Chapter 138 Exile
Su Qingtan let people grasp Su Zipei’s hands and he took the files. The crack soldiers behind him looked at him in surprise. He said loudly,
“Mam. Su-Zhu, the wife of Su Huanli and her third daughter, Su Zipei, in the case of the official silver being stolen, they helped the culprit Wu Yun conceal the official silver in the Baiwei Building and made Su Huanli go to jail. After Wu Yun was arrested, she was not repentant. According to the laws of the Dahan Country, they should be immediately arrested!”
Zhu Yan immediately screamed after hearing what Su Qingtan said, “Su Qingtan, you can’t put me into jail! I am your First Mother. Do you want Su Li to lose her mother? And your Fifth Sister, she was just born. Do you have the heart to do that?”
Su Qingtan was cooler when he heard what Zhu Yan said. He said firmly, “Do you have the nerve to mention Fifth Sister? After you gave birth to her, you did not care about her and let Second Sister take care of her directly. I have lived for almost two decades and have never seen a mother who is crueler than you.”
“Eldest Brother!”
Su Zipei struggled on the ground and begged, “I was really wrong. I just followed my mother’s order. Please spare me! I am sorry for Second Sister. But you can’t be so ruthless!”
Su Qingtan’s indifferent expression made Su Zipei misunderstand. Su Zipei thought that it was because of Su Li that he took vengeance on them severely.
Seeing Su Zipei was pinned on the ground, half of her face was stained with dark mud, Su Qingtan did not want to explain, but he did not want Su Li to be implicated in it. He immediately became kind and said in a calm tone, “The Supreme Judiciary will fairly deal with your crimes. You may not be put to death, but you must be punished for what you have done.”
On hearing that they would not die, Zhu Yan’s body immediately stopped trembling. Since she wouldn’t be put to death, what was she afraid of? It was ok to go to prison. As long as Su Zipei is promising, she still had hope!
Thinking of this, Zhu Yan immediately put on a bitter expression and mournfully said, “Qingtan, I was wrong. I plead guilty! But your Third Sister is innocent. She didn’t know what kind of people they are. I let her lead the way. I am willing to be punished for her!”
“…Mother!”
Su Zipei felt shocked and her expression changed. She selfishly wanted to be free alone from her sins, but her mother wanted to take all the sins on her own.
Su Qingtan snorted, “Whether you are guilty or not, the Supreme Judiciary has fair judgement. Take them away!”
The trusted subordinates around Ling Qinglan looked at Su Qingtan with admiration, and then they pushed the two to leave. People liked watching the hustle and bustle. They had already came over. When they saw a large group of officers and soldiers coming out, they immediately went back for their way.
“Who are they? They seem not to be natives of Qinghe Town.”
“I don’t know. Are they fugitives?”
“…”
Hearing what people talked about, Su Zipei lowered her head, and let her hair covered her red face. She pinched her hands tied behind her back so much that they turned into white with the sound of creaking.
The moment was the most humiliating moment in her life! Even when she didn’t make the Beggars’ Chicken in the Baiwei Building, she was not so embarrassed. The only fortunate thing was that they were from Dasu Town. People in Qinghe Town didn’t know them. If they were recognized by others, it could be really worse than death.
Su Li watched the officers and soldiers leave. She looked at Ling Qinglan on the roof of the winery who poured a drink and sipped without vigilance. Then she asked him with a smile, “Childe Ling, how many scores do you think that Su Qingtan can get in this case?”
Su Li naturally knew that Ling Qinglan was deliberately testing Su Qingtan, otherwise he needn’t bother to bring people here and secretly observe him.
Ling Qinglan smiled and asserted, “Five! The full score is ten. He could have got seven or eight. Unfortunately, his words “you may not be put to death” made him lose three. What a pity.”
“With such a low score, it seems that you are not satisfied with him. How about giving him up to the Linli Building?”
Su Li’s eyes were glittering and her tone was serious.
Ling Qinglan was in a daze at first, and he immediately said with a smile, “Ms. Li, don’t worry. I have something to say. Although the full score is ten, five means that I am satisfied. I don’t dare to use him if he really has a heart of stone.”
“I see.”
Su Li said in a calm tone, “A gentleman does not rob others of what they like. Although I am not a gentleman, I am too embarrassed to compete with you for him. But do you really know the weakness of Childe Su?”
“His weakness is surely not be the Su Family.”
With a complacent expression, Ling Qinglan said, “Su Qingtan is young after all. He exposed his weakness from the beginning. If he didn’t go to the courtyard of the school so frequently, I could give him six, the highest score he can get.”
Su Li squinted her eyes and said, “How wise Childe Qing is. You took my wine. Aren’t you afraid that I put poison in the wine?”
The middle-aged guard looked cold, and the air became a little tense at once.
Ling Qinglan’s right hand slightly trembled, and then he quickly became calm. He shook the flagon in his hand and said without pressure, “I believe that people who can make such a good wine will certainly not put poison in the wine. Don’t you think that I am right?”
“It depends.”
Su Li jumped off the winery and disappeared quietly like a wisp of smoke from the roof of the winery. She said vaguely, “One pot of wine is 100,000 taels and you should remember to pay for it.”
Ling Qinglan was stunned and immediately he laughed happily. But he didn’t know when he was completely in a sweat on his back.
…
May 15th was not a special day, but the day when the Jin and Lin families were exiled. Early in the morning, people crowded in front of the prison to watch the scene. If there were no officers and soldiers to maintain order, there would be in a mess.
As a victim of the case, Su Li was naturally invited by Yan Shixun to watch the scene in the attic with the best view. When she came over, there were five or six people there. Ling Qinglan was standing at the forefront in the attic, followed by Yan Shixun.
“Workshop Owner Su, I haven’t seen you for many days. Are you all right?”
Seeing Su Li come to him, Yan Shixun rushed to greet. The Qinghe Town would be dominated by the Yan Family in the future. A merry heart made a cheerful countenance. He now looked very different from before.
“Thank you for your concern. These days, my Eldest Brother always accompanied me, and my injury has almost recovered.”
Su Li said with a smile and shook her left hand, but Su Qingtan stepped over to stop her from doing so. He reproached, “You need to rest for recovery. Don’t move randomly. It’s getting hot. Remember to ask Mammy Li to change gauze frequently.”
“I see, Eldest Brother.”
Yan Shixun saw Su Li stick her tongue out and was gratified with a smile. Finally, her Eldest Brother regarded Su Li as a treasure, otherwise Su Li’s life was too miserable.
Seeing Su Li come to him, Ling Qinglan nodded with a smile. He didn’t know Su Li at all. If it was not because of Su Qingtan, he didn’t even care about her arrival.
Bang…
At this time, the gate of the prison was finally pushed open by the officers and soldiers. A large group of prisoners wearing dirty white prison uniforms, handcuffs and ankles were driven out by a group of jailers. All of them disheveled their hair and looked terrified. They all looked embarrassed.
Some of them were innocent, but since they were born in the Jin and Lin families, they couldn’t escape the disaster. They should blame the heads of the Jin and Lin families who made wrong decisions.
The Jin Family’s members looked up and saw the shiny sun. They all sighed. Even if First Master would come back, they could not see him in this life. They only hoped that First Master would come back to avenge them. Except that, nothing else mattered.
Madam Lin did not have time to care about her own safety. She was holding her son with red eyes. She said, “Son, it was me and your father that made you get into the current situation!”
Lin Yanxing seemed not to hear what his mother said. His shoulders were besmeared with blood. The shackles on his body rattled. People who practiced the martial arts would be exiled. Before that, he was tortured by piercing to the bones with shackles. The two bunches of shackles were just pierced into his bone and dragged to the ground. With every step Lin Yanxing walked made him tremble with pain. It was worse than death to him.
His eyes were red. When he saw people around him talking about him, he forced a smile embarrassedly.
Who could expect that he, who once hosted a banquet at the Qinghe School proudly, now was an exile?
Suddenly, he saw a tower, and he stared at the people on the tower who looked like gods under the light. Then he said, “Yan Shixun, wait and see! I will pay it back to you. I will let you bear the shame that you and others brought on me today!”
Ling Qinglan touched his chin with interest. A hint of profound meaning flashed in Lin Yanxing’s eyes. Unfortunately, he was not wise. At this time, he showed hatred… Ling Qinglan glanced at Yan Shixun secretly and saw a hint of intention to kill flashed through his eyes.
How reckless Lin Yanxing was.
Su Qingtan shook his head. If he were Lin Yanxing, he could definitely keep calm at this moment and wait patiently for the officers and soldiers to lose their vigilance, and then he would run away. Of course, he certainly would not be as miserable as Lin Yanxing.
It was a long way for these prisoners. The members of the Jin and Lin families passed through streets of the Qinghe Town like a parade. After they walked out the gate of the town, people who threw rotten eggs, leftovers and even stones stopped and left separately.
The procession passed through the front of the gate of the Linli Building and was naturally seen by Luo Yichen. Luo Yichen looked at Lin Yanxing among the prisoners who seemed to be in a state of epilepsy every step he walked. Luo Yichen was tense and was a little short of breath. He seemed to see himself in those days.
Mei Ruohan clung to Luo Yichen’s hands and looked worried. Luo Yichen felt the warmth from Mei Ruohan’s hands and he relaxed himself, and then he stared at Mei Ruohan’s faces gently.
Fortunately, he survived from five years of hellish days, and God compensated him for a fairy. He didn’t suffer losses.
Su Li did not look at Lin Yanxing, but she stared at Lin Xiang in the procession. The package of aphrodisiac was still in the underground adytum of the Linli Building. After analysis, she also figured out the origin of the aphrodisiac which was surely associated with some schools in the martial arts circle.
Since she knew the truth, she would never let it go.
The exiled prisoners left. There were only the heads of the Jin and Lin families left in the death row of the prison and they would be beheaded after autumn. Ling Qinglan brought people back to Yunjing, but let Su Qingtan stay to deal with things of the Su Family. He also assigned some soldiers to Su Qingtan.
The Supreme Judiciary was one of the highest violent institutions in Dahan Country. Every Officer of the Supreme Judiciary didn’t rank lower than those officials of the imperial court who ranked fourth level of official position. At this position, Su Qingtan naturally had the qualification to settle down in Yunjing.
Ling Qinglan once asked Su Qingtan to make a choice. In order to be able to take care of Su Li, Su Qingtan chose to let the whole Su Family move to Yunjing. After hearing the news, Su Huanli and others were delighted. The Su Family moved from Dasu Town in the remote and backward place to Yunjing. What a good thing it was!
Su Huanli had no time to visit Zhu Yan and Su Zipei who were still in prison. He directly ran the carriage and went back to Dasu Town to clear the Baiwei Building. The newly-opened Baiwei Building in the Qinghe Town was also put out the sign for sale. He planned to start everything from scratch when they arrived in Yunjing.
Zhu Yan was directly involved in the incident with the official silver, so, she couldn’t avoid the punishment. Ling Qinglan gave the disposal right to Yan Shixun. For Su Li and Su Qingtan’s sake, Yan Shixun chose one of the lightest punishments. Therefore, Zhu Yan was beaten 20 times with stick. Su Zipei’s punishment was lighter and she was only beaten 10 times with stick.
Even so, Zhu Yan’s ass was badly beaten and she could only lie in bed. She would not get out of bed for a half year. Su Zipei was lying on her stomach on the bed like her mother. But her injury could be completely recovered in a half month.
Looking at Su Li who carefully took care of her mother and her, Su Zipei turned her head and was full of hatred.
After all, she still couldn’t stop Su Li from going to Yunjing, but it didn’t matter. Although Su Li looked like that girl, she didn’t have the jade pendant and couldn’t find out her origin in all her life!