Chapter 164 [VIP]
Cold sweat instantly trickled down his temples. "I wouldn't dare, I truly don't know what Your Excellency is talking about..."
Li Mu tapped his forehead with his whip and said, "Others saw you detain the carriage and horses with their own eyes, and now you're telling me there's no such person? Let me tell you, if anything happens to this person, this isn't over today."
Upon hearing this, Xue Wang couldn't help but curse inwardly. How did this Wang family's vegetable shop get involved with Marquis Wuping again?
If Xue Wang is a wicked scoundrel who commits all kinds of evil, then Li Mu is a madman who doesn't care about family ties and kills without blinking an eye. Plus, he has the rank of a third-grade marquis, so even if you accidentally kill or maim him, you won't be severely punished.
Xue Wang dared not be stubborn any longer and quickly ordered his men to bring over the Chen family's carriage and servants.
When Er Shun was brought out, the blood on his face had already congealed, and his whole face was bruised and swollen. He kept begging for mercy, "Sir, please spare me, I really don't know anything..."
They hadn't even had time to unload the vegetables from the carriage yet, so let's leave that aside for now. But Chen Ershun had been beaten so badly, Li Mu wasn't about to let it go.
Why did you hit him?
Xue Wang stammered and couldn't give a coherent answer, so Li Mu raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face, knocking him to the ground.
"Lord, my brother-in-law is Magistrate Zhao. Please, for the sake of this servant, do you really want to turn against us?"
Li Mu kicked him in the chest, sending him flying. He held back a bit of force in that kick, otherwise he could have killed him.
"Who is the monk, and who is the Buddha? Even Judge Zhao himself wouldn't dare say such things in front of me, so what are you?"
Xue Wang tasted a metallic sweetness in his mouth. He endured the pain and knelt on the ground, begging for mercy. "My lord, spare my life! I know I was wrong! I know I was wrong!" He looked exactly like Er Shun, who had just been bullied.
Li Mu was too lazy to waste words with him. He helped Er Shun into the carriage, tied his own horse to the side, and drove the carriage back to the vegetable shop.
The carriage stopped in front of the vegetable shop, and Er Shun limped off the carriage. His face was covered in blood, which horrified Wang Ying. "Good heavens, what happened?"
Er Shun cried, "Those people hijacked our carriage and locked me in the house, interrogating me about where the vegetables came from. When I said I didn't know, they took turns beating me..."
Wang Ying's breath hitched. "Xiao Ma, Tian Ju, you two take Er Shun to the clinic first!"
"Hey!" Tianju carried Ershun on his back and went to the nearby clinic.
Wang Ying knelt down and said gratefully, "Thank you so much for your help, Lord Marquis!"
Li Mu quickly helped the man up, saying, "Please get up quickly!"
If it weren't for Lord Hou's help today, something terrible would have happened. Not only would Er Shun's life be in danger, but the secret of his experimental field might also be lost.
A wave of fear washed over her, making Wang Ying's hands and feet turn ice-cold, and she felt as if all the strength had been drained from her body.
The outside wasn't the place to talk, so the three of them went inside, and Li Mu recounted what had just happened to the other two.
"The man who detained your servants is named Xue Wang. He is Magistrate Zhao's brother-in-law and is a notorious scoundrel in the prefectural city. I guess he did this because he has his eye on your family's business."
Lin Sui asked, "Will he cause trouble again in the future?"
"Don't worry, I've already told him that this shop belongs to my relative, so he won't dare to cause any more trouble."
Wang Ying was filled with gratitude again, "I really don't know how to thank you enough."
Li Mu said, "You are Lin Sui's sister-in-law, so you are my sister-in-law too. From now on, we are family, so let's not talk about these things."
Lin Sui's cheeks flushed. "Bring Qing'er over tomorrow. I made her some clothes; let her try them on to see if they fit."
Li Mu nodded in agreement, "Then I'll head back now. Just send someone to find me if you need anything."
"Thank you for your trouble, Lord Marquis."
After seeing Marquis Wuping off, Wang Ying slumped into a chair and realized that his back was soaked with cold sweat.
Last year, his vegetable sales in the prefectural city went smoothly, which made him lower his guard and think that the vegetable business would go unnoticed. Little did he know that someone had been eyeing him all along, and this time he was fortunate to have the help of Marquis Wuping.
"Sui'er, you watch the shop for now. I'm going to the clinic to check on Er Shun."
"Hey." Lin Sui wasn't idle either. She unloaded the vegetables from the truck and laid them out on the counter. She hoped to sell as many as she could, otherwise they would all go to waste.
When Wang Ying arrived at the clinic, the doctor was applying medicine to Er Shun, who was wincing in pain.
"The superficial injury is not a big problem. You can take these liniments and apply them every day and it will heal quickly. However, the internal injuries will take longer to heal. I will write down a prescription and get some medicine. Take it for a month and then come back for a check-up."
After paying for the medicine, Wang Ying took Er Shun home. He had to explain to his wife that he was covered in injuries, and besides, Er Shun had never said where the food came from. His loyalty deserved to be properly taken home by Wang Ying.
Er Shun and his wife lived in the back room at the front. Now that his wife was pregnant, she rarely went into the kitchen. She was making baby clothes in the room when she saw her husband return covered in injuries. She was so frightened that she hurriedly got off the bed.
Wang Ying quickly reassured him, "Don't worry, I've already been to the clinic. It's nothing serious, just rest for a while and you'll be fine."
"How did you do that?"
Er Shun said, "I'll tell you later, my lord, you go ahead and get busy."
"Then you should rest and recover well. If you feel unwell, let us know immediately. Don't delay."
"Alright, my lord, don't worry."
When Wang Ying stepped out of the house, the joy she had felt that morning in preparing for the opening was completely washed away, and she felt rather listless.
Chen Qingyan returned at noon, unaware of the major incident at the shop. Upon returning to the bedroom and finding Wang Ying lying on the bed, he exclaimed in surprise, "You weren't at the shop?"
"Um……"
Seeing his weak and listless appearance, Chen Qingyan was a little worried and quickly stepped forward to touch his forehead. "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, something just happened this morning that scared me a bit."
"What happened?"
Wang Ying recounted to Chen Qingyan how Er Shun had been beaten and how the carriage and vegetables had been confiscated. "Fortunately, Marquis Wuping helped us get the people and the carriage back. Er Shun was beaten and his face was covered in bruises, but he never mentioned where the vegetables came from..."
Chen Qingyan hugged him tenderly, "It's my fault, I should have gone to the shop with you today."
Wang Ying shook her head. "It's no use you being here. That person has been eyeing this for a day or two. Er Shun said he followed Uncle Chen's carriage last year, but he never made a move. I didn't expect him to suddenly make a move today."
"Why don't we go to the yamen and report it to the authorities?"
Wang Ying pulled him back and said, "This matter cannot be blown out of proportion. That person is Magistrate Zhao's brother-in-law. Even if we report it to the authorities, we will not gain anything. If the experimental field is brought up again, this matter will become very difficult to handle."
Chen Qingyan frowned. Although he was furious, he had to admit that what A Ying said made sense. He was still weak and inexperienced. If he forced himself to fight her, he was afraid that both sides would be injured.
Wang Ying said, "I'm worried about whether or not to sell these vegetables. If I don't sell them, my family will have no income, and it will be difficult for them to eat and drink. If I do sell them, I'm afraid they will come looking for trouble again."
Chen Qingyan felt increasingly guilty. Over the years, she had done nothing but study and hadn't earned a single penny, relying entirely on her husband for support...
Wang Ying knew what he was thinking. Perhaps influenced by his previous life, he never truly considered himself a woman or a man, and felt that supporting his family was simply what he should do.
Aside from having a child, he was no different from a man, not to mention that in ancient times, women and men also went out to do business to support their families.
"Don't worry, the shop will be closed for a couple of days. We'll reopen when things calm down."
Chen Qingyan held his hand, her voice choked with emotion, and said, "Give me two more years, until I finish my imperial examination..."
"Yes, you are the future pillar of our family. Don't take these trivial matters to heart. Strive to get into the top tier in the imperial examination!"
*
Xue Wang suffered a broken three ribs after being kicked by Marquis Wuping and was sent to the city's traditional Chinese medicine clinic for treatment.
That very evening, his sister received the news that her brother had arrived home, and she hurriedly pulled Judge Zhao to visit him that very night.
When Madam Zhao returned to her parents' home and saw her younger brother lying in bed screaming in pain, she was so angry that she burst into tears. "That Marquis Wuping is too much! My brother didn't do anything to him, so why did he hit him so hard!"
Madam Xue also pulled Zhao Tongpan aside and said, "Son-in-law, you must stand up for your brother! He kicked Wang'er and broke three of his ribs; he almost died."
Judge Zhao reassured the old woman, saying, "Mother, don't worry, I won't let my brother suffer any injustice. You should go back and rest first. I'll chat with my brother for a bit."
After everyone else left the house, Xue Wang cried and complained to his brother-in-law, "He knew you were my brother-in-law but he didn't give me any face at all. He raised his hand and slapped me across the face, and kicked me like crazy... Ouch, it hurt so much..."
Judge Zhao closed the door, his expression changing as he said, "Stop yelling! What have you done?"
"No, nothing. Last year, my brother-in-law said he wanted to find out where the Wang family's vegetable shop got its fresh vegetables from. This morning, while on patrol, I happened to see their vegetable truck, so I had the truck and the people detained."
"Foolish! I was just saying it casually, how dare you impound his carriage!"
"He's just a minor scholar, brother-in-law, are you afraid of him?"
Zhao Tongpan was so angry he wanted to hit someone. "How could you forget that his daughter just married into the Liu family? Liu Minzhi's elder brother is a second-rank minister in the court, a favorite of the emperor. If we really anger them, killing us will be no different than crushing ants!"
Xue Wang then became frightened, "Then, what should we do?"
Judge Zhao paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. He paused and asked, "Wait a minute, how did Marquis Wuping find out about this? What is his relationship with the Chen family, and why is he helping them out?"
"I don't know either... Oh right, he said the vegetable stall belongs to his relative, and told me not to get involved again..."
Judge Zhao's vision blurred. When did the Chen family manage to get on the good side of Marquis Wuping?
"Why did you have to provoke that madman! The Liu family, a scholarly family, at least has some sense of reason. But that madman Li Mu doesn't even recognize his own father. If you offend him, I'm afraid I'll suffer too!"
Xue Wang was terrified. He had been used to flaunting his brother-in-law's status and thought he could do whatever he wanted in the city. But now he had offended someone even his brother-in-law couldn't afford to mess with.
"Brother-in-law, you have to save me!"
"Bring some money tomorrow and come with me to the Chen family to apologize. If they don't pursue the matter, there's still room for negotiation."
"My injury hasn't healed yet..."
Judge Zhao spat, "If you're not going to die, come with me. Don't drag your family down with you!"
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