In the prison cell.
Du Yunqian and Jian Ruoshui were locked up together. Compared with Du Yunqian's confusion and impatience, Jian Ruoshui was much calmer. She bit her finger and kept thinking over what Jian Ruobing had said.
"You've arrested the wrong person. I'm the county magistrate of Qingyuan County..." Du Yunqian had been shouting for a long time, but no one paid any attention to him. He could only console himself that it was too late and there was no one in the prison.
Du Yunqian believed he had done nothing wrong, and his mood gradually calmed down.
Looking at Jian Ruoshui, Du Yunqian had another thought. He cautiously got closer and said, "Ruoshui, my true love for you is witnessed by heaven and earth. I didn't tell you about your background because I didn't expect you not to know about it."
Jian Ruoshui looked up at Du Yunqian and sneered, "That woman harmed my mother and was harsh to me. If I had known my background, how could I have been so kind to her?"
"I also told you that my younger sister at home was more favored, and I wanted to prove to my mother that I was the most outstanding daughter. If I had known my background, why would I have tried to prove myself to that woman?"
"Du Yunqian, I did want to marry into a wealthy family and was snobbish. When I knew you were going to become an official in the capital, I fawned on you. But I'm a human being, not a brute!"
Du Yunqian was at a loss for words.
When they were together, they were always having an affair. When Jian Ruoshui said these things, he was busy taking off her clothes. How could he have the time to listen?
But thinking that Jian Ruoshui could bear his child, Du Yunqian still had to coax her. So he made an excuse, "I know that Ruoruo truly loves me, but we didn't spend much time together, and this is a private matter of the Jian family. It wasn't appropriate to tell you."
"It was indeed my mistake not to tell you. But it's a pity for the child in your womb. If I had told you earlier, maybe I could have saved her. Ruoshui, I believe you're not heartless."
Jian Ruoshui burst out laughing, "Trying to sow discord? Do you think I'll believe it?"
Taking Du Yunqian by surprise, Jian Ruoshui pounced on him and scratched his face fiercely. She even almost poked out Du Yunqian's eyes.
Jian Ruoshui was weak, but she still knew how to fight. When Du Yunqian defended his upper body, she pinched his lower body. When he defended his lower body, she poked at his eyes and mouth.
Du Yunqian, who had studied before and later became a county magistrate, had never seen such a situation. He was beaten without the ability to fight back and even forgot that he could just push Jian Ruoshui away.
In a panic, Jian Ruoshui's finger was bitten by Du Yunqian when it got into his mouth. She sneered and didn't care that her finger was bleeding. She directly pinched Du Yunqian's tongue.
This scene left the four jailers in the prison dumbfounded.
When Du Yunqian and Jian Ruoshui were brought in, they were having dinner next door. They were too lazy to care about Du Yunqian's shouting and planned to go and check after dinner. They never expected to see such a good show.
One of the jailers couldn't help admiring, "This woman is so cruel. She looks pale, but she's managed to torture the man like this."
Just then, they saw the Minister of the Ministry of Justice leading some people come over.
The four jailers then came to their senses and pulled the two of them apart.
Du Yunqian had been severely tortured, and Jian Ruoshui wasn't much better. Her already swollen face was even more swollen, and her whole body was covered in wounds. Even her fingernails had broken off because she had exerted too much force.
The Minister of the Ministry of Justice didn't pay much attention to the wounds on the two of them. He thought it must be Yan Mingli who had privately sent someone to beat them. But Du Yunqian was at least a county magistrate. How could they use torture on a county magistrate?
Du Yunqian mistakenly thought that the Minister of the Ministry of Justice had come to rescue him. He quickly said, "My lord, I'm here."
"My lord, my lord. I, a commoner woman, want to report that Du Yunqian, the county magistrate of Qingyuan County, connived at the gentry to bully men and violate women and seize land." Afraid that Du Yunqian would be rescued, Jian Ruoshui quickly told what she knew.
Because of the feud between the previous generations, Jian Ruobing didn't have a good relationship with the Jian family. So she didn't know many things about the Jian family. But it was different for Jian Ruoshui. She was young and didn't remember much. Every time Jian Ruobing gave her something, she would give it to her parents.
After she got together with Du Yunqian, she knew even more.
Jian's father was a juren before. After failing the imperial examinations many times, he gave up this idea and became a local landlord in his hometown.
In order to seek personal gain, he married the daughter of another gentry, who was Jian Ruoshui's aunt. The two families joined hands to raise the rent of the land, forcing many tenant farmers to sell themselves.
While these two families were heartless, there were also kind - hearted ones who not only didn't raise the rent but also gave some grain to the farmers.
Afraid that the matter would reach the government and that he would be despised, Jian's father收敛ed his behavior until Du Yunqian came to Qingyuan County.
With the help of Du Yunqian, the county magistrate, almost half of the good farmland in Qingyuan County belonged to the Jian family. The other half was in the hands of the original local landlords in Qingyuan County. Even if the farmers saved money to buy land, they could only buy poor - quality land.
Jian Ruobing's business was mostly in the city, and she rarely went to Qingyuan County, so she didn't know about this.
But it was different for Jian Ruoshui. She often used her status to order the farmers around and knew exactly about the methods of Du Yunqian and the Jian family.
Because she was too arrogant, there were always some people who took revenge on her when she was alone. The farmers just wanted to teach Jian Ruoshui a lesson and didn't have the courage to harm her life. They basically fought with their bare hands. After many times, this was how Jian Ruoshui learned how to fight.
Jian Ruoshui didn't want to live anymore. She had regarded the enemy as her mother for so many years and never got a chance to see her biological mother. So she decided to take Du Yunqian with her and let her mother meet her son - in - law.
Afraid that Du Yunqian wouldn't die, Jian Ruoshui also told about his accepting bribes and misjudging cases. Someone had beaten to death their own maid, but he had accepted money and wrongly accused the maid of stealing money and hitting her head while running away, resulting in excessive blood loss and death.
Du Yunqian pointed at Jian Ruoshui and gritted his teeth, "How do you know that the Qian family gave me money?"
By this time, the two had completely fallen out, and Jian Ruoshui didn't hide it from Du Yunqian anymore. "Of course, it was Young Master Qian who told me. If you weren't going to be promoted, he would have come to propose marriage to me."
"My lord, I also know about Du Yunqian bribing high - ranking officials."
"I'll tell you everything. I only ask the lord to let Du Yunqian and me die together."
The Minister of the Ministry of Justice suddenly felt that he was a bit lucky. Merits had fallen from the sky.
...
Late at night, the emperor looked at the fire in the distance and sighed in his heart.
He had made the wrong bet. The disciple of Shen Qingshan was just like him. He should have driven him out earlier.
Thinking of Cui Zhengping's long - standing friendship with him and Cui's gentleness, the emperor felt a bit of indescribable emotion in his heart.
"Report!"
A general ignored the guards' obstruction and rode his horse towards the Qianqing Palace.
He dismounted from the horse and knelt on one knee, presenting a secret letter. "Report! Our army has suffered 3,000 casualties. General Mu has specially ordered this subordinate to send the letter back to the capital!"
The general raised his head, and the scar on his face startled the emperor.
He raised his残缺 right hand. "Your Majesty, the Xiangyun Kingdom has gone too far. For the sake of the morale of the army, General Mu had no choice but to pursue them."
Looking at the general's wounds, the emperor's heart trembled slightly. He took the secret letter. "You are all heroes of the Great Yong. I and the people of the Great Yong will always remember your merits."
"A general on the battlefield may ignore the emperor's order when necessary. I can understand."
After comforting the general for a few words, the emperor couldn't wait to open the secret letter.
The secret letter detailed how the Xiangyun Kingdom had been aggressive and how General Mu had retreated again and again... Now the troops were approaching the royal capital of the Xiangyun Kingdom... The royal capital?