Zhu Zi's mother strongly disagreed with this, saying, "Husband, we can't act like this. If it weren't for that lady's help, our Mingzhu would be Zhang Yuanwai's concubine right now!"
Zhu Zi's father glanced at his wife and raised his voice: "You listened to me that day. We sold our daughter and got the money. We could hide from Master Zhang and also settle the horse issue. Unlike now, we haven't settled anything."
Mingzhu stood to the side, her eyes reddening, but she dared not utter a sound. Zhuzi, however, said, "Father, no wonder you'd only be satisfied if you sold Sister! That lady healed my horse and prescribed medicine for Mother. Mother's health has improved these past two days. All of this was thanks to that lady. How could you say such a thing? If you sell Sister, we'll hardly ever see her again. A good citizen will become a slave. Sister's life will be ruined!"
Although he was young, he was already quite sensible. He knew that his father thought his older sister was just a girl who couldn't do any heavy work at home and still needed to eat. He thought that if his older sister was sold, they wouldn't have to waste money and food on her.
But he didn't think so. His older sister had always been good to him since he was a child. She always gave him the best food and let him have the fun. Even though she wasn't much older than him, she had always washed his clothes since he was a child. In this family, he and his older sister were the closest. He had long vowed to always be good to his older sister and not let anyone bully her. How could he tolerate his father selling his older sister because of him?
Zhu Zi's father glared at him with displeasure and said, "What do you know? I'm doing this all for your own good!"
It would have been so much better to sell our daughter to a wealthy family as a maid, so we could have used her monthly wages to supplement our income. Now, not only have we failed to sell her, but we've also offended Master Zhang. Who knows how difficult things will be for us in the future?
My son is too young and doesn't know any better, which has caused him so much trouble.
"Enough!"
Zhu Zi's mother couldn't help but speak up, her eyes red and her heart aching: "I'm the biggest spender in this family. You might as well just sell me, so you don't have to go around trying to find ways to earn money to buy my medicine!"
Her children were all her own flesh and blood, and seeing her husband scheme against their daughter like this truly broke her heart.
But her husband was actually quite good to her. Over the years, she had been taking medication to maintain her health, but her husband had never said anything. He was only thinking about selling their daughter for money.
"mother……"
Mingzhu rushed into her mother's arms, and the tears she had been holding back finally fell.
How could I not be sad? I suddenly became the biggest burden on my family. My father was determined to sell me. But what did I do wrong?
Zhu Zi's mother hugged her daughter tightly and comforted her, "Don't worry, your mother is here."
Zhu Zi's father never expected that he would become the sinner after putting the family's interests first. He was furious and turned to leave.
That night, a group of people quietly sneaked to where Jiang Jiuniang and the others lived. They left two people to stand guard outside, while the rest went into the courtyard.
When they inquired, they learned that Jiang Jiuniang was already married and that she had come to Cangcheng with her family of four for a trip. Thinking about their master's feelings for Jiang Jiuniang, they went back to report to him. As a result, their master became even more excited and told them to bring her over as soon as possible.
They were somewhat worried, but dared not disobey their master's orders. After a group of men sneaked in, they surrounded the master bedroom, looking for an opportunity to capture the person.
Jiang Jiuniang had known all along that these people were asking about her, but she didn't care. She went to bed as usual that night, and when she woke up the next day, there were a bunch of people sleeping in the courtyard.
Knowing these people would come, Jiang Jiuniang had already set a trap. They lost consciousness before they could even touch the door, let alone enter the room.
The next morning, Lu Baichuan had everyone tied up. Jiang Jiuniang sent Gou'er to the yamen to summon people, and they were all packed up and taken away.
Jiang Jiuniang went out with the yamen runners and immediately went to the county magistrate to write a document, stating that the coffin would be opened and the body examined today.
Last night, Zhang the scoundrel waited all night without any movement. This morning, when he heard that everyone had been taken away by the yamen runners, he immediately felt something was wrong and hurriedly went out to check. When he arrived, he saw the people he had sent lining up to sign and affix their fingerprints.
"Sir, what's going on!"
Old Zhang chuckled and stepped forward, expecting the magistrate to give him face as before. However, the magistrate ignored him completely this time. After the people signed and sealed the documents, he began to write the approval document and then respectfully handed it to Jiang Jiuniang.
Jiang Jiuniang glanced at the county magistrate, took the document, then looked at the arriving Zhang Laozei, and said directly, "I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation, Your Honor."
After saying that, she took the documents and turned to leave.
Confused, Zhang the old scoundrel waited until Jiang Jiuniang left before pressing for an answer: "Sir, please say something..."
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly remembered something and quickly changed the subject: "I've been so busy these days that I didn't even notice that the desks and chairs in this county office are old. I'll have someone go home and get some silver notes to replace them with a new set for you, sir..."
He felt that the magistrate's sudden change of attitude towards him must be because he felt that the magistrate hadn't done him any good recently and was now about to spend money on him.
Normally, the magistrate would have been very happy, but things were different now. Looking at Zhang the Old Thief, he regretted for the first time how he had been so greedy and fallen into the Zhang family's trap.
"Look at all this for yourself!"
He threw the signed papers to Zhang the Old Thief. Zhang the Old Thief took them and looked at them carefully. He found that they were the confessions of the people he had sent out. They had all signed and fingerprinted them.
This is the most truthful confession that Zhang the Old Thief has ever seen. He said that he had taken a fancy to Jiang Jiuniang and wanted to possess her. It contained many of his heartfelt words at the time, which now seem somewhat unbearable to read.
Old Zhang was stunned. If the confession was written like that, wouldn't he be finished?
Besides, they were all his people. No matter what, they shouldn't betray him like that. How could they say such disgusting things?
"this……"
"What?! This is the mess you've made! I told you to go back and figure something out, and this is what you're thinking? I made it very clear to you that that person is no ordinary person, he's a member of the royal family. How could someone as insignificant as you or me possibly afford to offend him? Not only are you unrepentant, but you've also done these things. Do you think you've already caused me enough trouble?"
The magistrate was instantly furious, feeling that his official position might be in jeopardy.
When I reminded Zhang the old scoundrel yesterday, he seemed very confident, so I thought he had some good ideas. I never expected him to try to kidnap someone in the middle of the night. Isn't he tired of living?
At this point, the old scoundrel Zhang finally felt a little guilty and dared not look the magistrate in the eye, only asking, "So what should we do now?"
"Ha, now you're scared? No chance!"
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