Chapter 45: Reporting to the Official 2/3

He had always thought Hong Hui was a good person, but how could a good person tolerate his brother beating others?

Setting aside whether Hong Hui knew about it or not, living under the same roof, there was no way he could be unaware.

Zhu Xunmiao immediately declared, “Both Brother Li and this child are injured. We must quickly take them to see a doctor.”

Hong Hui agreed, although he didn’t want Zhu Xunmiao to take the servant away. But at this point, he couldn’t stop them.

As the ship belonging to the Zhu family waited outside, Zhu Xunmiao helped Li Qingzhi onto the ship, and Xu Qifei lifted the injured servant aboard as well. They declined Hong Hui’s offer to accompany them and headed straight for the county town.

Watching the Zhu family’s ship depart from the Hong family’s residence, Li Qingzhi breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to Zhu Xinmiao and said, “Xunmiao, check on the condition of that child.”

By intentionally breaking his arm to escalate the situation, Li Qingzhi aimed to openly take the child away without the family’s consent. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had the right to take the servant without permission after trespassing into their backyard.

Zhu Xinmiao nodded and went to check on the child.

The Zhu family’s ship was larger than Jin Xiaoye’s, with a cabin in the middle containing tables, chairs, and couches.

The child was placed on one of the couches, visibly uncomfortable and cowering in fear like a startled rabbit.

Zhu Xinmiao removed the child’s shirt and saw numerous bruises and bite marks covering his frail body, both old and new wounds overlapping each other.

Being a pampered young master, Zhu Xinmiao had never encountered such brutality. Seeing the child covered in injuries, he gasped in shock.

Li Qingzhi’s expression also darkened.

This was a child! A child!

“That Hong family is really too much to treat a child like this!”

Li Qingzhi also sat on the soft couch, supporting his broken arm, and asked the child, “Does the young master of the Hong family often hit you?”

“The… the young master gets angry and hits and bites people,” the child replied, tears rolling from his eyes but without crying aloud, “Master, could you please not send me back? I don’t want to be beaten…”

“Don’t worry, we definitely won’t send you back!” Zhu Xunmiao took out a handkerchief from his body and wiped the child’s tears.

Li Qingzhi patted the child’s head and asked again, “Do the others in the Hong family know about the young master hitting you?”

The child leaned closer to Li Qingzhi and said, “They know.”

Zhu Xunmiao had delicate skin and tender flesh, appearing pampered, which made the child hesitant to approach.

It was Li Qingzhi… Though Li Qingzhi was thin and weak, he was the first one to come and save him! Plus, Li Qingzhi’s simple and approachable appearance made the child somewhat attached to him.

Guided by Li Qingzhi, the child spoke a lot.

This child’s surname was Zhao, named Zhao Mancang. His family lived in the same village as Zhao Laosan’s, and they were also related by blood and marriage.

His father was a drunkard, always spending money to buy alcohol to drink, so their family was very poor.

Twenty days ago, someone came to his father, saying that the Hong family in the county wanted to find a servant boy for their young master. Without a second thought, his father sent him to the Hong family.

After being brought to the Hong family, Zhao Mancang had a hearty meal, took a hot bath, and changed into new clothes. At first, he was extremely happy and wholeheartedly wanted to take care of the young master.

However, two days later, for some unknown reason, the young master suddenly started throwing tantrums and hitting him.

After that, whenever the young master was unhappy, he would hit him. Sometimes, when the young master went too far, someone would intervene, but most of the time, the maid responsible for taking care of the young master would just stand by and watch.

He sought help and found Mr. Hong, crying and wanting to go back home. Although his father treated him poorly, sometimes even kicking him for no reason, at least he wouldn’t be beaten like this.

However, after causing a commotion, the Hong family said he was disobedient and refused to give him any food.

The child trembled uncontrollably while speaking, clearly terrified to the extreme.

Zhu Xunmiao wiped his eyes with his sleeve and said, “I never expected the Hong family to be like this!”

Li Qingzhi also felt that the Hong family was going too far, and he considered more.

They had brought this child out, but would the Hong family find another playmate for their young master in the future?

If that were to happen, it was feared that another child would suffer.

In that case… was there any way to stop this?

Li Qingzhi was well aware that from the moment he and Zhu Xunmiao stopped the young master of the Hong family from beating people, they had already offended the Hong family. After all, they had seen the despicable side of the Hong family that they didn’t want anyone to see.

When Hong Hui sent them out earlier, although he kept apologizing and even sent someone to fetch silver, Li Qingzhi distinctly felt a strong sense of disgust emanating from him.

Hong Hui had already developed hatred towards them.

Li Qingzhi looked at Zhu Xunmiao, his pale face showing determination, “Xunmiao, I’ve suffered like this, I want to report this to the authorities.”

“Alright, let’s report it!” Zhu Xunmiao replied without hesitation.

This child was almost beaten to death, and Li Qingzhi’s arm was broken… He also wanted to report it.

Although the county magistrate of Chongcheng County would also accept bribes, his conduct was relatively fair, so they should get justice from him.

In any case, the Hong family must be made to take better care of their young master and not allow him to continue hurting others!

With this in mind, Zhu Xunmiao looked at Li Qingzhi again and asked, “Brother Li, your arm is broken, does it hurt?”

“It’s alright, don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” Li Qingzhi said.

Zhu Xunmiao looked at him with admiration and said, “Brother Li, you’ve suffered such a serious injury and yet you can remain calm. You are truly an example for us!”

Zhu Xunmiao felt he was a bit too delicate.

He had just looked at his arm, where the skin had been broken by a bite, and it was already unbearable for him. But what about Li Qingzhi? Li Qingzhi’s arm was broken, yet he could still comfort him in turn, his voice steady.

Li Qingzhi was truly remarkable!

Xu Qifei also nodded seriously, fully agreeing with Zhu Xunmiao’s words.

Li Qingzhi felt a little embarrassed by the praise, but fortunately, the boat had just docked.

Zhu Xunmiao took Li Qingzhi and Zhao Mancang to the medical clinic in the county town, specifically naming the old doctor who was good at orthopedics and pediatrics to treat them.

Li Qingzhi’s arm was fixed with a wooden board by the old doctor, and the wound on his hand was also treated with medicine.

However, he actually didn’t need it, after all, he had abilities.

After taking care of his own injuries, Li Qingzhi asked about Zhao Mancang’s condition.