After finishing their meal, Xiao Wenli and his two companions went directly to the government office after asking for directions. Liu Nan and Liu Bei happened to be there. Although Xiao Wenli was not familiar with them, he knew everyone in the upper and lower villages, so he still had some influence to ask for their opinions.
Hearing someone call his name, Liu Nan went out and saw that it was Xiao Wenli. Liu Nan knew what was going on.
"You're here to help me find out about Xiao Yuanhang, right?"
"Yes! Brother Liu Nan, we heard that Xiao Yuanhang has been arrested. It's said he cheated on the imperial examination and has been stripped of his academic honors!"
Uncle Xiao asked us to come and find out what happened!
We came here and heard that he harmed people, is that true?
Although Liu Nan rarely met Xiao Yuanhang and his parents, he had a fairly good impression of Xiao Wenli and his son, so he politely said...
"The evidence of cheating in the imperial examination is conclusive. He has been convicted, stripped of his academic title, and flogged. He is currently in jail!"
Although there isn't enough evidence yet regarding the harmful acts, his accomplices have all been apprehended, and the first trial will reveal the truth!
"So what will be the verdict? Is there a rough estimate?"
"It's hard to say. If it's confirmed that he is indeed the murderer, and his family has a good attitude, takes the initiative to apologize and compensate, and seeks the victim's forgiveness, then perhaps they will be given a lighter sentence, like a beating or a long prison sentence."
If the attitude is bad, they might be exiled to some mining area to do hard labor, or they might be executed next autumn. This is assuming the victim forgives them. If they don't forgive them, then there's no room for negotiation.
Neither of these two paths is acceptable to Old Mrs. Xiao. Being sent to the mining area to do hard labor is worse than being a donkey.
After a day's work, the owner even gives the donkey a good meal of hay.
The laborers in the mining area got up earlier than the chickens and slept later than the dogs. There was someone watching them with a whip, and if they were slow, they would be whipped. They only got three black cornbreads a day. If they didn't starve, they had to work like crazy. To put it bluntly, they were all exiled prisoners there. They weren't treated like human beings at all. It was no better than being beheaded!
Xiao Wenli felt sorry for their misfortune and angry at their lack of ambition, but since everyone has to walk their own path, there was nothing he could do.
"Brother Liu Nan, do you know when this case will be retried?"
"Six days later."
"Okay, thanks then, Brother Liu Nan. You guys keep busy, we'll head back now!"
"Alright, move over here. If you need anything, just let us know. We brothers have other business to attend to, so we won't see you off!"
Liu Nan exchanged a few polite words and then went back to his post.
Xiao Wenli and his group calculated that they had six days left, so they went back without taking a break.
After three more days of agonizing waiting, Xiao Wenli and the other two returned. Upon hearing that Xiao Yuanhang was not only innocent but might have even harmed someone, potentially facing exile or beheading, the two men felt a wave of dizziness and almost fainted.
Xiao Wenli and the two young men quickly pinched the two men and shook them awake.
"Uncle, Aunt, you two can't faint! The trial starts in three days. If you still want to save people, you have to leave immediately, or it will be too late!"
I asked Liu Nan and his brother, "If your family acts more politely, apologizes to the victim, offers compensation, and begs for forgiveness, Xiao Yuanhang might get a lighter sentence. You should make a decision quickly!"
"How much is this?! My money! I haven't even had a chance to enjoy it yet, oh my God..."
Grandma Xiao started crying again and wanted to slap her thigh.
Xiao Wenli and the others didn't like her act. They had said what needed to be said, and what to do next was not their concern. So they said...
"Uncle, Aunt, you can decide the rest yourselves. We didn't dare to rest so as not to delay you. We rushed back as fast as we could and we're almost falling apart. We need to go back and rest!"
As they were about to leave, Old Mrs. Xiao didn't forget to ask a question.
"So you've spent all five hundred copper coins? Give me back the rest!"
Xiao Wenli was so angry he wanted to curse, and the other two boys couldn't hold back either.
"Auntie, what are you thinking! We only eat two meals a day, and in this freezing weather, do you think we're sleeping in the middle of nowhere? We're already being kind by not asking you for two extra meals!"
"Auntie, if you don't trust us, don't come to us if you ever have any problems!"
After the three of them finished arguing, they left. Old Mrs. Xiao, feeling heartbroken, patted her chest and grumbled, saying that they had ruined her life!
"Alright, hurry up and get up to rescue the fourth brother! The second brother has made something of himself; as long as we rescue the fourth brother, he'll have no worries about his future!"
When Grandma Xiao heard this, she thought it made sense. So she got up, dusted herself off, and the old couple went inside to get the silver. They put on new jackets and hurried off to Tai'an Prefecture!
Why didn't you invite a few people to go together? At least with more people, they can come up with more ideas. Of course, it's because you're afraid of spending money!
They didn't know when they would be back, and each additional person would cost an extra three or four hundred copper coins. Because of this, they didn't even call Xiao Dayong!
Although the two of them were reluctant to part with the money, their youngest son and grandson were the apple of their eye, and Xiao Yuanhang was someone they had cherished for over twenty years. They couldn't just give him up like that, so they put all the sixty-odd taels of silver in their pockets!
This is the remaining amount from the hundred taels of silver that Chu Mingzhu sent.
He gave Xiao Yantian twenty taels as dowry and also prepared a banquet. When Xiao Yuanhang returned to the county school, he said he wanted to buy materials and took away another ten taels. In the meantime, Widow Liu said she wanted to buy a silver bracelet, and Old Man Xiao secretly gave Widow Liu five taels. Adding the five hundred copper coins he took out a few days ago, now he has more than sixty taels!
Old Man Xiao and Old Woman Xiao each carried thirty taels of silver. The remaining few taels of loose silver were kept by Old Man Xiao in his outer coat pocket for their travel expenses. After they had carried all the silver, they only had a few copper coins left at home.
Originally, she thought Xiao Wenli and his companion were spending too much, but after coming out herself, she realized how much money was being spent outside. They had only just reached the town when they were cold, hungry, and exhausted, unable to walk any further. They asked around and found out that a bowl of noodles cost twenty copper coins, and that all the steamed buns were sold out by then. The two of them gritted their teeth and forced themselves to eat a bowl of noodles. It was almost dark by then, so they found an inn to stay in, which cost another twenty copper coins each. Old Mrs. Xiao was so heartbroken that she gritted her teeth until they were about to break!
The next day, the two of them were so sore from leg and foot pain that they could not walk. They had no choice but to hire a donkey cart and send it to Tai'an Prefecture for 600 copper coins. They were still dawdling and complaining that if they had known they would have to come by themselves, they would not have needed Xiao Wenli and the others to come. They had wasted 500 copper coins!
When a person becomes heartless, the things they say are so bad that even a dog would tear them apart!
Meanwhile, Han Zhongyu had been extremely busy these past few days. Although Cao Cheng'an, the sixth brother, had just been captured, after only a few glances at the torture instruments, he spilled everything he knew, mainly hoping for leniency for confessing and minimizing his punishment.
Unfortunately, Magistrate Liu was a seasoned veteran. No matter how he was interrogated, he insisted that he knew nothing about Xiao Yuanhang and Li Mingcheng's cheating and harming others!
Left with no other choice, Han Zhongyu personally led a team to Yonghe County to investigate. He examined all of Liu Hong's close colleagues and subordinates and finally obtained evidence. He returned to Tai'an Prefecture before the second interrogation.
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