novelSusiti Chapter 146 Revenge
Chapter 146 Revenge
Watching her younger brother leave with the little beggar, Xie Wenyu's curiosity was piqued to its fullest extent.
Why are people blocking the road to cry out for justice and claiming to be victims?
"What injustice has he suffered that he has to block the road and cry out for justice?" Xie Wenyu asked Li Chong.
Li Chong's expression was serious, and he replied in a deep voice, "Let's talk inside; it's not convenient outside."
After saying that, without paying attention to Xie Wenyu's expression, Li Chong walked straight into the inner room with hurried steps.
This surprised Xie Wenyu.
Since that day, Li Chong, while not exactly trying to please Xie Wenyu in every way, has always been mindful of her thoughts and speaks to her in a gentle and pleasant manner.
Although Xie Wenyu's attitude did not improve and the obedience he showed when they first met was gone, he was still very pleased with himself.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have allowed Li Chong to continue sharing a room with her.
Men and women should not touch each other. If Xie Wenyu really disliked Li Chong, even if it was just to avoid suspicion, the two of them could not have lived together for so long.
These days, it's not uncommon for couples to live apart.
Even if Li Chong couldn't have imagined it, Xie Wenyu shouldn't be unaware of it.
Li Chong's sudden change in attitude caught Xie Wenyu off guard, leaving her somewhat taken aback.
Xie Wenyu's heart tightened as she looked in the direction of the dog again.
"Could it be that some major case has really occurred?"
With her embroidered shoes clattering, Xie Wenyu followed Li Chong into the house.
The two had just entered the house when Zhong Mei suddenly appeared out of nowhere, leaning against the window and asking, "What's the story with that little beggar?"
Seeing that the two women were very curious, Li Chong sighed and began to explain the whole story.
"You should know that I previously presided over a case involving the murder of a slave..."
Zhong Mei had witnessed it firsthand, and Xie Wenyu had also sent people to inquire about Li Chong's experiences after taking office in order to find out about Li Chong's character. Therefore, both of them nodded to indicate that they understood.
"Then I won't waste any more words." Li Chong slowly clenched his fist. "I've thought about this principle: 'A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.' So after the case was decided, I told them to take the money and move to another place to avoid retaliation."
"But I was still too naive."
Xie Wenyu instinctively covered her mouth: "You mean...?"
"That's right, the little beggar was the child from that family of three, and his parents are no longer alive. As for the murderer..."
Li Chong's eyes were filled with anger.
Zhong Mei had somehow already gripped the dagger in her hand, toying with it. She sneered, "Who else could it be? It's nothing more than that brat surnamed Zhu, and even that old dog Zhu might not escape involvement!"
Xie Wenyu was somewhat bewildered: "How could that be? Everyone in the county says that Old Master Zhu is a philanthropist..."
"Pooh!"
Zhong Mei spat, "He's charitable? Then where in the world are there any bad people left!"
Xie Wenyu remained silent.
Deep down, she didn't want to believe it, because like the Zhu family, her family was also a local gentry. Although her family business was larger than the Zhu family's, their social class was not much different.
After hearing about the dark side of this local tycoon, Xie Wenyu instinctively refused to believe it.
The previous case had ample witness testimony and physical evidence, and Zhu Bingzhong himself confessed to the crime, so Xie Wenyu would not deny it.
But she felt that it was just some younger generation acting on their own initiative, and that they had accepted the punishment.
But now that she heard that the Zhu family was going to exterminate the entire family, she felt a strong sense of resistance. After all, how could such a kind and benevolent gentleman be such a ruthless and vicious person?
But the facts will tell her the answer.
The three remained silent inside the house, and the atmosphere became heavy for a moment, until the cleaned-up dog was brought before them.
"Here, I've brought the person." Xie Wenyou walked into the house with little interest.
Li Chong waved his hand: "Come over and listen together, let's see what grievances he has."
Xie Wenyou then perked up and found a chair to sit down.
"Thump!"
Just as Xie Wenyou sat down, he heard a muffled thud, and Gou'er's head hit the ground. The sound was quite genuine.
"Please, Your Honor, do justice for this dog!"
Li Chong quickly stepped forward: "This child, how can he be so foolish?"
When we helped the dog up, a noticeable red and swollen patch was visible on his forehead.
"Stand up and speak. If you have a grievance, I will not let any prisoner go unpunished."
Li Chong pulled the dog up and earnestly assured him.
The dog couldn't help but burst into tears, choking back sobs as it recounted its family's experiences.
After the case was closed, the Zhu family received their compensation promptly, and they also planned to follow Li Chong's advice and move to another place with the money.
However, they ultimately failed to grasp the danger. If they ran away with the money immediately after the case was closed, Li Chong's influence would still be strong, and perhaps no one would dare to touch them.
Having lived in Yanggu for many years, Gou'er's family business, though small, still had some assets, and they couldn't bear to part with the compensation money.
Moreover, there are many relatives involved, so we have to be polite to them as well.
And that's when things went wrong.
As the saying goes, it's more painful to see others make money than to lose money yourself.
There are quite a few people who are relatives in name only but can't stand to see you doing well.
To outsiders, it seemed that Zhu Li's family had made a fortune by losing their daughter who had been a maid, and in return, they received such a large sum of money, which aroused their jealousy.
If it were ordinary people, they might feel jealous, but at most they would just spread a few words of gossip; they wouldn't hurt anyone.
However, in Yanggu County, there are people who can harm others.
When Zhu Li's family sold their belongings and were preparing to move on to a new life with a large sum of money, someone leaked the news to Zhu Bingzhong.
When the case was first closed, Zhu Bingzhong was so exhausted he couldn't even get out of bed and was constantly groaning in pain. He had no time to think about revenge.
However, with Zhu Li's family delaying for so many days, Zhu Bingzhong's pain subsided, and he naturally began to harbor thoughts of revenge.
He couldn't do anything about Li Chong, but Zhu Li's family was in a terrible situation.
Seeing that Li Chong was focused on tax collection, someone intercepted Zhu Li's family on the road while they were moving.
Thanks to the alertness of Gou'er's parents, who took out money and threw it around, attracting robbers to scramble for it, and with the couple's desperate efforts to stop them, Gou'er was able to escape.
But he also became an orphan, and from then on, he had no relatives or friends.
Overnight, the dog seemed to have grown up. After wandering around for a few days, it gritted its teeth and returned to Yanggu.
He disguised himself as a beggar and made his way into the city, waiting to stop Li Chong and plead for justice, just like his parents, to avenge them.
For a helpless child, this was the most reliable revenge plan he could think of.
"Please, Your Excellency, do me justice!" Gou'er pretended to kneel down, but Li Chong scooped him up.
Zhong Mei strode up to Li Chong and said, "Arrest him! This Zhu fellow knowingly committed the crime; shouldn't his punishment be increased?"
This time, even Xie Wenyu couldn't say anything. She looked at the thin dog with pity and hoped that Li Chong could uphold justice.
Although Li Chong's face was full of anger, he said, "This matter... is a bit difficult to handle."