An Yuanbo stared intently at Wen Wan, wishing he could devour her whole.
He looked at Yun Zhiyi again, as if he wanted to tear her to pieces.
This time, Prefect Lu did not tolerate it and directly ordered his men to take Wen Wan back.
"Wen Wan, the evidence is conclusive. What else do you have to say?"
Wen Wan could only shake her head repeatedly, struggling to escape.
"I didn't, I didn't, I'm innocent."
Prefect Lu ignored her and instead looked at the two members of the Earl's family.
"Do you two have anything to say?"
Cen looked dejected, tears streaming down her face, and slumped into her chair, sobbing continuously.
Knowing there was no way to turn the tide, Marquis Anyuan could only close his eyes and bow.
"Your Excellency is the judge."
Prefect Lu nodded. “In that case, this prefecture hereby pronounces its verdict: Wen Wan illegally imprisoned a good citizen, used private torture, and attempted to murder and plunder her property. Since no one was killed, she is sentenced to one year of detention and ordered to pay Wen Wan all her injuries and 200 taels of silver. Li Dazhu and Sun Ergou were her accomplices. They attempted murder but failed and buried the person without authorization. They are sentenced to three years in prison. Hong Xin betrayed his master and repeatedly acted as an accomplice to evil. He is sentenced to ten years in prison.”
All of them went limp.
Prefect Lu looked at Yun Zhiyi, "Wenrou, do you accept this sentence?"
Yun Zhiyi bowed gracefully.
"Thank you, sir, for upholding justice for my daughter."
Prefect Lu waved his hand, "In that case, you may leave first and come back in three days to collect the compensation."
Yun Zhiyi said, "My lord, may I trouble you with another matter?"
Prefect Lu frowned. "What is it?"
The others also turned to look, suspecting that she was trying to take the opportunity to make an exorbitant demand.
After all, she would completely break with the Earl's Mansion from then on, and would no longer be a pampered young lady.
The family he came from seemed to be very poor, just a bunch of peasants.
It's perfectly reasonable to want to gain some benefits for oneself.
It's just that it's bound to be disliked by some people.
Regardless, the Earl's family raised her for fifteen years.
Many people who had just felt some sympathy for her have now lost most of their sympathy.
The Earl of Anyuan and his wife seemed to have thought of this as well.
One of them looked increasingly grim and dark, his eyes glaring at her as if he wanted to tear her apart.
The slight guilt that had been in one eye now turned into disappointment and resentment.
The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves.
Yun Zhiyi ignored the surrounding discussions and spoke loudly.
"My lord, I am no longer related to the Earl's family. Therefore, I would like to ask you to be my witness. From this day forward, I am willing to completely sever ties with the Earl and his wife. I hereby write this document, change my name and surname, and from now on, I will have no more Wenrou. We will be completely unrelated and no one can interfere with me anymore."
Her voice was strong and resolute, yet also calm and composed.
Cen suddenly looked up and stared at her in astonishment.
My heart suddenly ached, as if I was about to lose something very important.
Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something.
The Earl of Anyuan, standing nearby, said, "Very well, you are not my daughter, and you should not have taken the surname Wen long ago. We have no kinship, so there is no need to write a letter. From now on, you will have no further connection with the Earl's family."
Yun Zhiyi replied, "I only believe in written words. Sir, may I borrow your pen and ink?"
Prefect Lu admired her boldness and nodded in agreement.
Yun Zhiyi went to the table, picked up her pen, and began to write.
He quickly wrote three letters of severance of kinship and a name change application, and submitted them.
"From now on, regardless of whether the two parties are related or not, they shall be severed from this point on and shall have no further connection with each other. Please bear witness, sir."
Although Prefect Lu found these words strange, he did not pursue the matter, but instead looked at Earl Anyuan.
An Yuanbo now harbors deep hatred for Yun Zhiyi, so he naturally agreed.
Cen bit her lip hard, but still turned her head away.
There is always a difference between close and distant relationships. Since the two cannot live together and support each other, they can only choose one of them.
Wen Wan, who had been crying in Cen Shi's arms, now had sparkling eyes filled with joy.
Since neither party had any objections, Prefect Lu signed his name.
After both of them pressed their fingerprints, three copies were distributed.
Yun Zhiyi received the letter severing ties with her family, folded it neatly, and put it away.
An Yuanbo simply tore it up and threw it away, refusing to even glance at her again.
Prefect Lu couldn't be bothered with him anymore.
"So, Wen, Yun Zhiyi, do you have anything else to say?"
Yun Zhiyi smiled and said, "All my wishes have been fulfilled."
"That's good. Come back in three days to collect the compensation and the register."
"Thank you, sir. I'll take my leave now."
She bowed to Prefect Lu again to express her gratitude, and then prepared to leave.
But An Yuanbo suddenly said, "Wait, you can leave, but leave the Spring Jade Dew recipe behind."
Those who were paying attention to Yun Zhiyi couldn't help but look at him with disdain upon hearing this.
They watched the whole thing and managed to tell that the Spring Jade Dew was something that Yun Zhiyi understood.
Otherwise, Wen Wan wouldn't have imprisoned and interrogated people just for the sake of the formula.
Now that the facts of the case are clear, this person still wants the recipe to be left behind.
It's true what they say, "Birds of a feather flock together."
Feeling the gazes around him, Uncle An Yuan's cheek muscles twitched violently a few times.
He continued through gritted teeth, "The Earl's family has raised you for fifteen years without ever lacking anything, and now you don't need to repay them. Just leave the Spring Jade Dew as compensation."
If it weren't for the immense value of Spring Jade Dew, he wouldn't want to lose face like this again.
When he said that, many people nodded in agreement, thinking it made sense.
Fifteen years of living a life of luxury and privilege, when truly accounted for, amounted to an extremely large and terrifying sum of money.
The people did not know what Spring Jade Dew was.
It's just a recipe, but if it can cover fifteen years' worth of living expenses, it's worth it.
Yun Zhiyi turned to the side and looked at him, a half-smile on her face.
"Your Excellency is quite good at accounting, but are you sure you really want to settle this score with me?"
An Yuanbo's brow twitched, feeling that if they followed her advice, something he didn't want to see would happen again.
He took a deep breath. "The ingredients for Spring Jade Dew are expensive, and you won't be able to make it in the future. Considering our years of friendship, I'll give you an extra thousand taels of silver as a buyout of the recipe."
When the onlookers heard that someone was offering another thousand taels, their eyes widened in astonishment.
What kind of recipe is this that's so expensive?
Actually, it was just an excuse for the Earl to give her money.
After all, I've raised them for fifteen years, so there's bound to be some affection for them.
Only the young servant of the noble family, who was mixed in with the crowd, heard this, his eyes darted around, and he immediately turned and ran away.
Yun Zhiyi almost laughed out of anger.
Seeing her mocking expression, An Yuanbo clenched his fists in anger.
"Don't be ungrateful. A thousand taels is enough for you to live a comfortable life without worrying about food and drink."
Yun Zhiyi took a deep breath.
After living with her parents for over ten years, she realized that she didn't actually know much about them.
I never knew this person was so shameless.
When An Yuanbo saw that her expression was slightly somber, he wondered if she felt that she had finally won back the game, because her brows relaxed considerably.
He scoffed, “I raised you for fifteen years and didn’t hold your parents’ malicious switching of children against me. Now you’ve made the Earl’s Mansion a laughingstock, and I still haven’t pursued it. I consider myself to have done all I could.”
He saw that she just stared at him with a calm gaze and didn't say anything.
An Yuanbo's tone softened slightly.
“I offered a thousand for your sake. Even if your recipe is the best, without the protection of the Earl’s Mansion, it’s like a child trying to get rich. Not only will it attract villains, but if other nobles demand it, you won’t even get a single tael.”
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