Heartstrings Resonance: The Beloved Princess of the Female Power

He said with a smile: "Your Excellency is so partial to Xu Guohui, is there some unknown story between you and her?" Although this was said euphemistically, everyone present was smart and naturally understood the unspoken meaning of the man's words.

Mu Cheng burst into laughter upon hearing this, but his laughter chilled people, and his eyes grew cold and ruthless. He slammed the gavel and shouted, "How dare you frame an official of the imperial court? Come, take this man to the prison and await your punishment."

Following Mu Cheng's order, two yamen runners rushed forward, grabbed the man's arms, and prepared to drag him away. Seeing this, the man's face showed an expression of disbelief, and he shouted loudly, "Master Mu, you can't do this! You are bending the law for personal gain!"

However, Mu Cheng ignored his cries and looked at him coldly. He said calmly, "If you feel that I have abused my power for personal gain or violated the law, you can complain to my superiors and ask them to investigate whether I have indeed abused my power for personal gain or violated the law."

At this moment, Xing Laifu suddenly broke free and yelled at Mu Cheng, "Mu Cheng, do you know who I am? Do you know who is behind my family? Do you know who my aunt is? Just try to touch me."

Mu Cheng pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Oh? You don't know? How about you tell me?"

Seeing Mu Cheng's expression, he really thought that Mu Cheng was frightened by him. He put his hands on his hips and said proudly, "I am Xing Laifu, the head of the Xing family in Baiyang County. My aunt is Xing Biyu, the concubine of Duke Qi. If you dare to touch me, my uncle will never let you go."

"Oh~" Mu Cheng nodded, as if he agreed with what he said.

Seeing Mu Cheng like this, Xing Laifu thought he was afraid and his face became even more proud. However, he heard Mu Cheng say, "Xing Laifu used the power of the Duke of Qi's Mansion to bully the current fourth-rank prefectural official, trying to cover up the crime of slandering the current fourth-rank official."

As he spoke, he glanced at Shen Yitai beside him and asked, "Did Chief Secretary Shen write down everything?"

Shen Yitai also smiled gently: "Your Excellency, I have written down everything, not missing a single word."

Xing Laifu was shocked. Did he just say that? Before he could come to his senses, he heard Mu Cheng's order: "Take him to jail."

Even after being taken away by the yamen runners, he could still be heard shouting, "Mu Cheng, if you dare to arrest me, my aunt will not let you go." Mu Cheng didn't care about his shouting at all, and looked at the others without saying a word.

Everyone was once again reacquainted with Mu Cheng, a man who feared no one. If Mu Cheng could hear their thoughts, he would simply say silently, "I have someone behind me, and he's the current emperor. Who am I afraid of? Dare to provoke me? I'll write it down in my little notebook."

At this time, the doctor also arrived, and he specially invited a few more. Mu Cheng ordered the yamen runners to take them down to examine their injuries first, and to keep Xu Guohui to explain the situation. The others were also reluctant to leave, and they all tried to stay with various excuses. Mu Cheng knew what they were thinking. They were afraid that Xu Guohui would say something unfavorable to them. Mu Cheng admired Xu Guohui from the bottom of his heart. She endured such humiliation without crying or making a fuss, and put the greater good first.

Mu Cheng thought of Mu Yunxi's words. She had said, "This era has always been unfair to women. Women who are murdered and lose their innocence deserve to die. Clearly victims, they insist on proving their loyalty by dying. It's unnecessary. At worst, they can try a different way of living. There's still so much beauty in the world. Why not go out and explore? Women of this era are trapped by this deeply ingrained mindset, losing their sense of self. It's tragic, lamentable!" He had wanted to object when he first heard Mu Yunxi say this, but then he thought of all the cases he'd handled over the years, where daughters had been murdered and their families had refused to pursue the case, finding it shameful. He wondered if Mu Yunxi was right. He had once asked himself what he would do if his daughter had suffered the same fate. His inner answer was, 'I'd kill that thief, even if it meant going through fire and water.' He had told Mu Yunxi the same thing. Mu Yunxi smiled brightly and said, 'I'm so lucky to be your daughter.' At that moment, he could feel the joy and happiness emanating from his daughter Yunxi. He also secretly made up his mind that no matter what the world was like, as long as his daughter was happy and satisfied, he would not care about anything else.

He recalled his daughter Yunxi's smile, and a smile crept across his face. However, he was awakened by the sound of "Sir." After drinking a glass of water brought by the yamen runner, Xu Guohui was about to tell Mu Cheng what had happened. Seeing that Mu Cheng seemed distracted, he didn't dare interrupt, so Shen Yitai had to wake him up.

Mu Cheng looked at the people in the hall and told her to sit down and talk slowly. He then succinctly repeated Mu Yunxi's previous words, which essentially said, "The Xu family is wealthy, so it's okay for her to live elsewhere. After all, others are just others, so let her let go of her grudges." He also said, "Excellent people should live beautifully." Everyone in the hall looked at him strangely. Mu Cheng felt the gazes from all around him, but he didn't care.

Only Xu Guohui felt a pang of melancholy. Suddenly, tears streamed down her face like a flood. She gritted her teeth and held back. Mu Cheng sighed, "Cry if you want!" Then he ordered everyone to turn around, and turned his back himself.

Xu Guohui cried for a while, but never cried out loud. This was her last bit of pride. Ever since she came of age, she'd been busy running the Xu family's business. She'd heard all sorts of gossip and rumors, teased and flirted with in the business world, and secretly called her a whore and slut. She knew it all, but she'd weathered it all. Yet, no one ever accused them of being wrong. They only accused her of being shameless, flirting with men all day long. No one ever acknowledged her abilities. But today, Master Mu had called her an excellent person, a sign that he recognized her as capable. Her tears had finally unleashed years of frustration, and now she felt like she'd been reborn.

Mu Cheng and everyone else were amazed at this woman who suddenly became radiant. She had been lifeless just a moment ago, but now it was gone. She was still the same person, yet she looked completely refreshed. She kowtowed three times to Mu Cheng, "Thank you, sir, for your guidance!"

Mu Cheng nodded: "It's good that you have come to your senses. Get up and answer!"

Xu Guohui stood up and sat down and said, "This time I am going to Qishan. Because this matter is not suitable for other people to know, I have not told my family. This trip is just to test the waters." She paused here.

Mu Cheng recalled the route to Qishan on the map. It was east of Youzhou, but there was only one road leading there, a fork in the road next to the black pine forest. He asked, "My family is not supposed to know anything. Why didn't you send someone from the Xu family to investigate the situation yourself?"

Xu Guohui pondered for a moment before continuing, "Because Mr. Chen San told me that there might be a silver mine in Qishan. His family started out as merchants and they picked up silver several times when passing by the foot of Qishan. He said that at first they just thought someone had dropped the silver, but after picking it up two or three times in a row, he became suspicious. At the beginning of this autumn, he said that he had found a professional to confirm it and was going to mine it secretly himself, but his family was afraid of taking risks. He said he trusted me more and asked me if I wanted to do it. But I didn't believe it, so I decided to go and take a look some time ago. If I really decide, I will report it to the court to avoid the officials making a wasted trip. So, some time ago, I decided to listen to Mr. Chen San's advice and took a bunch of money and goods to Qishan under the pretext of doing business somewhere else.

Because we didn't know the truth of the matter, we didn't tell our family, fearing that rumors would spread. However, the incident happened before we even reached Qishan. When we reached the Black Pine Forest, a fog suddenly rose. By the time we realized something was wrong with the fog, it was too late. We don't know what happened next.

Mu Cheng thought to himself, "As expected of a businessman, she speaks so beautifully. Whether there is a silver mine in Qishan or not, she just didn't report it in time, not concealed it. The charges against both of them are immediately drawn. After all, she went to investigate in person to find out whether it was true or not, but she was killed and didn't know the truth and couldn't tell. You can't punish her for this, right? Besides, there is no evidence to prove that she was lying."

Xu Guohui took a deep breath and continued, "When I woke up, I was locked up in a pitch-black place. I didn't know whether it was day or night. Only after a long time would someone come with a torch and bring me food, and I could see clearly around me. It was all damp earth. At first, I thought it was a large cellar, but it wasn't until I came out today that I realized it was a long secret passage. We were locked up in a hole they had randomly dug in the ground. It was pitch black and we couldn't see the way out. Some tried to escape in the dark, but they were always beaten up in the end. As long as they didn't die, it was fine."

"Do you know why we want to arrest you? What is the purpose?" Mu Cheng stared at Xu Guohui and asked in a serious tone.

Xu Guohui remained silent, sitting there motionless, with a look of pain on her face. Mu Cheng did not urge her, nor did he continue to ask questions. The hall was silent, with only the sound of light breathing echoing in the air. After a while, Xu Guohui took a deep breath and said slowly: "Once, their leader took me away. Later, he thought I had fainted, so he talked to his men. He said that we would be detained for a while, and then he would interrogate the location of the storehouse in our respective homes and ask us to draw a map. The man who had his finger cut off today had his finger cut off because he refused to reveal it. They even threatened to let us all die in your house. Fortunately, we were rescued today. When Captain Lin and others found us, they were about to take me to your house."

"They used secret passages to reach several wealthy families, emptied their warehouses silently, and sent all the people to my house through the secret passages and killed them before leaving. All the people died in my house. If I didn't know about the secret passages, and it really happened, even the snow in June couldn't wash it off! It's really a good way to kill three birds with one stone! So many merchants from big merchants in Youzhou died in the prefect's house, then no matter whether it was done by him as the prefect or not, he can only stop the investigation. Moreover, these thieves also transferred the property of various merchants through the secret passages, so the economic market in Youzhou will definitely be in chaos." Mu Cheng thought about all the things that might happen, and sweat broke out on his head. He was secretly glad that he stopped it in time.