Thinking of this, Mo Shanrui turned to his attendant and said, “Prepare the horses!”

“Yes, my lord!” the attendant replied.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

On the other side, in Zhangjia Village, near the village’s end.

When the two officers saw Old Liu and Zhang Zihua, they were equally confused.

Given their disheveled state, they weren’t entirely sure whether Jian Xiu had suffered at their hands.

Oh, no, it wasn’t Jian Xiu who had suffered.

It was her husband, Zhang Zixuan, whose legs couldn’t move.

Jian Xiu had said that if she had been home at the time, Zhang Zixuan wouldn’t have been hurt.

Such people, she would never forgive.

“Is there anyone inside?” One officer entered the small yard and called out.

Inside, Zhang Zixuan heard this and responded, “Yes, yes, who are you looking for?”

Then, he called to Wu Tou, “Wu Tou, go check who’s outside?”

“Okay, Fourth Uncle, wait here!”

When Wu Tou opened the door and saw the two officers standing outside, he was startled, but he still nervously asked, “Who are you looking for? I… I’ll tell you, we are good citizens, we’re all…”

“Oh, little boy, you know what a good citizen is?” one officer said with a smile.

Looking at the pale, thin child before him, the officer guessed their lives were difficult.

When they had entered the yard, they had casually looked around, and it really was as Jian Xiu had said—everything was in a mess.

This was after some tidying up; without it, they couldn’t even imagine how chaotic it would be.

“Wu Tou, are those officers outside?” Zhang Zixuan, lying in bed, asked.

His voice was weak when he asked the question.

Though he had survived, his body was covered in injuries.

His legs, body, and head were all injured.

The wounds had been bandaged, so it was clear the injuries were severe.

Plus, he appeared extremely weak, which made the officers feel pity for him.

Seeing this, the two officers walked in.

“Are you Zhang Zixuan?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Jian Xiu has already reported everything in the courtroom. Considering your severe injuries, you don’t need to go to court today. Now we need to take your mother… your former mother-in-law, and Zhang Zihua. Do you understand?”

The officers spoke politely to Zhang Zixuan.

Normally, in such cases, they wouldn’t even warn the person before taking action, let alone speak so kindly.

“I understand, I understand. They’re in the pigpen outside. Actually, my wife had planned to take them both with her tonight, but they refused to go… so…”

Zhang Zixuan then cautiously glanced at the two officers before continuing to explain:

“It’s not that my wife treated them this way for no reason. We had hoped that the people from the old house would come to take them back, but they refused. They even said hurtful things. That’s why we…”

Zhang Zixuan didn’t finish his sentence, but even so, the officers nodded in understanding.

It was understandable that they were locked in the pigpen. Anyone would be angry after something like that.

When they had gone earlier, they noticed the two were dressed in new clothes, showing that Jian Xiu had at least given them a change of clothes.

The officers nodded in acknowledgment and then headed toward the pigpen.

At that moment, Old Liu and Zhang Zihua had already passed out from exhaustion.

From yesterday until now, their pain was bad enough, but they hadn’t had a single drop of water.

Though they could tolerate the pain, the thought of Jian Xiu compensating them with silver made their suffering seem insignificant.

While dreaming of this, Zhang Zihua kept clenching his jaw, making the officers shake their heads in disbelief.

One of them approached and kicked him lightly, saying, “Hey, wake up!”

The kick wasn’t hard, but Zhang Zihua yelped in pain.

“Ow!” he exclaimed, his face paling instantly.

He opened his eyes abruptly and, upon seeing the officers, rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Then he shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

But no matter how much he shook, the officers stood firmly in front of him, unmovable.

“You… you…” Zhang Zihua stammered, pointing at the officers.

But whatever he wanted to say next, the words just wouldn’t come out.

At that moment, Old Liu was also woken by the noise.

Before even opening her eyes, she started cursing.

“What’s this? That woman is finally realizing her mistake? She’s here to take us back? Let me tell you, without ten taels of silver, forget it. Even if I die, I’ll haunt you as a vengeful ghost…”

After saying this, she expected Jian Xiu to say something in response.

But unexpectedly, her collar was suddenly yanked.

Opening her eyes to continue cursing, she saw the two officers in front of her, and she swallowed the rest of her words.

“What are you doing? What is this…?”

“Less talking, come with us to the yamen!” one officer interrupted her.

The two officers soon noticed that both Old Liu and Zhang Zihua were injured and couldn’t walk, but that didn’t prevent them from taking them to court.

At the old house.

The whole family was sitting there when they saw the officers. They were frozen, unable to react.

It was Fang Miaojuan who reacted first and, trembling, asked, “Gentlemen, is there some misunderstanding?”

“What misunderstanding? Jian Xiu has already reported everything in court. We are here on the magistrate’s orders to take you to the yamen,” one officer said, his tone official.

The officers’ serious demeanor shocked Fang Miaojuan, and even Old Zhang was scared.

At his age, it was his first time in a yamen, and he was now possibly facing imprisonment.

He had clearly heard that Jian Xiu was accusing them of theft.

Suddenly, Old Zhang anxiously asked, “Where’s my wife and second son? Where are they now?”