Before confiscating their property, they emptied the imperial city and exiled them!

The old man's gaze lingered on the man on the ground for a moment as the woman spoke, before he looked away.

The old man stroked his beard, sighed deeply, and said, "I know everything Qi'er has done. He deserves his fate."

The woman seemed unable to believe what she was hearing and roared at the old man, "He's your son!"

"The emperor is subject to the same laws as the common people." The old man's face remained unmoved, his words resounding with conviction.

A bitter smile appeared on the woman's face: "I was confused. I shouldn't have had the idea of ​​awakening your father's conscience."

The old man angrily rebuked them, "Enough! You have committed such a grave crime today, yet you still show no remorse?"

"You will come with me to the capital tomorrow to plead guilty, but even that cannot make up for the mistakes your brother has made."

The old man coughed violently as he spoke, his face filled with deep regret and pain.

"Go to the capital to plead guilty? I will absolutely not go. The Emperor will not care about us here."

“You are an upright and honest official, yet you refuse to avenge your brother. But I cannot stand by and watch him die such a violent death in the street.”

The woman trembled as she expressed her resentment.

Bang!

A white shadow flashed by, landed in front of the woman, and slapped her hard across the face.

Lin Xiaoxiao looked at the woman who seemed to have gone mad, took a deep breath and said coldly, "You feel sorry for this beast, but does that mean you can disregard other people's lives?"

The woman was hit suddenly. After realizing what had happened, she covered her face and was about to pounce on Lin Xiaoxiao and tear into her.

However, she was kicked to the ground by a man in a black robe beside her, and after spitting out a mouthful of blood, she was unable to get up.

"You lowly people, how can your lives compare to my brother's?"

Seeing that the woman in front of her still refused to come to her senses, Lin Xiaoxiao couldn't help but slap her hard a few more times.

After Lin Xiaoxiao finished speaking, her chest heaved slightly, her eyes filled with anger. "Your brother has committed numerous evils, forcibly abducted women, and disregarded human life. Everyone witnessed these things. He deserved to die."

The woman lay on the ground, her eyes filled with resentment. "You bunch of people, ganging up on him to slander him. He was just a bit of a playboy, why did he have to die?"

Song Wenjing snorted coldly, "Plays around? Several lives are in his hands, and the girls who were tortured to death by him were innocent."

The magistrate, having caught his breath, looked at the woman and said, "Fine, since you are so stubborn, then detain her immediately. I will go to the capital to plead guilty later."

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Lin Xiaoxiao quietly returned to Lanxiang Courtyard.

The place has long been deserted.

Lin Xiaoxiao didn't miss a single place. After ransacking Lanxiang Courtyard, she then set fire to the flower boat on the lake.

Lin Xiaoxiao kept nothing of what she had looted from Lanxiang Courtyard; she gave it all away as compensation to the victims.

After hearing this, people who had previously sold children shamelessly came to line up, only to be recognized.

Without Lin Xiaoxiao and the others even lifting a finger, they were beaten up and driven away by the onlookers.

Lin Xiaoxiao knew that the money could not erase their pain of losing their child, but that was all she could do.

······!

Although they were traveling by horse-drawn carriage, the journey ahead was much faster than during their previous exile.

Lin Xiaoxiao could see the silhouette of Peach Blossom Village in the distance, and she felt a surge of excitement.

I've been on the road for a while now, and the initial excitement has gradually turned into a numbness from rushing around.

Not wanting to attract the attention of the villagers, they rushed back under cover of darkness, just like before.

Upon arriving at her doorstep, Lin Xiaoxiao couldn't wait to get off the carriage and knock on the door.

After knocking less than three times, Yingyi opened the door from the inside.

It was already past midnight, and they did not disturb the Su family.

The next morning.

Chen stroked Lin Xiaoxiao's delicate face and said with affection, "You're finally back. We were so worried about you all this time."

Lin Xiaoxiao held Chen's hand and asked with concern, "Is everything alright at home while we were away?"

"Okay, everything is fine."

When they learned that the Song family would soon be exonerated, the Chen family was overjoyed.

"If that's the case, then can we leave this place?" Song Yetong asked excitedly.

Song Wenjing: "We'll talk about these things later. The capital is unstable right now, and it's not a good place to go."

Madam Chen said with a smile, "If you ask me, this place is quite nice. Our Song family has been loyal to Tianqi generation after generation. We have never slacked off."

Now that I suddenly have free time, isn't that great?

The family chatted and laughed while eating breakfast.

After finishing their meal, Song Shijun couldn't wait to run out the door and find Mu Shilan to tell her the news she had heard that day.

Mu Shilan was overjoyed upon hearing this.

He secretly thought he had made the right bet.

"Now that the Song family is about to be exonerated, you won't abandon me then, will you?" Mu Shilan said, feigning concern.

Just as she expected, when Song Shijun saw her worried expression, he immediately assured her.

"Don't worry, Shilan, I will never let you down. You chose me even when I was in such a desperate situation."

Therefore, I will definitely treat you even better in the future and will not let you down.

With Song Shijun's assurance, Mu Shilan smiled sweetly.

In the spring, Mu Qingwan and her daughter Liu Cuizhu spent money to have a house built and moved out of the Song family's house.

Fortunately, their courtyards were not too far apart, so they could look out for each other.

Mu Qingwan had just gone out with a basket, intending to find some wild vegetables.

Nowadays, food is scarce, so even if you have money, you have to be careful with your spending.

But to my surprise, I ran into the person I least wanted to see as soon as I stepped out the door.

Thinking about the good days to come, Mu Shilan instantly felt a level above Mu Qingwan.

He walked arrogantly in front of Mu Qingwan and deliberately blocked her way.

"Where are you going, sister?"

Mu Qingwan didn't want to get entangled with her, so she turned aside to try and go about her own business.

However, Song Shijun blocked her way and questioned her in an unhappy tone, "Shilan is talking to you, didn't you hear her?"

Mu Qingwan glanced at them and said, "If you have nothing else to say, please step aside. I have nothing to say to you."

Seeing Mu Qingwan's pretentious aloofness, Mu Shilan felt annoyed: "I was just greeting you casually, why are you so disdainful of me, sister?"

After saying that, Mu Shilan looked at Mu Qingwan with a mournful expression.

It was as if Mu Qingwan had done something to her.

Mu Qingwan was too lazy to play along with her and just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Annoyed, he looked at the two people in front of him and said, "Enough! Stop crying. I have things to do, please move aside."