When Hui Zhen woke up, she found that she was lying on her own bed. Liu San was looking at her foolishly from the side. She got up in shock and shouted,"Why are you in my room? Get lost!" She checked herself and found that her clothes were intact. No one had touched her. Only then did she feel relieved and let out a long sigh. She recalled that she had fallen on the street and did not know anything after that. Could it be that Liu San had saved her?
Liu San changed his usual ruffian aura and bowed respectfully."Miss Hui Zhen, don't be angry. I was strolling on the street just now and saw you fall there, so I ordered the Zhuang Ding to carry you back. It's only been an hour, and I haven't done anything to you. Please don't be suspicious!”
Hui Zhen's face was still filled with hostility as she said hatefully,""Who needs you to save them? I would rather die!" "Get lost!" she shouted as she pointed at the door. Liu San hesitated for a moment and wanted to say something, but Hui Zhen called out again,"Get lost, I don't want to see you again!”
Liu San nodded and said,"Take care!"”He was about to go out. At this moment, the door was pushed open and seven or eight people barged in. Behind them were two officials, and the one pushed in front was Huizhen's father, the gambler.
Huizhen was shocked when she saw this. She hurriedly got down and asked,"Father, what happened to you?"
"Huizhen!" Gambler burst into tears and knelt in front of Hui Zhen." Your father is useless and has harmed you!”
"What happened? Stand up and say it!" Liu San asked anxiously as he helped the gambler up.
Gambler only cried and didn't say anything. A dark man beside him said,"This fellow borrowed 500 taels of loan sharks from my family and lost! Now we have to get 2,000 taels of silver with interest. Today is the deadline to return it. We specially came with him to get the silver! We were afraid that he wouldn't return it, so we reported it to the government and asked them to send someone to follow him.”As he spoke, he turned around and pointed at the two men behind him." The receipt of the loan is in the hands of the officials. If you don't believe me, look for yourself!”
Hui Zhen was miserable when she heard that. Now, Wu Song's matter had yet to be resolved, and her father had come to cause trouble again. She knew about her father's gambling habit. If he could bet his life, he would not hesitate to ask,"Father, is this true?"
Gambler cried and didn't say anything. He nodded and started crying again.
"Indeed!" The two men walked forward, and one of them took out a piece of white paper and handed it to Huizhen. Huizhen took it and opened it to take a closer look. Now with my daughter Huizhen as collateral, I borrow 500 taels of silver from the You family. I will return it within a month. The principal and interest amount to 2,000 taels of silver. If you don't return it at the due date, the mortgage will belong to the You family. I will be your slave and I will never go back on my word! If they don't listen, they'll fight with their lives! Behind it was the gambler's signature. Hui Zhen could read and recognize that it was her father's handwriting. At that time, she was so angry that she almost fainted. She trembled and said,"Father, how can you pawn your daughter? It's not like you don't know about our family's wealth. It's already impossible to take out ten taels of silver, but where can we find two thousand taels of silver? How dare you?"
The gambler only cared about crying and said,"I'm sorry!"”
Huizhen forced herself to be spirited and asked the two public servants,""Sir, can this mortgage document be authentic? As the saying goes, a debt must be repaid, and a life must be paid. It was clearly written that one's life was used to offset the debt. How could the government condone this?”
Liu San also echoed,"That's right. It's not legal to pay a debt with one's life. This loan receipt can't be authentic!"”
"The debt with one's life can be nullified, but the other contents have laws to follow," said a public official. We asked the gambler. He did borrow money from others, and he wrote the promissory note willingly. No one forced him.”
"What if I don't return the money?" asked Liu San.”
"If you don't return the money, it's the same as selling Miss Huizhen to the You family." We are here to be witnesses and to write a document of atonement. The second was that gamblers had to work in prison thousands of miles away to pay off their debts. They would only be free when their debts were cleared.”
The moment Hui Zhen heard, she was already in complete despair. She only felt her vision turn black and almost fainted. Two thousand taels of silver, even if his father worked hard for several lifetimes, he would not be able to earn it. This was fine, but what was even more worrying was that Wu Song's life was still in the hands of the officials. If she followed the You family, no one would care about Wu Song anymore. At that time, he really didn't know what to do.
"How is it?" the man asked. Does Miss Huizhen have money to return to the You family? If there's no time, we'll set up a document here! Business is business, we eat imperial food, naturally we can't bend the law for personal gain, please forgive Miss Huizhen!”
Huizhen was already at a loss and had no idea at all. After all, she was just an ordinary civilian girl. She had suffered two major blows in a row. Two relatives had left her, and she had no freedom from then on. How could she hold on? His body swayed, but he could not say a word.
Liu San said," How about this? You guys wait for me for a while. I'll go back to the manor and ask Minister Li to come over and handle this matter!"”Then, he left.
After waiting for a long time, Liu San came with Minister Li. Minister Li asked about the situation and said,"How can I interfere in this matter?" As he spoke, he was about to leave. Liu San hurriedly pulled him back and actually knelt down in front of everyone. He said,"Old Master, Liu San has already agreed to this matter. The two thousand taels of silver from this gambler will be repaid by Liu San. Liu San knew that he couldn't afford to pay back, so he also made a code document and worked for Li Jia Village for the rest of his life. As long as he was given a bowl of rice to eat and a bed to sleep, he would be satisfied. He didn't want a cent of wages!”
"It's rare for you to be infatuated with Miss Hui Zhen!" Minister Li sighed. Two thousand taels of silver is just a drop in the bucket in my Li Village. Even a decent meal usually costs more than that! Alright, get up, I'll pay you back first!”As he spoke, he took out four silver notes worth five hundred taels each from his sleeve and handed them to one of the men."This is the old bank note of the Tian family. Please verify its authenticity!”
The official took the note and said,"There's no need to check it. How can the notes that Minister Li took out be fake?"”He then handed the banknote to the black burly man and said,""Since this matter is over, this receipt is invalid. We have to leave!”Hence, he tore up the loan receipt of the gambler in front of everyone and left the room with his companions.
The black burly man had nothing to say after receiving the banknotes. He bid farewell and left. Only Li Yuanwai, Liu San, Hui Zhen and Gambler were left in the room. Hui Zhen was like in a dream at this moment, her soul was out of her body, as if she didn't know what had happened. She was speechless for a long time and only focused on being lost in thought.
Gambler fell to his knees and said,"" Thank you, Minister Li, for saving my life. I will never forget your great kindness…" No one paid attention to his words.
Liu San then said to Minister Li,"Master, let's do this good deed to the end. Let Wu Song go too!"”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。