If the business woman does not help the poor, the villain's dream of prosperity will be shatter

Qin Antai was so frightened that he trembled all over. He fell to his knees and stammered, "I, I, I..."

He didn't dare to admit it. Once he admitted it, his life would be over!

Not only will he face life in prison, his status as a scholar will also be stripped, and he will never be allowed to take the imperial examinations again.

A woman's voice suddenly sounded behind him, "I can testify that on the second day after our master and mistress' coffins were brought into the mansion, on the first night of the funeral, Master Qin and Na Qingyue were having sex in the mourning hall... Our master and mistress appeared in spirit and smashed the cornucopia and incense burner in anger."

Thinking of the "haunted" incident that night, the woman was still frightened, her voice trembling, "Qingyue was frightened to death. Our young lady said that now that the Second Master has agreed to adopt her to the Master and his wife, she is the master of the East Mansion. If the Second Master likes Qingyue, he can take her in to serve him, but the Second Master said he doesn't like crazy people. After that, Qingyue disappeared."

Several people kneeling in the hall turned their heads at the same time when the woman was speaking, and they found that the woman who came to the hall to testify was one of the servants who was sold out by Liu Yinghua after Qin Shu dismissed the maids in the mansion some time ago.

The common people who were watching outside the yamen crowded the entrance and booed when they heard the words.

Cheng Mao asked again, "Qin Antai, is what Meng said true?"

Qin Antai hesitated and didn't dare to answer.

Cheng Mao suddenly slammed the gavel and shouted, "Speak! Do you admit it or not?"

"I admit it!" Qin Antai's face turned pale and he looked panicked. He replied hesitantly: "I admit it."

Cheng Mao asked again, "Today, Qingyue's parents came to court to sue that their daughter is missing and suspected to have been murdered. Qin Antai, where is Qingyue?"

Qin Antai glanced at his father Qin Jingchang quietly.

Qin Jingchang pulled the corner of his lips and said indifferently: "I killed the man and had him dragged out of the city and buried."

Anyway, he is now a criminal awaiting punishment for murder, so one more life is not too much, one less life is not too little.

"Who buried him? Where?"

Qin Jingchang sneered, "Qi Wu dealt with it, I don't know where it was buried."

Cheng Mao immediately ordered, "Come here, bring Qi Wu to the court for trial."

"Sir, Qi Wu ran away yesterday." Liu Yinghua was furious when she mentioned this matter. "This dog slave stole things, took his indenture, and ran away."

It was only later when the yamen runners came to arrest Qin An Ning that she heard from the servants in the mansion that it was Qi Wu who stole the things. When Madam Qi went to chase him, she was beaten to death by Qin An Ning, thinking she was a thief.

Qi Wu was a runaway slave who was involved in stealing his master's property and murder, so Cheng Mao immediately issued a warrant to arrest him.

Since the criminal has confessed and no one else has any objection, there is nothing to review.

Qin Antai was stripped of his status as a scholar, beaten with a stick 20 times, and sentenced to three years of hard labor.

In the case of Qingyue's murder, the principal offender is already in custody, and the case can be closed once the escaped slave Qi Wu is captured and his body is found.

The case is closed and the court is adjourned.

Qin Jingchang was also picked up by the bailiffs and prepared to be taken to the prison.

As soon as he stood up, he suddenly struggled and threw himself at Liu Yinghua. Under the blows from the bailiff's club, he quickly and quietly said, "There is a brocade box under the pillow in the study. The bracelet inside must be taken. Take it to Gushan Manor to ask for the village head Zhang, give him the bracelet and ask him to kill Qin Shu."

Liu Yinghua looked at her husband's head and face covered in blood after being hit by a killing stick, and nodded with tears in her eyes.

Qin Jingchang was dragged away by the yamen runners. He struggled to turn his head back. His eyes were bloodshot and veins in his neck were bulging. He shouted hoarsely, "You must kill her! You must kill her!"

Liu Yinghua was trembling all over. After being driven out of the lobby by the yamen runners, she walked on the street in a daze.

There are three days left until the Chinese New Year.

Everyone on the street who was buying New Year's goods had a happy look on their face, and their backpacks and baskets were all loaded with goods.

All street shops will be closed after tomorrow and will not reopen until the sixth day of the Chinese New Year.

Everything is the same as in previous years.

But what happened to their family?

How did it become like this?

At this time of year in previous years, their family would have already received New Year's goods, new clothes, and next year's silver sent by the East Palace.

The master and An Ning were writing Spring Festival couplets. They had to write a lot of them, not only to post them for the East and West Palaces, but also for the clan members...

At that time, the mansion was filled with joy.

Occasionally, she would secretly complain to the master that the amount of silver sent by the East Palace was still the same as in previous years.

At that time, if the master was in a good mood, he would tap her forehead with the pen...

When their eldest brother and his wife died, the wealth that was about to be theirs was gone.

The husband was imprisoned in death row, the eldest son escaped after committing murder, and the second son was detained for being unfilial...

The harvest at Dongfu Farm has arrived, but it has nothing to do with them anymore.

Yes! Now, they also have their own farm.

When she returned home, she asked people to go to the farm and bring back this year's harvest.

And there is the bracelet that my husband asked me to give me.

Although her husband did not explain it clearly, Liu Yinghua subconsciously felt that if they did as her husband said, all the misfortunes they were facing would be solved!

When the sun was setting, Liu Yinghua dragged her legs, which were almost broken by fatigue, and stumbled to the door of her house.

The gate of the mansion was wide open and a bench was thrown in front of the screen wall.

There was no one inside the door, but An Wen's shrill cries could be heard faintly from inside.

Liu Yinghua was so frightened that her legs went limp, and she rolled and crawled into the front yard. As soon as she entered the yard, she saw two rows of strong men standing neatly from the stone steps in the yard to the door of the study.

The door of the study was also wide open, and the poems written by her husband were scattered all over the yard. An Wen's crying could be heard from inside.

Liu Yinghua was so frightened that she rushed into the study like a madman.

The burly man outside the door did not stop him.

Qin Anwen was struggling with someone, trying to snatch something from that person's hand while crying and wailing for his life.

Liu Yinghua breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was neatly dressed, with only a little dust on his body and no signs of being humiliated.

She rushed over and pulled Qin Anwen into her arms, looking warily at the man in his forties sitting in the first seat, and asked, "Who are you? Why are you in our house?"

Qin Anwen was held in Liu Yinghua's arms, and he was still baring his teeth like a little wolf, ready to bite people, and he shouted loudly: "Mom, he stole our things!"

The first man smiled when he saw Liu Yinghua, then stood up slowly from his seat, flicked his sleeves lightly, bowed to Liu Yinghua, and said, "My name is Zhong, and I'm the owner of Jinglong Pawn Shop."

Shopkeeper Zhong took out a piece of paper from his sleeve pocket, shook it gently towards Liu Yinghua, and said, "At the beginning of this month, Qin Jingchang borrowed 50,000 taels of silver from my Jinglong Pawnshop. It is written clearly in black and white, and there is Qin Jingchang's signature on it. Madam Qin, please look, this is the loan note."