"Miss Cao, please don't make things difficult for me in the middle of the night. Let the teacher explain things clearly, and then we can all go back to sleep."
The fate of the Cao family depends on the emperor's decision. Whether they will be executed on the spot or sent back to the country will be determined after a thorough investigation. Even if Cao Shulan killed someone in prison, she will still be sentenced in the end.
His trip tonight was merely a routine matter; he asked the necessary questions, made notes, and prepared to report back to the emperor later.
Seeing his expressionless face, Cao Shulan felt a pang of sympathy for her current predicament. Her hands unconsciously clenched into fists until she felt a stinging pain in her palms before she loosened them.
"She attacked me first. If I hadn't fought back, I would have been the one to die. General, do you think I shouldn't have fought back?"
Zhang had harbored deep resentment towards her. Previously, she was favored by her parents, so Zhang dared not do anything to her. Now that she was in prison, and there was another reason for this to happen, coupled with Ma's indifference to the matter, Zhang became even more ruthless towards her.
For a long time, she was immersed in her own world, feeling that many things were not as simple as she thought. She was depressed all day long and no longer cared about what Zhang had done to her.
But recently, Zhang's behavior has become increasingly outrageous. She couldn't take it anymore and seized the opportunity to slam Zhang's head against the wall. Zhang died in no time.
That's when she realized she was afraid, but it was too late.
Qin Jian didn't think there was anything wrong with it, and said, "Whether I think it or not is not important. What's important is that you explain things clearly so I can go back to sleep."
After saying that, he glanced at the jailer next to him who was taking notes. Seeing that he had also stopped writing, he said, "Send the person back. Also, send Zhang's body to the coroner for an autopsy."
After giving his instructions, he got up to leave. His wife must be worried about him not going home so late.
"General, have you truly never had Shulan in your heart?"
Seeing that Qin Jian was about to leave, Cao Shulan couldn't help but blurt out the question on her mind.
That was the last time she told herself.
Qin Jian didn't even pause, leaving only two light words: "Never."
Cao Shulan is not even as good as a single hair on his wife's head. It would be crazy if he had Cao Shulan in his heart.
Besides, he had only met her a few times. If this hadn't happened, he wouldn't even remember what Cao Shulan looked like, let alone care about her.
In his heart, his wife is the best in the world, and no one can compare to her!
Furthermore, Cao Shulan harbored ulterior motives and targeted his wife and children. The fact that he didn't use torture against them was already an act of leniency towards the family.
Cao Shulan collapsed to the ground, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face.
By now, she has truly become everyone's outcast.
After being taken back, she no longer paid attention to Madam Ma as before, and sat down alone in a corner, hugging her knees.
Now I just hope that no one will find out what she did in the past, so that she can still have a way to survive.
However, what she didn't know was that during the time her whole family was imprisoned, all the servants in the house were interrogated and told everything they should and shouldn't have said. Even the remains of the several corpses that had been sent out of the mansion in the middle of the night were found, and all the evidence was sent to the capital.
What's meant to be hers, she can't get rid of it no matter what.
When Jiang Jiuniang woke up, she found the dog listlessly lying by her bedside, watching over her. For a moment, she was confused, thinking that she had contracted some serious illness and needed a filial son to take care of her...
"Son, why didn't you go to school?"
If I remember correctly, today isn't a holiday.
The little dog rested its chubby little face on its hands, sighed, and then said, "Mommy, I feel a little sad and don't want to go to class, so I asked the teacher for leave to stay home for a day."
It was only because Gou'er had voluntarily asked for leave from school for personal reasons that Jiang Jiuniang found it a bit strange. After confirming that Lu Baichuan had made sure she was wearing underwear so as not to expose herself in front of her son, she sat up, looked at her son with a gossipy expression, and asked, "What's wrong? Heartbroken?"
Having been by her side for so long, the dog naturally knew what she meant by heartbreak, and for a moment he was speechless.
"Mom, look at me, I'm only eight years old this year."
The implication is, do you think it's possible?
Jiang Jiuniang hadn't expected this young man to be so difficult to fool. She smacked her lips twice and asked, "So, what do you mean?"
“Father said things here are almost settled, and we’ll be returning to the capital soon. I’m a little reluctant to leave, so I’m feeling a bit sad.”
Actually, he was a little sad last night when he was spinning around with his friends, because he won't have these friends to play with him anymore after returning to China.
Here, he can be happy to be himself and play with his peers. After returning to the capital, he is not only himself, but also the only son of a second-rank general who assists the state, and a child favored by his grandfather, the retired emperor. In the eyes of outsiders, he must work hard to become outstanding so as not to cause trouble for his parents or give others a handle to use against them.
Although his parents didn't care, he did. His parents were so outstanding and hardworking, and he couldn't allow himself to be bad. Otherwise, he would feel unworthy of being his parents' child.
Seeing that he looked genuinely distressed, Jiang Jiuniang stopped joking with him and earnestly advised him, "Son, all good things must come to an end. You are still young, and you will face more separations in the future. If you can't even accept this now, how will you face the even crueler future?"
"Remember, today's separation is for a better reunion tomorrow. You can say goodbye to your friends sincerely, give each other farewell gifts, so that you have no regrets, then make an appointment to meet again, and then work together in the same direction to meet a better version of each other, understand?"
Perhaps her words sounded a bit too formal, because Gou'er nodded as if he didn't quite understand. Jiang Jiuniang then said something more down-to-earth: "It's about you exchanging gifts so that when they have the ability and opportunity to leave here and venture into the capital, they can bring the tokens you gave them to visit you. At that time, you can decide whether to develop a deeper relationship with them based on their character at that time."
They're still young and innocent now, but who knows what the future holds?
Some people can stay true to their original aspirations, while others want to use the identity of a dog to rise to the top. You must keep your eyes open and see clearly.
Now the dog fully understood what its mother meant. It nodded heavily and said, "Mother, I understand. Can you come with me to pick out some gifts for my friends? I can't make up my mind."
"Of course! I've got nothing to do anyway, so I'll call your Aunt Yuan and we can go shopping together in a bit."
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