Chapter 367 : Rules (4)Translated byきつねonAugust 04, 2022

Shen Yi described the man who threatened their mother and son to Yuxi in grave detail, even to his clothes.

Yuxi drew out the person according to his description. After she finished drawing, she showed it to Shen Yi. “Does this look similar to that man?”

Shen Yi swallowed a mouthful of saliva before answering, “Similar, too similar.” The drawing only had 60% or 70% similarity, but it already looked impressive to Shen Yi.

Yuxi asked Xu Wu to take the portrait and brought Shen Yi to Mo Tiju’s house to look for someone. At first, Mo Tiju used all sorts of excuses to deny having such a person in his residence. As a result, when Xu Wu took out the portrait, Mo Tiju could no longer disclaim it because it was the picture of his brother-in-law. However, he was still unwilling to admit that he had anything to do with the threat and put all the blame on his brother-in-law.

Xu Wu coldly asked, “Where is this person?”

Mo Tiju shook his head and said, “I don’t know. He went out early in the morning and hasn’t returned yet!” He only hoped that his brother-in-law had gone back to Xinping City. That place wasn’t Yu City, where Yun Qing could act wildly and do anything as he pleased.

Unfortunately, Mo Tiju was doomed to be disappointed. Xu Wu caught the man at Wangchun House. He hadn’t tortured that man yet since he was already scared sh*tless and gave a complete account of what happened just after looking at the torture device. He told Xu Wu that the Fourth Master Xu gave him a hundred taels of silver and instructed him to do so.

The Fourth Master Xu was a sixth rank officer in an army company and was now working in Yu City. One-sided words alone were not enough to convict the Fourth Master Xu, but Yuxi didn’t need a conviction. She took this confession and went to Qin Residence. There, she questioned Xu Shi, “Madam Qin, please explain to me, in what way did my temporary school stand in the Xu family’s way? How dare you use such a dirty trick?” The Fourth Master Xu was Madam Qin’s cousin, so it was normal to approach Xu Shi about such a matter.

When questioned like this, Xu Shi’s face also turned ugly. “Dimei, there must be some misunderstanding. I will have someone investigate it in detail.” Xu Shi was happy to see the bad thing happening to the school. But she did not expect that it would also burn her.

Yuxi sneered. “Misunderstanding? I am truly impressed that Madam Qin can still say everything is a misunderstanding even when I already have black and white proof about it. Originally, I wanted to talk to Madam Qin about this matter, but now it seems there is nothing to talk about.” After saying that, she walked away with her bulging belly and an angry face.

Xu Shi’s face turned white with anger. She never had anyone dare to treat her like this since she married into the Qin family. “What is wrong with this Han Shi?”

Xu Shi’s nursemaid, surnamed Gong, said, “Madam, I don’t think this is right. If she wanted to seek justice, she should have sat down and talked with you calmly instead of walking away in a huff. Madam, is she plotting something?” One shouldn’t be fooled by Madam Yun’s gentleness and friendliness when in fact, she was a great schemer!

Xu Shi was in a fit of anger and didn’t have the mood to think of it that way. “What justice? By coming to question me for a confession like a hooligan? How dare she throw my face away.” That woman was utterly insane even to dare come to her house and behaved atrociously. Who did that woman think she was? Only when that woman saw her husband was away that she have the courage to bully her way to the door.

Thinking of this, Xu Shi asked, “I do not know when my husband will return. In his last letter, he said he would return after Qin Yue’s marriage. It has been more than a month now. Why hasn’t he arrived yet?” Riding a horse was much faster than riding in a carriage. According to the usual route, he should have arrived home long ago.

Mama Gong said, “Something must have delayed him, so he can only set out on his journey a bit late.” Mama Gong also felt that it was not right. It was already the middle of the eleventh lunar month, and he had not arrived yet. However, she could not say this to Xu Shi so as not to scare her.

Xu Shi’s face turned pale. “Mama, do you think something has happened to my husband?” There were so many bandits and robbers on the road. What should she do if he got caught in a scheme?

Mama Gong comforted her, “The General has so many guards with him, and no one knows his itinerary, so nothing should happen to him. Madam, please don’t scare yourself.”

Xu Shi’s heart was relieved. The guards her husband had brought with him were all experts. Even if they encountered bandits and robbers, they would have been fearless. It was she who was simply anxious just now.

After going to Qin Residence, Yuxi instructed Mo Tiju’s brother-in-law to be sent to the yamen. She actually did not expect the yamen to convict the Fourth Master Xu, but when the yamen got involved, the matter could not be covered. Since she couldn’t hurt the Xu family, she could make their reputation terrible. Furthermore, she must show these people that she wasn’t a soft persimmon they could pinch at will.

The assistant prefect hearing the case was surnamed Mu, and his wife was from the Zhao family. Assistant Prefect Mu immediately accepted the trial and also had someone invite the Fourth Master Xu to yamen. It was a pity that the Fourth Master Xu’s arrogance was so massive that he only sent a steward to the magistrate’s office and did not personally show up.

The next day, Yuxi heard that someone went to the yamen to sue the Fourth Master Xu family for raping an innocent woman, causing her to commit suicide. Yuxi frowned and asked, “Is this true?” It couldn’t be the Zhao family who planted evidence to splash dirty water on the Xu family.

Xu Wu nodded and said, “It’s true. That woman had a countenance of a flower and a face like a moon. The Fourth Master Xu fancied her and wanted to take her as his concubine, but the woman refused. The Fourth Master Xu did everything he could to rob the woman of her innocence. The woman also had a staunch personality. Seeing her innocence was destroyed and her unwillingness to be a concubine, she hit her head on the wall and died on the spot.”

Yuxi’s expression did not look good. She had heard a lot of gentries forcing and snatching ordinary women as their concubines. These women would either commit suicide or submit themselves to become concubines. But what good could a woman be if her innocence was robbed by force? So, most of these women end up very miserable. Yuxi didn’t expect such a thing could also happen in Yu City. “When did this happen? How come nobody cares about it?”

Xu Wu shook his head. “At the beginning of the year. The woman’s family had no place to ask for help because of the Xu family’s huge influence. Since they have come to file a lawsuit at the yamen this time, they probably have received some guidance.”

Yuxi nodded. “I guess the Zhao family secretly gave them the news. However, it has been so long, and there is no evidence to support their claim that Fourth Master Xu can deny it.” Since Assistant Prefect Mu was the Zhao family’s son-in-law, he would definitely make a big deal out of it. However, Yuxi expected this matter to end up being a big problem turned into a small one and the small problem became no problem at all.

Zijin knew what Yuxi was thinking and said, “The evidence is conclusive. How can the big problem turn into a small one and the small problem become no problem at all?” They had to put that guy to death this time.

Yuxi smiled and explained, “Fourth Master Xu can tell the Assistant Prefect that the woman had seduced and schemed against him. Ultimately, he did not want to take this kind of woman who didn’t know how to restrain herself from being his concubine. That woman pretended to force herself to death but ended up getting killed. He can be completely off the hook if he tells it this way.” This world was unfair to women but too lenient to men.

As Yuxi predicted, Fourth Master Xu was successfully exonerated.

Yuxi took the big red gilded invitation from Xu Shi and sneered. “Really arrogant!” She didn’t think these two incidents could convict the Fourth Master Xu. She just wanted to ruin the Xu family’s reputation. But she did not expect that the case would wind up in only three days from the opening to the conclusion of the trial. She first thought the matter would reach the Dazhou Prefecture and then be suppressed there! But she didn’t predict the Fourth Master Xu would be acquitted in Yu City. The power of the Xu family, to be exact, the Qin family, in Yu City was more profound than she imagined.

Zijin was so angry that she wanted to kill someone. “How could this happen? Isn’t it said that the Assistant Prefect is the Zhao family’s people? There is no way he will be partial to that person surnamed Xu.”

Yuxi sneered and instructed Xu Wu, “Go and check if Assistant Prefect Mu or his wife had met anyone in the past two days.”

This matter was actually not difficult to investigate. Xu Wu had already sent a group of people to follow up with this case secretly. Two hours later, Xu Wu reported, “This morning, the Qin family’s steward went to the Mu House.” The problem lay in the Qin family.

Yuxi coldly snorted. So that’s what happened. The Xu family likely had a handle on this Assistant Prefect Mu. Otherwise, how could the case be completed so quickly? The capital had already become a lump of mess, and she did not expect that Yu City would be too. As Yuxi thought until here, she helplessly shook her head a little. How could the country be well-ordered when it had an incapable ruler? Everywhere would be the same.

Zijin was unconvinced. “Madam, we’re going just to let him go?” Would it fuel the Xu family’s arrogance if they let him go like this?

Yuxi shook her head. “He who is unjust is doomed to destruction. Go get the child and his mother.”

Looking at the mother and son, Yuxi smiled a little. Shen Yi was one of those children who had a lot of guts, while his mother was a bit weak. Yuxi said to the woman, “If you are willing, stay in our house and do some chores.” There was no shortage of men in the General’s mansion, only women who could do things.

Fan Shi wept with joy, knelt on the ground, and said gratefully, “Thank you, Madam. I will never forget your kindness.” Seeing that her son was still standing, she hurriedly pulled and tried to get Shen Yi to kneel along with her.

Yuxi waved her hand. “There is gold under a man’s knees. Don’t just let him kneel.” There was a really good saying. If the mother were weak, the son would be strong. If the mother were strong, the son would be weak.

Shen Yi was originally reluctant to kneel, but he was like a man in the military camp. He clasped his hands into a fist and said: “Thank you, Madam.” After a pause, he asked, “Madam, can I go to school tomorrow?”

Yuxi shook her head. “No.”

Shen Yi became anxious. “Why? Didn’t we agree that if I could prove that I was forced, I could go to the academy to study martial arts? How can you not keep your word?”

Hearing this, Fan Shi’s face turned white, and she quickly hugged Shen Yi, saying, “Please don’t be offended, Madam. This child has a loose tongue.”

Yuxi smiled and told Shen Yi, “There is no place without rules. Since I have given my word, it is impossible to change it. Otherwise, who will believe me in the future if I alter it?” No matter what you do, if you kept on changing your words every day, it would make people tired of you, and you could easily lose your trustworthiness.

Shen Yi was shocked and angry. He risked his life to fight for the chance to go to school, but it was still futile in the end. But he couldn’t blame Madam Yun, or he would forget favours and violate justice like those people a few days ago.

Yuxi looked at Shen Yi and said with a smile: “You actually want to go to the academy to learn martial arts and recognise words, right? You can still do the same while in residence.”

Shen Yi asked in disbelief, “Really?”

Yuxi laughed. “Why would I lie to you?” The rules couldn’t be changed, but one could act flexibly.

Shen Yi knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Yuxi. “Thank you, Madam, for your kindness. Shen Yi will definitely repay you in the future.”

Yuxi smiled a little. “You will live in the mansion from now on. If you have anything to get from home, you can fetch it now.”

Fan Shi took Shen Yi to withdraw.