"Hurry it up! Just say a couple of words!" Before even a few words were spoken, the government official came to hurry them along.
"Young Master, don’t say such things, I’ll wait for you to come out." Xiaotian turned to leave with a heavy heart, she didn’t want to hear such words; she only wanted to follow the Young Master for the rest of her life.
"Why do you torment yourself !" Li Fugui watched Xiaotian leave with heartache, thinking of his own body, bruised and battered, could he really end up together with Xiaotian?
As soon as Yang Ming arrived home, Xiaoxiao handed him a cup of water, "Yang Ming, how did it go, what did the County Magistrate say?"
Yang Ming drained the cup in one gulp, "The case is closed, there’s no chance for an appeal!"
"..." What’s going on with this county? One corrupt official leaves, and another confused magistrate arrives! How are the common people supposed to live?
"To avoid compensating with Silver, Lord Li has already disowned Li Fugui, it’s said they’ve severed ties!"
"..." Lord Li is truly ruthless; for the sake of money, he’s given up on his own family. How pitiful Li Fugui is.
Xiaoxiao felt her mood dip. No longer certain, her typically assertive self now doubted, having inadvertently harmed an innocent person by reporting to the authorities, "Yang Ming, did we make a mistake?"
"We didn’t make a mistake, the ones at fault are the magistrate and the person who framed Li Fugui."
Noticing his wife’s self-reproach, Yang Ming consoled her, "Don’t overthink it, we were just speculating. What if it was really him? Let’s do this, let’s go visit him in the prison tomorrow! We’ll ask him face to face!"
"Right, right, right, that fool, he will surely tell the truth!" Consoled by this thought, Xiaoxiao found relief.
The next day, in the County Government Office prison
"Li Fugui, someone’s here to see you!" The government official shouted.
Who could it be? Could it be Xiaotian again? Li Fugui stood up excitedly, but the moment he looked up, he saw two people he didn’t want to see.
His eyes filled with hatred, he roared, "What are you doing here? To gloat at my misfortune? Leave! I don’t want to see you!"
Having said this, Li Fugui sat down on the ground and ignored Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao.
Xiaoxiao observed the prison environment: gloomy and damp, with a straw mat on the ground. Li Fugui no longer held any semblance to the Eldest Young Master of the past; his clothes were stained with blood, likely a result of not confessing and instead being beaten up in this cell. Probably, Li Fugui now harbored a deep hatred for them.
"Brother Li, I came to ask you one thing, did you really do it?"
Li Fugui sat there with his eyes closed, offering no response.
"If it was you, your crimes are monstrous, but if it wasn’t you, we will try to help you!"
Li Fugui slowly opened his eyes. Help him? How? The case was already decided, he had been abandoned by his family, he was about to be sent to hard labor. Even if he could get out, what could he possibly do?
"Yang Ming, you all go back!" Li Fugui spoke as if he had lost all will to live, having given up on everything. "Just leave it be."
Seeing Li Fugui’s state, Xiaoxiao’s temper flared. She stepped forward, grabbed the bars of the cell door with both hands, and shouted, "Li Fugui, I despise you. A man should stand tall and own up to his actions; if he did it, he did it, if he didn’t, he didn’t. Who are you crying and whining for? If you’ve been wronged, don’t you want to exact revenge on your enemy? Don’t you want to take back everything that belongs to you?"
Li Fugui, stirred by Xiaoxiao’s words, suddenly looked up. The person who framed him? Who could it be? Take back everything that belongs to him?
"Yang Ming, let’s go!" Xiaoxiao said, pulling Yang Ming away, but behind them came the voice of Li Fugui.