Chapter 167 Shen Yan is not dead yet
When Lao Liao saw the pastries he had crushed, he almost rolled his eyes. Wasting food and putting on airs.
He had also seen people crush pebbles.
"These two are wanted criminals of the imperial court. If I hand them over to Young Master Xu and they die, how can I explain it to the court?"
Xu Shi'an let out a disdainful snort, "Hmph! Don't try to intimidate me with the imperial court. You call yourself a guard? Have you ever seen the Emperor, you lowly guard?"
"If you hand over the people, all of these are yours. Then you can just find some excuse to say they died on the road, right?"
Xu Shi'an pulled out a handful of silver notes from his pocket and threw them at Lao Liao's feet with a "smack!"
"I'm afraid I might earn this silver but not live to spend it. Young Master Xu, please take it back." Old Liao used his sword sheath to return the silver notes.
"Not enough? Then add these." Xu Shi'an waved his hand, and a servant beside him presented a box filled with silver notes.
In the past, he would have used force to seize it, and wouldn't have bothered to argue with them.
However, he had recently abducted a peasant girl who was already engaged and about to get married. After he took her back to his mansion, she hanged herself. Her family refused to accept compensation and even went to the prefectural government to beat the drum and appeal for justice.
His father is the governor, so who would dare to touch him or arrest him?
The peasant girl, now a scholar, took the blood-written petitions from the relatives of the women he had harmed and went to the capital to file a complaint.
Fortunately, his father had made arrangements in advance, instructing the gatekeepers to stop him and secretly break his leg.
When things got out of hand, his father told him to shut up for a while and even put him in solitary confinement for a month. He wasn't short of money; anything that could be solved with money wasn't a problem.
People die for money, birds die for food; these lowly escorts have probably never seen so much money in their lives.
Seeing that Lao Liao didn't speak, Xu Shi'an assumed he was still waiting for him to add more money, and said impatiently, "This is the price I can offer for two people. Don't think that I, this young master, will be a sucker and keep adding money. People should be content and know when to stop, understand?"
Old Liao saw the box of silver notes shoved in front of him, estimating it to be worth tens of thousands of taels. These damned rich people, they just throw around tens of thousands of taels like that.
They worked like errand boys, risking their lives to earn just a few taels of silver a month. There was a moment when he really wanted to take the money and hand the person over, but he couldn't do that.
"No matter how much money you offer, I will not hand him over to you!"
"This is incredibly disrespectful. Don't blame me for forcibly taking it from you. Men, go in and arrest them!" Xu Shi'an waved his hand.
"Yes, young master."
The study in the backyard of the Xu residence was heavily guarded, and servants were not allowed to approach.
If you get close, you can hear hushed whispers of secret plotting coming from inside.
Butler Xu weaved through the layers of guards to the study door, and gently knocked, "Knock knock!!"
"Master, something terrible has happened to the young master."
"What happened?"
Governor Xu rose and bowed to the man seated at the head of the table in apology. He then stepped back to the door, opened it a crack, and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"
The steward told him that Xu Shi'an had gone to the inn to settle accounts with the exiled criminals.
Governor Xu returned to his study and sent his advisor, Xu, on a errand.
"Go quickly and come back immediately. Make sure to bring him back. Don't let him ruin His Highness's plans."
The Third Prince, seated at the head of the table, took a small sip of tea from the teacup and cast an admiring glance at him, saying, "Prefect Xu is both flexible and resilient; he truly deserves to be the person I value most."
Governor Xu nodded slightly, "Your Highness liked it so quickly, this is all I should do."
The Third Prince said, "Lord Shen, I sent someone to rescue Shen Yan without telling you, so that he could fake his death and escape exile. Let him recuperate at Lord Xu's residence."
Shen Yichun clenched his fists, his eyes filled with hatred, and gritted his teeth, saying, "But Yan'er has had her tongue cut out and is now a cripple, my wife is bedridden, and Yu'er's face is disfigured. How can we swallow this? The Shen family and the Xiao family are irreconcilable enemies!"
"Right now, we still need to use the Xiao family and their army to fight against the Crown Prince. I promise you, when the Xiao family is no longer of any use, I will hand them over to you to deal with as you see fit. You can cut them into a thousand pieces as you please."
Shen Yichun compromised under his assurance, "...Alright! This humble official will bear with it for now."
...
Two hours after Shen Qingyu posted the notice offering a reward of one thousand taels of silver to find Doctor Hua, there was still no news. By evening, she was almost in despair. She smashed everything in the house and overturned the bed.
"Liar! They're all liars! How could Doctor Hua suddenly appear in Xuzhou? It must be that damned prefectural physician who lied to me to bring him here because he was afraid I would punish him. I'm going to settle accounts with him!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than a maidservant trotted in to report, "Miss, we've found Doctor Hua."
Shen Qingyu's lifeless eyes rekindled with hope. "Found them? Quickly bring them in!"
Soon, a man who looked very much like the man in the notice walked in carrying a medicine box.
"You are the Divine Physician Hua?" To ensure everything went smoothly, Shen Qingyu even sent someone to fetch the imperial physician.
The physician had met Hua Murong once more than ten years ago, but he couldn't remember it very well after all these years.
However, the figure, appearance, and face were all very similar, and the person was calm and composed, so he didn't seem like a fraudster. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded and said, "Yes! He is Doctor Hua."
If they still can't find Doctor Hua, Shen Qingyu will definitely take her anger out on him.
It can only be said that it is, so shifting the blame eastward and protecting oneself is of utmost importance.
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