saying this, Liu seemed to have all the energy drained away and became paralyzed.

Sheng Xingan said nothing and looked away.

After being married for so many years, it would be a lie to say that there was no love between them. Although Liu was stupid, she was not cruel and was considerate and gentle. However, all of this was nothing compared to the pain of being deceived.

As for this cunning slave.

"Someone come here." Sheng Xingan's eyes flashed fiercely, "Drag him away and beat him to death."

According to Darong law, the master who killed the slave only had to pay some money as a fine. If he didn't beat Nanny Sun to death, he would not be able to get rid of the hatred in his heart.

"Keep it for now." Sheng Xiyan interrupted him calmly, "She still needs to recognize the man who brought the human to the house."

Aunt Sun seemed to have found her life again, and lay on the ground like a puddle of rotten mud.

Sheng Xiyan's tone was flat as she continued, "Send it to Jingzhao Prefecture first."

Sheng Xingan was startled and said, "This is not good..."

Family disgrace should not be made public.

Sheng Xiyan glanced at him and asked, "Father is reluctant to let me go."

How could I not be willing to do this! Sheng Xingan immediately agreed: "You said to report to the authorities, then let's report to the authorities. I will send him to Jingzhao Prefecture!"

"Achen," Sheng Xiyan said, "I want to lock up Nanny Sun's family, including her son who is the county magistrate, with the Liu family. Then, tell the Liu family that it was Nanny Sun who reported them."

A slave harms his master, so Nanny Sun must be sentenced to death. There is no need to dirty her hands.

Because her son was devoted to Liu Cheng, Aunt Sun locked them up together and let them fight on their own.

Chu Yuanchen agreed, and said with a permissive smile: "Let's smash the Liu family first, okay? Let you... vent your anger."

When these three words came out, they were so fierce and wanton that Sheng Xingan and others were startled.

Sheng Xiyan nodded: "Okay."

Chu Yuanchen glanced at him and Mu Bai took the order and went down.

In less than half an hour, the guards of the Zhenbei Palace arrived at Liu's residence and kicked the door open.

The doorman of Liu's residence was startled and rushed out to stop it, but it was pushed open again.

The prince said to smash it, and they smashed it.

The Northern Frontier Army has strict discipline and has never done anything violent, but they have seen a few things happen to Northern Yan before, so they can learn from them. The Northern Frontier Army has always been eager to learn.

Liu Cheng was in the mansion when he received the news. He was shocked at first, then a little angry, and rushed out directly. Before he could ask any questions, he saw the plaque with "My Heart is Like Water" hanging in the main hall was hit by a stick and was about to fall.

Liu Cheng's eyes widened and he screamed, "No!"

This plaque was obtained by his great-great-grandfather as a reward from Emperor Yingzong. It was written by Emperor Yingzong himself, indicating that he was an upright official with high moral character. This is the honor of their Liu family from generation to generation. His great-grandfather was admitted to the Pavilion of Famous Officials. If anyone told others about it, the whole dynasty would know that this was the ancestor of their Liu family.

This plaque cannot be destroyed.

"don't want!"

He rolled and crawled over there, and at that moment, everything seemed to have stopped. Everything around him turned into a ball of ash, except for this plaque, which fell down in front of his eyes at an extremely slow speed, and then was chopped up by a sword in mid-air.

The plaque broke in two.

It seemed as if even Liu Cheng's heart was broken into two pieces. This was the supreme honor for their Liu family.

Gone. All gone!

Liu Cheng shouted angrily: "Someone come, report to the police, report to the police!"

"That's perfect." The young general Mo Jiu, who had split the plaque with a sword, sneered, "Aren't you going to report it to the authorities? Then go ahead."

He waved his hand and said, "Take them all to Jingzhao Prefecture."

"Then, we destroyed the Liu family."

His eyes were cold, filled with a bloody and murderous intent that came from fighting on the battlefield; his eyes were like knives, stabbing at him.

Liu Cheng was shaking and couldn't help asking, "Who are you?"

"Zhenbei Palace."

Liu said: "..."

Although the Zhenbei Palace is powerful and influential, it has always kept a low profile. Why would they suddenly come and smash things up?

Could it be!

Could it be that Grandma Sun took action?

His heart was beating wildly. Did Aunt Sun succeed? He couldn't help but smile.

Mo Jiu waved his hand, and two guards came over and grabbed Liu Cheng's shoulders, one on the left and one on the right. Liu Cheng came to his senses and realized that Nanny Sun might have failed. This realization made him panic. All he could do was shout, "What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Someone, come quickly!"

The guards had great strength in their hands. Once restrained, Liu Cheng could not even move. He could only shout at the top of his lungs, yelling "There is no law in the Zhenbei Palace", "I am a fifth-rank official of the court, the Zhenbei Palace cannot treat me like this", and also clamoring "I am Miss Shengda's uncle" and "I am going to file a complaint", and so on.

It was so noisy that it hurt his ears, so Mo Jiu asked someone to find something to cover his mouth, and finally the whole world became quiet.

"Smash it."

The Zhenbei Palace was not as professional as the Dongchang Palace in confiscating property, but before they left, the Crown Prince said that they only needed to destroy the things that the Liu family was proud of.

Doesn’t the Liu family pride itself on being a family of scholars with a centuries-old heritage?

Didn't the Liu family do all this just to rise up as a family, killing people and making Liu marry into the Sheng family?

Then let the Liu family completely disappear from now on.

Seeing the things that were so dear to him being smashed before his eyes, Liu Cheng could no longer shout. He was anxious and angry. His eyes rolled back and he fainted.

After smashing everything that needed to be smashed, Mo Jiu had everyone in the Liu family taken to Jingzhao Prefecture and conveyed Chu Yuanchen's intentions:

Liu was called Lingchi, and the rest of them were made slaves and exiled to Minzhou.

There is a difference between being exiled as a slave and being exiled. When being exiled, one can join the army after arriving at the place of exile, and can make meritorious contributions and turn things around in the future.

And slavery is slavery.

Jingzhao Yin was a little hesitant at first, after all, it was a violation of the law, and it would be a bit troublesome to operate behind the scenes. However, when he heard that the Liu family was arrested for wanting to harm Miss Shengda, he immediately became respectful and promised with a pat on his chest that he would definitely make the Liu family live a very "comfortable" life in the prison.

When the task was completed, the sun had completely set, and Mo Jiu returned to the palace to report to Chu Yuanchen.

Chu Yuanchen just nodded calmly after hearing this, and said to Mu Bai in the study: "Go on."

"He is a private dealer on East Street in Beijing. His last name is Qian Sui. He entered the human trafficking business ten years ago. There is a black mole on the wing of his nose. He is not in Beijing now. I have already sent someone to track him down."

Mu Bai finished his words concisely.

Ever since Sheng Xiyan told Chu Yuanchen about her brother getting lost, he had been ordering people to look for him.

A four-year-old child, whether abducted by beggars or lost on his own, will most likely end up in the hands of human traffickers.

Official dentists have rules for buying people, they will not accept children of unknown origin, but private dentists will accept anything.

So Chu Yuanchen asked people to check all the private teeth in the capital over the years, intending to question them one by one.

After hearing what Nanny Sun said, Chu Yuanchen asked Mu Bai to go back and check. Sure enough, in the private room, there was a man who looked very similar to the one described by Nanny Sun, and he had been working in this line of work eight years ago.

Chu Yuanchen just said "as soon as possible", and Mu Bai retreated. At 9:00 p.m. the next day, he was brought in front of Chu Yuanchen.

This was a man with a black mole on the wing of his nose. He was thin and looked uneasy. After he bowed stiffly, he stood there and dared not move.

Chu Yuanchen asked bluntly, "Did you buy a little boy on the Lantern Festival eight years ago? He was four years old, very good-looking, and from a wealthy family?"

Qian Sui has been in this business for so long that he can't even remember how many people he has bought and sold to. However, when it comes to the Lantern Festival and the little boy, he still remembers them vividly.

He was a human trafficker, not a beggar. Most of the children he handled were from families that could not afford to support their children. Most of them were pale and skinny, with tattered clothes and covered with lice. But that child was so good-looking, with fair and tender skin, that he was obviously from a wealthy family.

He didn't dare to accept it at first, but the other party didn't even want money. He gave him a silver ingot and only asked him to sell the child far away from the capital. He was greedy at the moment and accepted it.

"The maid said that the child was born to a concubine in the mansion, and the wife of the main house could not tolerate him, so she asked her to throw him away. If I didn't want him, the child's life would be in danger. So I accepted him."

"I didn't do anything rash. I found a good place for him."

The child was so adorable and good-looking, and he was afraid that the family would come to his door and ask for the child back someday, so he did not dare and was unwilling to sell the child as a slave or to such a dirty place.

Chu Yuanchen asked: "Is there any mark on the child's body?"

Qian Sui tried hard to recall, and suddenly his eyes lit up as he said, "There is a small birthmark behind his ear."

Sheng Jue had a birthmark behind his ear, which Sheng Xiyan had told him. Chu Yuanchen was even more certain.

He said coldly: "Where did you sell him to?"

"Jiangnan," the trafficker said cautiously, "There was a teacher who was nearly 40 years old. The couple had no children and did not want to take a concubine. He originally wanted to take a child from a charity. Later, he fell in love with the child and took him home." He emphasized, "They raised him as their son!"

Qian Sui also felt that what he did was a little unkind, but at that time, he really couldn't tell whether the child was born by a concubine as the nanny said and the first wife couldn't tolerate it.

"Over the years, when I occasionally went to Jiangnan, I would secretly take a look. The teacher raised the child very well..." He racked his brains and came up with a word, "elegant and refined."

Chu Yuanchen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, if only it were like this.

"Where does the teacher live? What is his name? Take me to find him."

Qian Sui shrank his neck and said, "They are dead, all dead."

Chu Yuanchen's heart skipped a beat, and he asked anxiously, "What's going on?"

Qian Sui said sadly, "I heard that when he was out, he encountered robbers and all the family members were killed by the robbers. When I went to Jiangnan this time, I went to take a look as I did before. Who would have thought that the teacher's room was always empty? I thought he just went out occasionally, but when I was about to leave, they hadn't come back yet. I went to ask his neighbors and found out."

Chu Yuanchen: “…”

Qian Sui swallowed his saliva and continued, "That teacher was really miserable. The neighbors said that he was stabbed 17 or 18 times, and his hand that was used to write was chopped off and fed to the dogs."

Chu Yuanchen suddenly had an idea and thought of someone.

He asked, "What is the Master's name?"

Qian Sui quickly said, "I don't know, I just heard some people call him Mr. Wei."

Mr. Wei?

"Wei Lin!" Chu Yuanchen blurted out in surprise, "Chi Yu's mentor Wei Lin."

Chi Yu was a son of Jiangnan, and studied under the great scholar Wei Lin. Later, because the governor of Jiangnan cheated in the provincial examination, Chi Yu led a group of students to Beijing to file a complaint, which led to retaliation. When his teacher and his family were away, they were robbed and killed by "bandits". Wei Lin's right hand was chopped off by the bandits and fed to wild dogs in the mountains. Then he was chopped to death by the "robbers".

The only one left in the Wei family was Wei Lin’s youngest son Wei Xiu.

When Chi Yu took the initiative to surrender to Chu Yuanchen, he not only wanted to see through the corruption and incompetence of the court, but also wanted to ask him to send someone to protect Wei Xiu. Chi Yu said at the time that the child might be killed because he recognized that the "bandit leader" was the younger brother of Jiangnan Education Commissioner, and Chi Yu was a scholar and could not protect him. If not for this, with Chi Yu's temperament, I'm afraid he would not give in easily.

If it's really the same person...

Chu Yuanchen suppressed his excitement and asked, "Where is Chi Yu?"

Mu Bai reported, "Master Chi returned to Jiangnan a few days ago and said he wanted to bring Wei Xiu to the capital to settle down, so I sent ten guards to accompany him back."

Chu Yuanchen nodded slightly: "Mu Bai, you should hurry up and go to Jiangnan in person to ask Chi Yu about his mentor's youngest son. No matter whether Chi Yu knows about it or not, escort them to Beijing as soon as possible."

He added, "You don't have to go too fast. If the child can't keep up, it won't hurt to go slower."

Mu Bai cupped his hands and said, "Yes."

He gave a wink and Qian was taken away.

Chu Yuanchen was almost 80% sure that the young master of the Wei family, Wei Xiu, was Sheng Jue, but he couldn't be completely sure until he saw the person.

His mind couldn't help but recall Sheng Xiyan's extremely suppressed crying yesterday, and his heart felt like it was being strangled.

He didn't want to see her sad.

Time and again, I was full of hope, but also filled with despair.

Chu Yuanchen pondered for a moment and thought: I should bring the person to the capital first. It will only take a few days, so there is no need to rush.

He glanced at the clock, stood up and said, "Prepare the horses."

At this time, it was almost noon. Chu Yuanchen first went to Sheng Mansion, picked up Sheng Xiyan, and then went straight to Zhaowen Street.

Linlang Pavilion on Zhaowen Street is the most famous foreign goods store in the capital, well-known far and wide. It has been open for seven or eight years. Because the owner has his own merchant ships traveling to Southeast Asia, Linlang Pavilion has many more fresh items than other stores.

Chu Yuanchen told her before he left yesterday that he brought her here today to accompany her and relax.

The two of them entered the shop together. The shop was very spacious and there were several customers inside.

As soon as they entered the store, a waiter came to greet them and asked enthusiastically, "What would you like to buy?"

Chu Yuanchen ignored him and said indifferently, "This is all you have in your store. It's not good enough."

He was wearing a purple cloud-patterned brocade robe, a jade crown tied in his hair, and a jade belt tied around his waist. He looked noble, and it was unknown which noble family he came from. He was also a man with a bad temper. To run a shop in the capital, one had to be a bit discerning. The shopkeeper quickly sent the waiter away and entertained the guests himself, smiling and asking, "What would you like, young master?"

Chu Yuanchen hooked his finger at him and said with a smile: "I saw a good thing in Minzhou. Do you have it here?"

The shopkeeper understood immediately and said, "Sir, you are talking about the Perfect Cream."

"Do you have any at home?"

"have!"

"Take it out and show it to me."

The shopkeeper did not answer but asked, "How much do you want, sir?"

Chu Yuanchen casually took out a purse and threw it on the counter. He deliberately opened the tie of the purse first, and inside was a purse full of gold ingots, there were at least hundreds of them.

The waiter standing by was stunned. There were many customers coming to their shop, but not many of them could throw out such a big bag of gold without changing their expression.

The shopkeeper took the purse and said with a smile, "Sir, please come in."

Sheng Xiyan found it interesting and thought: He is really good at playing the dandy role! This outfit looks good too.

Noticing that she was looking at him, Chu Yuanchen tilted his head and smiled at her, his peach blossom eyes blinking lightly, his glances captivating.

Sheng Xiyan's heart was pounding, and she couldn't help but glance at him.

The shopkeeper personally led them into the elegant room inside and took out an exquisite box. This box was exactly the same as the one Qin Wei had someone present to the empress dowager when they were in the girls' school.

Here is the Ten-Ingredient Ointment.