His words hit the nail on the head, striking a nerve with the county magistrate.
The master repeatedly said, "Your Highness, it is my fault. I was blind. From now on, I will do my best to protect the people of the capital."
"Forget it," Qi Guze said, too lazy to listen to any of this nonsense, and pointed to Jiang Mingfu, who was huddled in the corner. "How should we handle this?"
"I will handle it."
Logically speaking, if the arson case is proven, the person should be executed.
However, Xu Yuehuai and his group were prescient and prevented the disaster from happening, so apart from a verbal warning and half a month of detention, Jiang Mingfu was not punished in any other way.
As for Qi Guze, he also wanted to settle things peacefully and was too lazy to argue with them.
Xu Yuehuai was relieved to see Jiang Mingfu being taken away.
Everyone went to sleep and didn't mention it.
Fifteen days is neither short nor long.
Jiang Mingfu had only been taken away for three days when Zhou Qionghua arrived, sobbing, "Ayue, he's still your older brother! Even if he's not good, he's just having a temporary lapse in judgment. Ayue, we're all family, why are you so cruel?"
Zhou Qionghua knelt down at the entrance of Xu Yuehuai's shop, deliberately crying and sobbing.
Now things are really messed up, it's affecting business, and Third Sister is furious.
"What kind of trick is this? No way! I can't stand it anymore, I have to kick her out now."
Worried that things would escalate, Xu Yuehuai saw that San Niang was about to deal with the situation and hurriedly said, "Calm down, wait a moment, I have something to tell you. This Zhou Qionghua is treacherous and cunning, you must be careful."
"I see."
Third Sister went out.
Even though Third Sister was very careful, she still fell into the trap.
The woman who had been kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly, saw that Third Sister had come out and went up to her, grabbing her as if afraid that Third Sister would run away. Then, Zhou Qionghua burst into tears, "Third Sister, please be merciful, please forgive my rudeness."
"Get off me, let go of me!"
Third Sister was unaware of Zhou Qionghua's formidable abilities.
In the midst of the back-and-forth shoving, Zhou Qionghua screamed and fell straight down. Whether it was pre-planned or not, the back of her head slammed into the steps with a thud.
That's it, blood started flowing like a gushing stream.
Third Sister was terrified, thinking she had accidentally caused someone's death.
Everything went black before my eyes, and I nearly fainted.
Zhou Qionghua cried even harder, "Please spare us! We're all relatives! Xu Yuehuai, why are you so ruthless?"
A moment later, Xu Yuehuai came downstairs.
Zhou Qionghua collapsed to the ground, crying even more vehemently than before. The situation quickly reversed, and Zhou Qionghua now appeared to be the victim.
On the contrary, Xu Yuehuai and his group seemed more at a loss.
Seeing Xu Yuehuai arrive, Zhou Qionghua hurriedly rushed over and grabbed his leg, whimpering, "Help! Don't kill us all! I'm your sister-in-law, you know...!"
Zhou Qionghua, panting, said, "Are you suggesting I apologize by carrying thorns on my back?"
Having said that, the shameless Zhou Qionghua was indeed about to take off her clothes. Just then, Xu Yuehuai approached her and made a gesture to help Zhou Qionghua up. "The rent for the room in Lianzi Hutong should be due soon, right? You're here to cry your eyes out, so don't pretend to be kind. Everyone knows what everyone is thinking. Get up, I'll give you the money."
The voice was neither too loud nor too soft.
Only Zhou Qionghua heard it.
She knew that if things continued like this, things would get out of hand, so she got up before making any baseless accusations.
Zhou Wan looked at Zhou Qionghua and said, "Are you still making a scene here? Be careful when the soldiers come. They won't care about anything else and will just kick you out."
This could happen.
Zhou Qionghua was exasperated and followed Xu Yuehuai into the backyard. Inside the house, the two looked at each other. Xu Yuehuai said, "I've already investigated. He has someone else outside."
Xu Yuehuai had already heard about the other party taking a concubine, and now that she had said it out loud, Zhou Qionghua shuddered as if struck by lightning.
Realizing her words had been effective, Xu Yuehua smiled with satisfaction.
He continued, "So, as long as you have money, that's good. I'll give you twenty taels to get you through this immediate crisis, but the condition is that this is a one-time thing. If you come causing trouble again tomorrow, I'll have to use my connections to get you in there. It's a dark and gloomy place, and I heard that many of the constables don't even have wives..."
Xu Yuehuai said.
Zhou Qionghua's purpose was money, not so-called aid. Hearing Xu Yuehuai say this, she immediately nodded.
After taking the money, Zhou Qionghua swaggered away.
Xu Yuehuai breathed a sigh of relief as the other party left.
But the criminal detention ended quickly. Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. When Jiang Mingfu was released, his face was covered in dust and his hair was white as frost. He looked neither human nor ghost, and appeared to have aged ten years.
But because he had been detained, Jiang Mingfu disliked Xu Yuehuai even more, and after returning, he thought about making plans day and night.
Xu Yuehuai had no idea about this.
In the afternoon, Tie Xiong arrived. "The affairs of the court have been largely resolved recently. His Highness invites you to his home as a guest."
"Visiting? To the Prince's residence?"
Xu Yuehuai was overjoyed. From Qingshui Village to the capital, the largest manor she had ever seen was the residence of some officials. She had never been to a royal palace.
The next morning, the three women got up early and dressed up carefully. After they finished dressing up, the carriage outside arrived at the Prince's Mansion. The mansion was very large and the furnishings inside were exquisite. When they saw that Xu Yuehuai and the others had arrived, Qi Guze prepared a delicious meal to entertain them.
Third Sister was overjoyed, "Now we're people who have been to the Prince's mansion!"
"Indeed, quickly try this osmanthus wine."
Zhou Wan was worried that the outspoken Third Sister might say something wrong, so she quickly agreed to the osmanthus wine.
After the three of them had eaten and drunk their fill, they stayed until the afternoon. Xu Yuehuai prepared to leave, but when she went to the study, she saw Qi Guze writing something. From his worried expression, she could tell what was wrong.
Xu Yuehuai was neither easy to approach nor easy to stay away from, and just then, the other party noticed her.
"Ah Yue, come in."
"There's a secret here, so I'll... stop here."
A necessary sense of distance and propriety is still needed. Xu Yuehuai stood outside the door, but Qi Guze was slightly annoyed and blamed her for doing so.
Unable to resist any longer, Xu Yuehuai cautiously entered the room. The study was spotless, with no books or picture albums in sight. The shelves were filled with some correspondence, journals, and antiques.
Simple and unpretentious.
"The disaster victims arrived in the capital very quickly."
So, this was indeed what was giving him a headache.
Xu Yuehua nodded, and before Qi Guze allowed her to speak, she remained politely silent, listening attentively.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com