Wei Luo cried for a long time. Her tears had dampened a large spot on Zhao Jie’ clothes. He didn’t know how such a small child could cry so many tears. Her sobs turned into wails. Eventually, her wails turned back into sobs. In the end, she rubbed her tears on his chest. Zhao Jie was worried that she would cry so much that she would end up fainting.

The winter night was too cold. It wouldn’t be okay if she continued crying like this. Zhao Jie could only use his sleeve to wipe away her tears. As he did this, he tried coaxing her, “Ah Luo, be good. Don’t cry anymore.”

She moved her head to avoid his sleeve. Her long eyelashes fluttered. She quietly mumbled in her milky voice, “It hurts…”

Zhao Jie stopped his action. It took him a few seconds for him to understand that the fabric on his sleeve was too coarse and had hurt her face. Without a better option, he used his fingers to wipe away her tears. His mouth didn’t say anything, but his mind couldn’t help thinking that such a delicate little girl didn’t voice a single complaint when they had been walking on the mountain path for a few thousand meters (a few miles).

After Wei Luo was done crying, the resentment and frustration that had been accumulating in her heart vanished like smoke in thin air. She would no longer have any connection with this couple or Longshou village. The thing that had hurt her most in her previous life had finally ended. She turned her head to look at the fallen Lin Huilian and the stiff Bai Yang, “Big brother, I loathe them.”

Zhao Jie stood up. His palm was placed on her shoulder as if he were putting her under his protection, “How do you want to deal with them?

Hearing these words, Bai Yang’s body shook uncontrollably. He looked at the two of them and had a bad premonition.

Sure enough, Wei Luo’s following words were, “Since they’re so worried about their son, they should be buried with him to keep him company in the underworld.”

Her sweet voice said such ruthless words without any fluctuation as if she were discussing an extremely common matter. Her idea was thorough. If they did this, then they wouldn’t have to worry that another person wasn’t doing a good job with taking care of their son. After all, they should be more assured if they did this themselves than if someone else did it.

Zhao Jie didn’t have any objections, “Okay, it’ll be done as you said.”

Bai Yang’s eyes widen in panic. He shook his head, “No, no… Sir, please spare us…”

On the side, Lin Huilian was listening to them. She tolerated her acute pain as she kowtowed for mercy. Her bloodied hands were placed on the ground, “We were just temporarily confused…”

How could this be temporary confusion? They had prepared for this moment for several years. If they were going to come to their senses, then why wait until now? They were merciless and unscrupulous, so they couldn’t blame other people for being ruthless towards them.

Wei Luo didn’t have the slightest intent to change her mind. Her head was huddled into Zhao Jie’s shoulder to completely ignoring them.

If they were to simply bury them alive, this would be letting them off too easily. After Zhu Geng blocked Bai Yang’s pressure points that were for moving his limbs, he tied him up with rope and directly flung him into the coffin. Bai Yang was in so much pain that his face turned white.

Lin Huilian also had her hands and feet tied before being flung down with him. The coffin wasn’t big. It was a tight squeeze to accommodate two people and the skeleton. The two of them couldn’t avoid the painful sensation of pressing down on their son’s bones. In this desolate area outside of their village, this was quite horrifying.

Bai Yang was soaked through with sweat. Without regard to anything, he shouted, “Help!”

After that word, the coffin was closed with a “bang” and blocked off his voice from the rest of the world and severed the rest of his hope.

Lin Huilian and Bai Yang’s hearts withered away into dust and fell into despair.

——–

In the end, Zhu Geng didn’t actually bury them alive. He only left them in the coffin for one night as a punishment. On the next morning, Longchun’s villagers discovered that they were missing. A few people came up the mountain to look for them and found the coffin that had been left outside the grave. The villagers remembered what the couple had planned to do last night and couldn’t resist opening the coffin to look inside. Who could have guessed that Lin Huilian and Bai Yang would be lying inside?!

Lin Huilian had lost consciousness due to excessive blood loss and Bai Yang couldn’t move his hands and feet due Zhu Geng’s actions. In the end, they were carried home.

That afternoon, their crimes were brought to the attention of local authorities. The local authorities sent bailiffs to get them. As they were being taken to the law court, Lin Huilian and Bai Yang said they were wrongly accused. But, when they arrived, they immediately stopped speaking. Not only was Bai Lan there, the three people from last night that had taught them a lesson were also there. One of those three people was a luxuriously dressed noble that was sitting next to the district magistrate. The district magistrate was extremely deferential towards him and even personally delivered tea and water to him.

At this moment, the two of them realized that they had provoked extremely powerful people.

This legal case almost didn’t need to go through a trial for the judge to sentence a judgment. With Prince Jing as a witness and the words of Bai Lan, the victim, the district magistrate slapped down the wooden gavel. They were each sentenced to be beaten with a stick thirty times, then detained in prison until they were sent off to complete three years of forced labor!

In addition, because the common people of Longshou village didn’t report this matter, every household would be fined ten pecks (2.5 bushels) of grain. In this way, the matter was considered to be satisfactorily concluded.

Afterwards, with a smiling face, the district magistrate personally escorted Zhao Jie to the carriage that would take him back to the capital. He didn’t dare to do anything that would slight him. Additionally, he prepared a separate carriage for Bai Lan that would follow Zhao Jie’s carriage back to the capital.

Wei Luo had already asked Bai Lan if she would be willing to go with them to the capital as her servant.

Since Bai Lan had learned that Wei Luo had come here just to save her, she was grateful enough to shed tears. She responded at once that she would wholeheartedly follow her. As long as there was a place that she could settle down, she was perfect willing to be a servant. Besides, Bai Lan was currently homeless. She absolutely couldn’t return to Longshou village. That place would no longer tolerate her. So, the best choice was to go to Duke Ying’s residence to be a servant. At least, she wouldn’t have to go hungry or sleep outdoors.

Bai Lan sat in the back carriage and thought of all the good things that Wei Luo had done this year. She secretly promised in her heart that she would be steadfast in serving the fourth miss. She had to pay back the fourth miss’s kindness in saving her life.