The county magistrate patted the table to silence the noisy hall. “Someone.”
The head constable cupped his fists. “My lord.”
The county magistrate ordered, “Go and summon the wife of the village chief of the He Village.”
A woman in the crowd raised her hand and replied, “My lord, I’m here.”
The crowd made way for the woman to enter the hall.
The woman knelt down. “Greetings, Your Lordship.”
The county magistrate asked, “Where’s the dress you bought for your daughter.”
Zhang Juan said, “My lord, the dress 1 bought was for my daughter’s birthday. A few days ago, it rained heavily and the dress was damp. JVIy daughter took it out to dry. In the end, it disappeared when I was collecting the clothes in the afternoon. My daughter cried for a long time.”
She looked at the peasant woman with anger in her eyes. “I didn’t expect her to steal it.”
The peasant woman was regretting telling the truth. She lowered her head and trembled.
The county magistrate asked, “What’s with the needle she mentioned?”
“That needle…” Zhang Juan stammered. “When I was picking out the dress in the shop, I saw a needle fall to the ground. 1 picked it up and took it away. When I got home, I placed it on the table. My daughter said that she wanted to embroider a flower on the dress, so I gave it to her.”
So that was what happened!
The county magistrate’s gaze landed on He First and He Second. “Do you know what your mother did?”
The two of them replied together, “We do.”
Just as the county magistrate was about to speak, an old man in his fifties barged in. As soon as he entered the hall, he knelt down and begged, “Your Lordship, my wife and two sons are possessed. There’s something wrong with their brains. They didn’t do it on purpose. Please show mercy!”
The county magistrate was unmoved and continued to announce the order. “Madam Wang is the mastermind behind this matter. She deliberately injured her daughter to extort money. This can not be allowed to happen in my jurisdiction. Therefore, I sentence Madam Wang to five years of imprisonment and a fine of ten taels of silver.”
When Madam Wang heard the verdict, she was terrified. She cried bitterly and hurriedly pleaded, “Lord, please show mercy! I won’t do it again. 1 won’t do it again. I don’t want to go to jail. 1 don’t want to go to jail!”
The county magistrate ignored her and continued to give the order. “He First and He Second are accomplices. You will both be punished to three years of imprisonment and a fine of five taels.”
He First and He Second’s faces were ashen. They felt despair and hurriedly begged for mercy, but the county magistrate refused to listen to them.
People had to pay the price for what they did. It was the same for everyone!
“Put them in jail.”
The old man looked at the three of them being dragged away, leaving behind a silly daughter. For a moment, he cried uncontrollably. If he had known, he would have stopped them, but it was too late now.
The county magistrate said, “Head constable, send people to the He family to collect the fine.”
The head constable cupped his fists. “Yes, my lord.”
“Court ended!”
After the court trial, the commoners dispersed one by one. Soon, this case spread throughout the county city.
They all scolded the peasant woman for being heartless and vicious!
At the same time, they sympathized with that girl. It was really too painful to be born in such a family.
On the other side, Chu Qingzhi, Tang Jinghong, and the others walked towards the shop in silence. They had yet to come back to their senses from the atrocities Madam Wang had done.
Yuan Hongjun and Bao Linjiang walked to Chu Qingzhi’s side. Yuan Hongjun said, “Master, where is your house? Let’s go back quickly.”
Bao Linjiang quickly echoed, “That’s right, Master. I’m already looking forward to it.”
“We’ll go back immediately.” Chu Qingzhi then introduced everyone to each other.
The two young men hurriedly called Chu Qingyue Second Sister. They should have called her Martial Aunt, but it was too weird. Anyway, there was no need to be so particular in the village. Chu Qingzhi asked them to call Chu Qingyue Second Sister.
Chu Qingyue was naturally happy to have two additional young and handsome brothers.
When they arrived at the shop, everyone realized that Sang Wanlu had arrived and was getting out of the carriage. Her movements and expressions were very anxious.
Sang Wanlu’s servant girl quickly helped her down with a frightened expression. “Madam, be careful.”
Chu Qingyue quickly walked forward. “Wanlu, you’re pregnant. You don’t have to come.”
Sang Wanlu said worriedly, “I heard that something happened in the shop, so I came to take a look.”
Chu Qingyue smiled at her. “The case is over. The bad guys have been punished. It’s fine now.”
“That’s good.” Sang Wanlu heaved a sigh of relief. Her gaze swept past everyone and landed on Chu Qingzhi. Her eyes lit up. “Qingzhi…”
Chu Qingzhi smiled. “Congratulations.”
Sang Wanlu bowed to Chu Qingzhi and said gratefully, “Qingzhi, I’m lucky to have met you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant.”
“I’m a doctor. It’s my duty to satisfy the needs of the patient.” Chu Qingzhi gave her good wishes. “I wish you a cute and healthy baby.”
Sang Wanlu smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”
The servant girl stepped forward and said, “Miss Chu, can you prescribe a prescription for Madam to stabilize the pregnancy? Madam doesn’t trust other doctors.”
Chu Qingzhi nodded. “Alright.” She walked towards the shop. There was a brush and paper inside. Yuan Hongjun and Bao Linjiang hurriedly followed.
After she wrote the prescription, Yuan Hongjun and Bao Linjiang hurriedly picked it up and looked at it. They were a little puzzled and asked Chu Qingzhi to enlighten them.
Chu Qingzhi doted on her two little disciples and explained to them patiently.
“I see. I’ve learned something new!”
“Learning is indeed a life-long journey!”
Chu Qingzhi couldn’t help but laugh. She walked out and handed the prescription to Sang Wanlu. “One bowl of medicine a day. Walking around more can also help.”
“Ok,” Sang Wanlu nodded happily. Then, her expression slowly turned serious. “Qingzhi, I want to discuss something with you.”
Chu Qingzhi said, “Go ahead.”
Sang Wanlu looked at the shop. “I’m pregnant and it’s no longer convenient for me to manage the shop, so I want to give it to Qingyue.”
Chu Qingzhi looked at Sang Wanlu. “What do you mean?”
Sang Wanlu smiled and said, “i rented the shop and paid the rent for half a year. I hired the shop assistants and paid them every month. There are still some clothes in the shop. Now, I’ll give them all to Qingyue.”
Chu Qingzhi asked, “Then how much should we pay you?”
Sang Wanlu shook her head. “No need. Just treat it as my token of gratitude to you for treating me. My pregnancy is much more valuable than these. You don’t have to stand on ceremony. I’ve already thought about it.”
Chu Qingzhi thought for a moment. Everything San Wanlu said would amount to no more than 300 taels of silver. It was acceptable. “Then I’ll thank you on behalf of my Second Sister.”
“There’s no need to be so polite.” Sang Wanlu waved at Chu Qingyue. “Qingyue, let’s go to the shop. After handing over the shop, I won’t come anymore.”
Chu Qingyue was still in a daze. It was too unreal. “Are… are you really giving me the shop?”
Chu Qingzhi walked over and tugged at Chu Qingyue’s sleeve. “Second Sister, it’s really given to you. Go and take over the shop. In the future, that shop will be yours.”
Chu Qingyue nodded in a daze. “Oh, okay.”
Ning Yuting suddenly said, “Miss Chu, I’ll go help Qingyue. You guys go home first. Grandma and Aunt Li miss you very much.”
Chu Qingzhi smiled. “Alright, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Don’t worry. With me around, you can rest assured.”
The four of them mounted their horses and went home..
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